ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[JoeKW]

I would think Phase 2 would be announced in Cambridge

[panamaniac]

Am I the only forummer who would be horrified to see Phase 2 announced before Phase 1 is up, running, and successful? I feel so alone.....

[MidTowner]

I'm not sure I would be "horrified," but I'd be surprised. It would seem imprudent to say the least to commit funding to the second phase when it's only a two year wait to see whether at least opening day ridership forecasts were on the mark for the first phase.

[tomh009]

Am I the only forummer who would be horrified to see Phase 2 announced before Phase 1 is up, running, and successful?  I feel so alone.....

Kings often feel lonely!

[tomh009]

I'm not sure I would be "horrified," but I'd be surprised. It would seem imprudent to say the least to commit funding to the second phase when it's only a two year wait to see whether at least opening day ridership forecasts were on the mark for the first phase.

Major projects often require overlapping commitments, which precludes waiting for the first one to finish in order to gauge its success.  See the investments of automobile and aircraft manufacturers, to name a few examples.  Public infrastructure projects, whether ION or YYZ are similar: you have to commit funds early and get started, otherwise the completion will be delayed too long.

[panamaniac]

Am I the only forummer who would be horrified to see Phase 2 announced before Phase 1 is up, running, and successful?  I feel so alone.....

Kings often feel lonely!

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

[DHLawrence]

Would make a good announcement for opening day.

[mpd618]

I'm not sure I would be "horrified," but I'd be surprised. It would seem imprudent to say the least to commit funding to the second phase when it's only a two year wait to see whether at least opening day ridership forecasts were on the mark for the first phase.

It depends on how uncertain you view the outcome. Kitchener and Waterloo are undeniably reshaping the city around the line; whatever the opening day ridership (and it isn't predicted to be much more than combined corridor bus ridership), it is already helping achieve the land use goals that the Region has.

Ottawa has gotten funding for phase 2 without having opened phase 1 of their proper LRT line. However, the Region of Waterloo maybe has not gone asking for funds yet.

[Pheidippides]

State of future Allen station yesterday:
   

I suspect that the whatever the announcement is, it is GO related. If it were Ion related the minister of infrastructure would be in attendance (Bob Chiarelli) and it is the minister of transportation instead (Steven Del Duca). Instead of two-way all-day maybe they finally have the rights to the whole line?

I suspect Daiene Vernile's photo at an Ion construction site was just for convenience since her office is just down the street on Queen.

[DKsan]

I say it's a whole line announcement. I've heard through a friend that the mayor of Brampton will be in attendance today (or at least, she's been invited). 2 extra trains in the morning from KW probably isn't enough to bring non-KW people and the premier in.

[MidTowner]

It depends on how uncertain you view the outcome. Kitchener and Waterloo are undeniably reshaping the city around the line; whatever the opening day ridership (and it isn't predicted to be much more than combined corridor bus ridership), it is already helping achieve the land use goals that the Region has.

Ottawa has gotten funding for phase 2 without having opened phase 1 of their proper LRT line. However, the Region of Waterloo maybe has not gone asking for funds yet.

I wouldn’t know how certain the provincial government might view the ridership forecasts, but obviously they’re not certain- forecasts are forecasts, and they can be low or high, and usually are to some degree. Does the Region have an ask for the province? We’d probably have to go through extensive debate about that, given that phase one funding was split three-ways, and since then we have seen LRT systems in neighbouring cities funded 100%. I would expect the Region would need to vote to formally say it desires 100% funding for phase two.

That last part might not be strictly right, and I did say that the province could easily choose to announce that it’s allocated $x to phase two. I’ll be surprised if that happens before Ion launches. Maybe it will, though, if the launch is pushed back past the 2018 provincial election.

[kps]

I suspect that the whatever the announcement is, it is GO related.

Just saw a train pass (at 10:15am). Either they're really, really late today, or it's a prop for a GO announcement. (I'm betting on another re-announcement of moving to 4 Toronto-bound trains, rather than 2WAD.)

[Elmira Guy]

Not to be too cynical, but I won't be surprised if the announcement is not as big as we all hope it will be.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong though.

[Markster]

The announcement is mostly GO related.
kps has posted the deets in the GO thread:
http://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/s...2#pid22932

[timc]

Mostly GO related, but $43 million for the transit hub is great news!