(06-21-2021, 05:18 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Thanks for this — very interesting information! My impression has always been that the anti-LRT people in Cambridge can’t figure out if they are pro-LRT (but want it in Cambridge immediately, not at some unknown time in the future) or actually anti-LRT. It sounds like now that there isn’t the distraction of thinking about the timing of LRT construction in the different cities, the overall mood might be more conducive.
There's a bit of both but honestly, you'd probably struggle to find more than two or three dozen people (slight exaggeration) who are like...no do not build it. Most people are either for it - provided their concerns are taken into consideration and possibly met - or are indifferent.
The ridership angle is kind of unusual. Current ridership on the buses that travel between the two cities right now is fairly minimal all things considered (they're the second largest city in the region but they feel like they're as distant as Guelph). Most people take their car, or don't go to the rest of the region unless they have a reason to. Transportation between these three cities is terrible...you can't really bike there either, without wasting half your day. There aren't that many reasons why people go between the cities unless it's for work/socialization either. But if you magically made an LRT open up tomorrow - like some sort of SimCity god - then I could pretty much guarantee it would be packed full of people. It'd only take about...45 minutes at most to get from downtown Cambridge (Galt) to downtown Kitchener. People would be flocking onto that thing for all sorts of reasons: employment opportunities, to go shop/go to the farmers market, to see friends, to access the GO/VIA trains, for entertainment/festivals or who knows what else.