Service Guidelines

Residents of Durham Region can access transit services throughout the entire area from early mornings to late night, seven days a week. How the service is delivered to an area varies by time of day and day of the week, to ensure that services are sustainable and implemented in an efficient and fair manner.

The Demand Response delivery model provides base coverage in rural Durham Region and in urban areas when customer demand does not meet minimum ridership productivity for scheduled bus service. The following framework is used when considering transitioning an area to scheduled service from Demand Response:

• Scheduled routes will operate on roads conducive to transit use, such as arterial and collector roads. Service on local roads will be discouraged.
• Ridership projections indicate that the scheduled route will achieve the minimum ridership target (passenger boardings per hour), as outlined in the ridership productivity guideline.
• Newly deployed scheduled service must meet minimum ridership targets within six months.
• Scheduled routes will not operate at headways longer than 30 minutes, nor for periods of the day shorter than three hours.
• Route performance will be regularly evaluated for modification; expansion into new service areas or service periods; or service reduction or transition to or from demand response. The span of service and level of service will be adjusted, based on the customer demand for each route.

The ridership productivity guideline provides a measure of the effectiveness of a transit route. As a base service, Demand Response service is provided when scheduled routes are unable to meet minimum ridership productivity targets. Ridership productivity targets are not applicable to the overnight network, because the service provides mobility to groups of customers who may have no other travel option available. Each service type (PULSE, Base, GO Transit Connector and rural) contribute differently to the DRT transit network and each have unique minimum productivity targets. Route productivity varies based on the varying built environments in which each route operates. The following are used for each service type:

• Route Classification average: the average boardings per revenue hour among all routes within the service type and operating period.
• Route Ridership minimum: based on the average boardings per revenue vehicle hour for each individual route within the service type. 

Table 1 provides ridership productivity minimums for each route type/classification.

Table 1: Ridership productivity minimums for each scheduled service route type (boardings per hour)

DRT provides 24-hour transit service seven days a week in urban areas, and service from 06:00 to 24:00 on weekdays and 07:00 to 21:00 on weekends in rural areas. The span of service and service levels varies for each of the Demand Response zones and scheduled routes, based on customer demand. A scheduled route must meet the minimum ridership productivity guideline, which is based on the minimum service frequency at which it is required to operate.

Table 2 presents the minimum service levels for each scheduled route type. In many cases, routes may need to operate more frequently than the minimum frequencies to accommodate higher ridership levels. In these cases, vehicle capacity guidelines are used to determine the service frequency.

Tables 2-4: Minimum service levels for each route type 

On the scheduled service network, the minimum service frequency is 30 minutes on urban routes and 90 minutes on rural routes. This results in a customer waiting up to 15 minutes for a bus in the urban area, and 45 minutes in the rural area.

To ensure equity to scheduled service wait times, DRT deploys vehicles to ensure the time between a customer requesting a Demand Response trip and pick up, achieves the following objectives:

• Urban areas: Customers will not wait more than 30 minutes for a pick up, with an average overall wait time less than 15 minutes.
• Rural areas: Customers will not wait more than 60 minutes for a pick up, with an average overall wait time less than 45 minutes.

By 2025, all Demand Response customers, including current Specialized Services customers, will experience similar average trip wait times, including pre-booked trips or trips scheduled in real time. The accommodated rate for trip requests made by eligible persons with disabilities will exceed 99.6 per cent.

The vehicle capacity guidelines provide a level of customer comfort when travelling on DRT. The guideline is used when designing services; however the customer experience may vary due to unplanned operational issues and day-to-day variability in travel demand. These guidelines do not apply to the current vehicle loads implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following guidelines are used when designing the service:

 Vehicle capacity considers the average number of passengers that can be accommodated on a bus during its busiest hour, and most popular point on the route.

Service proximity means the walking distance between dwellings and the nearest bus stop.

In the urban area, DRT aims to have: 

• Dwellings within a 500-metre walk of a bus stop: 80 per cent.
• Dwellings within an 800-metre walk of a bus stop: 95 per cent.

In the rural area, 100 per cent of dwellings will be served by Demand Response at the curb (such as the entrance to a property).

Customers who are eligible for Specialized Services are provided an accessible door-to-accessible-door trip, based on their eligibility. Customers with unconditional eligibility will receive trips using only Demand Response service. Customers with conditional eligibility may receive trips that include travel on a combination of Demand Response and scheduled service.

Scheduled services will be considered to transition to the PULSE service type when the following criteria are met:

• The corridor is identified in the Durham Region Transportation Master Plan and/or Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan as future rapid transit or rapid bus/priority bus.
• Analysis indicates that the service could sustain minimum service headways and meet ridership productivity as defined under the PULSE service type.

Bus stop amenities are bus stop signs, shelters, benches, waste cans and lighting.  

Some amenities are installed based on ridership and nearby land uses. 

Bus stop signs

• All bus stops will have a bus stop sign with its unique stop number.
• Customers can refer to the stop number when speaking with Customer Service and when booking On Demand trips.

Bike racks

• Bike racks are installed at select bus stops around Durham Region to ensure that the majority of dwellings and workplaces in the urban area of Durham Region are within a 10-minute bike ride of a bus stop. 
• Stops are chosen with bike lanes, trails, and bike-friendly roads in mind. 

Benches 

• Benches will be considered at stops meeting one or more of the following criteria:
  • The bus stop has 20 or more boardings (a boarding is classified as a customer getting onto the bus) on an average weekday. 
  • A bus stop is near seniors’ residences, hospitals, and community centres. 

Hard surface 

• All bus stops will have a hard (concrete) surface for customers to board and exit buses. 

Shelters 

The main purpose of a bus shelter is to provide protection from the elements for passengers waiting for buses. It creates a safe and comfortable waiting area, offering shelter from rain, wind, and sunlight. Additionally, shelters can provide a place to rest, increase passenger comfort, and even offer a feeling of safety and security.

• Shelters are installed at bus stops which meet one or more of the following criteria:
  • The bus stop has 20 or more boardings on an average weekday. 
  • A bus stop is located close to seniors’ residences, hospitals, and community centres. 
  • Bus stops are located at intersections where customers transfer from one bus to another. 
  • At transit terminals.  

Lighting

• All shelters will have solar lights, where the environment makes it difficult for them to work properly.
  • This includes:
    • Shelters where a street light shines on the stop and a solar light is not required. 
    • Urban areas with tall buildings or near heavy foliage, where solar lights cannot charge.

Waste cans 

• Waste cans are installed at bus stops which meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • The bus stop has 20 or more boardings on an average weekday. 

  • At transit terminals.

Note: Amenities at Durham Region Transit (DRT) bus stops differ from stop to stop, and placement is dependant on sufficient space being available at a stop.