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Intercity bus transportation
#61
FWIW I don't actually consider this relevant to the Guelph (or other intercity) question.

While the features of the ION busses themselves are good for intercity busing, fundamentally, intercity transit is different from intracity transit. The reason many features of BRT are needed is because of the nature of urban areas, most of them don't make any sense for intercity/inter-regional busses.
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#62
(10-26-2022, 09:37 PM)Bytor Wrote:
(10-26-2022, 05:42 PM)ac3r Wrote: It would make sense to brand it ION. It is a BRT system too.

ION isn't really BRT, though.

* no pre-pay and all-door boarding
* no dedicated lanes
* no signal priority except that one place at Sportsworld.

It's just an regular express route.

Perhaps if you use your parameters. But the Region of Waterloo itself defines the 302 as BRT: http://rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca/...stions.asp
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#63
(10-28-2022, 12:54 PM)ac3r Wrote:
(10-26-2022, 09:37 PM)Bytor Wrote: ION isn't really BRT, though.

* no pre-pay and all-door boarding
* no dedicated lanes
* no signal priority except that one place at Sportsworld.

It's just an regular express route.

Perhaps if you use your parameters. But the Region of Waterloo itself defines the 302 as BRT: http://rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca/...stions.asp

Neither you, nor the region, nor Bytor gets to define the meaning of words. When most people think of BRT it includes features that are clearly not present on the WR ION route. And if you do want an official definition the organisation which has tried to rigorously categorise BRT, it would also fail to be called BRT.

So WR can call it whatever they want, it's called advertising. They also call their transportation which focuses on maintaining LOS for cars to the exclusion of everything else, "prioritising alternative forms of transportation". But it doesn't matter. Saying things doesn't make them true...what matters is what is, not what is said.
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#64
I mean...I guess. Just seems pedantic to worry. It's a bus, it's rapid (every ten minutes) and it's transit. That's BRT to me even if it doesn't have dedicated lanes. It's just a stopgap system until the Cambridge line is finished.
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#65
When did the region move away from calling it "Adapted BRT" (aBRT)?

There's an actual BRT standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRT_Standard
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#66
(10-28-2022, 02:31 PM)ac3r Wrote: I mean...I guess. Just seems pedantic to worry. It's a bus, it's rapid (every ten minutes) and it's transit. That's BRT to me even if it doesn't have dedicated lanes. It's just a stopgap system until the Cambridge line is finished.

Hang on, “every ten minutes” has nothing to do with “rapid”. You could have a regular bus stopping every block in near-gridlocked traffic on a 2 minute headway and that wouldn’t be “rapid”. Or you could have one bus an hour in its own lane going 120km/h and stopping every 10km, and it would be rapid.

Anyway, the whole point of BRT is that it is supposed to use buses to implement rapid transit; getting stuck in traffic is antithetical to that concept. I would accept a system which has bits of street running here and there, especially if the road segments in question rarely get congested, but what we have is definitely not BRT. Words are supposed to mean things.
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#67
I asked @FlixBus_USA_CA on Twitter 
"Do you plan on starting service from Kitchener/Waterloo to London, Hamilton or Niagara Falls? Transit from KW to anywhere but Toronto is inadequate or non-existent."
 

They replied "Your feedback has been shared with our Network Planning team for consideration of our future CA expansion. We hope to add this service very soon!"
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#68
FLiXBUS will be offering bus transit from Waterloo Region to Pearson Airport starting January 26th but only 3 times a week at the start: https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/flixbus-ann...-1.6243995
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#69
Speaking of Flixbus, they are not running Waterloo-Toronto daily at the moment, which is pretty annoying. I think there is no service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Wtf?

Also there seems to be no way to get to Toronto in the afternoon by transit that takes less than 2.75 hours, unless Flixbus is running.
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#70
(01-24-2023, 10:47 PM)plam Wrote: Speaking of Flixbus, they are not running Waterloo-Toronto daily at the moment, which is pretty annoying. I think there is no service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Wtf?

Also there seems to be no way to get to Toronto in the afternoon by transit that takes less than 2.75 hours, unless Flixbus is running.

On weekdays only there is a 2:47 GO train that arrives at 4:18 28..just barely "afternoon" in my books.

There's also a via train at 12:04 arriving at 1:38 and a GO train again weekdays only at 11:45 arriving at 1:16 28.

So there are some options.

As an aside. WTAF is wrong with Via Rail...why is their route...which makes fewer stops using a lighter faster train SLOWER!

Honestly...sometimes I wonder how it is possible to be this bad at running transit.

Edit: Apparently the fault here lies with Google maps...because apparently when I say "Toronto" it gave me travel times to Bloor Station .... but only for GO which stops at Bloor the Via train times were to Union. But none of that was clear in the summary of times, because why would something irrelevant like destination be a pertinent piece of information when planning travel.
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#71
(01-25-2023, 05:49 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(01-24-2023, 10:47 PM)plam Wrote: Speaking of Flixbus, they are not running Waterloo-Toronto daily at the moment, which is pretty annoying. I think there is no service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Wtf?

Also there seems to be no way to get to Toronto in the afternoon by transit that takes less than 2.75 hours, unless Flixbus is running.

On weekdays only there is a 2:47 GO train that arrives at 4:18 28..just barely "afternoon" in my books.

There's also a via train at 12:04 arriving at 1:38 and a GO train again weekdays only at 11:45 arriving at 1:16 28.

So there are some options.

As an aside. WTAF is wrong with Via Rail...why is their route...which makes fewer stops using a lighter faster train SLOWER!

Honestly...sometimes I wonder how it is possible to be this bad at running transit.

Edit: Apparently the fault here lies with Google maps...because apparently when I say "Toronto" it gave me travel times to Bloor Station .... but only for GO which stops at Bloor the Via train times were to Union. But none of that was clear in the summary of times, because why would something irrelevant like destination be a pertinent piece of information when planning travel.

I took that GO train last Friday when the 25C left behind 20 people. Then I got to Bramalea and the 115 Airport Express was early and left before the GO train got in. Sigh. But, no late afternoon or evening options...
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#72
(01-25-2023, 05:49 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(01-24-2023, 10:47 PM)plam Wrote: Speaking of Flixbus, they are not running Waterloo-Toronto daily at the moment, which is pretty annoying. I think there is no service on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Wtf?

Also there seems to be no way to get to Toronto in the afternoon by transit that takes less than 2.75 hours, unless Flixbus is running.

On weekdays only there is a 2:47 GO train that arrives at 4:18 28..just barely "afternoon" in my books.

There's also a via train at 12:04 arriving at 1:38 and a GO train again weekdays only at 11:45 arriving at 1:16 28.

So there are some options.

As an aside. WTAF is wrong with Via Rail...why is their route...which makes fewer stops using a lighter faster train SLOWER!

Honestly...sometimes I wonder how it is possible to be this bad at running transit.

Edit: Apparently the fault here lies with Google maps...because apparently when I say "Toronto" it gave me travel times to Bloor Station .... but only for GO which stops at Bloor the Via train times were to Union. But none of that was clear in the summary of times, because why would something irrelevant like destination be a pertinent piece of information when planning travel.

Get the Transit app. It works for just about every transit system in the country including GO.
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#73
(01-25-2023, 09:44 PM)Acitta Wrote: Get the Transit app. It works for just about every transit system in the country including GO.

So the Transit app people noticed that they actually needed more revenue. danbrotherson probably can't access transit info for places that are far from their current location (which is not Ontario) without paying.
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#74
The Transit app is great (and I don't blame them for seeking a revenue stream...they have to keep the lights on).

That being said, I am usually looking at things through the web interface on a desktop/laptop computer and AFAIK the Transit app is only on mobile.
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#75
(01-26-2023, 04:00 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: The Transit app is great (and I don't blame them for seeking a revenue stream...they have to keep the lights on).

That being said, I am usually looking at things through the web interface on a desktop/laptop computer and AFAIK the Transit app is only on mobile.

Yes on both those points. (Thing is: I'd be happy to pay Transit app once in a while but I just usually am taking my bike rather than Transit. But maybe $25/year isn't that much.)
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