ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Bob_McBob]

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[panamaniac]

It appears we've had our first LRT-bike collision. https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/bike-and-lr...76505#_gus

Am I correct in understanding that the cyclist is to be charged?

[MacBerry]

It appears we've had our first LRT-bike collision. https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/bike-and-lr...76505#_gus

Am I correct in understanding that the cyclist is to be charged?

Time to wait and see if the Ontario HTA is applied equally to all users.

[ijmorlan]

IIRC ION trains must be run continuously during snowfall to ensure the tracks are clear, yet today we have a major outage, I wonder if they've accounted for the snowfall in that.

Thoughts?  Insights?

I’m pretty sure that’s major snowfall. I can’t imagine an LRV having trouble with less than 20cm of fluffy snow.

It just occurred to me there might be more of an issue with freezing rain on the overhead when that occurs. I can imagine a real need to keep the vehicles operating all the time in those conditions.

[ert86]

i was going ask if anyone was taking bets on how many collisions we'd see yesterday, surprised it was just one

[KevinL]

Freezing rain is a big issue for Toronto, I know. Running trains continuously is certainly one way to hopefully avoid problems; I think some of GrandLinq's maintenance equipment can also step in if needed (as in, safely whack the ice off wires even if they're powered).

[JoeKW]

Does anyone know how the emergency shuttle bus systems work? Where do the drivers come from? Are they on call or pulled off other lines? Do other lines suffer as a result? Do we know how long it is between a disruption in service and shuttle service starting up?

[danbrotherston]

Am I correct in understanding that the cyclist is to be charged?

Time to wait and see if the Ontario HTA is applied equally to all users.

Given that not all drivers who have made right turns in front of the train were charged, I'm going to argue that no, in fact, this won't tell you if users are treated equally. In fact, I think drivers who turned at intersections without lighted signs weren't charged, and there isn't a lighted sign at the trail...so...yeah....

[Coke6pk]

I think my thoughts were misconstrued.  I think, if this is going to be an annual thing (someone mentioned it might be temporary) that the tracks shouldn't have been put where they would impact the ceremony. I have no problem with the ceremony but I think it's ridiculous that this situation even exists. Poor planning but the region.  Eventually, it will be a large disruption to people who need to get somewhere on a work day who don't have the luxury to work around disruptions.

As someone who marched in the parade, and stood our in the freezing cold being covered in snow, I am thankful that I didn't have to worry about cars hitting me as I stood in formation in the middle of the road.

You see, all forms of transportation were impacted for a few hours.  Cyclists and automobile drivers (even pedestrians) were also delayed in their planned path.  That doesn't mean Frederick St was poor planning for the region.  Detours (planned and otherwise) will occur, and the region will provide a suitable replacement service.  

Weber St is closed to all transport annually for multiple parades thru the year, this really is no different.

I'll also echo the fact I have little sympathy for those distracted by Remembrance ceremonies.  My standing in subzero temperatures and looking like a living snowman (or being re-routed off my normal route) for a couple hours is far better than what those men and woman went thru during times of conflict.

Coke

[danbrotherston]

I think my thoughts were misconstrued.  I think, if this is going to be an annual thing (someone mentioned it might be temporary) that the tracks shouldn't have been put where they would impact the ceremony. I have no problem with the ceremony but I think it's ridiculous that this situation even exists. Poor planning but the region.  Eventually, it will be a large disruption to people who need to get somewhere on a work day who don't have the luxury to work around disruptions.

As someone who marched in the parade, and stood our in the freezing cold being covered in snow, I am thankful that I didn't have to worry about cars hitting me as I stood in formation in the middle of the road.

You see, all forms of transportation were impacted for a few hours.  Cyclists and automobile drivers (even pedestrians) were also delayed in their planned path.  That doesn't mean Frederick St was poor planning for the region.  Detours (planned and otherwise) will occur, and the region will provide a suitable replacement service.  

Weber St is closed to all transport annually for multiple parades thru the year, this really is no different.

I'll also echo the fact I have little sympathy for those distracted by Remembrance ceremonies.  My standing in subzero temperatures and looking like a living snowman (or being re-routed off my normal route) for a couple hours is far better than what those men and woman went thru during times of conflict.

Coke

You have to admit that car drivers have multiple orders of magnitude other routes than every other form of transportation.

You'll also note that the LRT was shut down for far longer than most of the roads were.

[Coke6pk]

You have to admit that car drivers have multiple orders of magnitude other routes than every other form of transportation.

You'll also note that the LRT was shut down for far longer than most of the roads were.

Agreed, but car drivers have always had more freedom of mobility compared to public transit. I realize there is a PITA factor of changing modes to make the detour, but *I* feel it to be an acceptable annoyance.. more so than the same thing happening due to a car vs iOn collision.

I'm not sure why the region shut down the LRT so long. There were no stands set up, so contact with the wires would seem moot. IMO, the southbound trains could of ran normal, and the northbound shut from 10:30 - 11:45.... same as car traffic. [I realize that running S/B trains normally would cause too many trains to be stuck south of the closure... I'm not sure the best logistical answer to this situation]


Coke

[tomh009]

It appears we've had our first LRT-bike collision. https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/bike-and-lr...76505#_gus

Am I correct in understanding that the cyclist is to be charged?

That appears to be the case:
https://www.kitchenertoday.com/police-be...on-1842294

[Bob_McBob]

Faulty LRT arm delays fire officials on way to medical emergency

[avernar]

Faulty LRT arm delays fire officials on way to medical emergency

Is there a reason they couldn't zip over to the westbound lanes and take those?  Or was it not an emergency vehicle with its lights on?

[danbrotherston]

You have to admit that car drivers have multiple orders of magnitude other routes than every other form of transportation.

You'll also note that the LRT was shut down for far longer than most of the roads were.

Agreed, but car drivers have always had more freedom of mobility compared to public transit.  I realize there is a PITA factor of changing modes to make the detour, but *I* feel it to be an acceptable annoyance.. more so than the same thing happening due to a car vs iOn collision.

I'm not sure why the region shut down the LRT so long.  There were no stands set up, so contact with the wires would seem moot.  IMO, the southbound trains could of ran normal, and the northbound shut from 10:30 - 11:45.... same as car traffic.  [I realize that running S/B trains normally would cause too many trains to be stuck south of the closure... I'm not sure the best logistical answer to this situation]


Coke

I think this is a problem we should solve instead of arguing that "it's fine" because "car drivers can be inconvenienced at times too" when we make it worse through poor planning.

As for the why, I'm not sure, but the region/grandlinq have always been excessively conservative when it comes to the LRT, so perhaps they didn't want it running any time there was anything going on, even prep/teardown.

That being said, a lot of this also relates to poor planning, they couldn't run S/B trains, because they'd have run out of trains (even at ever 15 minutes, all the trains would be south of DTK within about 2-3 hours). What *SHOULD* have been done is the appropriate switches in place to allow trains to reach Central station and reverse, OR switch the NB trains onto the SB tracks to go around DTK.  We knew DTK would be a hot spot for closures, that should have been part of the design.