(04-18-2021, 11:45 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Sportworld station serves NONE of those employers. It serves a BUS which could reach those employers, but that bus would connect to any LRT station built.
I'm not sure why you think Sportsworld Station won't service those nearby businesses. The usefulness of an LRT is not based solely on how many things are within walking distance of each individual station. It also needs other connections to be successful. Each LRT station on the ION is serviced by buses which feed people to and from the stations closer to their destinations and that's pretty much standard for any transit system in the world.
Sportsworld Station will have bus connections to the 25, 67, 72, 203, 206 and 301 (the 67, 72 and 203 specifically serving the industrial areas). It will also be able to provide a connection for GO Transit buses and possibly Greyhound if they decide to stay in business. It will continue to have a park-and-ride lot which will be great for commuters using Highway 8 and 401 or even nearby residential areas. Redevelopment of the surrounding big box stores and perhaps the farmlands nearby will also increase ridership in due time.
It's easy to look at the area right now and think it is a bad decision to place a future LRT station, but it was deemed to be the most sensible place right now. Likewise, you can look at something like Blockline Station and think it's a strange place to have built a station, but as we all know there are plans to build massive condo towers beside it as well as plenty of other land that's just waiting for its turn to get redeveloped. It also has bus routes 6, 22, 26, 33 and the 201 feeding people from nearby homes, businesses, schools and recreational facilities. For the most part, any LRT, subway, commuter train etc is always reliant on buses (or other transportation) to provide coverage for the last mile for things that are slightly too far to walk to conveniently walk to.