great stuff

what is the justification for eliminating route 14? Anyone know?

Perhaps route 14 was eliminated due to lack of use.

Route 14 Pulp Mill Rd. operated once daily (m-f).

Prince George, B.C. - Watch for increased bus service this fall.


Watch for even more empty buses this fall.

Why not service to the BCR site includeing Penn road area. The buses end up there anyway

BCR service might not be a bad idea, if it was just morning service (6 am to 8 am) and afternoon (3pm to 5pm) it might be feasible.

This is the time for PG transit to make improvments and increase ridership. Good luck.

Some quick info that I can add in here...

peak hour service on the 46 should read... peak hour service on the 47 (which will be a bi-directional component of the 46 to help out people in that area).

More empty buses is hopefully an incorrect statement.

BCR site service will be studied in the 5 year business plan for Prince George that is currently being put together by BC Transit (along with other non-served areas of town).

Regarding route 14 elimination...here is a chunk that came right out of last nights council agenda...

Elimination of Route #14- PG Pulp
Seasonal transit service has previously been in operation for workers on PG Pulp Mill road through the Route #14. The service runs from September-April annually. In the summer months, workers are responsible for finding alternative methods of transportation to and from work. In recent years, the ridership has declined to the point that the transit service hours could be much better utilized in other areas of the system. Statistics from BC Transit and the operating company show an average of five riders per day on the Route #14. Key stakeholders and users have attempted to promote the service through the various employment locations on PG Pulp Mill road with limited success. In order to best utilize the resources of the Prince George Transit system, the hours need to be reallocated elsewhere. BC Transit and City staff is currently exploring options to assist individuals meet their transportation needs through other methods including car pool programs.

What I would like to see is the GPS tracking systems that other centres have such that you can either call in, use the web, or get a text message to check on the status of the bus. Due to the small nature of PG the buses seem to arrive +/- 5 minutes of the stated times. So either the drivers have to sit at stops wasting time to get back on schedule or they are behind the time as something has prevented them from being on time.

This time fluctuation makes it difficult to make connecting buses at times.

Currently, no other system in BC has such a system in place...but I know BC Transit is exploring the option to come into play sooner rather than later for their larger transit systems.

Yes it was from a recent trip in the US that I got to experience the GPS tracking system. In the mean time a cheap and yet handy feature that could be implemented is google transit. I do find the bus stop locations rather differently laid out compared to other systems I frequent.

http://www.google.com/transit

Posted by: lunarbase on June 24 2008 10:14 AM
What I would like to see is the GPS tracking systems that other centres have such that you can either call in, use the web, or get a text message to check on the status of the bus. Due to the small nature of PG the buses seem to arrive +/- 5 minutes of the stated times. So either the drivers have to sit at stops wasting time to get back on schedule or they are behind the time as something has prevented them from being on time.

This time fluctuation makes it difficult to make connecting buses at times.


Perfect Lunarbase
Lets see where else we can waste taxpayers dollars.

Yes I said WASTE.

Not too sure why an improvement in the usability of the system would be called a waste of money. There is many more wastes of money around PG with no real benefits.

Instead of concentrating on more buses and frequency of service and therefore more pollution maybe consider refining the present system.

Lunarbase
You think that spending tax dollars for a GPS system on a bus just so you can see where the bus is isn't a waste of money?

Strange, anytime I take the bus, I show up at the stop well before the bus is scheduled to get there and when it shows up and stops for me, I get on it.

Glad that works for you ! I live within sight of two different bus routes and their associated stops. Not a day goes by that I don't see people missing buses because they come by early or for some reason are late and the person has been standing at the stop, gives up as they think they missed the bus and yet it hasn't come by yet. I tend to like to think of solutions rather than just propagate the issue.

If we want ridership to increase then make the timing consistent and people will enjoy and come to the system more.

The technology also serves other purposes, such as notification of police in case of issues on the bus and can be linked to sensors to determine daily ridership levels to be able to refine the schedules.

Again though this is just my view of what I would do to improve upon a system that has come such a long way in the past few years. Not saying it isn't a great system at present but a minor improvement in technology can go a long way.

Maybe you would like personal telephone notification and a taxi ride to the bus stop when it arrives as well.
Do you like your coffee black or.....

Taxpayers have lots of extra cash lying around for these things to become reality.

Everyone is always looking for ways to spend tax dollars, when they should be looking for ways to return them back to us, or prevent over taxation from growing like it does.