(12-04-2015, 02:30 PM)chutten Wrote: Speaking of the 29, does anyone know what determines whether an Ebound 29 turns up Hazel or stays on University to King? It seems three out of four of them make that left turn in front of WLU, but their signage appears identical to the 25% who don't.
Maybe those 29s go on to turn into some other bus like a 92...
Route 29 trips marked as "does not operate Summer or Christmas" stays on University past Hazel to end at King. After reaching University/King:
- The 7:45 from The Boardwalk deadheads to Conestoga Mall and becomes the 8:15 Route 9 Lakeshore to UW.
- The 8:07 from Keats/F-H deadheads to Erbsville/Keats and becomes the 8:42 Route 13 Laurelwood to UW.
- The 8:26, 8:56, 9:25 and 9:55 from Keats/F-H are all done by the same bus - once it reaches University/King it deadheads back to Keats/F-H to start another trip.
All other Route 29 trips turn around via Hazel/Hickory/King.
(12-04-2015, 02:37 PM)MidTowner Wrote: At least for the 29, adding frequency would be the thing to do before using articulated buses. I think the bendy buses are best used where headways have already been reduced as far as they can go, and adding more buses won't really be adding capacity schedule adherence being what it is.
Route 29 is never full most of the time any more (ridership has shifted to 202), so adding more buses won't make sense. However, there are a select few AM peak trips arriving at UW just before class time that are disproportionately overcrowded. Assigning artics just on those trips will give the extra capacity it needs, without the need for a second bus+driver right behind it. The artic can then be assigned on another route, 201/202 for example, for the rest of the day.
But aside from those special circumstances, yes, artics should be considered only when adding more buses becomes not feasible (financially or due to operational issues).