ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[GtwoK]

Duke and Young is reopening on Saturday, while Duke and Ontario is set to close next Monday for 2 months!

Getting ready to pour the concrete pad between the two tracks (is there a name for this?) at Cedar.

Median?

I think a Median implies a barrier

[MidTowner]

[quote pid='23886' dateline='1467893111']
Sadly ... while out for photos this morning I observed an incident of drive-through rage, someone yelling and ranting loudly at the person in front of her in the Tim Horton's drive-through (because other person was not fast enough, it appears).  Does being inside a vehicle make this behaviour more likely?

[/quote]

I've read that the anonymity in a car (among other things) can increase this type of behaviour.

This video discusses the psychology of a person while driving.

[panamaniac]

Duke and Young is reopening on Saturday, while Duke and Ontario is set to close next Monday for 2 months!

Median?

I think a Median implies a barrier

Seems like a moment to remind folks that the Apollo Cinema, among others, will be coping with that closure.  Keep going to the movies!

[Markster]

I think a Median implies a barrier

It doesn't always. It just means the space between the directions of traffic. It can have a barrier, a ditch, a curb, a rumble strip, or just paint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_strip

[danbrotherston]

I've read that the anonymity in a car (among other things) can increase this type of behaviour.

This video discusses the psychology of a person while driving.

This is amazing, I was expecting some type of documentary or something, but this is much better!  Also, if that's authentic, and actually from the 50's, this has been a known problem for a long time, and yet we've done little to fix it.

I far prefer biking or transit for exactly this reason, I feel quite frustrated and angry in traffic.

[Canard]

What does car hate and road rage have to do with Light Rail?

As I just had to explain on Twitter to someone who wrongly assumed this is all coming from motorists, it's not. It's coming from everyone. I don't deny that it's likely that motorists are probably angry about it, but to blindly assume that it's only them, and then abscond motorists and car drivers as all garbage is very irresponsible and synonymous with racism.

I'm a motorist. I'm a pedestrian. And I'm now a cyclist. And I really wish people would stop hating each other. Is there a term for hating people who hate?

[Viewfromthe42]

What I find a bit remarkable, living at Kaufman, is how I walk my dog a few times around 6/7, 4/6, 9/10/11, and no matter the day of the week, I'll see more than a car a minute drive down Victoria past at least half a dozen warning signs, and then seem confused that they can't get through. You would think that signs and time would be enough, but I'm amazed at how many people (even taxis) still don't clue in one way or another.

[danbrotherston]

What does car hate and road rage have to do with Light Rail?

...

I'm a motorist. I'm a pedestrian. And I'm now a cyclist. And I really wish people would stop hating each other. Is there a term for hating people who hate?

A hypocrite?  But seriously, I don't think anyone here is expressing hate, or blaming anyone, so much as identifying a problem and musing about a solution.  And there is an understanding that road rage occurs more frequently than other types of violence, from people who wouldn't necessarily be violent otherwise.

As for how it related to LRT, it originally started from the abuse LRT construction workers have been receiving, it is obviously a bit of a tangent now, perhaps a new thread.

[MidTowner]

What does car hate and road rage have to do with Light Rail?

As I just had to explain on Twitter to someone who wrongly assumed this is all coming from motorists, it's not. It's coming from everyone. I don't deny that it's likely that motorists are probably angry about it, but to blindly assume that it's only them, and then abscond motorists and car drivers as all garbage is very irresponsible and synonymous with racism.

I'm a motorist. I'm a pedestrian. And I'm now a cyclist. And I really wish people would stop hating each other. Is there a term for hating people who hate?

Whoa, wait. Why do you think anyone hates anyone? You brought up mistreatment that construction workers are getting. I hypothesized that it might be a form of road rage, since I expect that a lot of it would be coming from motorists. You just agreed that’s likely the case. I also noted that, of course, not all of it is coming from motorists (see post #4,534 when I said “though of course not all”).

I don’t think “abscond” means what you think it means. But nobody called motorists “garbage.” I do hypothesize, though, that the same things that cause road rage on the part of motorists about all kinds of slights and perceived slights probably cause them to be less than respectful of construction workers sometimes.

[clasher]

The progress is exciting, thanks for all the pictures!

[Markster]

Apparently Charles St will open to bi-directional traffic sometime mid-August.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/Markster3000">@Markster3000</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RegionWaterloo">@RegionWaterloo</a> HI Mark. Two-way traffic on Charles from Francis to Benton is expected by mid-August.</p>&mdash; ION (@rideIONrt) <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt/status/751085243071856641">July 7, 2016</a></blockquote>

[kps]

What I find a bit remarkable, living at Kaufman, is how I walk my dog a few times around 6/7, 4/6, 9/10/11, and no matter the day of the week, I'll see more than a car a minute drive down Victoria past at least half a dozen warning signs, and then seem confused that they can't get through. You would think that signs and time would be enough, but I'm amazed at how many people (even taxis) still don't clue in one way or another.

Some may just be boneheads, but incorrect signs seem to have become common, so it's not entirely surprising that people stop believing them.

[Canard]

I see lots of cars do that too when I walk down Weber between Duke and Victoria. I actually watched one woman slam on her brakes and almost slid into the construction fence. Like how hard is it to read 3 closed signs in a row?

I also see pedestrians lifting up fences all over the place and climbing through the construction zones. Some of our own forum members even do this and are praised for doing so. I can't believe the number of people I see climbing through the tracks in Waterloo Park.

It's really scary that everyone (pedestrians/motorists/cyclists) are not following the rules/the law.  But making these observations which are totally subjective based on one's own experiences provides no benefit to this thread or advance the conversation. Could I propose that we move back to talking about the construction of the line? Plz? Group hug?

[KevinL]

I think it's safe to say that many of those upset and frustrated with the construction are motorists (as their mobility is the most impacted), and a select number of them will unfortunately take out their frustrations on the crew doing the work. Obviously blaming these people, who are simply doing their jobs, for the inconvenience is illogical and pointless, but emotion will seek an easy outlet when that frustration rises. I don't know how things can be better settled with these people, but hopefully something can be sorted before anything boils over too far.

[JoeKW]

I saw a guy walk through the construction site at king and francis some time ago (there was no path at the time) and I had to shake my head because I knew how many deep pits and holes have come and gone day by day in that area.