Grand River Transit

[Pheidippides]

This entire exercise reminds me how much I really regret not being more vocal about the Ion station placement earlier.

Redirecting to the 202 to the Laurier stop seems like a reasonable accommodation without adding too much travel time/distance to to 202. My only critique would be that there are more people and places around the current 202 stop at Phillip that might drive 202 use.

Failing that adjustment, if the 202 cannot go to the new terminal than even moving the current 202 stops to university at the tracks would probably take a similar amount of time or less than having the 202 go to the proposed terminal.

Consider the EB case of the 202 travelling from University at Seagram to the proposed transit terminal and then having to walk to the UW Ion station:
850m drive (one left, two rights) from University at Seagram to the transit terminal + 150m walk "back" to the UW Ion station = 4min + 2min = 6min travel time (not accounting for potential bus and pedestrian stoppages at the tracks) 

Now consider the EB case of the 202 travelling from University at Seagram to a new iXpress stop just before the tracks and then walking up the trail to the UW Ion station:
250m drive (no turns) + 400m walk = 5min + 1min = 6min travel time (not accounting for pedestrian crossing street)

So the travel time is about the same at 6min albeit most would feel like the stop at the tracks is more travel time because of a higher proportion of the time is spent walking.

The case going WB is similar. Imagine a 202 travelling from University at Phillip to the proposed transit terminal and then having to walk to the UW Ion station:
600m drive (one right, one left) from University + 130m walk = 3min + 2min = 5min travel time (not accounting for potential pedestrian stoppage at the tracks)

Now imagine a 202 travelling from University at Phillip to a stop just before or after the tracks and then walking up the trail to the UW Ion station:
180m drive (no turns) + 400m walk = 1min + 5min = 6min travel time (not accounting for potential bus/pedestrian stoppages at the tracks)

You can do the same exercise for the 201 on Columbia and the results are similar whether you are comparing EB or WB trips. Travel times for bussing to a transit terminal and walking to the Ion station or bussing to where the trail meets Columbia and walking down the trail are about the same (4-5min either method).


Can UW actually restrict bus flow on Ring Road? I guess it is technically a "private" road, but it is a public institution. Perhaps UW won't get such a good U-pass deal next time around or they should have converted the campus to a proper transportation grid? :-)