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(07-26-2019, 04:39 AM)trainspotter139 Wrote: [ -> ]
(07-25-2019, 06:31 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: [ -> ]It's also a ridiculous price to pay for a system like this.

The TVMs are insane.  They're doing less work than my smart phone, yet somehow they're getting hot enough to ruin the thermal paper.  There's giant racks of equipment at each station...doing what?

This shouldn't have cost 11 million dollars...

I'm no expert on construction or building roads, or building trains, but this stuff *IS* my domain, and it's ridiculous.  And it isn't a government problem either.

https://rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca...emEFMS.pdf

258 Fareboxes, 32 TVMs, 38 PFVs, portable reader devices for fare inspectors, backend server systems, access points for data uploading to bus fareboxes, PCI-DSS compliant network segmentation of systems at all garages, TVM and customer service locations and anything else that such a system requires. It's not cheap. It's labour-intensive and requires a lot more work that very few get to actually see. The vendors that bid all had modular systems that could be assembled and programmed into a complete system.

I am aware of the scope of the system.
(07-26-2019, 07:33 AM)MidTowner Wrote: [ -> ]There's no way to use an EasyGO fare card for two people on Ion, is there? That was possible on buses, and I assume still is- one just asks the driver to deduct two fares from the same card. I see no way to do that at the platform, and Keolis staff apparently "know nothing" about the fare system, which is fair enough.

Do children really need their own fare card to get the concession rate? That seems true, too, but a bus driver I asked about it the other day kind of threw his hands on the air about the whole EasyGO system, and just let my kid on for free. So I don't know, but I'll go downtown and ask one of these days.
From Paying your fare on the GRT website.

"You can pay for another person or group of people if you have stored value loaded on your card. When you board, let the operator know how many people you are paying for. They will enter the number on the farebox, and the farebox will display the total fare. Touch your card to the smart card target to pay the fare."

"Group fares are not currently available on ION light rail."
Thanks! I swear, the last time I looked at that (probably around the time of the Ion launch), that line was not there.

Neither was the other one, "You cannot pay for a group if you have a valid monthly or other pass on your card." Weird.

Anyway, thanks for the info! I'm not going to worry too much about fares- it turns out, checking my history online, that I've been unsuccessful in paying for maybe a quarter of my train trips this month. Not good, but I'll just keep trying my best.
(07-26-2019, 09:25 AM)Acitta Wrote: [ -> ]"Group fares are not currently available on ION light rail."

Workaround: Do a one stop ride on a bus then take the ION for the rest of the trip.
That is a workaround, but I can't see anyone waiting to ride a bus for one stop for no other reason than to make sure GRT is getting the full fare.
(07-26-2019, 10:30 AM)MidTowner Wrote: [ -> ]That is a workaround, but I can't see anyone waiting to ride a bus for one stop for no other reason than to make sure GRT is getting the full fare.

I didn't say it was a practical workaround. Tongue

My coworker did it because he actually had to take the bus a few stops first.  But his kids got off the ION several stops before he did.  When the fare inspector scanned his card he gave him a puzzled look and asked "Are you riding alone?"  My friend replied "I tossed the other two off the train a few stops back."
There is an announcement at the Strasburg Facility by the Infrastructure Minister today at 11:00am
https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ng-1613953

Maybe funding for the Northfield Facility?
News Release on the Funding Announcement: https://news.ontario.ca/moi/en/2019/07/o...erloo.html

Backgrounder on the projects involved: https://news.ontario.ca/moi/en/2019/07/o...or-fu.html
They really like instigating fights with the federal government as shown by the wording in the announcement. Just once I would like to see this government show a collaborative attitude rather than combative as has been their MO so far.
Kitchener seniors concerned about change to bus route System revamp means bus no longer stops outside apartment buildings to go to nearby grocery, drug stores
More reason to put better pedestrian crossings in more places on Weber and roads like it.
(07-30-2019, 08:23 AM)neonjoe Wrote: [ -> ]There is an announcement at the Strasburg Facility by the Infrastructure Minister today at 11:00am
https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ng-1613953

Maybe funding for the Northfield Facility?
I am surprised that they would put this facility at the North end of Waterloo instead of a middle point, like some where near the Regional Facility on Maplegrove.   Over time I would think it would save wear and tear plus fuel on the buses if their starting point and finishing point was't at the north end and more central.   I know they bought the former Waterloo North Hydro property but still.  Does this mean they will shuttle the Strasburg  facility ?....
(07-30-2019, 02:21 PM)Rainrider22 Wrote: [ -> ]
(07-30-2019, 08:23 AM)neonjoe Wrote: [ -> ]There is an announcement at the Strasburg Facility by the Infrastructure Minister today at 11:00am
https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ng-1613953

Maybe funding for the Northfield Facility?
I am surprised that they would put this facility at the North end of Waterloo instead of a middle point, like some where near the Regional Facility on Maplegrove.   Over time I would think it would save wear and tear plus fuel on the buses if their starting point and finishing point was't at the north end and more central.   I know they bought the former Waterloo North Hydro property but still.  Does this mean they will shuttle the Strasburg  facility ?....

Strasburg will be the mid-point facility with Conestoga Blvd in Cambridge being the south-most facility
Does anyone know where the $467M price tag for the Northfield facility in the below CBC article comes from:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...-1.5230242

Almost half-a-billion dollars seems horrifically high for that kind of building. I suspect the number is just wrong.
I'd seem $76M for the Northfield facility in some articles from a couple years ago, which is more in-line with my expectations, although still a bit high.
Perhaps CBC dropped decimal point? $46.7M total with a $39.6M provincial contribution almost works, except the CBC says the region is contributing $126M, which even reading as $12.6M doesn't add up.
(07-30-2019, 05:13 PM)megabytephreak Wrote: [ -> ]Does anyone know where the $467M price tag for the Northfield facility in the below CBC article comes from:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...-1.5230242

Almost half-a-billion dollars seems horrifically high for that kind of building. I suspect the number is just wrong.
I'd seem $76M for the Northfield facility in some articles from a couple years ago, which is more in-line with my expectations, although still a bit high.
Perhaps CBC  dropped decimal point? $46.7M total with a $39.6M provincial contribution almost works, except the CBC says the region is contributing $126M, which even reading as $12.6M doesn't add up.

The Quantum-Nano Centre at UW was about $100M, and it has an enormous amount of special equipment, unusual utilities needs, and special requirements for the building structure itself, not to mention being built 10m below ground and including attractive features as befits a showpiece building. I feel quite confident that a bus garage for a city the size of ours should be well under $100M. And of course the land cost can’t explain a huge cost either — there is a reason why they didn’t build it downtown.