Grand River Transit

[bgb_ca]

Looks like a trial on demand service to Breslau and the airport coming soon

https://www.engagewr.ca/on-demand-transi...gn-breslau

[ac3r]

It would be a great idea. I'd fly all over the country for some fun if I had a way to get to the airport.

[danbrotherston]

It would be a great idea. I'd fly all over the country for some fun if I had a way to get to the airport.

Sarcasm? I hope? If not, you know we have taxis right?

[ac3r]

It would be a great idea. I'd fly all over the country for some fun if I had a way to get to the airport.

Sarcasm? I hope? If not, you know we have taxis right?

Why do you assume it's sarcasm? A taxi costs more than a bus. If there was a bus that could get me to the airport for the cost of a coffee and would let me take a cheap flight out to Halifax, I'm more inclined to travel for fun to waste a few days wandering the a city with no goal in mind.

I like to travel. Spontaneously and light. A bag and a few dollars in cash. In most countries, I need nothing more than a bag, a sleeping bag or few dollars if a hotel is necessary. This could let me hop on the GRT, get on a plane to somewhere in the country and then wander around for next to nothing. Taxis and hotels are frivolous in my mind, unless absolutely required. I'm more of a Vagrant Holiday kind of traveller: https://youtu.be/BVSJvfitmuQ

[danbrotherston]

Sarcasm? I hope? If not, you know we have taxis right?

Why do you assume it's sarcasm? A taxi costs more than a bus. If there was a bus that could get me to the airport for the cost of a coffee and would let me take a cheap flight out to Halifax, I'm more inclined to travel for fun to waste a few days wandering the a city with no goal in mind.

I like to travel. Spontaneously and light. A bag and a few dollars in cash. In most countries, I need nothing more than a bag, a sleeping bag or few dollars if a hotel is necessary. This could let me hop on the GRT, get on a plane to somewhere in the country and then wander around for next to nothing. Taxis and hotels are frivolous in my mind, unless absolutely required. I'm more of a Vagrant Holiday kind of traveller: https://youtu.be/BVSJvfitmuQ

And a plane ticket costs an order of magnitude more than either. A taxi ride to the airport is like 15 dollars. If you can afford a 200 dollar flight, it seems dubious that a 15 dollar taxi ride is what is stopping you.

A taxi is "frivolous" but at the same time it's the obstacle stopping your trip?

I'm sorry, our airport doesn't have anywhere near the passenger volume to justify regular transit service (even "flex" service). It is literally the archetypal example of elite projection (https://humantransit.org/2017/07/the-dan...ction.html).

[taylortbb]

And a plane ticket costs an order of magnitude more than either. A taxi ride to the airport is like 15 dollars. If you can afford a 200 dollar flight, it seems dubious that a 15 dollar taxi ride is what is stopping you.

I think $20 is more accurate (including tip), and then x2 for departure and arrival. Suddenly we're at $40, which when flights start from $80 round trip is 50% more. Hardly an order of magnitude less.

I'm sorry, our airport doesn't have anywhere near the passenger volume to justify regular transit service (even "flex" service). It is literally the archetypal example of elite projection (https://humantransit.org/2017/07/the-dan...ction.html).

I've agreed with this for years, every time someone says we need a bus to the airport. But with the current increase in flight rate, and airport expansion to handle even more flights, I think we might now be at a volume where it makes sense. Especially if it was an extension of the iXpress along Victoria, so one could take the GO train here from Toronto and have an easy connection out to the airport.

I'll also point out that our airport has a lot of non-passenger volume. It's a major flight training school, with a lot of students that need to get out to the airport. Not enough to justify bus service on its own, but combined with the airport expansion I think we're starting to get close to it actually making sense.

[ac3r]

15 dollars saved is 15 dollars saved. I welcome the bus trial. I would have expected you of all people to be happy about such an announcement, not tell people they should just hire a private car and automatically assume they're joking for wanting otherwise.

It's an international airport with growing passenger numbers. There ought to be options to get there besides owning or hiring a vehicle to get them there. This is a good thing.

Sounds to me like you've never travelled the way I do, by thinking "if you can afford the plane you can afford all else". I could afford 5 star hotels if I wanted, but that's not me. I like to roam around and spend as little as possible, experiencing cities in unique ways. A plane ticket is one thing, but I'll happily sleep on benches or couch surf on the couch a cute girl in a bar offers me. If I don't need to spend money on taxis and hotels and all that, I prefer it more. So yeah, a cheap GRT bus ride to YKF to get to Halifax so I can wander around and see where fate takes me is my preference. Of course, I could walk, but it's humid in the summer, yeah? That sort of ad hoc travel is what makes travel fun.

[danbrotherston]

And a plane ticket costs an order of magnitude more than either. A taxi ride to the airport is like 15 dollars. If you can afford a 200 dollar flight, it seems dubious that a 15 dollar taxi ride is what is stopping you.

I think $20 is more accurate (including tip), and then x2 for departure and arrival. Suddenly we're at $40, which when flights start from $80 round trip is 50% more. Hardly an order of magnitude less.

I'm sorry, our airport doesn't have anywhere near the passenger volume to justify regular transit service (even "flex" service). It is literally the archetypal example of elite projection (https://humantransit.org/2017/07/the-dan...ction.html).

I've agreed with this for years, every time someone says we need a bus to the airport. But with the current increase in flight rate, and airport expansion to handle even more flights, I think we might now be at a volume where it makes sense. Especially if it was an extension of the iXpress along Victoria, so one could take the GO train here from Toronto and have an easy connection out to the airport.

I'll also point out that our airport has a lot of non-passenger volume. It's a major flight training school, with a lot of students that need to get out to the airport. Not enough to justify bus service on its own, but combined with the airport expansion I think we're starting to get close to it actually making sense.

Well, it depends on where in the city you are taking the taxi from. If you really wanted to, you could take the bus to the edge of the city and take a taxi a short trip further. Or hell, walk it...it is possible.

I think my point is valid, it's unreasonable to claim that lack of bus service is the reason that someone would not take a flight.

As for airport volumes, I really really don't think so. Flight school teachers and students are really unlikely to ride transit to the flight school. And our flight volumes are still very VERY low. Nowhere near the volumes of any airport, and you consider even Pearson had very low ridership on their bus routes before the train. Airport employees might be the most likely to ride transit (and certainly this was true at Pearson), but even as an employer, our airport isn't that large compared with other regional employers.

To me, the airport would not justify service. It MIGHT justify service if Breslau already has service, but I'd be surprised if Breslau can maintain its service, Breslau is tiny even compared with New Hamburg and Baden which is the last rural service expansion.

[danbrotherston]

15 dollars saved is 15 dollars saved. I welcome the bus trial. I would have expected you of all people to be happy about such an announcement, not tell people they should just hire a private car and automatically assume they're joking for wanting otherwise.

It's an international airport with growing passenger numbers. There ought to be options to get there besides owning or hiring a vehicle to get them there. This is a good thing.

Sounds to me like you've never travelled the way I do, by thinking "if you can afford the plane you can afford all else". I could afford 5 star hotels if I wanted, but that's not me. I like to roam around and spend as little as possible, experiencing cities in unique ways. A plane ticket is one thing, but I'll happily sleep on benches or couch surf on the couch a cute girl in a bar offers me. If I don't need to spend money on taxis and hotels and all that, I prefer it more. So yeah, a cheap GRT bus ride to YKF to get to Halifax so I can wander around and see where fate takes me is my preference. Of course, I could walk, but it's humid in the summer, yeah? That sort of ad hoc travel is what makes travel fun.

I am a pragmatist. I want to see our resources spent in the most effective ways possible, even if those ways don't benefit me as much as other ways. I fly out of the airport, I've taken a taxi there a few times, if there was a bus (that was convenient) I'd use it.

But if I can take a taxi to the airport and that bus can instead carry more passengers serving another destination...that's a better use of resources.

As for how I travel, well, I'm certainly not going to be sleeping rough, nor am I planning on ... what did they call it in HIMYM ... paratrooping...banging for roof. But I certainly don't stay in 4 star hotels, in fact, I haven't stayed in any hotels on my own dime at least for a decade or so.

[tomh009]

I like to travel. Spontaneously and light. A bag and a few dollars in cash. In most countries, I need nothing more than a bag, a sleeping bag or few dollars if a hotel is necessary. This could let me hop on the GRT, get on a plane to somewhere in the country and then wander around for next to nothing. Taxis and hotels are frivolous in my mind, unless absolutely required. I'm more of a Vagrant Holiday kind of traveller: https://youtu.be/BVSJvfitmuQ

If the airport is in the city, yes, it can be free or very cheap to get there. But if you land at Narita, Hong Kong, Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle or Sydney, for example, you are also paying well more than $15 to get to the city. It all depends, Canada is not unique in this regard.

[ac3r]

You can get into Paris from Charles de Gaulle for free...just depends on how open, chill and charismatic you are. :'> And if you can speak any degree of French that doesn't make you sound like a total twat lol.

[danbrotherston]

You can get into Paris from Charles de Gaulle for free...just depends on how open, chill and charismatic you are. :'> And if you can speak any degree of French that doesn't make you sound like a total twat lol.

By that logic, you can get to YKF just fine, here are Google Maps walking directions:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kitchene...03!3e2!5i1

I mean, as long as you're open and chill to walking on the side of a highway for a short distance. That's certainly not more extreme and definitely more reliable than banking on bumming a ride with a total stranger in a foreign country.

[ac3r]

It was half serious, dude.

I expect to have reasonable transport services in the city that I've spent decades paying taxes in, especially considering there's 630'000+ people here (edit: for comparison, Nürnberg, which is a city equal to our population and size, extended one of their three subway lines to their airport at Flughafen station - yet we don't even have a bus going to ours). An on demand bus is not that much to ask for - we give the cops millions so they can have fancy drones, technology to crack cell phones, cool tactigear and assault rifles, right? What's the occasional bus compared to that cost?

It's a different story when you're willingly trying to travel cheap and seek out unique experiences in a foreign country by meeting strangers and seeing where things take you. I'm not going to get that hitching a ride in Waterloo Region. I'd just like to be able to take an on demand bus to our international airport so I can take off to Halifax or Calgary for a week without unnecessary spending. It's okay to be opposed to that, but personally, I'm all for investment in public transit pilots and programs. That's not expecting much. We're supposed to be the centre of Canadian innovation, after all.

It's only a trail program anyway. If it seems useful, they'll study and fund it. If not, I guess I'll go bourgeoisie and spend 25 bucks on a taxi and tip instead, rather than promote public transit. My point was just that I'd be more inclined to travel away for a few days if it only took a bus and a plane ticket. Saves me money, gives GRT money and it gives airlines money. Need to start somewhere, and it seems like a good potential short term solution.

[danbrotherston]

It was half serious, dude.

I expect to have reasonable transport services in the city that I've spent decades paying taxes in. An on demand bus is not that much to ask for - we give the cops millions so they can have fancy drones, technology to crack cell phones, cool tactigear and assault rifles, right? What's the occasional bus compared to that cost?

It's a different story when you're willingly trying to travel cheap and seek out unique experiences in a foreign country by meeting strangers and seeing where things take you. I'm not going to get that hitching a ride in Waterloo Region. I'd just like to be able to take an on demand bus to our international airport so I can take off to Halifax or Calgary for a week without unnecessary spending. It's okay to be opposed to that, but personally, I'm all for investment in public transit pilots and programs. That's not expecting much. We're supposed to be the centre of Canadian innovation, after all.

It's only a trail program anyway. If it seems useful, they'll study and fund it. If not, I guess I'll go bourgeoisie and spend 25 bucks on a taxi and tip instead, rather than promote public transit. My point was just that I'd be more inclined to travel away for a few days if it only took a bus and a plane ticket. Saves me money, gives GRT money and it gives airlines money. Need to start somewhere, and it seems like a good potential short term solution.

I mean, that is literally what I asked.

I think it's 'bourgeoisie' to insist on having a bus that serves a destination like an airport rather than a destination that would be valuable to more people.

I don't necessarily oppose the pilot, it's serving more than just the airport. We'll see if it's successful, I hope it gains ridership, but I don't expect the airport to be what makes it successful.

[jwilliamson]

The 204 should be extended to the airport and then down Kossuth and into downtown Guelph.