Canada - Winnipeg Opens Bus Rapid Transit

Winnipeg is opening its new grade-separated bus rapid-transit way this Sunday. Here's a link with a video of the preview day:

http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/video/index.html?v=yyy0YOZs4Za1t4jqX43TA4Tr2eyCH2nI#stor ies

The route is just 3.5 km with possible future extensions. It appears to host multiple bus routes (http://www.winnipegtransit.com/assets/787/Rapid_Transit_Map_17x11_BASIC_LINES_Portrait.pdf), using conventional buses, i.e. not high-capacity articulated buses that are sometimes used on bus rapid-transit routes in other cities. There's been talk of acquiring some "bendy buses" (http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/bendy-buses-get-green-light-141718333.html) in the future.

So this has the potential to make for a faster commute for some bus riders, but is kind of a baby-step for those wanting true rapid transit in Winnipeg.

Change is always exciting—either in a good or bad way, but time will tell.

As a boy travelling the double-decker buses in England, I boarded at the back and climbed the stairs, so that I stood a good chance of not having to pay the ‘clippie’ (who had to go up and down the aisles collecting fares). The driver was in a totally enclosed area so he could concentrate on his driving. The fare I stood to save was only 2½ pence!

When I emigrated from England and settled in Toronto—in the early Fifties—I left behind me London’s electric trains and underground transit and embraced trolley buses and streetcars. (Well, I didn’t literally ‘embrace’ them—that would have been silly.) I was pleased when they dug up Yonge Street and University Avenue to build a subway system.

In 1959, while the movie “Where the Boys Are” was casting, I visited Fort Lauderdale. (No, I didn’t get a part.) When I took the East Las Olas bus-ride into Miami, the fare-box sorted my 35 cent cash fare and confirmed it was correctly paid (not verbally, but the driver knew.) I made the mistake of taking a seat too far back in the bus and was asked politely to move forward where the white folk sit.

In the Eighties, when my work brought me to Winnipeg, I once again gave up the subway stations and the tokens that allowed for turnstile access. It was like pushing a restart button: back to the congestion at the front of the bus. Old people and the blind used to have preferred seating at the front. Of course, now young people with strollers have that privilege.

Then Winnipeg Transit came up with return-trip transfers! (In Toronto, transfers had been good only for same direction or intersecting buses—with no shopping in between!) For us seniors, especially those of us not driving, it provided a way to go to the drug store, pick up milk, mail a letter, and come home on a single fare! What’s more, if I bought ten tickets, either my wife or I could use them. If I decided to splurge on a monthly pass, we could take turns using it.

So here comes the restart button again. Cheers!