(06-27-2019, 10:03 AM)jamincan Wrote: Has anyone else noticed a radical change in their mental map of the city with the advent of ION service?
Absolutely. So many things will be much easier/faster to get to. Before, our transit system operated using hubs. We had Charles and Ainsle Terminals as well as some minor hubs in malls. Certain places in the city would require you to take a bus to one of these places and then transfer to another bus and perhaps to yet another one, if you had somewhere specific to go. Now one has the option of taking a fairly arterial/linear tram route, jump off at a stop closest to where you wish to go, and then catch a bus to where your destination is. It feels much faster and logistically easier now.
Someone I know who lives here has been in the process of looking for work. She felt quite limited in regards to where she could apply, because to get from Fairview to Conestoga took well over an hour. Now she is able to apply to jobs as far as Conestoga and won't have to worry about getting up so early, because it's now a 40~ minute trip to get there.
Edit: Additionally, the tram comes by every 10 minutes, compared to a lifetime for the buses. So getting on to go grab lunch somewhere which would have taken a lot longer to get to is now an option.