Calgary Transit

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Calgary transit is still going to remove seats in the train cars and essentially make them standing room only. They for some reason think they can fit more people in the trains WITHOUT field testing that theory. I don't believe it will work as people don't want to cuddle closer to strangers and want to keep from touching each other. The seating configuration also provides suitable seating during off peak hours which is the vast majority of the time the trains are in use.

 

Sent a note into your Alderman and stop this madness.

 

Sun

[bhurt]

Calgary transit is still going to remove seats in the train cars and essentially make them standing room only. They for some reason think they can fit more people in the trains WITHOUT field testing that theory. I don't believe it will work as people don't want to cuddle closer to strangers and want to keep from touching each other. The seating configuration also provides suitable seating during off peak hours which is the vast majority of the time the trains are in use.

 

Sent a note into your Alderman and stop this madness.

 

Sun

 

Well I have been taking the train for the last ten years and always take it during peek hours and even with the seats in place you still get cramed in, and alot of times I have to skip one or two trains before I can even get on the train.

 

I think removing some seats is a good thing personally that means I will not have to get up at 5am to get to work for 7am because I might not have to skip two or three trains.

 

For the people that live at the end of the train line it might be a pain cause now they will have to stand instead of sitting, but have you ever tried to catch the train at Anderson at 6am? or even at Chinook at 3pm? On most days it takes me 1hour to get from anderson to chinook in the morning and coming home it takes almost the same amount of time.

 

During the summer time it might be diffrent but during school time and winter, removing the seats means more people can get on and I will not have to skip two or three trains before I can get on, winter is the worst cause there has been times when riding the train I get trapped and people will not move to let me out while others are pusing to get on.

[duanec]

it's true that less seats = more bodies and sorry they do not consider personal space or anyone's dislike of cuddling in the calculations. welcome to [c]rush hour in a major city.

ya should see the transit system in tokyo. they will push you in if you can't get in.

 

funny thing? ct has one of the highest % useage/population compared to other major metro centers.

 

i do not argue that ct's approach to defining/providing an appropriate level of service, safety and comfort for the $$ spend is flawed: let's make mass transit less appealing and charge more, and charge for parking. and it's kinda scary at times, oh and unpleasant...just ignore that guy pressed up against your side with his headphones blasting that smells like urine...and what's that in his pocket?

 

once again, ya should see the transist system in tokyo.

zero tolerance on rudeness, foul language, loud music, cellphones [!], loud conversation, bad breath...

no personal space [understatement] however your ride was fast, cheap, efficient, on schedule, and as pleasant as possible considering the circumstances.

 

 

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Well I have been taking the train for the last ten years and always take it during peek hours and even with the seats in place you still get cramed in, and alot of times I have to skip one or two trains before I can even get on the train.

 

I think removing some seats is a good thing personally that means I will not have to get up at 5am to get to work for 7am because I might not have to skip two or three trains.

 

For the people that live at the end of the train line it might be a pain cause now they will have to stand instead of sitting, but have you ever tried to catch the train at Anderson at 6am? or even at Chinook at 3pm? On most days it takes me 1hour to get from anderson to chinook in the morning and coming home it takes almost the same amount of time.

 

During the summer time it might be diffrent but during school time and winter, removing the seats means more people can get on and I will not have to skip two or three trains before I can get on, winter is the worst cause there has been times when riding the train I get trapped and people will not move to let me out while others are pusing to get on.

 

Problem is Calgary Transit's solution is to produce a report based upon "expectations" and not realitiy. The reality is that there will not be a significant increase in people fitting on a train but rather many more people standing in the heat of the summer. I have done the visual calculations, looked at how people stand on the train in both the open areas and seated areas, compared how many people can fit across in both scenarios and this supposed 10% or more increase per train seems very unrealistic. If you look in the train there are gaps where people could condense. They don't. Reason is often hand holds, height issues, handicaps, strollers, drunks, pop bottle bags, bikes, personal space, etc. People will not change but rather all this does is make the service worse. During peak times they need to start trains further down to relieve inner station congestion.

 

Keep this thread in your minds...this idea ain't going to work unfortunately. They "planned" on paper the shelter isses at Somerset...which failed the actual use test in a big, big way.

 

Now is just another bad decision in the making.

[bhurt]

it's true that less seats = more bodies and sorry they do not consider personal space or anyone's dislike of cuddling in the calculations. welcome to [c]rush hour in a major city.

ya should see the transit system in tokyo. they will push you in if you can't get in.

 

funny thing? ct has one of the highest % useage/population compared to other major metro centers.

 

i do not argue that ct's approach to defining/providing an appropriate level of service, safety and comfort for the $$ spend is flawed: let's make mass transit less appealing and charge more, and charge for parking. and it's kinda scary at times, oh and unpleasant...just ignore that guy pressed up against your side with his headphones blasting that smells like urine...and what's that in his pocket?

 

once again, ya should see the transist system in tokyo.

zero tolerance on rudeness, foul language, loud music, cellphones [!], loud conversation, bad breath...

no personal space [understatement] however your ride was fast, cheap, efficient, on schedule, and as pleasant as possible considering the circumstances.

Dwyane,

 

Compare our transit to Tokyo's is like comparing apples to oranges.

 

The asian culture also is very much diffrent then the N. American culture.

 

Another thing to remeber about tokoy's transit system is that they move over 9 million people a day.

 

Do I like beeing cramped in a train, no but it is much better then taking a hour to get home when the actual train trip is only 10mins at the most.

[Guest rickleblanc]

I don't want to make any hyperbolic statements, but have any of you had the...opportunity to compare Calgary's transit to Edmonton's? I don't think you have anything to complain about.

 

Rick

[fishpro]

Personally I think this is a good idea, there will be more room and more people will fit onto the trains. I can say from experience that people do cram in very close to one another on the trains when they need to fit more people on.

 

Another option would be to put 4 cars per train, then at the smaller stations just stagger the trains at the platform so people could enter and exit all four at once.

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Personally I think this is a good idea, there will be more room and more people will fit onto the trains. I can say from experience that people do cram in very close to one another on the trains when they need to fit more people on.

 

Another option would be to put 4 cars per train, then at the smaller stations just stagger the trains at the platform so people could enter and exit all four at once.

 

4 cars per train is better and CT is moving in that direction. That is why they are replacing stations downtown. Timing for that to start is still probably 5-10 years.

 

As for the removal of seats...if you count people on the train in the spot where there are currently window seating only and compare to the 2X2 seating, there is very, very little difference in how many people can cram in. I doubt they thought hard on the fact most people can't comfortably reach the ceiling hand holds and therefore lots of awkward standing trying to find a vertical pole to use. I truly hope they at least try one and see how it works before converting them all over. That would be stupid but knee jerk decisions are what Calgary planners are best at.

 

First the Indians refuse a ring road AFTER Calgarians put in access to their casino. Now we are paying for a traffic circle to improve traffic flow rather than a proper over pass at Glenmore and 37th.

 

Anyways...as a regular rider...removal of seats for the 2 out of 22 hours a day the trains are uses is silly.

 

IMHO

[jonny5]

Whats your commute? Try taking a bike if its less than 10km... I started doing that about a year and a half ago, and have only missed 2 days (with a flu). its WAY nicer than bus/train... and when the weather warms up the scenery on the pathways can be good at times.

 

[LynnF]

God I'm glad I ride the Express bus. Although now with the whole BRT crap, I might change my mind. Calgary Transit is like every other civic function right now - trying to play catch up with a city that grew too fast. And it's not doing it well - just doing it the only way it knows how. I personally agree that removing seats to accommodate 3 - 4 hours of rush hour service is ridiculous. I'd love to know what the actual # difference is to justify that. No matter - I will NEVER take the train again. Not the crowds that keep me away but the lack of security and general feeling of well being for me.