Grand River Transit

[Markster]

You also have to consider the practical travel time savings possible, especially for buses running in mixed traffic. How much time can you really save by not stopping, or cutting out route deviation? Does that time savings even outweigh the average wait time penalty from your loss of frequency because of diminished utility for riders? And even if it does, does it (along the central corridor) also outweigh the simplicity, confidence and comfort that a higher frequency, semi-rapid transit line like ION should offer?

Indeed. Currently the iXpress is every 15 minutes. With the same investment, you can either add a super-express bus every half hour, or you can increase the iXpress to every 10 minutes. The former saves people 5~10 minutes on very specific trips at very specific departure times, while the latter saves everyone an average of 2.5 minutes on every trip. Personally, I hate living on schedules, so the latter is my preferred choice.

For information, I checked the schedules, and here's some expected run times to Conestoga Mall:

200:
Charles St to Mall: 36 minutes
Bridgeport to Mall: 22 minutes

7C:
Charles St to Mall: 31 minutes (5 mins faster)
Bridgeport to Mall: 13 minutes (9 mins faster)