Grand River Transit

[KevinT]

One step forward with online reloads of the EasyGo cards - you'll now get a special screen flash and audible tone when a reload goes onto your card:

It's a very weird sound...

It sounds like something filling up.  Electronically.  Makes sense to me.

[PhilippAchtel]

This is the first bus of the day.  There is no reason a break would/should be required 15 minutes after service begins.  If you include time from the garage to the Boardwalk, it's still only 30 minutes in.

And not all drivers have done this.

More likely, the driver is laying over at the terminal beyond their departure time in anticipation of the extra time the route had along Victoria St. Especially with the completion of the bridge, the 204 along that stretch sits at each stop for multiple minutes to keep from departing ahead of schedule, so some drivers choose to depart the terminal several minutes behind schedule to even this out.

For most passengers, this either does not negatively affect their trip or even improves the experience. A bus stopping to sit at each stop can be irrationally frustrating and can lead to conflict between the passengers and driver even when the driver is only attempting to keep from running ahead of schedule.

Rather than phone customer service, I'd just talk with the driver. Mention that you know there's a lot of extra time on the route, and that must be frustrating for the driver to build rapport, and then bring up that you have a connection at the train station and ask what time the bus typically arrives at that stop.

The driver will put two and two together.

In any case, this is certainly not a case of union entitlement. I would bet the driver thinks they are performing good customer service by laying over beyond departure, and if they don't know someone needs that connection, they have a strong reason to believe so.

[timio]

Logic doesn't really enter my mind before 7am .

But yes, that makes much more sense. I typically try to err on the side of expecting things to work as advertised, then give it a few times of not doing as such before mentioning it. That's on me for having a false sense of optimism that things will work as they should.

The roadblocks to getting there on time can compound pretty quickly: red lights, additional stops, more passengers, waiting for printed transfers or digging out cash payments, weather, driver speed, the lack of direct passenger access from the Weber/Victoria intersection to the platform, the rear door not being responsive to waving when trying to get out, and a very tight schedule to begin with.

Of those, the one thing that is easiest to control is the driver attempting to maintain the posted schedule. So maybe I'll make mention of my intent the next time I board and see if that makes a difference.

[Pheidippides]

GRT predicting a 5% increase in ridership for 2018:
"Ridership in 2018 is projected to increase by 5%, from 19.7 million in 2017 to 20.7 million riders in 2018."

[Canard]

I used the Bus to get to work Thursday, by riding my bike to Kitchener Market Station, catching the 200 to Pinebush, then riding the rest of the way to work from there.

I checked the schedule before I left, and it said it was 10 minute service, which I thought was reasonable. I ended up waiting about 25 minutes. How common is that? Two 200's came one right behind the other.

The bike racks are too short - My very upright hybrid has probably a shorter wheelbase than most bikes out there, and yet, I couldn't get both wheels "down" in the tray. If the back wheel was in, the front wheel was out, or vice-versa. What's with that?

[Spokes]

GRT predicting a 5% increase in ridership for 2018:
"Ridership in 2018 is projected to increase by 5%, from 19.7 million in 2017 to 20.7 million riders in 2018."

That's finally some positive transit related news.

Obviously everyone would want the number to be higher, but I think 5% is very reasonable and moving in a good, sustainable direction (especially with ION not even up and running)

[danbrotherston]

I used the Bus to get to work Thursday, by riding my bike to Kitchener Market Station, catching the 200 to Pinebush, then riding the rest of the way to work from there.

I checked the schedule before I left, and it said it was 10 minute service, which I thought was reasonable.  I ended up waiting about 25 minutes.  How common is that?  Two 200's came one right behind the other.

The bike racks are too short - My very upright hybrid has probably a shorter wheelbase than most bikes out there, and yet, I couldn't get both wheels "down" in the tray.  If the back wheel was in, the front wheel was out, or vice-versa.  What's with that?

My experience is around Charles terminal, the 7 is usually on schedule, but it may drift more away .  25 minutes seems unusual, but I can't say in Cambridge for sure.

As for the bus racks I think bikes aren't supposed to sit down in the rack, if I'm recalling right, the bottom loops are just a backup, it is supposed to sit on the tires at the edges and the arm holds it vertical, but I'll have a look next time I take the bus, I'd be surprised if it wasn't fitting.  Interestingly the GO transit racks don't even have a vertical arm, at least not a tall one they only clamp the tire.

[danbrotherston]

GRT predicting a 5% increase in ridership for 2018:
"Ridership in 2018 is projected to increase by 5%, from 19.7 million in 2017 to 20.7 million riders in 2018."

That's finally some positive transit related news.

Obviously everyone would want the number to be higher, but I think 5% is very reasonable and moving in a good, sustainable direction (especially with ION not even up and running)

5% is fantastic I think for all the reasons you say but especially because this turns around the slump.

[Canard]

As for the bus racks I think bikes aren't supposed to sit down in the rack, if I'm recalling right, the bottom loops are just a backup, it is supposed to sit on the tires at the edges and the arm holds it vertical, but I'll have a look next time I take the bus, I'd be surprised if it wasn't fitting.  Interestingly the GO transit racks don't even have a vertical arm, at least not a tall one they only clamp the tire.

A better design would have just one wheel captured (ideally the front wheel), in front of and behind the tire.  The tray would extend out the back to catch the rear wheel, and only guide it laterally.  That way, bikes of all wheel sizes and all wheelbases can be accommodated securely.  The current setup is overdefined, and thus results in a "loose bike".

(1) shows probably about the best you can do with the current GRT rack.
(2) shows probably about the worst thing you could do - if the bus hits a bump, the front will drop down, back will pop out, and it's likely you'll lose your bike.
(3) would be a better design.

   

I'm so spoiled by my 1UP rack, which is absolutely rock solid, secure, and I can load and unload my bike in 5 seconds.

[Pheidippides]

...
I checked the schedule before I left, and it said it was 10 minute service, which I thought was reasonable.  I ended up waiting about 25 minutes.  How common is that?  Two 200's came one right behind the other.
...

Service has been more reliable as of late, but it is still not an uncommon experience at all. I've mostly had problems with schedule adherence or cancelled runs on the 8 recently.

Service reliability, when a GRT bus departs a scheduled time point no more than 3 minutes late, was 76.1% in October. Note that it refers to designated time points, not all stops. So if a bus misses scheduled times at the intermediate stops between time points, but makes up the time before the next time point, it would still be considered on time. This happens on the 8 all the time. It can be 7-8min late leaving a stop and still get to Charles at its designated time.

Also, service delivery, measured by the percentage of scheduled service hours that are operated, was 99.91% in October 2018. While that seems high consider that GRT offers about 68,000 hours of service in a month. So even not delivering 0.09% is 61.2 hours of service were lost. "Missed service can occur due to traffic, weather, mechanical breakdowns, collisions and the lack of resources assigned to a route."

[Spokes]

That's finally some positive transit related news.

Obviously everyone would want the number to be higher, but I think 5% is very reasonable and moving in a good, sustainable direction (especially with ION not even up and running)

5% is fantastic I think for all the reasons you say but especially because this turns around the slump.

I'd forgotten about the slump. Even better news then

[tomh009]

Also, service delivery, measured by the percentage of scheduled service hours that are operated, was 99.91% in October 2018. While that seems high consider that GRT offers about 68,000 hours of service in a month. So even not delivering 0.09% of service means that more than 6,100 hours of service were lost. "Missed service can occur due to traffic, weather, mechanical breakdowns, collisions and the lack of resources assigned to a route."

0.09% of 68,000 is 61.2 hours, not 6,100 hours.

[Pheidippides]

Whoops!

[Pheidippides]

Canard, I apologize for the personal remarks I directed toward you in my earlier response.

My words were unkind, not productive, and irrelevant to current discussion and for that I am truly sorry.

You were asking a simple question and instead of simply answering your question I let my frustration with your lack of empathy on another issue affect my response.

In the future I will try remain on topic, walk away, ignore, or talk it out privately.

Again, Canard, I apologize to you for my poor behaviour. I appreciate all that you bring to this forum and hope that my poor choice does not affect your contributions and participation in this forum.

And to all forum users, I apologize for not living to the high community standards and expectations that we have all grown to appreciate.

I will try to be better.

Have a good day.

[nms]

With the Regional population growth trending at 1.51%, a 5% in ridership increase sounds good.