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Grand River Transit
(08-30-2023, 06:33 AM)ac3r Wrote: Hah, 2AM for the LRT? Not a chance. Waterloo Region isn't a 24 hour city like Toronto, Berlin, New York City. There is no reason to operate the LRT past midnight and pay all of that money just to move a dozen people.

If you take that line of reasoning, we get to the historical GO Transit pattern where we only move people to get to work for their 9-5 job. Public transport should move the public, and people need to get to work for 5am jobs as well as 9am jobs. And service on Sundays and in the summers has been lacking historically. They shouldn't be. It should be something that we can depend on at all times.
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They could at least have the ticket machines working so schmucks like me can buy a bus ticket after midnight.
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(08-30-2023, 06:50 PM)clasher Wrote: They could at least have the ticket machines working so schmucks like me can buy a bus ticket after midnight.

Why don't you have an EasyGo card?
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(08-30-2023, 08:01 PM)Acitta Wrote:
(08-30-2023, 06:50 PM)clasher Wrote: They could at least have the ticket machines working so schmucks like me can buy a bus ticket after midnight.

Why don't you have an EasyGo card?

Why aren’t the machines working?
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(08-30-2023, 08:01 PM)Acitta Wrote:
(08-30-2023, 06:50 PM)clasher Wrote: They could at least have the ticket machines working so schmucks like me can buy a bus ticket after midnight.

Why don't you have an EasyGo card?

Not worth the effort for a trip or two a year.
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(08-30-2023, 06:18 PM)plam Wrote:
(08-30-2023, 06:33 AM)ac3r Wrote: Hah, 2AM for the LRT? Not a chance. Waterloo Region isn't a 24 hour city like Toronto, Berlin, New York City. There is no reason to operate the LRT past midnight and pay all of that money just to move a dozen people.

If you take that line of reasoning, we get to the historical GO Transit pattern where we only move people to get to work for their 9-5 job. Public transport should move the public, and people need to get to work for 5am jobs as well as 9am jobs. And service on Sundays and in the summers has been lacking historically. They shouldn't be. It should be something that we can depend on at all times.

Well it runs from 05:45 to 24:23 which I think is fine for Waterloo Region. We don't have the money to be running the LRT any longer than that. The only people on the LRT at 2AM would be homeless and the odd person who works really weird hours. Not sure that justifies paying the wages of a dozen drivers, security, fare inspectors, Keolis staff and then all the money spent on power it draws.
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There is a middle ground here. I think a reasonable service would be:
  • Last train leaves after midnight from both Conestoga and Fairway, 7 days/week
  • Friday and Saturday night service runs Northfield - Borden until 2am

Having the train running Friday and Saturday nights would do wonders to get students out, and create more nightlife in DTK. I don't want DTK nightlife to be all student, but I absolutely think that it's chicken and egg. Make nightlife convenient and we'll get more of it, and students are one of the easiest demographics.

Of course, this would require regional council to want more nightlife, which I largely think they don't. But more nightlife would do wonders for attracting the young professional demographic they do want.
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Perhaps a precursor to the LRT at night would be something like Toronto's Blue Night routes. Even an overnight truncated 7 would be useful.
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You mean like the 91 Late Night Loop? I forgot it had existed until just now.
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Friday and Saturday are also nights the freight tends not to run so the logistics would be simpler than earlier in the week.

I believe the freight sometimes runs Friday but rarely if ever Saturday.
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Meanwhile, TTC is out of storage space for streetcars during construction and solving that issue by running the cars overnight.

https://ttc-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/Pr...t_2023.pdf

Page 28
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(09-05-2023, 03:28 PM)plam Wrote: Meanwhile, TTC is out of storage space for streetcars during construction and solving that issue by running the cars overnight.

https://ttc-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/Pr...t_2023.pdf

Page 28

On the other hand, the subway opens at 8am on Sunday?!?!
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(09-10-2023, 07:41 AM)plam Wrote:
(09-05-2023, 03:28 PM)plam Wrote: Meanwhile, TTC is out of storage space for streetcars during construction and solving that issue by running the cars overnight.

https://ttc-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/Pr...t_2023.pdf

Page 28

On the other hand, the subway opens at 8am on Sunday?!?!

Always has, as far as I know. I was going to wonder how people used to get to church, but 8AM is pretty early for church. Although there used to be (until just a few years ago) Sunday stops here and there on the streetcar network at various churches.
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GRT sets new ridership record
Grand River Transit (GRT) set a new ridership record during the first week of September, recording 150,000 boardings per day. That’s like filling The Aud 19 times over. GRT’s previous high was 110,000 boardings per day, which was set earlier this spring.

A boarding is counted when someone steps on a GRT bus or ION train for a trip. Of those 150,000 boardings, 130,000 were on buses and another 20,000 were on ION light rail trains.
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Huh, so the LRT boardings dropped? It was 26k in 2020. Though that number can be wrong if monthly or corporate pass holders don't tap because as far as I'm aware you don't need to if you have one of those passes.
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