SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 4(b)
P&E COMMITTEE AGENDA
OCTOBER 10, 1996
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: October 1, 1996
TO: Standing Committee on Planning & Environment
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: 1997/98 Conceptual Transit Service Plan
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council receive for information the 1997/98 Conceptual
Service Plan, and request the Vancouver Regional Transit
Commission to provide an opportunity for the municipalities
to comment on specific proposed service changes in the Annual
Service Plan in advance of its approval.
B. THAT the Vancouver Regional Transit Commission concentrate
the allocation of new resources for the 1997/98 Annual
Service Plan in the City of Vancouver in order to deal with
historical under-funding and service cutbacks, with the
following focuses:
- Service to the high density Riverside/Fraser
Lands/Champlain Heights South, and North Shore False
Creek areas
- Overcrowding/passups and schedule reliability
- Granville Rapid Bus - including consideration of letting
Vancouver riders board the existing suburban buses at
the major transfer points on Granville Street, in
advance of introducing the full RapidBus concept
- A general route restructuring and innovative fare policy
for Vancouver s Central Area, including introduction of
the following routes:
West End Loop
Central Broadway To Downtown Loop
the local Downtown Vancouver portion of the North
Burnaby transit changes
COUNCIL POLICY
Council's priorities for transportation modes are walking, cycling,
transit, goods movement, and the automobile.
Council supports measures to increase transit use as a means of
reducing the impacts of general vehicular traffic growth and improving
regional air quality, as per the "Clouds of Change" initiatives.
Council has approved a number of requests for transit service
improvements including a package of service design guidelines and
additional routes, as described in appendix A.
PURPOSE
This report discusses BC Transit s conceptual service plan for next
year.
BACKGROUND
Each year BC Transit prepares a report to the Vancouver Regional
Transit Commission (VRTC) that outlines the proposed changes to transit
service in the Region for the coming fiscal year. Once approved, the
report is used to prepare the budget.
Normally the report is prepared in the fall and forwarded to the
municipalities for comment prior to a final decision by the VRTC in
November. This year, however, a Conceptual Service Plan has been
prepared which contains no details on transit changes proposed for each
municipality. Instead, the plan outlines the concepts and directions
to be followed in producing the detailed Annual Service Plan for
approval in November. This Annual Service Plan will be the first of
five annual plans that implement BC Transit s current Five year Plan
and Funding Strategy. The Five Year Plan is discussed in a companion
report.
On September 11 1996, the VRTC approved the conceptual plan and
directed BC Transit to:
circulate the plan to municipalities and other stakeholders for
review and comment, and
bring forward a detailed Annual Service Plan in November 1996.
1997/98 CONCEPTUAL TRANSIT PLAN
The plan proposes a 4% increase (140,000 hours) in annual transit
service at an annual cost of $8.4 million. As itemized in Appendix B,
additional resources would be concentrated in three main areas:
1. Improve Services in the Growth Concentration Area (GCA)
About 60% of the increase will be used to improve the quality and
reliability of existing services in the GCA. The GCA comprises
Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, North Surrey, North Delta and
the North East. The report singles out Vancouver for particular
attention in this allocation of service, but there is no
indication what portion of the new resources the City would
receive.
2. Improve Services on Regional and Commuter Routes
About 20% of the new service would be used to improve frequencies
on existing routes between Downtown Vancouver and the outlying
communities, and between Regional Town Centres.
3. Local Area Plans, New routes and Other Transit Services
About 15% of the new service would be for improvements outside the
GCA, based on conducting local area plans.
BC Transit proposes several other minor improvements including the
reallocation of resources from low to high productivity service
products.
NEED FOR MORE INFORMATION
BC Transit has provided a concept plan rather than a detailed Annual
Service Plan for review. This change in process essentially
eliminates formal municipal input and is not appropriate. It is
important the City be able to comment on the detailed plan, as general
concepts can be misinterpreted. For example, BC Transit s recent
controversial proposed service cuts on busy routes in the City were
described as Productivity Improvements, which they were not.
In view of the lack of details, it is recommended that Council simply
receive the Conceptual Service Plan for information, and request BC
Transit to provide an opportunity for the City to comment on specific
proposed service changes in the Annual Service Plan in advance of VRTC
approval.
NEED FOR NEW SERVICES
It is important the City inform BC Transit of its service needs and
priorities, notwithstanding the lack of information.
An encouraging aspect of the plan is that it represents a change from
the policy during the last fifteen years of adding new resources to the
outlying suburban areas while reducing service in Vancouver. As
discussed in previous reports, transit services in the City were
reduced in the early 1980's. In view of the history, a significant
majority of the new service in the plan should be allocated to the
City.
The establishment of service should have four main focuses, based on
the improvements requested previously by Council in Appendix A:
- Provide Service to High Density Areas - Appropriate transit
service is required for the high density residential areas in
Riverside/Fraser Lands/Champlain Heights South and on the North
Shore of False Creek.
- Overcrowding/Passups and Schedule Reliability - The existing
transit system should be made to work well. Therefore, reducing
overcrowding/passups, and improving schedule reliability (e.g.
missed or late trips) should be a priority.
- Granville RapidBus - This project has been put on hold as part of
the Provincial capital spending freeze. However, the planning
phase should be initiated. In addition, consideration should be
given to establishing a similar inexpensive interim service by
adjusting the regular suburban services to allow Vancouver riders
to board existing express buses at major transfer points.
- General Route Restructuring and Innovative Fare Policies for the
Vancouver Central Area - This would include introducing the West
End Loop, the Local Downtown Vancouver transit portion of the
North Burnaby transit changes, and the Central Broadway to
Downtown service.
* * * * *
APPENDIX A - Page 1 of 5
SELECTED COUNCIL REQUESTS FOR CONVENTIONAL TRANSIT SERVICE (I.E. NOT
INCLUDING RAIL TECHNOLOGY, OR SPECIAL SERVICES FOR THE DISABLED)
The Vancouver Regional Transit Commission (VRTC) was requested to
receive the following for input into the BC Transit study on Service
Design Guidelines (reaffirmed Feb 22, 1996):
A.1 That the current network of Owl Service routes be specified in the
Service Design Guidelines.
A.2 That the minimum frequency during peak periods for primary urban
routes be changed from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
A.3 That the minimum frequencies on evenings, Sundays and holidays for
secondary urban routes be changed from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.
A.4 That the maximum average load for each transit route in the peak
AM and PM periods, measured over the most crowded three
consecutive buses, be 2.5 standing persons per square metre (i.e.,
about 60 passengers in total or 22 standees on a City trolley
bus).
A.5 That the maximum load for one individual trip in the published bus
timetables in the peak AM and PM periods be 4 standing persons per
square metre (i.e., about 70 passengers total, or 32 standees on a
City trolley bus.)
A.6 That pass-ups (fully-loaded buses passing by transit patrons
waiting at a bus stop) not be permitted, in so far as it is
possible to schedule trips to avoid this.
A.7 That BC Transit provide a regular report to the VRTC on the number
of pass-ups by time period for each service.
A.8 That BC Transit initiate a comprehensive study to identify
alternatives and costs to improve the peak period crowding and
pass-up situation for major routes in the City.
A.9 That the maximum off-peak load be 1.0 standing passenger per
square metre (i.e., 8 standees on a City trolley bus).
A.10 That the maximum passenger standing time in off-peak periods be
five minutes.
A.11 That a minimum cost recovery standard for transit services be
investigated for application in the Greater Vancouver Region as
part of BC Transit's review of alternative productivity indices
and data requirements.
APPENDIX A - Page 2 of 5
A.12 That 99.8% of all bus trips operate in their entirety (i.e., only
2 misses or unscheduled short turns in 1,000), to be applied
individually to each specified service run in the published bus
timetables.
A.13 That an appropriate set of on-time guidelines be developed
applicable to each service run in the published bus schedule.
A.14 That the VRTC approve guidelines for the following:
- Vehicle interior maintenance and cleanliness.
- Rate of acceleration/deceleration and magnitude of "jerk"
(eg., gear changes, etc.).
- Air circulation and humidity.
A.15 That the success rates in achieving these guidelines be reported
at regular intervals to the VRTC.
A.16 That all buses in the Region provide sufficient internal on-board
lighting (eg., for passenger security, reading, and negotiating
the aisle in the early morning and at night) in order to
illuminate at least 80% of the passenger area.
The items below were forwarded to BC Transit and/or the Vancouver
Regional Transit Commission for input into the appropriate transit
planning and operations processes (B1 to F3 reaffirmed or approved
February 22, 1996):
B1. That BC Transit and City Engineering staff undertake an ongoing
program of improving personal safety conditions at transit
facilities (including stations, bus loops and stops) in Vancouver,
and report to Council as necessary on additional costs.
B2. That more detailed data be collected (e.g., through the use of
operators and on-board automatic data recording devices) regarding
ridership, maximum loadings, reliability, etc., in order to
improve the decision making process for an efficient transit
system and to apply the service design guideline recommendations
above.
B3. That better field supervision be provided (potentially including
the introduction of an Automatic Vehicle Location and Control
[AVLC] system on selected routes) to control the positions of
buses on the street network to meet the guidelines above, and for
security purposes.
APPENDIX A - Page 3 of 5
B4. That improved public information systems be provided, including:
- maximum 5-minute wait for telephone transit information.
- consideration of innovative public timetable designs, eg.,
including travel time information and simplified format.
- improved driver training for customer relations.
- posted route information at appropriate bus stops.
B5. That transit service on heavily used corridors (e.g., Broadway) be
expedited with proof-of-payment systems (i.e., loading at both
doors for passengers with transfers) and "move to the rear"
programs to better balance loads, reduce crowding, and decrease
pass-ups.
B6. That bicycles carried by external bus racks be permitted on
appropriate routes.
B7. That the City's previous requests for the following service
improvements be confirmed:
- West End Loop - to provide a Downtown/West End shuttle, and
reduce the impact of downtown disruptions on the Main and
Fraser Street services.
- North Shore False Creek service.
- Southeast Vancouver extension - to serve new high density
residential land use in the Fraser Lands/Riverside area. - First Avenue Service.
- Stanley Park - service extension into the park.
- Evening and Sunday operation of the #1 service (or
alternative, see recommendation B12 below) on Beach Avenue.
B8. That the planned new express services on Granville Street and
Broadway be implemented as soon as possible.
B9. That the potential for other new express routes in the City be
investigated.
B10. That guidelines be developed to evaluate potential express routes,
including a minimum productivity measure and a travel time savings
warrant.
APPENDIX A - Page 4 of 5
B11. That articulated buses for selected City transit services be
acquired as soon as possible in advance of the current schedule
for the trolley fleet replacement program, in order to reduce
on-board crowding levels.
B12. That economical small bus operations be implemented in the City
where service has been withdrawn:
- in Vancouver Heights/Bridgeway (e.g., Cambridge Street).
- on Beach Avenue in the evenings and Sundays.
- in West Point Grey/UBC - (the #42 service will be
discontinued on Sundays, except in summer).
B13. That economical small bus/van services be considered in
low-density areas beyond 450 metres from existing routes (eg.,
Southlands), for Community Bus Routes designed for the elderly, or
for innovative Route Deviation (e.g., Dial-a-Bus) services in
off-peak times.
B14. That BC Transit expedite its review of the potential for low-floor
buses in Vancouver for completion prior to the purchase of new
vehicles for the Regional fleet.
C1. That BC Transit be requested to use electrified trolleys as much
as possible on West End routes.
D1. That the #22 Knight/Macdonald service be extended to Dunbar Loop
(previously reaffirmed by Council on January 13, 1994).
D2. Council, on January 14, 1992, supported a BC Transit concept for
improved service to the Vancouver International Airport including
direct service to the Downtown, and better evening and weekend
service for the #100 route.
E1. That the North Burnaby transit changes not include a reduction in
local service on Hastings Street and Broadway.
E2. That the Vancouver Regional Transit Commission request BC Transit
to reinvestigate the potential to provide a more economical
minibus service than the service that has been proposed, in order
to serve the low-ridership and special-needs areas of the City and
Region;
E3. That BC Transit be urged to add appropriate signage to bus
destination sign rollers, or to electronic signs located at the
front of buses indication "FULL - BUS FOLLOWING".
APPENDIX A - Page 5 of 5
E4. THAT Council request the Vancouver Regional Transit Commission and
BC Transit to expand the minibus program proposed by BC Transit to
include routes in Vancouver and, in the meantime, to look into
other provisions, i.e., Van Pools, to ensure communities are not
isolated due to the lack of transit.
F1. THAT BC Transit be asked to consider a West End Routing that
includes a Davie, Denman, Robson and Homer/Richards or Pacific
Boulevard loop trolley service.
F2. THAT BC Transit develop options for a new route linking Central
Broadway, the Downtown and Waterfront Station.
F3. THAT BC Transit consider providing more innovative fare policies
in order to encourage ridership, such as group based discounts for
educational, other government and major employment institutions.
F4. Council on June 20, 1989 requested the Vancouver Regional Transit
Commission to consider further the adoption of:
- a fourth fare zone including a review of Tsawwassen
in the fourth zone;
- differential zone fares in the off-peak with
off-peak fares less than the peak fares;
- Downtown Loop fare zone.