I once lived in a suburb outside of Montreal and worked downtown. My shift ended at 11:30 PM The metro arrived at the same time as the main bus to the suburbs left, and by the time you got up the stairs the bus was pulling away. This meant a 30-40 minute wait, and in winter this meant 30 below. All the bus system had to do was have the bus leave a mere 2 minutes later and we could make the connection.
The bus from the ferry to down town Nanaimo arrives at the same time as the boat from the Mainland. Of course, it takes about 10 minutes to disembark, so no bus and a 40 minute wait till the next one. Adjusting the bus schedule 10 minutes would mean ferry passengers could take public transit to their homes.
The bus connecting Vancouver Airport to the Tsawaasen ferry to Vancouver Island arrives three minutes after the cut-off time for purchasing ferry tickets. Since the ride from the airport already takes an hour and the next ferry leaves in an hours time, you will take 2 hours to be able to take the ferry. Simply moving the bus arrival time back five minutes and you could make the ferry!
A passenger train runs up Vancouver Island connecting the city of Victoria to other smaller cities and villages. The natural traffic flow is from the smaller cities to the large population centre of Victoria. There are also the suburbs outside of Victoria which could be well served by a morning rail connection. Guess which direction the train runs and at what time? It leaves Victoria at 11AM, arrives at its northernmost city, Courtenay, at 2 PM, then leaves back to Victoria at 3 PM, arriving at 6PM. Totally useless for anyone living in the smaller cities or suburbs.
Why? I suspect the Montreal example is one of bureaucratic indifference. For the other bus systems, it looks as though they are trying to benefit the taxi companies. As for the rail road, it seems deliberate sabotage to help the petroleum/auto complex, since thousands of auto rides would not be taken with a rational schedule.
A rational, people-oriented transit system is not possible as long as it is run by bureaucrats tied to the corporate system.
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