Staff Report #4
May 29, 2024
To All Commissioners
Re: 2024-2027 Draft Business Plan Update
Recommendation
That the Commission APPROVE IN PRINCIPLE the draft 2025-2029 Conventional and Specialized Service Plans.
Background
As previously reported, the process of preparing the 2024-2027 Business Plan and supporting service plans is well underway, with the presentation of the draft plans scheduled for the June Commission meeting. The focus over the past several weeks has been directed toward the Five Year Service Plans for both the conventional and specialized services, which will both play a key role in the direction of the 2024-2027 Business Plan.
In preparing the draft service plans, Dillon undertook a review of the recent Voice of the Customer survey results and the 2023 Customer Service Reports as well as a detailed analysis of route and ridership data from both the Conventional and Specialized Services. Given the current conditions of crowding and schedule adherence issues on the Conventional Service and the level of unaccommodated trips on the Specialized Service, administration concurred with Dillon that the primary focus of the service plans should be to improve the experience of current riders prior to the consideration of service expansion to new areas. As such, this was the basis for the recommendations that are currently the subject of stakeholder consultation.
Public consultation on the draft service plans is currently underway with an overview of the service plans and an online survey on the corporate website as well as a number of public sessions as set out below:
- virtual meeting held on May 14 which had 25 online participants;
- pop-up meeting at Covent Garden Market on May 24 from 11am to 2pm;
- public drop-in session at the Downtown Library on May 28 from 2pm to 4pm and again from 6pm to 8pm; and
- a pop-up meeting at Cherryhill Mall on May 29 from 9am to 12pm.
Details with respect to the various avenues for providing input have been shared with members of Council directly, with the public via social media posts and posters including a QR code link to the webpage have been placed on all buses and in community centres across the city. Feedback from the public engagement will be assessed and incorporated as appropriate into the draft documents presented to the Commission for approval at the June meeting.
The draft priorities for each of the service plans is being presented to the Commission at this time in order to gather feedback and concurrence prior to finalizing the draft plans. Details with respect to each of the service plans is set out in the remainder of the report.
The priorities at the heart of the Five Year Service Plans as currently drafted are as follows:
- Improve the Experience of Existing Transit Users: These changes invest in the service already on the street to make sure the Conventional Transit Service is running on time, and that buses are not too crowded. This means adding capacity where there are already challenges in the network. This also means prioritizing service hours for the Specialized Transit by making more resources available during the busiest times of the day and week.
- Prepare the Conventional Network for Rapid Transit: By the end of this plan horizon (2029), Rapid Transit will be in operation, providing an enhanced quality of service for Londoners. Some routing changes outlined in this plan intend to feed into the Rapid Transit network.
- Expanding the Network: The City of London is growing rapidly, and the need for transit service continues to increase. Several changes to the network are proposed which would see new service into areas which are currently unserved by London Transit.
Based on these overarching priorities, detailed service plans for both the Conventional and Specialized services have been drafted.
Conventional Transit Service Plan 2025-2029
The Conventional Service Plan includes four types of proposed changes over the five year horizon of the plan:
- Increase capacity on the busiest transit routes – adding service where there are overload conditions in the transit network to ensure that passengers are able to access transit when they need it.
- Improve schedule adherence – implement modifications to running time to help buses stay on schedule (this could include both routing changes and schedule changes)
- Introduce On Demand service – revisit the introduction of On Demand service for areas that are currently unserved or as a replacement for a fixed route in areas where ridership is low
- Prepare for Rapid Transit – implement the necessary modifications to bus routes to ensure alignment with future rapid transit services. This includes frequency improvements on routes connecting with the rapid transit corridors as well as route modifications to reduce or eliminate duplication of services.
From these four categories, specific recommendations have been drafted. Detailed maps with respect to proposed routing changes are set out in Enclosure I, and a summary of the routes affected by the proposed changes is set out below.
- Route Changes to Improve Directness or Improve Performance – changes are recommended to improve the operation of the route by making it more direct, or to reduce the likelihood of delays along the way. Impacted Routes are 3, 5, 7, 10, 17, 19 and 24
- Level of Service Improvements – a number of routes will see increases in service in order to meet service standards, to provide increased capacity on bus routes and during busy times of the day. The table below sets out the minimum level of service passengers could expect by route type:
Weekday Minimum Level of Service in minutes
| Route Classification | Early morning |
Rush Hour |
Midday | Early Eve |
Late Eve |
| Rapid Transit | 10 | 5/10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Core (5,10,16,17,19,24,26,27,102,106) | 30 | 20 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Local (15,20,22,23,31,32,33,34,35,39,40) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Weekend Minimum Level of Service in minutes
| Saturday | Sunday | ||||
| Route Classification | Base | Early
Eve |
Late
Eve |
Base | Eve |
| Rapid Transit | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Core (5,10,16,17,19,24,26,27,102,106) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Local (15,20,22,23,31,32,33,34,35,39,40) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
- Service Replaced with On Demand – demand for service in some areas is low. In order to provide service more tailored to ridership, Routes 28 and 38 will be considered for On Demand.
- Service in New Areas – several routes are proposed to be realigned to serve communities which are not currently service by London Transit. Impacted Routes include: 22 (new), 23 (new), 25, 39 (new) and 40 (new).
- Routes Realigned to Serve Rapid Transit – routes that are recommended to be realigned in order to support the roll out of the rapid transit corridors include Routes 4, 13, 15, 90, 91, 92, 94, and 104.
- Realign Routes to better serve Industrial Areas – Routes 30 and 37 are recommended to be realigned to improve and expand industrial service coverage.
Specialized Service Five Year Plan 2025-2029
The Specialized Service Five Year Plan includes five high level recommendations for implementation over the plan horizon, each of which is discussed below.
- Add Additional Service – consistent with the approved multi-year budget, the plan calls for the addition of 10,000 hours in each of years 2025 and 2026 followed by 8,000 hours in 2027. The additional hours will be directed to the times of day/days of week where demand is highest.
- Off Peak Pass – currently specialized transit registrants are provided with an Off Peak pass which provides them free rides on the Conventional Service during off peak periods. The Specialized Service plan recommends monitoring the effectiveness of this program in light of the continued crowding conditions on the Conventional Service, even during off peak periods. This program was implemented to relieve pressure from the Specialized Service at a time when there was capacity on the Conventional Service.
- Evaluate the Trip Booking Window – the recommendation is to consider increasing the booking window from the current three days to seven days, and to identify a minimum advance window of one hour. The plan recognizes that further customer consultation with respect to this change needs to be undertaken, and any changes to the booking window should be undertaken later in the plan horizon once the new booking system is in place and additional hours have been implemented.
- Move Toward an Integrated Service – this recommendation involves both the Specialized and Conventional Services as it essentially calls for the introduction of a service that would see specialized registrants utilizing both of the services to complete their trip. The plan recognizes that this is a complicated process, and while planning and policy work can be undertaken during the early part of the plan horizon, moving forward with trip integration can only be successful when the schedule adherence and crowding conditions on the Conventional Service have been addressed.
- Improve the Application Process – this recommendation includes multiple parts, which will be phased in over the plan horizon. The first step is to increase the use of the “conditional eligibility” category in the application process by identifying other conditions that may prevent a passenger from using the accessible conventional service (e.g. weather, time of day, proximity to a transit stop, cognitive unfamiliarity). The second step in the process will be to modify the application form to expand on this eligibility category, and revise the form to allow for online completion. Finally, this process also recommends a recertification process every three to five years, which would provide the opportunity to re-confirm the type of transit service required by each customer and keep the registrant database more current.
Feedback from the Commission will be shared with Dillon and considered with other stakeholder feedback for incorporation into the final draft service plans which will be presented for approval at the Commission’s June 26, 2024 meeting.
Enclosure
I – Maps Outlining Proposed Conventional Service Routing Changes
Recommended by:
Shawn Wilson, Director of Operations
Katie Burns, Director of Planning
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager