ION Phase 2 - Cambridge's Light Rail Transit

[ijmorlan]

I think those are good points in support of excellent public transit to Conestoga College, but Ion to Cambridge can't serve it. Not directly, anyway.

I'll start by playing the "subsidy/fairness" game going full force in General Road thread...

There are 3 post-secondary institutions, and two of them are connected to iON.  Tibbits is well within his rights to complain he is being treated differently.  A look at the iON map shows the train starting on King St, going out of the way to the two universities before returning to King St.   (I know this is overly simplistic, and is no different than the "train from mall to mall" argument).... but why can't we make a detour for 45,000 passengers then head on down Fountain into Preston.

Coke

(I would like a spur line added for the airport as well    )

I initially thought Conestoga College was way too far out of the way, but what’s wrong with this routing, starting from Fairview:

- Wabanaki
- Manitou
- Homer Watson
- through the campus
- across the 401 and down or parallel to Morningside
- Fountain St.
- across the river
- straight along Eagle St.
- rejoin existing proposed route

I don’t like that it misses the bus terminal at Sportsworld, but that could be relocated, maybe to be directly off the 401 at the College. Maybe the bus terminal could even be the College’s LRT stop, which would also mean they would get direct intercity bus service.

This doesn’t entirely address the Preston issue but the real point I’m trying to examine is whether Conestoga College is really too far out of the way.