06-21-2019, 07:24 AM
jeffster Wrote:Bob_McBob Wrote:I particularly like all the people who believe GRT cancelled bus service in the suburbs to force everyone to walk miles to reach the LRT instead.
Technically they did in many area's. If someone is saying "miles" that is an exaggeration. 1/2 to 3/4 KM? Now that's accurate. They cancelled the service upon approval of the LRT in my neighbourhood. Frustrating for sure though, as many people don't want to walk 500-750 extra metres to get to the closest stop, especially when it is raining or -20º. Needless to say, if I wanted to use the LRT so I didn't need my car, it would be an issue many days simply because the bus stop went from being about 15m from my house to 700m.
One thing though, is that a lot of the housing changed, really almost no low-income housing in the 'hood now. We had one apartment complex that didn't renew leases so they could convert into luxury apartments maybe 2 years ago. The old tenant all used the bus, but since the LRT took that away, many moved (regardless of the lease).
But those grumbling about the GRT cancelling (or more like reducing) service is fairly truthful. As I said, in my case, the GRT is useless now.
I'd be really curious to hear more details about these changes from people like you who both live in the suburbs, and pay attention to the details. I can say anecdotally that a lot of people I talk to from the suburbs tell me that GRT "is useless" but then can't give me any information about their closest routes like what the headways are at different times of days, or even how long it would take to get to a connection to a more useful route.
I was thinking about the places the new routes serve- and don't- the other day while looking at the new transit route. I thought it looked pretty good. I mean, someone in Lakeshore (as an example) can't really expect frequent service right outside his house, but he'll now have a half-hourly bus that connects to an LRT station with covered seating and an average wait of five minutes in the peak period. That's pretty good.
It's subjective, of course. I walk a kilometre to the bus right now, and I'm happy about it because the walk is not too hostile, and the bus service is good. Other people in that situation would not be happy and would consider that excessive. And if your walk were a kilometre to a bus that is less frequent, and requires a connection to another line, that walk might be excessive. But I do think the connection is important. Getting to the Ion seems like it will be easy for many people, and they may not be focusing on how much better that connection is going to be than to many of the bus routes that exist today.