Waterloo Region Connected
ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Printable Version

+- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com)
+-- Forum: Waterloo Region Works (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14)
+--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25)
+--- Thread: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit (/showthread.php?tid=14)

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Markster - 01-25-2017

(01-25-2017, 04:29 PM)bpoland Wrote: Funny that the picture is of Willis Way station but they said that it won't actually have the enclosure.

I believe that the fully enclosed (and optionally heated) ones will have doors. Pictured is the non-door variant which is similar to a bus shelter.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - KevinL - 01-25-2017

Also interesting on that Willis Way render is the platform facing the road - reminding us this is the one stop in the system that will have cross-platform access to on-road buses.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - goggolor - 01-26-2017

The warm, enclosed LRT stop at Grand River Hospital is going to become the new de facto smoking shelter for GRH patients. I hope they have plans in place to combat that, because the old iXpress stop smelled like an ashtray.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Viewfromthe42 - 01-26-2017

You would think that they could put smoke detectors into shelters, so that a high-pitch squealing sound was emitted whenever smoke was generated inside the enclosed space.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - chutten - 01-26-2017

(01-26-2017, 09:48 AM)goggolor Wrote: The warm, enclosed LRT stop at Grand River Hospital is going to become the new de facto smoking shelter for GRH patients. I hope they have plans in place to combat that, because the old iXpress stop smelled like an ashtray.

A fire suppression system might work. It (theoretically) works on airplanes.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - bpoland - 01-26-2017

(01-25-2017, 05:52 PM)Markster Wrote: I believe that the fully enclosed (and optionally heated) ones will have doors. Pictured is the non-door variant which is similar to a bus shelter.

Oh okay interesting.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - ijmorlan - 01-26-2017

(01-26-2017, 10:15 AM)chutten Wrote:
(01-26-2017, 09:48 AM)goggolor Wrote: The warm, enclosed LRT stop at Grand River Hospital is going to become the new de facto smoking shelter for GRH patients. I hope they have plans in place to combat that, because the old iXpress stop smelled like an ashtray.

A fire suppression system might work. It (theoretically) works on airplanes.

Or they could just build a proper smoking area for GRH patients. This whole “smokers don’t get anywhere to smoke” thing is out of hand. I’m not in favour of smoking being prevalent — it should be viewed as a disease, with a goal of elimination — but we’re now starting to provide places for users of many illegal drugs to do so safely so it’s unreasonable for a place like a hospital not to have a place where addicted patients can smoke.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - goggolor - 01-26-2017

(01-26-2017, 10:26 AM)ijmorlan Wrote:
(01-26-2017, 10:15 AM)chutten Wrote: A fire suppression system might work. It (theoretically) works on airplanes.

Or they could just build a proper smoking area for GRH patients. This whole “smokers don’t get anywhere to smoke” thing is out of hand. I’m not in favour of smoking being prevalent — it should be viewed as a disease, with a goal of elimination — but we’re now starting to provide places for users of many illegal drugs to do so safely so it’s unreasonable for a place like a hospital not to have a place where addicted patients can smoke.

They *used* to have a proper smoking area for GRH patients. In 2013 they removed it because smoking is bad and therefore shouldn't happen on hospital property, I guess the theory being that all smokers would just quit smoking if they didn't have a roof to do it under. The immediate consequence was that smokers just moved to the sidewalks and bus shelters. Before the iXpress shelters were removed, I'd often see multiple smokers occupying the bus shelter on the hospital side of King St.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - MidTowner - 01-26-2017

The systems in use on airplanes to prevent smoking on airplanes is better than the system in use at GRT stops (I mean, no system at all). I agree strongly that smokers should be given appropriate places to smoke- that analogy with safe injection sites is a smart one, and I have never heard it before. It makes sense.

But I hate when people smoke at bus stops, and they seem to disproportionately be the type of people who do not react well to gentle criticism. Since I’m not a big fan of being sworn at by someone whom I then have to wait and subsequently be on the same bus with, I now quietly inhale second-hand smoke until the bus comes. I wonder how many would-be transit riders have done that, and decided they’d rather be in their smoke-free climate-controlled cars instead.

I wish a no-smoking policy at bus stops (and Ion stations) would be even sporadically enforced.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Rainrider22 - 01-26-2017

(01-26-2017, 11:25 AM)MidTowner Wrote: The systems in use on airplanes to prevent smoking on airplanes is better than the system in use at GRT stops (I mean, no system at all). I agree strongly that smokers should be given appropriate places to smoke- that analogy with safe injection sites is a smart one, and I have never heard it before. It makes sense.

But I hate when people smoke at bus stops, and they seem to disproportionately be the type of people who do not react well to gentle criticism. Since I’m not a big fan of being sworn at by someone whom I then have to wait and subsequently be on the same bus with, I now quietly inhale second-hand smoke until the bus comes. I wonder how many would-be transit riders have done that, and decided they’d rather be in their smoke-free climate-controlled cars instead.

I wish a no-smoking policy at bus stops (and Ion stations) would be even sporadically enforced.

That is not right, you should not have to put up with the smoke however, I understand it not worth the B/S you might have to put up with for holding someone accountable.  I suggest you write a complaint to the Regional Health Officials.  I bet they will get on GRT official's and bylaw to start doing some enforcement.

I myself will hold people accountable and politely ask the to move or put the cigarette out... If they don't or start to ast aggressive, it is amazing how fast recording their actions on a cell phone makes them leave...just saying..


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - goggolor - 01-26-2017

Not to get too far off topic, but I have tried politely asking smokers to move, and it never ends well. If someone is knowingly violating social norms, reminding them of that usually just results in aggression. Like the guys who play music loudly over their phone at the back of the bus. I tried to get a GRT driver to respond once (to a woman who literally told me "Yeah I know I'm not supposed to smoke here, but you can't stop me, so I'm going to keep doing it") and their attitude was that by the time enforcement arrived, the person would have moved on anyway. Personally I don't want to risk being assaulted when I'm just trying to get to work in the morning.

If/when this happens once the new shelters are up, I'll try to get some photographic evidence and find an official who cares... your suggestion about the Regional Health Officials seems worthwhile. This is a problem created by the hospital's decisions, I think they should be involved in fixing it.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - KevinL - 01-26-2017

(01-26-2017, 11:13 AM)goggolor Wrote:  I guess the theory being that all smokers would just quit smoking if they didn't have a roof to do it under.

The same thing was done at high schools about 20 years ago. Turned neighbouring sidewalks into real messes.


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Rainrider22 - 01-26-2017

(01-26-2017, 01:21 PM)goggolor Wrote: Not to get too far off topic, but I have tried politely asking smokers to move, and it never ends well. If someone is knowingly violating social norms, reminding them of that usually just results in aggression. Like the guys who play music loudly over their phone at the back of the bus. I tried to get a GRT driver to respond once (to a woman who literally told me "Yeah I know I'm not supposed to smoke here, but you can't stop me, so I'm going to keep doing it") and their attitude was that by the time enforcement arrived, the person would have moved on anyway. Personally I don't want to risk being assaulted when I'm just trying to get to work in the morning.

If/when this happens once the new shelters are up, I'll try to get some photographic evidence and find an official who cares... your suggestion about the Regional Health Officials seems worthwhile. This is a problem created by the hospital's decisions, I think they should be involved in fixing it.

Sadly you are correct, often people only know how to respond to requests with aggression or intimidation, but that is why more of us need to confront them.  They are social bullies and the only tactic they know is to get aggressive,  let me tell you though, once they have been taken down a peg they reconsider their actions...

Recording with your cell phone will get results.....

No one should have to accept and take their vial smoke into you're own lungs.... disgusting


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - urbd - 01-26-2017

(01-25-2017, 03:21 PM)Canard Wrote: Dubai has the only tram in the world I can think of with platform screen doors, because they have AC in the stations and trains.

I'm sorry - it just ain't gonna happen.

You're sorry? As if you had any decision power on what happens with the project Wink


RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Coke6pk - 01-26-2017

(01-26-2017, 01:21 PM)goggolor Wrote: This is a problem created by the hospital's decisions, I think they should be involved in fixing it.

Before we go off and blame the hospitals, they don't have smoking structures because the Smoke Free Ontario Act prohibits (a) Smoking within 9m of any entrance or exit of a hospital and (b) Smoking on the outdoor grounds of a hospital. 

The province banned smoking on hospital property (and within 9m of the doors if it abuts public property), and the hospitals are being compliant with the law.  No different than when the province banned smoking on school property.  [Or when they banned smoking in malls, or when the Fed's banned smoking on planes]

As for smoking in bus shelters, this is handled by the Regional By-Law Enforcement and Regulatory Services branch.  I believe they have two full time Tobacco officers who deal with not only the Regional By-Law, but the SFOA.

Coke