ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[jeffster]

Jeeeeesus christ, waiting at the Uptown Square station, right as a train is turning into the station from King, an SUV came flying down the tracks TOWARDS the oncoming LRV and very nearly had a head on collision. Police officers standing around and no one did anything.

Seems that the police in this region are pretty useless when it comes to traffic issues. I contacted WRPS regarding a hit-and-run, no response back. It is what it is.

[drum118]

GRT is claiming on Twitter that they arent operating on a regular schedule this weekend, and that it's a "special schedule". Anyone know what that is? Are all stations being serviced?

Its anywhere between a few minutes between cars to 10 minutes based on ridership load.

All stations are service with line up in place to allow X riders on the car.

The station next car time is not working correctly.

Found the time to lower gates/barriers before the car arrives too slow to the point the car has to slow down or stop.

[jeffster]

I'd be really curious to hear more details about these changes from people like you who both live in the suburbs, and pay attention to the details. I can say anecdotally that a lot of people I talk to from the suburbs tell me that GRT "is useless" but then can't give me any information about their closest routes like what the headways are at different times of days, or even how long it would take to get to a connection to a more useful route.

I was thinking about the places the new routes serve- and don't- the other day while looking at the new transit route. I thought it looked pretty good. I mean, someone in Lakeshore (as an example) can't really expect frequent service right outside his house, but he'll now have a half-hourly bus that connects to an LRT station with covered seating and an average wait of five minutes in the peak period. That's pretty good.

It's subjective, of course. I walk a kilometre to the bus right now, and I'm happy about it because the walk is not too hostile, and the bus service is good. Other people in that situation would not be happy and would consider that excessive. And if your walk were a kilometre to a bus that is less frequent, and requires a connection to another line, that walk might be excessive. But I do think the connection is important. Getting to the Ion seems like it will be easy for many people, and they may not be focusing on how much better that connection is going to be than to many of the bus routes that exist today.

As my car is a primary mode of transportation, I would still use the bus to go to places like Conestoga Mall (for shopping and the theatre) as well as Fairview Park Mall. If anything, I was teaching my children on how to use public transportation, but I also wanted to avoid those busy time at the mall (especially around BTS and Christmas Holidays). You can say my grandma taught me well when I was in Toronto, on using the public transportation.

When I first moved into this area, I used the bus daily to get to work. Shortly after that, I moved out of the area and relied mostly on the car, though at times, as a one car family, the wife would drop me off at my work, and I'd take the bus.

I eventually moved back to this area that I am in now, as a single dad with two kids full time. As mentioned above, teaching them how to use the bus. Around the time of the approval of the LRT, our services were cancelled. My daughter had just lost her main transpiration to school - she had "special needs", so she had to go to a different high school (KCI), but all fine until the route changed. She got her GRT pass for $5 per semester. It was hard enough for her to have to take transfers, but she could no longer use the bus after changes. At that point, they starting using a taxi, but that was too hard for her too (she has extreme social phobia) because the intimate quarters were too hard for her.

As for my son, we're exactly 3,150 metres from his high school - this disqualifies him from being bussed (which is 3,200 metres). His 7/8 school was 1,700 meters away, but those kids qualify at 1,600. Either way, he's a teen boy, so trying to get him up extra early to walk to the nearest bus stop, about 700 m, plus lack of shelter and our sucky weather just didn't work. This means me having to arrange transportation which is difficult.

Point is, though, for people living in this area, the loss of the bus service wasn't a positive. Apparently ridership wasn't high enough for the extra 4 or 5 minutes the bus had to cruise, but it did have a very negative effect on people. Seniors that had lived in this area had to move, as they couldn't drive, couldn't afford a taxi, and couldn't walk the 200 - 700 metres of extra walking. We *used to* have lower income people in the area, and they too moved.

As for the ION, my daughter is out of school now (last day a couple days ago), so she never had a chance to use it. My son currently doesn't need it, as his high school and his job are not part of the LRT route. My job too isn't close to any LRT. That said, I might use the LRT on the weekend and just park at the Charles and Benton garage and take the LRT somewhere (one of the malls). If for any reason, trains fascinate me. I love going back to Toronto and using the subway. I wish the GRT (LRT) had a similar ticket system, but perhaps in the future.

[Bob_McBob]

Here's a neat timelapse of the route from Fairway to Conestoga.

[rangersfan]

Thanks for sharing that time lapse.

[JoeKW]

Hey I'm in that video!

[EdM]

An unfortunate motorist got the "gate arm on the roof" experience with a train full of people going past. We did get to hear the "short delay" announcement though!

   

[ac3r]

A proverbial wack on the head for their inability to stop.

[Bob_McBob]

A literal whack on the head if you drive a convertible 

[Bob_McBob]

There was a switch issue at Conestoga so trains were turning back at Northfield for a little while this afternoon, but it has been resolved now.

https://www.twitter.com/JamesHoweWR/stat...3776551936

I still haven't actually seen one in service but it was neat finally seeing people waiting at the station on Courtland.

[danbrotherston]

Watched the whole track from the front now. It's amazing how conservative the speeds are. Even the separated sections are rarely 70. 50 is common but a few 30s and a few extended segments of 15 which is crazy.

It's amazing to see how ridiculously conservative they are here presumably for safety when these are the same engineers who built roads that are let's say, not prioritizing safety.

[farkmcgeezax]

What a fantastic turnout for the new LRT this weekend! I've be fortunate enough to ride cars 504, 510, and 514. (I really want to ride 501.) Hoping we all take advantage of these free fares!

My short video from today showing the lineup at Fairway Station, the right turn onto King Street before Central Station, and the approach into Uptown Waterloo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92f3F-qN14

You can really sense the excitement and optimism in the community. Well done, WR!

[tomh009]

The trains are still pretty full at 8:30 PM on Saturday!

[rangersfan]

So the trains have been pretty full so far?

[jgsz]

I thought the announcements at the stations sounded Orwellian.