So, I'm starting a new job Monday, but because we haven't got that second car yet I'll be riding the bus. It's under 10 minutes by car and I could probably bike it in about a half hour in warmer weather. So how bad could the bus ride be?
Well, for this particular local route (#160) the brains at OC Transpo decided *not* to have the usual one place where the route starts, another where it ends, with busses running between these two end-points, mostly following the same route on the way back. Instead, the bus does a one-way loop (a rather large one) through all of Morgan's Grant and the hi-tech sector. The result is, if you need to travel within this loop, you can easily get there, but have a devil of a time getting back.
Below is the map of the route. I live at the top-left part of the route (off Halton Terrace, past Klondike. I need to get to approximately Leggett/Schneider, in the Business Park. It's only about a 10-12 minute bus ride on the way there. However I cannot (easily) use the same bus to get back home. I can take it to Teron road, get off, cross the street and wait for the next bus heading back to Morgan's Grant. The recommended method of getting back is to take route 101 back to the intersection of March/Terry Fox, cross the street and take the 60 (or 160, depending on timing) back to Morgan's Grant. It's still under a half hour, but if I miss the connection I could be waiting another 15 minutes or more.
I really cannot understand why it is so difficult to make a route that comes and goes following mostly the same route.
Well, for this particular local route (#160) the brains at OC Transpo decided *not* to have the usual one place where the route starts, another where it ends, with busses running between these two end-points, mostly following the same route on the way back. Instead, the bus does a one-way loop (a rather large one) through all of Morgan's Grant and the hi-tech sector. The result is, if you need to travel within this loop, you can easily get there, but have a devil of a time getting back.
Below is the map of the route. I live at the top-left part of the route (off Halton Terrace, past Klondike. I need to get to approximately Leggett/Schneider, in the Business Park. It's only about a 10-12 minute bus ride on the way there. However I cannot (easily) use the same bus to get back home. I can take it to Teron road, get off, cross the street and wait for the next bus heading back to Morgan's Grant. The recommended method of getting back is to take route 101 back to the intersection of March/Terry Fox, cross the street and take the 60 (or 160, depending on timing) back to Morgan's Grant. It's still under a half hour, but if I miss the connection I could be waiting another 15 minutes or more.
I really cannot understand why it is so difficult to make a route that comes and goes following mostly the same route.