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(01-18-2019, 02:17 PM)Bob_McBob Wrote: [ -> ]
(01-18-2019, 01:05 PM)Spokes Wrote: [ -> ]



Could this end up killing UPass?

Came here to ask the same question. It seems like any negotiated group discount like this will probably die if all students are allowed to pick and choose what they pay. it's hard not to imagine that particular legislative decision is more sinister and intended to target various campus  groups PC voters don't like though.
U-Passes are paid through the college/university ancillary fees and not the student union fees which I believe will be unaffected by the changes
(01-18-2019, 12:34 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ]The hybrid buses we have now, dating back over ten years, did not live up to expectations.

Whose expectations? I thought they did as well as expected.
(01-18-2019, 03:37 PM)timc Wrote: [ -> ]
(01-18-2019, 12:34 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ]The hybrid buses we have now, dating back over ten years, did not live up to expectations.

Whose expectations? I thought they did as well as expected.

The first hybrids they bought were of the parallel type and the hybrid drives in them are horribly unreliable. (Nova Bus didn't offer a series type hybrid at the time of purchase) The TTC ordered series type hybrids for all its hybrids which were far more reliable than the parallel type but the older Orion VII Hybrids also have some reliability issues with the hybrid drives because they weren't a mature enough technology when they were purchased. This current gen model that the TTC ordered recent seems to be much more reliable than previous gen.
(01-18-2019, 03:34 PM)trainspotter139 Wrote: [ -> ]U-Passes are paid through the college/university ancillary fees and not the student union fees which I believe will be unaffected by the changes

I'm not really seeing the distinction between the Feds fee, Feds administered fee, and student services fee in this respect. They just happen to be bundled that way at UW. The PCs have left universities mostly in the dark about what will be deemed a "non-essential" service that students must be allowed to opt out of. Most of the examples fall under the student services fee, not the Feds (student union) fee.
(01-18-2019, 02:23 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ]Ah … simpler in the sense that there is one fewer variant to service.

Oh, shoot - gotcha. Totally copy that, one less "Type" of thing to learn how to maintain...

I've heard this is why Southwest flies only the exact same type of plane.
(01-18-2019, 09:09 PM)Canard Wrote: [ -> ]I've heard this is why Southwest flies only the exact same type of plane.

Southwest, and a lot of other airlines, including (until recently) WestJet. Simpler maintenance, fewer spares, plus the pilots only need to be trained and certified on one type of plane.
Moreover, this is why airplane manufacturers try to share components and flight certifications between similar models.
(01-18-2019, 06:32 PM)Bob_McBob Wrote: [ -> ]
(01-18-2019, 03:34 PM)trainspotter139 Wrote: [ -> ]U-Passes are paid through the college/university ancillary fees and not the student union fees which I believe will be unaffected by the changes

I'm not really seeing the distinction between the Feds fee, Feds administered fee, and student services fee in this respect. They just happen to be bundled that way at UW. The PCs have left universities mostly in the dark about what will be deemed a "non-essential" service that students must be allowed to opt out of. Most of the examples fall under the student services fee, not the Feds (student union) fee.

The latest reporting that I saw was that only athletics and safety (eg WalkSafe) fees would be ineligible for opting out. Everything else could be affected. Windsor sought clarification and seems to think that their U-Pass would be a candidate for opting-out.
(01-26-2019, 11:43 PM)nms Wrote: [ -> ]
(01-18-2019, 06:32 PM)Bob_McBob Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not really seeing the distinction between the Feds fee, Feds administered fee, and student services fee in this respect. They just happen to be bundled that way at UW. The PCs have left universities mostly in the dark about what will be deemed a "non-essential" service that students must be allowed to opt out of. Most of the examples fall under the student services fee, not the Feds (student union) fee.

The latest reporting that I saw was that only athletics and safety (eg WalkSafe) fees would be ineligible for opting out. Everything else could be affected. Windsor sought clarification and seems to think that their U-Pass would be a candidate for opting-out.

What’s so special about athletics, that it should be non-opt-out?

Bad question, I know, because the question pre-supposes good faith and rational thought on the part of the current government.
(01-27-2019, 10:25 AM)ijmorlan Wrote: [ -> ]
(01-26-2019, 11:43 PM)nms Wrote: [ -> ]The latest reporting that I saw was that only athletics and safety (eg WalkSafe) fees would be ineligible for opting out. Everything else could be affected. Windsor sought clarification and seems to think that their U-Pass would be a candidate for opting-out.

What’s so special about athletics, that it should be non-opt-out?

Bad question, I know, because the question pre-supposes good faith and rational thought on the part of the current government.

The right lobbyist/is Ford's friend....I do recall one of the Fords commandeering a TTC bus to transport his schools football team...

The next time a PC voter says the words "corruption" just smack them upside the head.

If the UPass becomes opt-out, the UPass is done.  This could be very bad for the region...

Ugh, Ford is far worse than I had feared.
Is Mayor Jaworsky really this out of touch with how to ride a bus?

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/914...d-for-lrt/

Quote:Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky questioned the need for a new trip planner considering buses will be coming along more often to stops.

"It's so frequent, you really don't need the trip planner," Jaworsky said.
(01-29-2019, 02:37 PM)Bob_McBob Wrote: [ -> ]Is Mayor Jaworsky really this out of touch with how to ride a bus?

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/914...d-for-lrt/

Quote:Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky questioned the need for a new trip planner considering buses will be coming along more often to stops.

"It's so frequent, you really don't need the trip planner," Jaworsky said.

I am willing to bet he hasn't taken transit unless it was for an photoop....  That was an off side comment for sure...
(01-29-2019, 02:37 PM)Bob_McBob Wrote: [ -> ]Is Mayor Jaworsky really this out of touch with how to ride a bus?

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/914...d-for-lrt/

Quote:Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky questioned the need for a new trip planner considering buses will be coming along more often to stops.

"It's so frequent, you really don't need the trip planner," Jaworsky said.

This absolutely should be the goal, transit should be so frequent you don't need a schedule.

But we aren't there yet, even on the most frequent routes we're only approaching that point at rush hour, most routes are still far from it.

That being said, we don't need a new trip planner, namely, we don't need to pay eSolutions Group for more trash software, just make region's public standard data feed work really well so that Google Maps and whoever else wants to consume the feed can give a great experience.
So the Jan 29 P&W agenda is up: https://calendar.regionofwaterloo.ca/Cou...e3010e7da8

Page 74 has the revised bus routes at Ion launch. Nothing too different from what we've seen; there's still no word on the 202 corresponding with Ion ('negotiations with UW continue') and there's a small revision to route 3 (between Alpine and Strasburg it diverts off Ottawa to take Kingswood).
What's the latest on that bus terminal that was supposed to be built beside UW years ago?