Right now.

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/Bombers-holding-2-pm-press-conference-over-trans-211420121.html

 

60% more people used the bus than anticipated...wow that's crazy, I hope I heard that wrong, that number is staggering

.

Well duh??? No parking & the Bombers promoted it so why the surprise by the team & Winnipeg Transit??

I have no doubts that once people get used to their own routine, everything will work out eventually. I live in the South end and left the house early so ran into no issues. I'm sure public transportation, shuttle and bike services will improve by the 27th, probably going to take a year or two before things fall into place properly though. At least we know that they're already discussing everything.

 

Really wish the University would allow us to get there earlier though, IMO it should be a minimum of 2 and 1/2 hours.

 

I think part of the reason they assume that only 15% of the fans would take transit is because IIRC only 5% took it while the team played at Canad Inns, the majority of fans drove. Personally I thought they did a good job with the overall planning initially, pretty much everyone is serviced, maybe now some overestimations are needed.

Well as someone pointed out. Do the math. You warned people there is little or no parking on site apart from those with paid in advance privileges so prepare for the significant percentage that you have warned. How does that number translate to approximately 5,000? I believe the saying his hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Look they wouldn't have just pulled numbers out of their asses for predicting transit ridership, there would have been studies done and those numbers would have come about based on gathering information and they would have been educated guesses. They got it wrong, it happens. There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

Hiccups, sure. But it seems this was a full blown dry heave.

Does anyone know if the "Bomber Traffic Plan" is in place for concerts also?

 

I have Taylor Swift tickets and if 30,000+ people are left to their devices it could get ugly next week.  Thats the next big test.

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There. I feel better about how visible we've made this now.

Venting, are we???

Hiccups, sure. But it seems this was a full blown dry heave.

Not really.  Some of the issues were fan-related.  Too many people trying to drive onto campus without a pass.  Too many idiot drivers blocking other drivers.  And how many people not going to the game were out and about when they didnt really need to be in that area.

 

I remember missing the starts of some games at CanadInns, sitting traffic on Kenaston.  Traffic jams are to be expected.  Period.

Mike I don't understand what you are trying to say.............

To get 30,000 in there and only two main roads is very difficult, i would like as many as possible take the bus let them be aware and have a seperate bus road to the Stadium.

Would the U of M let the Bombers do that on game day?

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There was no way this was going to go off without any hiccups no matter how much planning you put in.

 

There. I feel better about how visible we've made this now.

still not going to be good enough for some, you realize..

I'll turn it into my signature. Probably against forum rules but hey, I'll just rewrite them for myself.

 

And ban anyone who dare oppose me.

When I was a Bomber season ticket holder before I moved to Calgary I always left 90 mins before a game. I lived in Riverview & later Southdale & the drive north on Kenaston was always a concern. The big difference of course was parking. You always knew you could find a parking space around the stadium. Well, those days are gone now & that ha sparked the panic & frustration of today. People who normally would  have driven have to take Transit now. To underestimate the number of people taking the bus last night was sheer stupidity by whoever makes those decisions. Glad I wasn't a part of the scene last night. We have rapid transit here in Calgary &  it moves tens of thousands of people everyday. The C Train stops right at McMahon Stadium. Moves people to & from the games efficiently & easily.

Does anyone know if the "Bomber Traffic Plan" is in place for concerts also?

 

I have Taylor Swift tickets and if 30,000+ people are left to their devices it could get ugly next week.  Thats the next big test.

 

LOL!  You actually are admitting this?  I'd be more like "my 13 year old niece has tickets and my sister wants to know if the Bomber Traffic plan is in place for concerts.  Yup.  My sister.  And my niece.  Not me."

Does anyone know if the "Bomber Traffic Plan" is in place for concerts also?

 

I have Taylor Swift tickets and if 30,000+ people are left to their devices it could get ugly next week.  Thats the next big test.

 

Yes it is in effect, but as Garth mentioned at the PC today the concert is on a Saturday so if you wanted to get there 7 hours early you're more than welcome to do so.

Well duh??? No parking & the Bombers promoted it so why the surprise by the team & Winnipeg Transit??

Because they are basing their numbers on the data they have, which says Winnipeggers don't take the bus. Period. They were shocked at how well the fans listened to the message of "don't take your car" for once.

My solution? No parking at the u of m, period. Designate a bunch of large, spread out lots, away from campus and run a **** ton of shuttle buses every 5 minutes.

Or, failing that, teach the volunteers how to effectively direct traffic once on campus. Once you got past the bottleneck of idiots, there was open road all the way to the parking lot. Suggests things were not flowing correctly.

The U of M has major funding issues, or at least that's how they make it seem in the media.  They have a buttload of undeveloped land.  They should be seeing this in their eyes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.  If they paved some of the golf course, opened up other lots that were nearly unused when I walked by them around 7, could they create 5000 more spots?  5000 x $20= $100,000 a game/event.  A half dozen events and they can pay the salary and benefits of one of their administrators.

A footbridge across the Red would also be hugely beneficial to both the stadium and campus generally when it comes to access and parking.  Doesn't even need to be capable of carrying vehicles.  Considering the debt load the club is carrying, I'm sure they can borrow another couple million to toss in, the university has been studying it for decades, they could toss in a couple bucks along with the governments.

The U of M has major funding issues, or at least that's how they make it seem in the media.  They have a buttload of undeveloped land.  They should be seeing this in their eyes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.  If they paved some of the golf course, opened up other lots that were nearly unused when I walked by them around 7, could they create 5000 more spots?  5000 x $20= $100,000 a game/event.  A half dozen events and they can pay the salary and benefits of one of their administrators.

 

i've never seen the land in question, but i'm against paving any part of any golf course on general principle. that's just wrong, man.

i've never seen the land in question, but i'm against paving any part of any golf course on general principle. that's just wrong, man.

 

That golf course is well ... 100% fairway free.

i've never seen the land in question, but i'm against paving any part of any golf course on general principle. that's just wrong, man.

It's a former golf course.  Used by no one, waiting to be redeveloped most likely into some sort of mixed use residential commercial, but with no plans for the near future.

How much of this will be taken care of if they every get the transit corridor all the way to university?

i've never seen the land in question, but i'm against paving any part of any golf course on general principle. that's just wrong, man.

 

Roy McAvoy salutes you. 

How much of this will be taken care of if they every get the transit corridor all the way to university?

 

Some.  Our rapid transit is really only useful for people living in Downtown and River Heights right now.  Extending it south down Pembina will bring a few more people online.  In terms of having the system developed east, north and west, you are looking at decades.  Should be great for Winnipeg Stadium 4.0.

The only thing that really frustrated me was the fact that about a dozen "Not in Service" buses drove by Grant & Laxdal during the 30 minutes I was there (while 4 completely full "Stadium" buses also drove by without stopping). Why were there suddenly this many Not in Service buses in Charleswood? Was there no way to radio in and make some of these active when they saw that people at the stops were not being serviced at all? I was told there were hundreds still waiting at the start of the line (Assiniboia Downs) when a few of us strangers decided to carpool together and split parking (the people that drove ended up not wanting any of our money, in the end, which was a nice bonus).

I'm okay with their estimations being off -- who knew Winnipeggers would embrace transit?? -- but why they wouldn't have a back-up or contigency plan (when clearly they were able to throw one together to add more buses post-game) is beyond me.