Designing Streets and Signals for Transit

NACTO Designing Cities October 24, 2014

Lon LaClaire

• The Metro Vancouver region

• Bus and street network in Vancouver

• Case studies in bus transit design

• Future challenges

Agenda Metro Vancouver Regional overview Metro Vancouver Region

• 21 municipalities • 2,467,000 population • 2,880 sq km (1,110 sq mi) area • Single transit authority City of (TransLink) Vancouver • Largest transit Metro service area in Vancouver Canada • A region constrained by geography

Metro Vancouver rapid transit system

• SkyTrain: 58 km with 47 stations (11 km under construction) • SeaBus Ferry to North Vancouver • West Coast Express commuter rail • Future Vision: Skytrain Extension to Central Broadway and UBC Metro Vancouver is the fourth most transit-oriented region in North America

Annual Boardings Annual Boardings City Metro Population • Among best in (thousands) / Capita North America New York City 19,831,858 3,893,854 196/capita • All others have TorontoMontreal 5,583,0643,824,221 1,041,249724,494 187/capita189/capita heavy rail and MontrealToronto 3,824,2215,583,064 724,4941,041,249 189/capita187/capita commuter rail

MetroChicago Vancouver 9,522,4342,313,328 658,203363,163 69/capita157/capita • 4th in per capita

LosBoston Angeles 13,052,9214,640,802 620,903399,594 48/capita86/capita ridership behind only New York, SanWashington, Francisco DC Bay 6,349,9485,860,342 476,219456,915 75/capita78/capita Montreal and Washington,San Francisco DC Bay 5,860,3426,349,948 456,915476,219 78/capita75/capita Toronto BostonChicago 4,640,8029,522,434 399,594658,203 86/capita69/capita MetroPhiladelphia Vancouver 2,313,3286,018,800 363,163336,981 157/capita56/capita

PhiladelphiaLos Angeles 6,018,80013,052,921 336,981620,903 56/capita48/capita

Source: American Public Transportation Association 2012 Q4 Ridership Report, CUTA 2012 Transit Fact Book Metro Vancouver is a rapidly growing region

Metro Vancouver’s 2011 2041 population will increase by more than People 2.3 million 3.4 million 1,000,000 people and 600,000 jobs over the Jobs 1.2 million 1.8 million next 30 years.

99 B-Line rapid bus queuing pilot project. Before (above) and after (below) By 2030, we need to double the current number of transit trips

TransLink Annual Ridership 1989-2030 • Doubling transit trips will accommodate growth and increase transit mode share

v • Doubling our current annual transit ridership is possible if our recent growth trend continues

Source: 1989-2012 data TransLink; 2020, 2030 mode share Province of BC; Adapted by CoV staff. Most transit trips are on buses

Annual System Boardings (2013)

250,000,000

200,000,000

150,000,000

100,000,000

50,000,000

0 Bus SkyTrain SeaBus, WCE

Source: TransLink/Metro Vancouver. City of Vancouver Street and bus network City of Vancouver street hierarchy

ARTERIALS

LOCAL City of Vancouver arterial streets and bus network

Vancouver’s Frequent Transit network

• 604,000 population • 1/4 of region’s population, but 1/2 of its transit trips • Near-perfect street grid allows for simple network • 98% of population within 5 minute walk of a bus stop

Revise map per conv with Neal Street and Signal Design case studies City of Vancouver street and signal design case studies

GEORGIA ST II GRANVILLE ST

I COMMERCIAL DRIVE

BROADWAY

MAIN ST

STREET ISSUES Granville Mall Transit collector + Public Event Space Georgia Street Transit priority on a busy arterial Main Street Public realm, information displays, signal priority Broadway Corridor Maximizing capacity Commercial Drive Balancing bike and transit aspirations Granville Mall transit spine + public event space Granville Mall

Granville Mall Average Daily Bus Routes Boardings (M-F) 4 7,750

6 9,450

7 12,700

10 13,000

14 15,150

16 21,050

50 3,600

Total 82,700 Granville Mall

Transit spine Public event space Georgia Street transit priority on a major arterial Georgia Street bus lane

Georgia Street Bus Average Daily Routes Boardings (M-F)

240, 241, 242, 246, 247, 250, 251, 252, 28,500 253, 254, 257, 258

STANLEY PARK Very busy 6-lane arterial CAUSEWAY (~50,000 veh/day) Georgia Street queue jumper lane

STANLEY PARK CAUSEWAY Main Street Passenger Information Displays, Signal Priority, Public Realm Main Street passenger info / signal priority / public realm

Main Street Average Daily Bus Boardings (M-F) Routes 3 20,550

MAIN STREET Main Street passenger info / signal priority / public realm

Traffic Signal Priority & Passenger Information Display

• Next bus info • Peak headways of 5 minutes • Advances in technology (mobile)

Main Street passenger info / signal priority / public realm Broadway Corridor transit capacity Broadway Corridor a tale of two Broadways

West Broadway Average Daily Central Broadway Average Daily Bus Routes Boardings (M-F) Bus Routes Boardings (M-F) 99 B-Line 55,000 99 B-Line 55,000

9 26,150 9 26,150

14 15,150 14 15,150

Total 96,800 16 21,050

17 9,850

Total 127,700

WEST BROADWAY CENTRAL BROADWAY Broadway Corridor a tale of two Broadways

Percentage of Ridership Experiencing Overcrowding: 99 B-Line EB & WB 06:30 - 09:30AM

EB WB

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

1

3

10

4 6

9

11

12

8

UBC LOOP BAY 2 BAY LOOP UBC

2

7

5

13

W 10 AV AT SASAMAT ST SASAMAT AT AV 10 W

E BROADWAY AT MAIN ST MAIN AT BROADWAY E

W BROADWAY AT ALMA ST-- ALMA AT BROADWAY W

W BROADWAY AT MAPLE ST MAPLE AT BROADWAY W

E BROADWAY AT FRASER ST FRASER AT BROADWAY E

W BROADWAY AT CAMBIE ST CAMBIE AT BROADWAY W

E BROADWAY AT CLARK DR-- CLARK AT BROADWAY E

W BROADWAY AT HEATHER ST HEATHER AT BROADWAY W

UNIVERSITY BLVD AT ALLISON RD ALLISON AT BLVD UNIVERSITY

W BROADWAY AT GRANVILLE ST-- GRANVILLE AT BROADWAY W

W BROADWAY AT MACDONALD ST MACDONALD AT BROADWAY W E BROADWAY AT COMMERCIAL DR COMMERCIAL AT BROADWAY E

WEST BROADWAY CENTRAL BROADWAY West Broadway public realm

All the best features of Main Street

Work was completed as part of a sidewalk rehabilitation project Central Broadway peak capacity / transit priority

• 2nd biggest job centre in the Province, after the downtown • 2-3 minute headways for the 99 B-Line • Peak period bus lanes in curb lane

• High passenger in both directions all times of day, all days of the week • Considerable reliability issues without bus lanes Future Challenges balancing bike and transit aspirations Future Challenge: Commercial Drive

Commercial Drive Average Daily Bus Routes Boardings (M-F)

20 27,700

C

OMMERCIAL

D

RIVE

Future Challenge: Commercial Drive

The #20 bus route is: • 2nd busiest route • One of the least reliable • One of the slowest routes • all articulated trolley service

Plans for an express limited stop bus service

Future Challenge: Commercial Drive

Thriving neighbourhood centre • Unique shops and destinations • High cycling mode share

Strong community interest in separated bike lanes

• Vancouver has an overcrowded system • Reliability issues are a key challenge • Growing interest in separated bike lanes on transit routes • Passenger experience at bus stops is important

Conclusions The Vancouver experience in designing streets and signals for buses Thank you!