[innsertnamehere]

^exactly.

express buses won't reduce crowding unless crowding standards are reduced. if they are maintained, you will see local service dropped with an equal replacement of express buses.

 

[ehlow]

John Tory is advocating queue jump lanes and express buses:

http://www.johntory.ca/fighting_gridlock_initiative

 

[salsa]

John Tory is advocating queue jump lanes and express buses:

http://www.johntory.ca/fighting_gridlock_initiative

His plan to pay for it:









.

 

[nfitz]

John Tory is advocating queue jump lanes and express buses:

http://www.johntory.ca/fighting_gridlock_initiative

How does this differ from David Miller's August 2009 Transit City Bus Plan that advocated queue jump lanes and express buses - http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Com...gust_26_2009/Reports/Transit_City_Bus_Pla.pdf

 

[diminutive]

Apparently in the US some cities are terming this kind of thing "arterial rapid transit." Obviously it's a bit of a euphemism, but it seems we need to affix "rapid transit" to the end of everything nowadays.

It's disturbing that things like all-door bus boarding, queue jumps, express routes and signalling priority aren't just automatically implemented. Compared to any other transit project in the region these have gotta be the highest cost-benefit ones imaginable.

Ontario should literally just mandate municipalities to implement these kinds of changes like we do with accessibility. Make the argument that if QP is going to spend tens of billions building subways and GO lines everywhere, local municipalities (esp. Toronto) have to get their act together and modernize feeder routes.

 

[ehlow]

What does everyone think of the HOV/bus/taxi lanes, which take affect during rush hour? Do they work, in terms of making buses faster & more reliable?

Should we have more of them, and make them bus-only all day? If so, they could be further visually differentiated to make it clear that cars aren't permitted to use them.

To me, it seems like it could be a very cheap & effective way to improve bus line performance & reliability, even though it could be politically difficult since it takes lanes from cars.

Random photos of bus lanes:

 

[TheTigerMaster]

What does everyone think of the HOV/bus/taxi lanes, which take affect during rush hour? Do they work, in terms of making buses faster & more reliable?

If enforced, absolutely.

Should we have more of them, and make them bus-only all day? If so, they could be further visually differentiated to make it clear that cars aren't permitted to use them.

Yes, absolutely.

A few places I think it could work:

Yonge Street BRT (north of Finch, until replaced by subway)
Eglinton Avenue (west of Mt. Dennis)
Finch Avenue East
King Street W or Queen Street W (Streetcar in ROW)
Dufferin Street
Wilson Avenue (between Dufferin Street and 1 Spadina Line)
Steeles Avenue
Bathurst Street
Lawrence Avenue

Some of these may already be in effect.

There would need to be better enforcement if we want the HOV lanes to have the greatest impact. Perhaps wayside mounted cameras or cameras mounted on LRVs and busses. These cameras could catch non-compliant drivers and charge them accordingly.

Greater visibility could also help improve compliance. Perhaps the HOV could be a different colour than the rest of the street, and there could be signals above the lane indicating when cars can use it (like on Jarvis)

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I would love to see Armadillos used to prevent cars from entering bus only lanes:

 

[ehlow]

I think you'd also want to allow emergency vehicles in though. Mounted cameras should work. I wonder if drones would make sense to enforce in the future.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I think you'd also want to allow emergency vehicles in though.

Emergency vehicles would have no issues rolling over the armadillos. They're rather small animals, but large enough to effectively discourage personal autos from entering.

I wonder if drones would make sense to enforce in the future.

Excellent suggestion. Rob Ford wanted a War on Cars and that's what he's getting

Seriously though... bus mounted cameras will work fine until we have enough money for the Predator.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Really nice map of the new Express Bus Network launching soon, via TTC Design on Twitter. I wish the lines weren't green as in my opinion it is too similar to TTC Line 2 (doubt anyone will get them confused though).

 

[Sandpit]

What does everyone think of the HOV/bus/taxi lanes, which take affect during rush hour? Do they work, in terms of making buses faster & more reliable?

Should we have more of them, and make them bus-only all day? If so, they could be further visually differentiated to make it clear that cars aren't permitted to use them.

To me, it seems like it could be a very cheap & effective way to improve bus line performance & reliability, even though it could be politically difficult since it takes lanes from cars.

Random photos of bus lanes:

I like to call them "Only Bus" lanes.

 

[Leo_Chan]

I like to call them "Only Bus" lanes.

I’m pretty sure reading the “ONLY” and “BUS” words when on the road, you’re suppose to read “BUS” before you read “ONLY” since you see it first.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

I really think the Mt Pleasant-Jarvis express bus needs to be made frequent and same fare as normal TTC.

I could see it relieving the Yonge Line by just a bit, and any relief is good relief.