Why does the 4-Bayfront Still Use MacNab When James Became Two-Way Years Ago?

I was on the 4-Bayfront the other day and I realized the routing along MacNab Street makes absolutely no sense, and is a legacy of the time – over 10 years ago – when James Street was a one-way southbound street.

The 4-Bayfront departs downtown from James Street travelling southbound, takes Hunter to Bay (prior to the bus terminal, it would turn at MacNab, then take Main to Bay), Bay to York, York to MacNab, MacNab to Murray, and finally Murray to James.

Prior to two-way conversion, James became two-way at Murray.

So why does the 4-Bayfront continue to operate on a residential street from downtown, instead of the more logical primary commercial street? (I’m sure Matt Jelly is saying ’cause the bus lane’)

This is a good question, that I don’t know the answer to.

The HSR has a Director of Transit Planning and Customer Service who is on the Sunshine List with a staff of just over 19 full-time equivalents. This doesn’t include the numerous other upper managers at the HSR.

Next week, City Council will debate a proposal for at least $10-million dollars in new improvements to HSR service. It will be a milestone.

Here’s my concern, as I sat on that 4-Bayfront bus, I realized that transit improvements will easily be undermined if we don’t fix the entire HSR system.

We can ill afford the kind of legacy inefficiencies such as a bus route using a residential street to avoid a one-way street problem that no longer exists.