TRUWinnipeg.org

When a new rapid transit line is opened to the public, the transit authority will re-route buses to serve the new rapid transit stations. The term for this is bus-rail integration.

The major benefit is to shorten the length of routes.

For example it will longer be necessary or desired for the 64 Lindenwoods Express, the 65 Grant Express and 66 Grant local to travel all the way to downtown Winnipeg and back, saving about 30 minutes round trip on this portion of the route.

Instead it can terminate at the Pembina-Stafford Loop where the 29 Sherbrook, as well as the 84, 86, and 95 feeder buses do so now. It will therefore push some of the surface buses out of the downtown area, where they would normally add to traffic congestion and slow the movement of the bus.

This would improve the immediate neighbourhood itself, and possibly replace one or more of the strip malls in the vicinity with hi-rise condos. or apartment blocks. People would want to live close to Stafford Station.

On this map the blue line represents the above mentioned transit routes, while the red line represents the Pembina-William subway line.

And this in effect will allow for more frequent bus service. Using the 66 Grant as an example, it may be possible then to provide 10 minute headways (or better) rather than the current 15.

People in Winnipeg have been saying for decades that there aren’t enough buses and they don’t operate often enough.

Only rail-based rapid transit like an underground subway will be able to keep buses out of the downtown area and allow them to function as feeders to the stations, just like other cities do.

See Also:

TRB.org – Service Orientation, Bus-Rail Service Integration, and Transit Performance: Examination of 45 U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Charlotte, North Carolina – LYNX bus-rail integration

Developing Integrated Schedules for Urban Rail and Feeder Bus Operation

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