http://transportation.speakupwinnipeg.com/files/2011/11/2011-11-01-TTRWinnipegTMP-Final-Report.pdf
What we heard about transit in Winnipeg:
-Ongoing service enhancements to frequency and coverage are required
-Transit needs to be easy to understand and use for new immigrants
-Transit should be affordable
-Communities should be designed to minimize walking distances to transit
(pg 46)
Bus rapid transit in Ottawa, 1978 to 2008: Assessing the results (Abstract only)
By Sami Al-Dubikhi and Paul Mees, published in Town Planning Review vol. 81, iss. 4, by Liverpool University Press, 2010
“[Ridership figures] show that there has indeed been an increase in ridership following a low-point in 1972, but that the increase occurred before the first section of transitway opened in 1983. Per capita ridership peaked in 1983, but then declined steadily until the late 1990s (the 1996 figure was influenced by a lengthy bus operators’ strike) – in other words, during the period when the remaining sections of transitway progressively opened. Despite a recovery in recent years, per capita ridership remains much lower than it was immediately before the first transtway section opened.” (415)
Abstract available here: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/250277263_Bus_rapid_transit_in_Ottawa_1978_to_2008_Assessing_the_results
Thinking Outside the Bus
University of California Transportation Centre
“All else equal, the purpose of transit is to convey users to destinations, not simply to make them equally happy at stops and stations. Thus our findings suggest that transit managers, when they have a choice, would be well-advised to favor service frequency/reliability improvements over stop or station improvements. While lower in-vehicle travel times and comfortable, informative, and attractive stops and stations can make traveling by public transit more agreeable, what surveyed passengers report that they really want most is safe, frequent, and reliable service, plain and simple.”
http://www.uctc.net/access/40/access40_outsidethebus.shtml
Top Eight Reasons People Give up on Public Transit
“Riders don’t mind standing in crowded buses or trains as long as the vehicles move without delay and run frequently.”
“Small vehicles running more often may be better than large vehicles running less often.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2013/03/06/top-eight-reasons-people-give-up-on-public-transit/
Rapid Transit Funding Announcement – Nov. 19, 2013
The city and the province announced that they would both be contributing $225 million to the Southwest Corridor on November 19, 2013
http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=19593
Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis II — Travel Time Costs
Victoria Transportation Policy Institute
A discussion of how individuals choose to use various transportation options
“if a highway or transit improvement increases travel speeds, commuters often accept longer distance commutes.” (pg 5.2-6)
“Conventional transport evaluation often undervalues qualitative travel time cost factors, which skews planning decisions to favor increased travel speed at the expense of other improvements. For example, conventional evaluation accounts for roadway widening travel time savings but not the additional delay it causes for walking and cycling (called the Barrier Effect). Similarly, reduced unit cost from improved walking conditions and more comfortable transit vehicles are seldom quantified and so are undervalued compared with projects that increase vehicle travel speeds.” (pg 5.2-6)
http://www.vtpi.org/tca/tca0502.pdf
Hate to Wait: Effects of Wait Time on Public Transit Travelers’ Perceptions
National Centre for Smart Growth Research and Education
http://smartgrowth.umd.edu/hatetowaiteffectsofwaittimeonpublictransittraveler.html.