Bus Time Machine.

I finally got to ride a bus running under the new Saskatoon Transit route structure.  In a way it was like taking a time machine, since I rode the 18 College Park/University.  A route numbered 18 served our area prior to July of 2006, when the last comprehensive renovation of bus routes took place. 

My judgement on the new routes?  Too early to tell yet.  The actual times haven't changed from the previous Route 3 through College Park, so I catch the bus at the same time I had before.  And I can quickly reach the University of Saskatchewan and the Centre Mall simply by catching the bus on one side of the street or the other.  But now there's no direct route to downtown.  I'll either have to transfer at the Centre or the University to some other bus.  Nor have I had the chance to try some of the new routes, like the route from Centre Mall servicing the Stonebridge area.  But the changes aren't likely to bother me like they have some other bus riders.

Today's Dumbdumb.

Obviously there are zillions I could choose from.  But today I will highlight a very local one.  I live a couple of blocks from Sid Buckwold Park.  Sometimes people park cars they have for sale by the park on McKercher Drive, hoping to get some cheap advertising.  Today someone parked their for sale red Ford Taurus by the park. Just about right in the middle of the bus stop, by the bus shelter and its associated garbage can/bench.  I seriously can't imagine how they could miss them, along with the associated bus stop signs in front and behind where they parked. 

I suspect they won't enjoy the parking ticket they're certain to get, or having to get their vehicle out of impound if it ends up being towed.

The Wheels On The Buses...

...are going round again in Saskatoon.  Specifically Saskatoon Transit is back in action.  Hopefully the city won't try for another lockout.  Service will be free until the end of the month, so if you've never taken the buses here before, or haven't in a long time, you might want to go for a ride or two. 

FYI: Saskatoon Transit Refunds

Currently have a Saskatoon Transit bus pass?  The City of Saskatoon is offering a number of options to compensate for the lost service caused by September's lockout.  You can see the details here.  Of course it requires you to be able to get to one of those locations, which may be kind of hard for some of you without transit service.

I Blame You.

I want my bus service back.  I blame you, City of Saskatoon, for it not being there.  After all you were the ones who locked out the transit workers.  I think you're trying to play games, both with city council ramming through the changes in the city pension plan, and perhaps with operating expenses for transit.  After all if there are no buses running for X days that's X days gas isn't being burned, along with whatever other expenses you pay to keep buses running for 18 hours a day.

In general I don't think the current city council has munch interest in transit.  After all the downtown bus mall has long been a source of complaints, and what has been done about it?  Pretty much nothing.  They seem more interested in ridiculous plans for when Saskatoon has a population of 500 thousand, or even a million, a situation that may never occur.   They don't seem to think that if you get things right now it makes for a stronger base for the future.

A Small Busriding Pleasure.

Having a couple who were involved in an increasingly loud argument decide to get off the bus early, preventing me from having to listen to said argument for the next 15 odd minutes.

Bridging The Two Solitudes.

This morning I rode Saskatoon Transit 504.  This is a late '90s Nova Bus manufactured bus that used to be part of Montreal's transit fleet.  You can still see signs, literally, of its previous ownership, as the "Stop Requested" signs are still the French "Arret Demande" signs appropriate for French speaking Montreal.  Given that this and the other used Montreal Novas Saskatoon bought last year don't seem to see much service I guess they feel no need to change the signs.

Another Sighting.

Following up my last post this morning I rode 0601, again a DART bus, and it too was equipped with an electronic sign.  Besides the time and "Stop Requested" message this one also displayed the upcoming stop.  There was no voice announcement, so perhaps this can be turned off by the driver if they find it annoying.  Interesting that the two buses I've encountered so far with these signs were both 2006 purchase date vehicles.

New Transit Tech.

I got on Saskatoon Transit bus 0604 today, which is one of the DART buses.  As I sat down I noticed a digital readout in place where the usual stop requested sign was.  At the time it was simply showing the current time.  It was only after we got over the University Bridge that a stop was requested, and as I suspected this gizmo flashed "Stop Requested" when the bell cord was pulled.  This was accompanied by a male voice stating "Stop Requested."  So, was this a test fit, or is it already planned to install these things on all buses?  We'll soon find out.  The unit does have a problem in my view, the "Stop Requested" message appears only briefly after the cord is pulled, so inattentive riders might pull the cord even though the bus will soon be stopping.  It will also be interesting to see if this unit has more sophisticated functions, like announcing upcoming stops as the bus approaches them.  Of course units that can do that are probably more expensive than ones that have only one message.

A Long Walk Avoided?

Things are looking up a bit for those of us who use the bus a lot.  Workers at Saskatoon Transit, represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 615, are currently without a contract.  The last one ended 19 months ago.  When the union announced this week that it would not accept overtime, starting today, as part of a job action the city retaliated by threatening to lock them out Monday.  Fortunately both sides have now agreed to a mediator,  and the lockout has been lifted.

Back in 1994 we had a transit strike.  The strike started when I was across town at the Mall at Lawson Heights.  I was standing at the bus mall, waiting for a bus, when a city employee showed up to let us know there would be no more buses that day.  As I result I ended up walking home, which is quite the trip.  Fortunately this was during the Summer, so it was just a long walk.  I hate to think what it would have been like  if it was Winter.  This all but certainly wouldn't have happened this time, since I would have had ample warning, and Monday is the Saskatchewan Day public holiday anyways.  But I'm sure there are others who would have had to use the bus Monday who would be in a bad spot.

Rode The Big Rig.

I finally got a chance to ride one of Saskatoon Transit's new articulated buses this morning.  I rode in the back to get a full impression.  It was funny looking out the window and seeing the equivalent of a whole bus across from me as the bus made a sharp turn.  I picked up on a couple of things that I suspect may cause complaints from some riders.  Firstly the rubber accordion section between the two sections of the bus squeeks a lot as the bus moves, which may annoy some.  Further if you're sitting in the rear half you can see the front end of the foward section move up and down as it passes over high and low points in the road, and I wonder if this might not bother some folks prone to car sickness or other motion sickness problems. 

With the new buses going into service and due to other changes with various routes they've altered the 23rd Street bus mall stops a bit.  This includes taking out some parking spaces at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 23rd Street to make space for new bus stalls, which may annoy some people becuase it will reduce parking for what is a busy area, namely the Sturdy Stone Centre and the main branch of the Saskatoon Public Library on 23rd Street.

The bus I rode today was 1006.  You can see some external pictures I took of bus 1007 here.  The third articulated bus is labelled 1005.

Go Pass In Action.

As a followup to yesterday's post on the new Saskatoon Transit Go Pass system here's a shot of the electronic fare box used.  This includes a printer for transfers on the right of the unit.

And here's a closeup of the top of the unit.  To use your Go Pass you hold it close to the blue area for several seconds.  The unit then scans it and confirms your pass is currently paid up.  I found it worked with my pass sitting in a card sleeve in my wallet, so I won't have to take it in and out all the time.

Apparently not everyone got the message about the changes.  Even this morning there was a lineup of people trying to get into the customer service office in the downtown bus mall.  You can in fact already buy the passes elsewhere, but apparently you need to go to customer service to exchange any existing transit tickets you have for a Go Pass.  I bought mine at the Centre at Circle and 8th Shoppers Drug Mart.  Some people were probably hoping to get their pass personalised, which allows you to easily replace it without losing your existing balance on the pass should it be lost or stolen.  I'll probably do this as well, but I think I'll wait for a week or two and let the rush die down.

One interesting thing I did notice is that the bus driver apparently has to sign in and out of the unit if he leaves the bus.  I wonder if this kind of information might not be examined by management to keep an eye on what the drivers are doing when buses are stopped at the various bus malls and so on.

If you have any comments about the new system feel free to leave them in the comments section.  I would especially be interested in hearing from anyone who is familiar with the actual technical operation of this and similar systems.

End Of An Era.

Today marks the end of an era.  It is the last day Saskatoon Transit will use bus tickets and conventional bus passes.  You can see examples of the adult monthly passes they've issued over the last few years in this photo.



This is the final paper pass issued, covering January of 2010.  The switchover was chosen for the beginning of February given that the World Junior Hockey Championship was running in Saskatoon at the start of January and they wanted to avoid complicating  things for visitng bus users.



Passes and bus tickets have been replaced with this, the resuable Go-Pass Smart Card.  A disposable one day version is also available.  The buses have all had electronic fare boxes installed that will read these passes as well as accept coins, which they will count to ensure you pay the right amount.  Paper money will no longer be accepted, which is just as well given that paper money tended to jam up the old coin tubes.

23rds Not The Charm.

Last night City Council discussed the plans for renovating the troublesome 23rtd Street bus mall. Although no actual work has been done yet the project is expected to go over budget, and the councillors sent the current design proposal back to Saskatoon Transit for more work. They feel the proposed design isn't patron friendly enough, and doesn't consider the potential for housing businesses. But I have to wonder about Maurice Neault, whose idea is that the terminal building be put on stilts, 15 feet in the air, in an effort to create some sort of cool landmark. Does Neault actually use the buses? If he did he would see that many users of the system are seniors, mothers with young children, and the disabled. His "skyterminal" would therefore require elevators to allow access to these customers, who will not be likely to climb two storeys of stairs to access whatever public facilities might go in the terminal building. A street level terminal building is much more accessable and much more welcoming.

I'll also use this post to make a prediction. One of the ideas in the existing terminal plan is for some sort of coffee shop. It will not surprise me at all if this turns out to be a Tim Hortons. Currently the nearest Hortons to downtown is by Kelsey Institute on Idylwyld Drive. They have no outlet in downtown proper, and the bus mall would be an obvious location for them to build one.

Inappropriate.

Like any sensible person I believe that one should practice safe sex. However one should also dispose of one's birth control equipment in an appropriate fashion. This afternoon I saw a condom draped over the seat divider on a bus. As you might imagine I made no effort to see if it had been used or not. If it had been used I can only imagine what kind of pig would dispose of it in a public place like that. Of course it's far more likely it wasn't used, and was simply put there as someone's idea of a crude joke. After all no one is likely to be having sex on a city bus during the daytime, and who carries used condoms along with them?

The New (Bus) Order, Reaction.

This morning's Saskatoon Star Phoenix has an article on some initial reactions to the new bus routes. As you can imagine there is a lot of confusion, and customer service is fielding a lot of calls. Dan Bichel, head of Amalgamated Transit Union local 615 comments in the article that he thinks some stops may have to be moved. A good example I know of is the new bus stop on Acadia Drive just at the intersection with 8th Street. Whoever decided it should go there really should have spent some time watching the traffic patterns there, as it is right beside the exit to a strip mall that contains a Tim Hortons, resulting in lots of traffic coming out of that exit. Then you have the people who go across 8th on Acadia in the right hand lane, where the bus will be stopping. In other words they've taken an intersection that's already got considerable potential for accidents and increased that potential. Sure, the bus might only stop at that stop say once an hour, but its still likely to cause trouble.

As for me the new route through my area actually makes things a little bit more flexible. If I catch the bus on one side of the street I can go to Circle Park Mall as I could on the old route. Catch the bus on the other side and I can go downtown through a bit of Sutherland and via the University of Saskatchewan, where I go occasionally to use the main library. A much better scenario than those folks who suddenly have to walk several blocks because the bus stop they previously used is no longer serviced by the new routes. I did get on the wrong bus yesterday, but that could happen going certain places on the old routes as well.

Goodbye.

Today is the last day for the old Saskatoon Transit Service bus routes and schedules. So its goodbye to the 18 Express. Its goodbye to Route 8 7th Avenue North. To Routes 6 and 6A. To 20 University. And to so many others I've ridden over the years. Its also goodbye to many old bus stops as well. How the public will react to the changes we'll soon know. But for good or bad at least they picked the right time to do it. Its not hard to guess that summer ridership is lower than other times of the year given that school is out for the summer and many other people who use the bus are on vacation. Things will be messy enough, but would have been rather messier if they changed everything September 1st. You can see the new routes here.

Random Mix II

This morning I had a package of Munchies BBQ Peanuts. I don't know what was on them, whether it was chili powder, cayenne pepper, or what have you, but whatever it was it sure made my tongue hot. I actually left some in the bag because of the heat. They reminded me of a package of buffalo wing flavour Old Dutch potato chips I had a few years back. They made my tongue so hot I had to eat them in more than one sitting.

If I'd looked at the fat content on the peanut package I probably would have skipped them. Lots of fat in those little dears. I ate way too much today. Fortunately I'm going to eat a lot less, including less fat, tomorrow.

I got a look at one of the Saskatoon Transit Service's new diesel-electric hybrid buses today. There was a Saskatoon centennial event in front of City Hall today that included the bus. Inside it didn't look all that different from the current low floor buses, although the seats are cloth covered. 4 of these hybrid buses have been acquired, along with 13 new diesel buses. They'll be used as part of STS's new DART rapid transit service, to be introduced July 2nd. The 27 buses used on the DART routes will also have bike racks.

The hybrid buses aren't a huge surprise. STS has been experimenting with using biodiesel in several buses over the past few years.

July 2nd will see all bus routes change. From what I've seen so far I'm not entirely convinced. Where I live for example it will be easier to get downtown, but seems to be harder to get to the Centre at Circle and 8th, the nearest large mall and home to one of the city's primary bus transfer points. If I read the schedules correctly at times I may have to ride all the way downtown and transfer to another bus to get to a location the current bus route in my area goes directly to. Good luck to the bus drivers, as their stress levels are likely to be quite high the first month or two as they deal with confused and irate bus patrons asking how they get to various places, and complaining that they can't go to X the way they used to.

During the noon hour it was misting. It was interesting to walk through that instead of more substantial rain. I would imagine today's damp and cool conditions were a disappointment to organisers of today's centennial outdoor presentation.