ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[KevinL]

So no 8-minute frequency on peak. What is the problem with finding some budget room to have both?

[ijmorlan]

Looks like they have changed the plan for iON Frequency

https://pub-regionofwaterloo.escribemeet...entId=6231
15 minute frequency during shoulder periods, 10 during peak
15 minute on weekends...

How different is that from what we have now?

[ZEBuilder]

Looks like they have changed the plan for iON Frequency

https://pub-regionofwaterloo.escribemeet...entId=6231
15 minute frequency during shoulder periods, 10 during peak
15 minute on weekends...

How different is that from what we have now?

The following is based on current Fairway bound trips departing from Conestoga.

Current week:
Every 15 minutes from about 5-6am, every 10 minutes from 6am to 6pm, every 15 minutes from 6-10:30pm then every half hour from 10:30pm-12am.

New week:
Every 15 minutes from 5-7am, every 10 minutes from 7am-8pm, every 15 minutes from 8pm-12am.

Current Saturday:
Every 15 minutes from 5:30am-10:30pm, every 30 minutes from 10:30pm-12am

New Saturday:
Every 15 minutes from 5:30am-12am

Current Sunday:
Every 30 minutes from 6am-7:30am, every 15 minutes from 8am-10:30pm, every 30 minutes from 10:30pm-12am 

New Sunday:
Every 15 minutes from 6am-12am

Really the biggest change is removing every half hour in the morning and late evenings on weekends, having an extra hour of 10 minute peak headways and the removal of the summer frequency reduction (normally it would go from 10-15 minutes)

[danbrotherston]

How different is that from what we have now?

The following is based on current Fairway bound trips departing from Conestoga.

Current week:
Every 15 minutes from about 5-6am, every 10 minutes from 6am to 6pm, every 15 minutes from 6-10:30pm then every half hour from 10:30pm-12am.

New week:
Every 15 minutes from 5-7am, every 10 minutes from 7am-8pm, every 15 minutes from 8pm-12am.

Current Saturday:
Every 15 minutes from 5:30am-10:30pm, every 30 minutes from 10:30pm-12am

New Saturday:
Every 15 minutes from 5:30am-12am

Current Sunday:
Every 30 minutes from 6am-7:30am, every 15 minutes from 8am-10:30pm, every 30 minutes from 10:30pm-12am 

New Sunday:
Every 15 minutes from 6am-12am

Really the biggest change is removing every half hour in the morning and late evenings on weekends, having an extra hour of 10 minute peak headways and the removal of the summer frequency reduction (normally it would go from 10-15 minutes)

I mean this seems like a clear win then. This is an increase in service, not as much as we'd hoped, but it's strictly equal or better at all time points, and there is no reduction in service. And they clearly must spend more on it.

It's a solid win. Kinda suggests that someone got figuratively slapped for the previous suggestion--public protest works.

[dtkvictim]

I mean this seems like a clear win then. This is an increase in service, not as much as we'd hoped, but it's strictly equal or better at all time points, and there is no reduction in service. And they clearly must spend more on it.

According to ZEBuilder's post, weekdays from 6-7am gets 2 less trains (10 -> 15 minutes). A pretty minor exception to your claim though, so yeah this seems like a win.

[danbrotherston]

I mean this seems like a clear win then. This is an increase in service, not as much as we'd hoped, but it's strictly equal or better at all time points, and there is no reduction in service. And they clearly must spend more on it.

According to ZEBuilder's post, weekdays from 6-7am gets 2 less trains (10 -> 15 minutes). A pretty minor exception to your claim though, so yeah this seems like a win.

Yes. Sorry I missed that one. But yeah, not nearly as significant as before.

[westwardloo]

I think this is a win for the community. The previous proposed service "expansion" seemed like a huge degradation of service with all of the 30min headway periods. Getting rid of the summer schedule is a huge win as well. A constant schedule of 10-15min from 5am to midnight will continue to help residents building trust in the network. It is clear that despite its design faults the ION is a huge success in the region. Obviously the Region is focusing their resources on Phase 2 right now, but maybe they should be looking at increasing the station lengths to add new train sets in the near future.

[tomh009]

(...) but maybe they should be looking at increasing the station lengths to add new train sets in the near future.

Or ordering a few additional train sets so they can go to 7.5-minute (or 6-minute!) headways once the ridership numbers so dictate.

[neonjoe]

(...) but maybe they should be looking at increasing the station lengths to add new train sets in the near future.

Or ordering a few additional train sets so they can go to 7.5-minute (or 6-minute!) headways once the ridership numbers so dictate.

From what it sounds like the operation/runs expenses per period are pretty much set within the contract. Likely the best way to expand capacity without changing the contract would be double length trains, but this also involves capital costs.

[plam]

Yes, seems like a much better schedule than what was proposed and almost all better than what there is now.

[Bytor]

So no 8-minute frequency on peak. What is the problem with finding some budget room to have both?

Because the staff is desperately trying to stay inside the contract and its current maximum service hours, instead of just doing the necessary and renegotiating for more as the contract's baseline service plans clearly showed would happen every few years with anticipated ridership growth.

[Bytor]

Yes, seems like a much better schedule than what was proposed and almost all better than what there is now.

The only thing that is better is 10-minute weekday daytime frequency all year, instead of going to 15 minutes in the summer.

But they are stiull kinda screwing the people who need to get to work for 7am as 6-7am is dropping from 10-minute to 15-minutes headways.

[jwilliamson]

Yes, seems like a much better schedule than what was proposed and almost all better than what there is now.

The only thing that is better is 10-minute weekday daytime frequency all year, instead of going to 15 minutes in the summer.

But they are stiull kinda screwing the people who need to get to work for 7am as 6-7am is dropping from 10-minute to 15-minutes headways.

Evening service is also seeing major improvements.

[tomh009]

But they are stiull kinda screwing the people who need to get to work for 7am as 6-7am is dropping from 10-minute to 15-minutes headways.

At least going to work is something people can plan for: they will know when they need to be at work, so they can determine which train they need to take. During the day there is much more ad hoc traffic, where people will simply take the "next train" after they arrive at a station. So, I think this is a reasonable compromise.

[tomh009]

Or ordering a few additional train sets so they can go to 7.5-minute (or 6-minute!) headways once the ridership numbers so dictate.

From what it sounds like the operation/runs expenses per period are pretty much set within the contract. Likely the best way to expand capacity without changing the contract would be double length trains, but this also involves capital costs.

Not fixed as such: they can get more service but it will cost more.

Running double trains will require 13-14 additional train sets, plus the station construction; reducing headways to 7.5 minutes would probably only require four or maybe five more. In addition to the cost difference, reducing the headways can be done more quickly as there is no construction, and we only need to wait for a handful of trains. Getting another 13-14 trains would surely take much more than two years.

While double trains might only need one driver, their operational and maintenance costs would still be higher, too.