ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[tomh009]

I love the grey paint on the vehicles. I've never been a fan of the blue we use here - either on the LRT or buses. I actually miss the old Kitchener Transit orange! Though I think that's a bit dated to use these days...

Less dated than the green-and-yellow paint scheme from the 60s though!

[panamaniac]

I love the grey paint on the vehicles. I've never been a fan of the blue we use here - either on the LRT or buses. I actually miss the old Kitchener Transit orange! Though I think that's a bit dated to use these days...

Less dated than the green-and-yellow paint scheme from the 60s though!

Bring that scheme back now and it would be retro-cool.  

[Bytor]

Less dated than the green-and-yellow paint scheme from the 60s though!

Bring that scheme back now and it would be retro-cool.  

Have you seen the latest colours of Material You on the upcoming new Android version? That type of palette. ;-)

[ac3r]

Less dated than the green-and-yellow paint scheme from the 60s though!

Bring that scheme back now and it would be retro-cool.  

It'd be a fun idea to do temporarily, to be honest! Pick an anniversary date relating to our regional transit, and wrap a few of the buses or LRVs in the classic colours.

I know the region no longer owns any, but having a couple of the old GMC or Flyer Industries buses from the 1970s out on the road would be cool to see sometimes as well. I still remember when we had a few of these old things operating, back when you could still open the windows on the buses. I suppose accessibility would prevent them from ever running old stock, even if it was just a one off thing:

[neonjoe]

Bring that scheme back now and it would be retro-cool.  

It'd be a fun idea to do temporarily, to be honest! Pick an anniversary date relating to our regional transit, and wrap a few of the buses or LRVs in the classic colours.

I know the region no longer owns any, but having a couple of the old GMC or Flyer Industries buses from the 1970s out on the road would be cool to see sometimes as well. I still remember when we had a few of these old things operating, back when you could still open the windows on the buses. I suppose accessibility would prevent them from ever running old stock, even if it was just a one off thing:

Last I remember 793, which is a 1970s Flyer is still on site at Strasburg. Although it is in GRT livery.

[ac3r]

Is it? Interesting. I would have thought that all the old stock was sold off or scrapped because it's extremely dated by now. I tried looking for information on CPTDB Wiki but most vehicles just say "Retired" without elaboration. If it's in GRT livery, I wonder why they've kept it. It doesn't seem like they would keep such old vehicles as backups as the lack of wheelchair ramp or hydraulics to lower the vehicle makes me think that they would not even be able to operate these anymore. You had to climb steps on and off most of these old buses.

[Coke6pk]

Bring that scheme back now and it would be retro-cool.  

It'd be a fun idea to do temporarily, to be honest! Pick an anniversary date relating to our regional transit, and wrap a few of the buses or LRVs in the classic colours.

I know the region no longer owns any, but having a couple of the old GMC or Flyer Industries buses from the 1970s out on the road would be cool to see sometimes as well. I still remember when we had a few of these old things operating, back when you could still open the windows on the buses. I suppose accessibility would prevent them from ever running old stock, even if it was just a one off thing:

One of my early jobs was working overnight for Kitchener Transit fueling and washing/cleaning the buses.  Brings back some memories of making left hand turns all night long.

[You learned quickly to book off New Years and Oktoberfest -- and found the weirdest things left behind on the bus.  There was enough underwear left behind that they were normally thrown up over the rafters of the bus barn ... and it was an extensive collection. LOL]

Coke

[ac3r]

I wouldn't want to clean a bus on a good day, so I can't imagine how they were after a night where everyone is drinking copious amounts of alcohol haha.

[neonjoe]

Is it? Interesting. I would have thought that all the old stock was sold off or scrapped because it's extremely dated by now. I tried looking for information on CPTDB Wiki but most vehicles just say "Retired" without elaboration. If it's in GRT livery, I wonder why they've kept it. It doesn't seem like they would keep such old vehicles as backups as the lack of wheelchair ramp or hydraulics to lower the vehicle makes me think that they would not even be able to operate these anymore. You had to climb steps on and off most of these old buses.

Looks like the Streetview from Oct 2020 still had it.

[tomh009]

Alas, I couldn't find a better photo ... incidentally, this one and the GM New Look bus above are both from the old Duke St bus station; this one shows the Market Square parking garage in the background.

[bgb_ca]

Is it? Interesting. I would have thought that all the old stock was sold off or scrapped because it's extremely dated by now. I tried looking for information on CPTDB Wiki but most vehicles just say "Retired" without elaboration. If it's in GRT livery, I wonder why they've kept it. It doesn't seem like they would keep such old vehicles as backups as the lack of wheelchair ramp or hydraulics to lower the vehicle makes me think that they would not even be able to operate these anymore. You had to climb steps on and off most of these old buses.

Looks like the Streetview from Oct 2020 still had it.

It is in the streetview, but the satellite shot only shows what looks like Novas and New Flyers.

[D40LF]

It'd be a fun idea to do temporarily, to be honest! Pick an anniversary date relating to our regional transit, and wrap a few of the buses or LRVs in the classic colours.

It would certainly be a fun idea, but these are the same people who won't even wrap enough buses in iXpress livery to cover their iXpress routes.

[Bytor]

A friend on Facebook is claiming

→" The deal was at the LRT Corridor was going to be used for affordable housing."

When I asked them where they got that from, because I had never heard it before in spite of following the LRT project since almost the very beginning, they claimed that a city planner told them this just before the pandemic lockdown started and told them that this was "official".

This seems fishy to me because I don't remember hearing anything like that at all in the decade-long lead-up to ION construction, and if it truly was official, I'd expect that is supposed plan to make all housing in the corridor affordable to be a very big part of what was communicated and difficult to forget.

Leaving aside for the moment where all this money would come from for thousands of affordable apartments to pay the owners the RGI differentials, or what developers my friend imagines would buy expensive coral and and build apartments on it and rent them of cheaply, what do you all think of this claim? Am I the person in the wrong who is just forgotten this supposed promise that the LRT Corridor would be affordable housing? Or is it that my friend misunderstood what the city planner told them?

[nms]

I think more accurately, the complaint was the LRT-inspired construction was displacing affordable housing along the corridor and forcing those seeking affordable housing to move further from transit and services that they could access.

[ijmorlan]

A friend on Facebook is claiming

→" The deal was at the LRT Corridor was going to be used for affordable housing."

I’d say “cite or it never happened”. Well, I wouldn’t say exactly that to a friend, obviously — but good luck getting them to understand that what they thought they were told informally by “a” planner one time does not have the same status as something written in a planning document.