ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Viewfromthe42]

From UpTown through Columbia, I feel that the trail really needs separation, currently only existing from Erb to Seagram(?). With students and potentially more employment on either side of the trail north of Columbia, I think we're getting to a point where even if somewhat preemptive, separation makes sense.

[KevinT]

The radio chatter during my drive to work was that 505 was cleared from Conestoga Station to Fairway Station (end to end), so I swung by King and Northfield to catch the run and followed along for a bit. It made every stop, with doors opening and a staff member getting out and back in again to simulate a typical run. They also swapped drivers at every stop which unfortunately added to the dwell times a bit. I can't wait to see how long this takes when they do it without the driver change!

[tomh009]

Very nice, Kevin! Maybe moving slowly because of student drivers?

[KevinT]

Very nice, Kevin! Maybe moving slowly because of student drivers?

That was my thought too, but I didn't want to insult anyone directly by saying it in my captions. 

[jeffster]

Anyone know when the rest of the trains are coming? I think we're still six short with one coming this month.

[Canard]

Your assessment of the situation is correct!

[KevinL]

More sidewalk decals being spotted at intersections reminding crosswalkers to look both ways for trains - now at King/Frederick.

[Square]

I heard on the scanner something major happened at Colby and Northfield this afternoon, the police had to be called. Wonder what that was all about?

[Canard]

Very nice, Kevin! Maybe moving slowly because of student drivers?

That was my thought too, but I didn't want to insult anyone directly by saying it in my captions.

The speed limit in a lot of places with sharp curves is only 10 km/h, which is a brisk walk.

[rangersfan]

Should we start a poll for whether Ion service starts in December?

[Bob_McBob]

2018 or 2019?

[Canard]

I feel like we have enough technically competent web people here that it would be awfully simple to make a calendar with all of our guesses.

[boatracer]

The Region has an EOI out for "GRT Digital Displays for ION Light Rail Transit" in which they will develop an RFP to provide 45-50 displays to be mounted at the ION stops for real time departure information for nearby bus stops.

https://regionofwaterloo.bidsandtenders....117d8f0b65

[Canard]

Oh no. They’d better do this right! Fonts, design language, aesthetics of the mounts absolutely must be considered.

I’ll be devistated if this just ends up being a hack job on my beautiful platforms.

[tomh009]

Oh no. They’d better do this right! Fonts, design language, aesthetics of the mounts absolutely must be considered.

I’ll be devistated if this just ends up being a hack job on my beautiful platforms.

The EOI is just for the display hardware. The region will implement the software solution. The mounts -- yes, they are part of the process, but it's quite hard to specify "beautiful mount" in the spec documents.