Grand River Transit

[Viewfromthe42]

Events don't often relate to general ridership, but they can be an introduction to the service. Many people drive everywhere, but in Ottawa, with the horrible traffic, they'll park at a park'n'ride and then ride the equivalent of our iXpress downtown to the show. There are buses as far as the eye can see, and for free, after the fireworks, and they're always a lot faster than spending an hour or more trying to get a car out of any walkable parking lot.

When you give people an access point to ION, whether they become a transit user, or buy their kid a GRT pass, or just understand the utility and experience a bit better, all have moved the dial in a positive direction.

I agree wholeheartedly with this view. However, I don't see why a single annual event is significant. As someone who tends to avoid malls because of the traffic and parking hassles, that the LRT termini are at malls is a big advantage. (I find this a bit humourous in light of the anti-LRT people who put it down as just a means to getting to malls...)

But what's at Columbia Lake that would influence me to use the LRT if only there was a stop nearby? People are much more likely to use the LRT to get to Waterloo Park or Victoria Park, never mind downtown Kitchener and uptown Waterloo or to visit someone at GR Hospital. So it seems to me that rather than concentrate on a single event we need to find a way to encourage people generally to use LRT/GRT when they'd otherwise drive to destinations near the LRT route.

As for free fares, one impediment to public transit use over driving/parking is that the cost is based on the number of people in the party. A family with 2 adults and several kids could easily spend $20 or more to use the LRT to go to a park or to visit someone. That's a disincentive compared to driving and parking, even if it's paid parking. Perhaps GRT should consider making weekends and holidays free. This would encourage more people to try the LRT (and GRT in general) and may convert some of them into regular paid passengers during the week. This should at least be considered during the first few months the LRT is in service.

You try to incentivize use in many ways. One way is by things like the late night loop, primarily for students. Even as they are already heavy users of transit, some who still are not will see a sober and cheap ride home as a good value proposition.

Others, who could hardly be pulled out of their cars, might need more specialized moments to motivate, and an hour-plus to escape a parking lot might be one of them.

I agree wholeheartedly with respect to the cost of bringing a family. It makes little sense that we say we want to get closer to the TTC in terms of cost recovery, but don't follow one of their best examples of accessibility and ridership building: that the day pass on weekends and holidays is good for almost any family size (up to two adults and four kids I think?). That the day pass is so hard for people to acquire, and only works on sunday, is a good disincentive.