ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[timc]

Because the ION can only be 2 LRVs long and its speed is limited by its physical design features, it can only ever carry X amount of people and have whatever its fastest possible headway is (5 minutes, I think? Or was 7.5 the best they can do?) before there is nothing more you can do to improve it. Yes it moves tens of thousands a day and that can be roughly doubled from whatever it is now, you are still going to hit the capacity sooner than later.

Speaking of which, I haven't heard anything about acquiring the trains and extending the platform facilities that we need to run double-length trains. Wasn't that supposed to be happening soon, according to the original timeline?

[MidTowner]

I can't remember when the platforms were planned to be extended, but we are way overdue for seven-minute headways.

[danbrotherston]

I can't remember when the platforms were planned to be extended, but we are way overdue for seven-minute headways.

I mean, I think you can throw in a few extra years for COVID, that kinda blew up everyone's plans generally.

But it would be nice if it was actually on someone's radar, you know, being planned or something. Honestly, it's a little depressing how little discussion there has been of expansion/continued development.

[MidTowner]

I can't remember when the platforms were planned to be extended, but we are way overdue for seven-minute headways.

I mean, I think you can throw in a few extra years for COVID, that kinda blew up everyone's plans generally.

But it would be nice if it was actually on someone's radar, you know, being planned or something. Honestly, it's a little depressing how little discussion there has been of expansion/continued development.

Let's say two or two and a half years. Given that amount of grace, it's still overdue. 

I ride it almost every day, though, at slightly different times. I can say that ridership is generally very healthy, and in the last year there are times of day in which crowding does happen. It is disappointing that there are not plans in place to improve service: current riders would benefit, but ridership would also increase.

[the_conestoga_guy]

Because the ION can only be 2 LRVs long and its speed is limited by its physical design features, it can only ever carry X amount of people and have whatever its fastest possible headway is (5 minutes, I think? Or was 7.5 the best they can do?) before there is nothing more you can do to improve it. Yes it moves tens of thousands a day and that can be roughly doubled from whatever it is now, you are still going to hit the capacity sooner than later.

Speaking of which, I haven't heard anything about acquiring the trains and extending the platform facilities that we need to run double-length trains. Wasn't that supposed to be happening soon, according to the original timeline?

Per their preliminary budget documents, the Region has allocated $220M from 2026 to 2028 for "Rolling Stock LRT Future Vehicles."

Page 29/210 
https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/regio...t-Book.pdf

For what it's worth, they've also budgeted ~$1.1B between now and 2034 for "Stage 2 LRT Project Development." I'm just reading the tea leaves, but I could see this money being reallocated for the proposed 10-year GRT Business Plan improvements. The proposed capital costs for the plan are $798M. 

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https://pub-regionofwaterloo.escribemeet...ntId=12260

[timc]

I had to hunt the internet, but I found the project agreement with timelines.

https://web.archive.org/web/201502121715...eement.asp

Appendix D contains the baseline service plans. Two car trains were supposed to start service in 2025, with 7 minute headways. That requires 20 vehicles. By 2031, we would need another 3 vehicles.

[KevinL]

Keep in mind the platforms are already long enough; it's extending the canopies that would be the next phase. They can run double trains now if they really need to.

[tomh009]

The point is this was a HUGE project that is going to outlive us. Instead of opting for the cheap, half-assed option we should have went all in on it. (...)

I really think that horse carcass is long dead and beating on it further will achieve nothing.

[creative]

Timeline: Looking back at a 17-year journey to ION

https://www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/article...ey-to-ion/

A great review of what transpired during the approval process. It’s easy for those that did not live here to complain about this project having no idea that we were very lucky to get what we got. 

Unfortunately complainers love to hear themselves complain, often repeatedly about the same complaint, like somehow this is going to change history.

[ac3r]

Is that a jab at me? I complain about it a lot. But I've had a home here for over 30 years. I am very familiar with how things work in this region. I've worked directly and indirectly for the Region of Waterloo numerous times, so the bureaucracy and horrible, short sighted decision making is something I know all too well. It should not happen.

Perhaps for the Cambridge line I can switch tunes and advocate for the worst possible option if that's preferable? Which would be to not build it at all as it's a colossal waste of money and apart from the elevated sections, has an even worse route.

[creative]

So why didn’t you get involved and voice your concerns when it was being planned? As a longtime resident, you obviously should have know what was going on and where the money was coming from and what it was going to cost. That would have been the time to get involved and offer up your world architecture experience.

[nms]

Out of curiosity, what funding options were available to the Region when they first approved the LRT to fund the whole thing from top to bottom? Apart from granting a company a franchise as was done 100 years ago (and a PPP is a vague descendant of that option), would the Region have had any option to raise additional funds? Or did the RIM Park scandal (to raise an almost dead ghost) locally kill any appetite for putting a civic government into debt?

[creative]

https://ontario.transportaction.ca/water...ful-years/

This may not fully answer your question but it does add some clarity to the funding arrangement.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_rapid_transit

The wiki is quite detailed on the entire process if you have the time to explore in detail. Extremely useful for those that may have not been living here during the planning and building timeframe.

[nms]

https://ontario.transportaction.ca/water...ful-years/

This may not fully answer your question but it does add some clarity to the funding arrangement.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_rapid_transit

The wiki is quite detailed on the entire process if you have the time to explore in detail. Extremely useful for those that may have not been living here during the planning and building timeframe.

I read both articles and neither one suggested ways that the Region contemplated raising money to fund the whole project at once, if at all.  The only comment that I recall from the final debate was that the Region could have spent less money if they chose a different financing route, but after more than a decade I can't recall what the cost difference was, nor what the Region's rationale was for choosing the financing plan that they ended up with.