Metrobus Transit Study.pdf - City of St. John's

St. John’s Transportation Commission (Metrobus) 2011
Market Assessment and Strategic Directions Study – Part D: Strategic Directions
12.0 TERMINAL AND BUS STOP DESIGN
12.1 Transit Terminals
The design and operation of the transit terminals at Village Shopping Centre, Avalon Mall, Memorial
University and the downtown could be improved. While the location of these terminals is seen as
effective, the overall design of the terminals should be reviewed. Some concerns are:
Unproductive time for buses to access and egress the terminals;
Passenger confusion in locating buses;
Potential safety issues with bus/pedestrian and bus/vehicle conflicts; and
Lack of driver amenities and limited passenger amenities.
The safe, effective and efficient design of a transit terminal requires that buses always move in a
forward direction (flow through operation), that bus bays are assigned to specific routes for ease of
passenger access/transfers, that passenger and pedestrian movements are accommodated (to the
maximum extent possible) without crossing active traffic lanes or between buses and that buses are
able to move effectively to and from the road network, perhaps using transit priority measures.
Appendix G contains some layout drawings of efficient off street terminal designs and further
discussion of these design principles.
When a transit terminal is located on private property there is usually a formal agreement between
transit and the property owner setting out terms and conditions for operations, maintenance and
modifications. In many cases transit is fully integrated into the surrounding land use functions and
the terminal becomes a ‘mobility hub’ integrating various transportation modes and acting as a
catalyst for adjacent development that is transit supportive.
AVALON MALL AND VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTRE TERMINALS
The experience of using either the Village or Avalon terminals is particularly poor from a passenger
perspective and is certainly a disincentive to ridership growth. From personal observation the drivers
do an excellent job of assisting passengers at these terminals.
In both cases, there are not enough bays to accommodate all the buses that use the terminal. As a
result, buses park beside each other and passengers are forced to walk between and behind buses to
transfer. This is considered an unsafe situation for passengers, particularly as buses pull in and out
of the terminal. Since buses do not always stop in the same location, this also creates some
passenger confusion regarding transferring to another bus. Finally, since many transfers are made
off the paved asphalt (instead of a raised platform), accessibility for persons with mobility issues are
compromised. This becomes an increasing concern with an aging population and reduces the
effectiveness of low floor buses.
From a system productivity perspective, the time lost in these inefficient terminal operations is a
significant burden. At the Avalon Mall, buses must pass by a very busy store which has a number of
customers crossing the travel lane. There is also a significant queue that can form at the exit of the
mall, particularly with buses that need to make a left turn. Transit priority features at this exit would
reduce overall delay and increase reliability at this intersection.
Dillon Consulting Limited Page 73