Provided below is a summary of the issue and the assessment that my staff has recently completed related to the provision of additional transit service in St. George’s Square (the Square).
Guelph Central Station (GCS) opened in May 2012 with the associated movement of Guelph Transit hub operations from the Square to the new facility. The new facility is located approximately 250m from Quebec Street. The direction the vehicles enter the facility and the respective bay allocations reflect the routing and service model developed as part of the Transit Growth Strategy which was implemented in January 2012. At the present time there are 2 outbound and 3 inbound routes that serve the Square.
Businesses on Wyndam N have provided feedback that sales and customer visits have declined since the move of Guelph Transit to GCS and have inquired as to the possibility/feasibility of having additional routes serve the Square in order to assist passengers, primarily seniors, by providing additional travel options and reducing walking distances.
As a starting point in assessing the feasibility of this request, a number of general transit principles and operational requirements of GCS must be outlined to provide some context for the assessment:
• GCS bus operations are comprised of a central island platform with a one-way circulation road on the north and south side leading into and out of the facility. Depending on whether a vehicle (route) uses the north or south side of the island, the efficient and safe flow of vehicles into/out of the facility is dictated to either the east or west.
• Guelph Transit utilizes a strategy of interlining which affords passengers the opportunity not to have to transfer between routes at the hub. The interlining strategy complicates the entrance/exit of vehicles at GCS as buses need to be stationed in the correct position to promote efficient flow. This is critical in terms of maintaining schedule adherence and minimizing run cycle dwell.
• All curb space not required for the current Guelph Transit operations in the Square has been converted into parking spaces to support commercial enterprises in the vicinity of the Square. Any additional transit traffic through the Square could have a negative impact on these new spaces.
• The location of specific routes at specific platforms at GCS are designed to minimize walking distances and promote efficient transfers at GCS where required.
• Safety issues such as sight lines and pedestrian protection are critical in terms of the routing used by buses to enter/exit GCS.
• Moving to a 30 minute service model requires that Guelph Transit operate on traffic corridors that support the minimization of road and traffic dwell time. There are 6 traffic signals (2 pedestrian crossings) using Wyndam N to access GCS while there are only 4 traffic signals (2 pedestrian crossings) using Woolwich to access GCS. There is the potential to add 1 minute or more to travel time during peak traffic and pedestrian periods by using the Wyndam N routing.Guelph Transit Planning staff undertook a detailed analysis of the existing route structure to determine which routes had any potential for rerouting through the Square. Routes that did not use GCS (i.e. those that served the University Centre only) or exited GCS to the east, west or south were eliminated from further analysis. Routes that could be considered for rerouting through the Square are summarized below:
• Route 2B – outbound
• Route 2A – inbound
• Route 10 – inbound and outbound
• Route 11 – inbound and outbound
• Route 13 – inbound
• Route 3B – inbound
• Route 20 – inbound and outbound
• Community Bus North – outboundThe suitability of each of the 11 routes listed above for travelling through the Square were assessed using the transit principles and operating requirements listed previously. Based on the analysis, the following routes can provide service to the Square efficiently and are recommended by staff to form the stop network in the Square:
• Route 10 – outbound
• Community Bus North – outbound
• Route 10 – inbound
• Route 11 – inbound
• Route 20 – inboundIn addition, to the routes going through the Square, there are a number of bus stops close to the Square that provide further travel options on additional routes:
• Sleeman Centre stop – services Routes 2A, 3B 12 and 13 (230m to Wyndam N)
• River Run stop – serves Routes 2B, 3A, 12, 13 and 20 (300m to Wyndam N)
• Cenotaph stop – serves Routes 2B and 3A (105m to Wyndam N)There are other options to reduce walking distance other than routing additional 40 foot conventional transit passes through the Square. One alternative would be to operate a shuttle bus that runs a continuous loop between GCS, the Square and Wyndam N. However, any of these alternatives would require incremental financial resources and would require further discussion with the DGBA and/or be subject to City budget deliberations.
Guelph Transit staff have heard feedback that seniors are saying they cannot get downtown as a result of the implementation the new routes in January. Staff understand that the extensive route revisions have likely been hard for seniors to assimilate and part of the current concern may be a communications issue. Guelph Transit would be pleased to work with the DGBA, downtown merchants and senior residences to prepare a program to ensure that these individual have the appropriate information to be able feel comfortable to travel on the new routes. Staff are willing to visit various sites around the City to deliver the program.
There has also been feedback that the new routing favours shopping at SmartCentre (Wal-Mart) over downtown. The new route system was designed so that SmartCentre is a transit transfer point for Routes 2 and 3, and not an origin/destination stop for the shopping complex. By having split the old Perimeter Route into bi-directional East and West Loops, there are now 4 additional routes that provide service to downtown that did not exist under the old route model. Staff