Bike Walk Bus Toronto

 Hey friends! Two blog posts ago, I showed what I think the worst bus stops in Toronto were. While I promised the next part would be the worst stops in the Greater Toronto Area, I have decided that I will do this first. Today we'll be looking at the best and worst transfers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. When using a transit system, there is an expectation that multiple routes or services will have to be used. Transit systems can make this easier by locating stops conveniently, or building hubs where multiple services connect. Just because they can, however, does not mean they do! Unfortunately, by choice, in addition to compounding factors, there are a number of places in the region that are not easy to make transfers. This blog post will explore some of the worst, but we will share some good news in the form of some of the best at the end. The Worst Transfers I want to start by noting that Islington Station and Warden Station are terrible for transfers, but they will not be her...

 Hey pals! Hamilton really is a gem: it has great restaurants, cool places to hike, and a lot to do. Although I don't go there nearly as much as I want to, I try to make an effort to go out and hit some of my favourite spots (shout out to Mulberry Coffeehouse!). One thing I like about Hamilton is how it is relatively easy to get around by bus. While frequencies are not where they should be on a number of routes, especially atop the mountain, service runs decently well, and to around 1am on all routes. One thing the city lacks, however, is overnight service. Considering the state of the transit network, this is a bit surprising. In this blog post, I argue as to why night service in Hamilton is obvious, and what I think a basic network would look like. This expands on a draft map I posted on my Twitter a few months back. Why Should Hamilton Have Night Service? Hamilton should have night service simply because the quality of the daytime network justifies extension. Two corridors, the ...

This post was inspired by an annual survey by Streetsblog USA. Called 'Sorriest Bus Stops,' it attempts to find the worst stop in the North America (it was originally just for the USA, but both Metro Vancouver and Quebec City have won in recent years). As such, I have decided to find the twelve worst bus stops in Toronto. I am only focussing on TTC stops, and won't focus on other agencies. I will be sure to make a blog post to find the worst stops in the rest of the GTA (I already have a feeling that a particular stop in Oakville might win the worst award). Obviously this is based on what I know, and I'm sure I've missed a few terrible stops. Please let me know; I can add them in! What Makes a Stop Good or Bad? There's a number of criteria that makes stops good or bad. While some people may consider some to be option, I think they all have their place in making a bus stop a good place. The number one most important piece of stop infrastructure is a concrete pa...

If you follow me on Twitter, you regularly see me bitch about random things. One thing I recently tweeted about was the uselessness of the service provision to Giltspur Drive, near Jane and Sheppard. I expanded this random argument in order to create a specific type of issue experienced with transit planning in suburban environments. That is the purpose of this blog post: it will use the case study of Giltspur in order to create a model for assessing transit planning challenges. I know this sounds boring! It mostly will not be though! First: Establishing Giltspur Drive A lot of the writing thus far as spoken about this near-mythical Giltspur Drive, so it's important to set the scene here. Giltspur Drive is a residential east-west road that runs for about 1 kilometre between Jane Street and Northover Street, just south of Sheppard. It acts as a ridge road above the Black Creek, which runs parallel to the south. The street is entirely single-family homes, aside Calico Public School a...

 Many people love to talk about how good transit is in Montreal, but these arguments are devoid of any mention of the lackluster bus network. I've been in the city a few times recently, and have relied on the bus network to get around. It is miserable, and one key thing that makes it just that bad are half-frequencies during peaks. In this (very) short blog post, I'm going to identify my biggest issue with STM, and what must be done in order to solve it. What do I mean by 'Half-Frequency'? Half-frequency is a transit practice where, instead of having a consistent headway throughout a route, one direction is more frequent than the other. I will use the example of STM's 170 Keller route. In the morning peak, most demand is eastbound, for Station Côte-Vertu. As such, buses operate this way every 14 minutes. In the less-busy westbound direction, for Gouin/Toupin, buses operate around every 28 minutes. Half of the buses that run east operate 'Not in Service' west...