Grand River Transit

[ijmorlan]

Is this the strip of land to which you refer?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.4513503,-...312!8i6656

Didn't that used to be a building which was destroyed by, what some claim, was a suspicious fire.  In any case, it has been vacant as long as I have lived here, I think it's owned by someone though. I suspect zoning requirements make it difficult or impossible to put the original building back, and maybe the site is too small for a tower.  It is incredibly frustrating to see prime Realestate like that sit empty.  Same with the former Mayfair hotel site, which I'm glad finally has a plan.  The city has done a decent job of putting a bandaid over it.

It would be decent as a park location wise, although not ideal I think, given the grading of the site, and the imposing walls on both sides.

That is the strip of land, but the part I’m talking about is only the 6m or so closest to Manulife. My recollection is that somebody bought the rest but the property owner of that last narrow bit wouldn’t do a deal. So the rest may be re-developed; in that location I suspect 0 setback is in effect so it should be OK for redevelopment. But that will leave that 6m pretty much useless (although not totally useless; there are houses that are under 2m wide). On the overhead photo view, you can see what looks like a foundation wall or something running perpendicular to King; I think that is the border between the narrow strip I’m talking about and the rest of the property. Interestingly, in the streetview from Hall’s Lane the entire property has various equipment on it, possibly for exterior work on Manulife; I would be interested to know what sort of arrangement Manulife has for using that property for their building maintenance.

[neonjoe]

GRT Fall Service Changes
http://www.grt.ca/en/schedules-maps/fall...anges.aspx

It looks like one of the changes was pulled forward from iON launch. Route 33’s changes are being implemented in time for the school year. This includes servicing the Block Line iON station.

[tomh009]

As for a 12 meter stub, are you referring to the parking lots right at Halls Lane?  I'm not sure why it would be required, those parking lots directly abut Halls Lane, with not even so much as a curb separating them.  You could reconfigure them to access Halls lane with a hack saw and a can of paint.

I'd say if those properties were being redeveloped, the parking could be removed entirely in favour of a larger park, but that's another can of worms.

The 12m stub is to connect to those parking lots right there. I agree they probably could be reconfigured with more or less a bucket of paint but I want to avoid getting into a discussion of how feasible that is. (…) If those properties were re-developed, the parking would probably be built upon, along with the rest of the respective properties. Parking would likely move underground.

The larger parking lot is part of the PUC property, which I do believe is owned by the city, so there should not be any difficulty in reconfiguring it for access from Hall's Lane.

The smaller lot, on the E side of Gaukel, wouldn't work as well with access from Hall's Lane as it's a very narrow strip. But it's only four parking spaces, and two of them are designated for the PUC. I do believe the city would have the ability to move the entrance to Hall's Lane in this case.

[KevinT]

There was a segment on the Jennifer Campbell show (guest hosted by [I think] Jeff Pickle) around 9:30 a.m. this morning on the 6 month pilot program by Kiwanis Transit for a free local connector loop in Elmira.  I liked what I heard!

A quick google search found this:

The Record: Kiwanis Transit to launch free bus service in Elmira

[bgb_ca]

People on the beta for easygo can now load cards online.

[KevinL]

New platform layout at Forest Glen effective September, to include the 26 and the new direction for the 33, and set things a bit better overall.

[bgb_ca]

This terminal is being mothballed on ION's launch, is it not?

[timc]

This terminal is being mothballed on ION's launch, is it not?

So only another year or so, right?

[KevinL]

This terminal is being mothballed on ION's launch, is it not?

Correct, so they're likely putting in minimum possible effort on this.

[KevinL]

Cambridge high-school students will each get a free $24 EasyGo card. Part of the Transit Supportive Strategy that was agreed by the Region.

http://www.grt.ca/en/fares-passes/specia...tions.aspx

[panamaniac]

Cambridge high-school students will each get a free $24 EasyGo card. Part of the Transit Supportive Strategy that was agreed by the Region.

http://www.grt.ca/en/fares-passes/specia...tions.aspx

"Free" as in free, or as in paid for by the Region of Waterloo?

[KevinL]

Free to them, paid by the Region.

[Coke6pk]

What about my Kitchener high school children.... they don't get nothing? I need to pull a Doug Craig and complain about how Kitchener is always being ignored in this region....

Coke

[Viewfromthe42]

What would have possibly been far more effective would have been to use that same money to bring back the school special runs. When those disappeared, GRT ridership took a huge plunge, and with it, fares paid. Whatever caused schools to think that yellow school buses were the better option is surely cheaper (and with a far greater return) than giving the students all $25.

[timio]

Also of note from thirs article:
Paper tickets are no longer valid as of Jan 1, 2019.

So there's hope of going GA with these cards before then. Maybe.