Staff Report #8 Re: 2019 Work Program – Planning – Second Quarter Update

Staff Report #8

August 28, 2019

To All Commissioners

Re: 2019 Work Program – Planning – Second Quarter Update

Recommendation

The report be NOTED and FILED.

Background

The following report is provided as an update on major Planning projects as set out in the 2019 Work Program that are ongoing in nature and/or were scheduled to commence and/or be completed over the first six months of 2019, with the lead on same being the primary responsibility of the Planning department.

2019 Conventional Service Plan

At the January and March 2019 meetings, the Commission approved the 2019 Conventional Service Plan which calls for the net increase of 18,000 annualized service hours. The changes associated with the Service Plan will impact approximately 24,000 hours of service.

Work has continued in preparation for the September 1, 2019 implementation, including the creation of new schedules for all except one route in the system. Detailed information regarding all changes as part of the 2019 Service Plan were posted on the London Transit website following the March meeting. Throughout the third quarter, a significant public information campaign will be rolled out. The information campaign includes the following:

• notices and Transit Talks available on-board all buses starting in early-July
• advertisements in four cultural newspapers including French, Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin as well as in the Londoner
• an ongoing social media campaign which will conclude on September 6, 2019
• stop level notices have also been posted on all stops along each of the routes with service changes
• every other Wednesday beginning July 10 to August 28, 2019 Planning staff have held information sessions at Masonville Mall, Argyle Mall, White Oaks Mall and downtown at Queens and Richmond as well as King and Richmond.
• media event hosted at the Wonderland Facility on August 21, 2019 covering the service changes taking effect September 1
• Customer Service, Planning and Operations staff will be available at Masonville Mall, Argyle Mall and downtown the week of September 3-7, 2019 to answer questions and direct passengers to the correct bus stop locations.
• during the week of September 3-7, 2019 staff will also be available at bus stops at and around Fanshawe College and Western University during Orientation week to assist students with route planning

At time of writing, the only outstanding item is the delivery of the remaining printed schedules noting the majority have been delivered and all schedules are available on the London Transit website. It is anticipated that all schedules will be delivered before the start of service on September 1, 2019.

Bus Stop Spacing Review

Planning staff have continued to review stop spacing along major corridors throughout the city to ensure stop spacing is in line with London Transit’s Service Standards, as approved by the Commission on April 29, 2015. The location and number of stops along a bus route is a balance between customer service (providing convenient access to the service) and operational efficiency (faster travel time along the route).

A significant number of routes and corridors throughout the city have stop spacing far below the minimum guidelines, primarily as the result of historic requests for stops, service re-alignments etc. where new stops were added, but others not removed. Having stop spacing that falls within the approved service standards improves route performance and schedule adherence on the system as a whole.

During the first two quarters of 2019, one set of stop removals/relocations was implemented to correlate with the summer signup changes on June 23 and is set out in the table below

*New stop added at the main terminal to address crowding issues

Corridor and route level stop reviews will continue throughout the remainder of 2019.

Recommended by:

Katie Burns, Director of Planning

Concurred in by:

Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager