Empty Buses

(Here is a little story on public transit I made up based on my experience as a municipal councillor  many years ago.)  

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One thing I’ve learned in my short career in municipal politics is that municipal politicians know how to problem solve.  It is what they do.

And the elected officials at Clarovista City Hall are no exception.

Take the issue of public transit for example. 

Public opinion is divided on transit in Clarovista.

Some people want it.  And others don’t.

Now the people who want it are mostly those that use it or would use it if the service was any good. 

Those that don’t want it or don’t want much of it or don’t want it on their street mostly have garages and two or three cars in their driveways.

These people with cars and garages worry about buses a lot particularly the matter of empty buses.  And they let their Council members know how they feel.

Councillor Roger Harris is particularly responsive.  Few buses run through Councillor Harris’ ward.  

Those that do certainly look empty to his constituents.

I’ve tried in public and in private conversations to explain empty buses to Harris. They happen routinely in the transit world, I say. They get empty when going in the opposite direction to rush hour peak flows and at the end of routes. Some times of day are less busy and some areas of the municipality have fewer riders. 

Harris himself has not been on a bus since riding a yellow one to day camp back when Diefenbaker was Opposition leader and C.D Howe and the Liberal Party were arrogant and flogging pipelines.

Harris has ideas for transit management to address the empty bus dilemma. Small buses are the way to go. They cost less and the optics would be better.  And, if the route ran every hour instead of every 20 minutes, we could save money.  Councillor Harris puts energy into the sketching out better routes for the buses.  Tricky stuff.  

Tonight, we receive the annual transit review.  It is the only area we review each year.  Questions of staff focus on efficiency, pros and cons of raising fares, decreasing support from the province.  

Councillors have ideas in all of these areas.

But Councillor Harris’ brainwave stops the meeting.

“Why can’t the buses just go back to the garage when they are empty?”

by

Ken Williams

Former Councillor

Ward 5

Clarovista

Empty Buses

I see that Hamilton City Council is deliberating on public transit issues as part of their budget discussions today.  And, it is no surprise that one Council member has raised the false issue of empty buses.  

Here is a little story I put together based on my experiences as a Councillor and transit advocate back two decades ago.  Clarovista is a fictional place.

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One thing I’ve learned in my short career in municipal politics is that municipal politicians know how to problem solve.  It is what they do.

And the elected officials at Clarovista City Hall are no exception.

Take the issue of public transit for example.

Public opinion is divided on transit in Clarovista.

Some people want it.  And others don’t.

Now the people who want it are mostly those that use it or would use it if the service was any good.
Those who don’t want it or don’t want much of it or don’t want it on their street mostly have garages and two or three cars in their driveways.

These people with cars and garages worry about buses a lot particularly the matter of empty buses.  And they let their Council members know.

Councillor Roger Harris is particularly responsive.  Few buses run through Councillor Harris’ ward. 
Those that do sure look empty to his constituents.

I’ve tried in public and in private conversations to explain empty buses to Harris. They happen routinely in the transit world, I say. They get empty when going in the opposite direction to rush hour peak flows and at the end of routes. Some times of day are less busy and some areas of the municipality have fewer riders.

Harris himself has not been on a bus since riding a yellow one to day camp back when Diefenbaker was Opposition leader and C.D Howe and the Liberal Party were arrogant and flogging pipelines.
Harris has ideas on how transit management can address the empty bus dilemma. Small buses are the way to go. They cost less and the optics would be better.  And, if the route ran every hour instead of every 20 minutes, we could save money.  Councillor Harris puts energy into the sketching out better routes for the buses.  Tricky stuff. 

Tonight, we receive the annual transit review.  It is the only area of our responsibilities that we review each year.

Questions of staff focus on efficiency, pros and cons of raising fares, decreasing support from the province.  Councillors have ideas in all of these areas.

But Councillor Harris’ brainwave stops the meeting.

“Why can’t the buses just go back to the garage when they are empty?”

Responding to Metrolinx’s Plan: “More Transit - Less Parking”

An important document for pubic transit is Metrolinx's Draft 2041 Regional Transportation Plan.

You can read that document at

https://www.metrolinxengage.com/en/collections/draft-plan 

Burlington for Accessible Sustainable Transit (BFAST) is interested in this plan. BFAST is a group that advocates for better transit service in Burlington. They aim to make Burlington Transit more convenient, reliable, accessible and affordable and enhance Burlington’s economy and quality of life.

I was around Burlington and involved in the formation of this group six or so years ago.  Since then BFAST has done a good job making their case but have not been listened to by short sighted, narrow minded decision makers in Burlington. 

BFAST's Doug Brown 

Doug Brown is BFAST’s Chair.  Following are Doug’s comments from a recent consultation on that plan. 

In the "Big Move" 25% of funding was to go to the Greater Toronto Hamilton area (GTHA) municipalities. Of this 25%, 15% was to support local transit improvements. This funding should have resulted in an infusion of $300 million annually to local transit systems. Such a commitment would have resulted in large improvements to local transit. 

However, this commitment has quietly disappeared from the Big Move and from the 2041 draft Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

Instead, we have more parking planned at GO stations!  It looks like the first mile/last mile will be by car for most GO users.

Even using the lower parking scenario, GO will be creating 30,000 additional spaces. Using the estimate of $40,000/space (the Clarkson parking facility cost $40 million to create 1000 spaces) means that these additional spaces will cost will more $1.2 Billion! 

It would be far more cost effective to invest this money in local transit. 

Clarkson GO Parking - $40,000 per spot

In addition, the large parking lots and parking garages surrounding suburban stations will create large barren parking zones. This will make it more difficult to develop pedestrian-friendly mobility hubs around each station. 

Also, Metrolinx should be charging for parking at GO Stations. A recent study in Hamilton clearly showed that paid parking will greatly increase the transit modal share1 . Metrolinx needs to review the extensive research on parking strategies carried out by Shoup et al2.

References

1. Pinder, Matt: By the Numbers: Impacts of Paid Parking at Work on Commuter Modal Share, Published July 08, 2015 in "Raise the Hammer" https://www.raisethehammer.org/article/2647/by_the_numbers:_impacts_of_paid_parking_at_work_on_commuter_mod

2. Shoup, Donald:  The High Cost of Free Parking:  Updated Edition Paperback– Apr 1 2011

Metrolinx Meeting

There will be a report back on the Draft 2041 Regional Transportation Plan at a Metrolinx Board meeting. That meeting takes place at Metrolinx, Thursday December 7th at 11:10 a.m. Union Station West Wing, Peter R. Smith Boardroom 97 Front St W, 4th floor.