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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
I like that the sign is interactive.  You can share it on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.   Cool

   
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(09-11-2018, 11:00 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Well, it would be scary to be knocked backward into a rectangular black hole, not to mention being caused serious injury or death, so I will be extra careful when I'm Uptown.

Do you get knocked into the black hole and fall into a different world/dimension?
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(09-12-2018, 09:03 AM)Spokes Wrote:
(09-11-2018, 11:00 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Well, it would be scary to be knocked backward into a rectangular black hole, not to mention being caused serious injury or death, so I will be extra careful when I'm Uptown.

Do you get knocked into the black hole and fall into a different world/dimension?

I'm not sure.  I sort of think of Uptown that way already!  Wink
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(09-12-2018, 07:39 AM)jamincan Wrote: I can't help but wonder if there is some better barrier for pedestrians than the standard crossing arm. The standard crossing arm/bells make sense for warning drivers, but don't really seem well-suited to pedestrians and cyclists.
  • the loud warning bells are tuned to warn drivers in cars and are likely louder than needed for pedestrians and cyclists. This isn't a safety issue, but it does provide a disincentive for pedestrian crossings as they are disruptive to neighbours
  • there is some possibility of injury from the barrier itself, though people would have to disregard the warning bells above. I think the risk is minimal, but I can think of several other designs that would present less of a hazard.
  • the barrier is trivial to bypass. It is a barrier designed for cars, not people. A barrier should not be trivial to get around. That said, you don't want to confine someone on the guideway, so there has to be some way for them to leave it, but once again, I can think of several options for dealing with this.

These are some great points, and it's probably worth looking at other jurisdictions, what they do. As far as I've seen though, the only difference in other countries is the use of less ridiculously oversized equipment for pedestrian crossings.

As for the "barrier blocks cars" point, well, not that much, on a two way roads, cars can trivially and do navigate around the barrier in the other lane. This leads to many collisions. Which is why in certain other countries, where things are arguably more modern, the gates block both directions of the road.

Quote:I wonder if the nature of regulations in the railroad industry might stifle safety innovations. If regulations precisely outline what a barrier must be, there is no way for a company to innovate outside that box. Do people more knowledge about railways have any examples of how safety measures have evolved and improved over the last 50 years or so?

Yeah, I think it might be understating it to say that regulations stifle safety innovations.

The best example is the very rail cars themselves. Our crash standards are very different from European standards, as I understand it, ours require no deformation to avoid telescoping of cars in a crash with a freight train. Not only does this make little sense on passenger railways (and this type of collision is far less common on modern railways anyway), it leads to heavier, less efficient, more expensive, and more dangerous cars, compared with modern trains in Europe, which again, in my amateur understanding use something more similar to a crumple zone in a car in order to dissipate energy in a crash.

Edit: To bring this back into the realm of ION, I believe this is one of the region for the strong segregation between freight trains and LRT on our route, because the LRT vehicles would not normally be rated to operate mixed with freight traffic.
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Jamincan: they are what they are thanks to Transport Canada, and the FRA (US). Things move verrrrey slowly in North American rail.

Other cities in NA with Light Rail have exactly the same setup.
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Dan: FRA requires that all passenger vehicles/trains in NA be able to survive a specific crash with a freight train. So our trains are always fat and heavy and slow. That’s why we don’t have EMU’s from Europe (yet); CalTrain is going to be the first exemption and GO/Metrolinx is watching that very closely.
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(09-11-2018, 06:29 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(09-11-2018, 03:18 PM)Canard Wrote: Original date was Fall 2017.

People claiming today “OHHH ITS 1.5 YEARS LATE BLARRRRG” are being sensationalist for the sake of stiring the pot.

Isn't it though?  Fall 2017 is 1.5 years (minimum) from Spring 2019, if it is indeed confirmed that's the new date--does anyone have an official source for this?


I had thought a 2019 launch was pretty unlikely, I'm very disappointed to be wrong. I know some were hoping for a spring launch, but many otherws were hoping to depend on this transportation system. I'm very seriously considering buying a car this winter anyway, not having LRT only makes me more likely.

I am in the exact same situation. I have been holding a car purchase because I live and work along the ION route, and I was hoping to use it every single day as my number 1 transportation choice.
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(09-12-2018, 02:11 PM)urbd Wrote:
(09-11-2018, 06:29 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Isn't it though?  Fall 2017 is 1.5 years (minimum) from Spring 2019, if it is indeed confirmed that's the new date--does anyone have an official source for this?


I had thought a 2019 launch was pretty unlikely, I'm very disappointed to be wrong. I know some were hoping for a spring launch, but many otherws were hoping to depend on this transportation system. I'm very seriously considering buying a car this winter anyway, not having LRT only makes me more likely.

I am in the exact same situation. I have been holding a car purchase because I live and work along the ION route, and I was hoping to use it every single day as my number 1 transportation choice.

I suppose if you're live and work on a route this would be a big deal, it being late. My living location isn't close to the LRT, and actually no bussing either (it was cancelled after about 30 years of service). My work is on the route though, but lots of times my working hours prohibit using the LRT.

Either way, though, my situation is so different that for what it's worth, the LRT serves zero purpose for my family and situation; however, I am looking forward to using it at some time.
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It was nice to hear Beisan Zubi (Communitech Community Manager and candidate for Waterloo Regional Council seat) talk about LRT and GRT needing to serve more people by having schedules that better serve those who don't work 9 to 5.
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I also live/work on the line and I hope I don't have go trough another winter with the horrible Sunday morning hours. The least they could have done a year ago is make the 200 run earlier/later on weekends. Maybe that poster said it because Galloway said in other interviews that it's 6 months of breaking in, not just a min Km.

I don't even think it is the trains as much holding back the start anymore, mostly because the Easy Go cards still aren't fully rolled out, and those were due out early 2017. All they have rolled out is the limited beta from 8 months ago, students in Cambridge* and University students who were making forgeries of the old ones. Than there's the new terminal at UW that was suppose to open a year ago and the new terminal at Fairview mall that is only now being worked on.

I'm just glad those fall route changes didn't go through, without the data from those cards any major route changes are idiotic.
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There are lots and lots and looooooooots of things that still need to happen.

I keep saying it (and will continue to keep saying it): It's a big, complicated project. Even cities who have built other lines and have some experience under their built with rapid transit have delays.
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(09-12-2018, 12:35 PM)Canard Wrote: Jamincan: they are what they are thanks to Transport Canada, and the FRA (US). Things move verrrrey slowly in North American rail.

Other cities in NA with Light Rail have exactly the same setup.

So what is the best way to advocate for changes to those archaic rules? Would it take all of North America changing at once or could TC make the changes in Canada alone? How did CalTrain get an exemption?

If the rules were to change would we be able to do away with existing "excesses" of protection?
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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I don't know; I don't think we can, it's not up to the general public. I am sure every other city also thought "this is ridiculous" and realized there was nothing they could do - I don't think we're magically going to be exempt (especially not now that it's built).

How I project this would not go:

Waterloo Region: "Hi TC/FRA, we just built an LRT and we don't like that we had to put big loud freight railway signals everywhere"
TC/FRA: "Oh, okay - sure, take 'em all down, that's okay."
WR: "Awesome, thanks!"
Denver: "Can we remove ours?"
FRA: "NO, only Waterloo, because they asked."
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My point isn't just that's it's inconvenient and unpleasant, it's that the system could literally be made safer except for the fact that a barrier is a very particular thing in regulations, and therefore anything deviating from that thing is not in compliance with regulations. Rather than improving safety, the regulations are a barrier to it.
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Well if it is a federal issue, then bringing the issue to the attention of the local MPs and the relevant ministers couldn't hurt.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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