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+--- Thread: Grand River Transit (/showthread.php?tid=13)
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RE: Grand River Transit - KevinL - 02-06-2016
Uptown detours for 5 and 7: http://www.grt.ca/en/resources/Rt5-7-bus-stop-Notice-Feb8.pdf
RE: Grand River Transit - MidTowner - 02-15-2016
Route 20's routing is being revised
Apparently, this is "in response to customer feedback requesting closer access to Charles Street Terminal." I'm ambivalent about this as Victoria should be getting more and better transit through downtown, but it has to happen anyway since Victoria will be closed for some period soon. This isn't temporary, though.
The notice also mentions that "Once ION construction is complete, Route 20 will be revised downtown to directly connect with ION and other GRT routes at ION stations." Which means putting it back on Victoria, presumably, but not necessarily.
RE: Grand River Transit - ijmorlan - 02-15-2016
(02-15-2016, 09:46 AM)MidTowner Wrote: Route 20's routing is being revised
Apparently, this is "in response to customer feedback requesting closer access to Charles Street Terminal." I'm ambivalent about this as Victoria should be getting more and better transit through downtown, but it has to happen anyway since Victoria will be closed for some period soon. This isn't temporary, though.
The notice also mentions that "Once ION construction is complete, Route 20 will be revised downtown to directly connect with ION and other GRT routes at ION stations." Which means putting it back on Victoria, presumably, but not necessarily.
Do you understand why it does not currently run through the Charles St. Terminal? It’s not obvious to me why it, unlike most other routes that go through Downtown, would avoid the terminal.
RE: Grand River Transit - MidTowner - 02-15-2016
Maybe because Frederick is set to close for a period of time soon. That could be wrong, though, as it's not planned to run to the terminal after that closure, either.
RE: Grand River Transit - jwilliamson - 02-15-2016
Getting in and out of Charles Street adds a few minutes and then buses often sit for a few more. Cutting out those stops could do a fair bit to speed up bus services through downtown.
RE: Grand River Transit - Markster - 02-15-2016
Huh. It really looks like that's basically just a construction detour. They have to get it off of Victoria, and, well, they can conveniently claim they're responding to "customer feedback" at the same time.
Full text:
Quote:Construction on Water Street is now expected to be completed by the end of February 2016.
At that time, Route 20 will be modified to travel along Water Street and Joseph Street in Downtown Kitchener. Service will be removed from Victoria Street between Joseph Street and Weber Street.
This change is being made in response to customer feedback requesting closer access to Charles Street Terminal, and because Victoria Street will be closed at King Street for ION construction in March 2016. This will be the regular routing until 2017. Once ION construction is complete, Route 20 will be revised downtown to directly connect with ION and other GRT routes at ION stations.
Please consult the map below which shows the revised route and stop locations downtown. A stop will be provided within 1 block of Charles Street Terminal.
As for why it doesn't go through the terminal:
GRT was using it to test the waters of decentralizing bus routes in the downtown core. Focusing less on Charles St Terminal, with an eye to eventually mothballing it once the new terminal at King/Vic is complete. More routes will likely be decentralized in a post-ION environment. They were also acutely aware of the construction detours that were going to make the terminal hard to get to, so by keeping the 20 out, they've reduced construction impacts to it. Route 20 is the only route downtown that hasn't had a detour yet.
RE: Grand River Transit - D40LF - 02-15-2016
Lack of bus bays.
RE: Grand River Transit - rangersfan - 02-16-2016
Conestoga College students have voted against the $245.00 GRT pass.
http://m.therecord.com/news-story/6309137-conestoga-students-vote-no-on-245-bus-pass
RE: Grand River Transit - MidTowner - 02-16-2016
That’s pretty unfortunate. That would have been a nice consistent revenue stream for Grand River Transit. God knows they need it with ridership likely to continue to decline this year and next.
RE: Grand River Transit - chutten - 02-16-2016
(02-16-2016, 02:34 PM)MidTowner Wrote: That’s pretty unfortunate. That would have been a nice consistent revenue stream for Grand River Transit. God knows they need it with ridership likely to continue to decline this year and next.
Are ridership numbers available publicly? What are the reasons posited for their decline, and why are you assuming the decline will continue? Is it due to ION construction causing a shake-up in a previously-quite-stable route map?
RE: Grand River Transit - MidTowner - 02-16-2016
Some ridership numbers and a few other metrics are available publically on GRT’s web site under the ‘About Us’ tab. Ridership was down marginally in 2015, according to that page as “a result of a variety of factors including the school board's decision to use yellow school buses rather than GRT, construction detours on major bus routes, and a slight decrease in University student enrollment.”
I only assume the (not very significant) decline will continue between now and Ion’s launch because it seems that at least some of it was because of construction detours.
RE: Grand River Transit - chutten - 02-16-2016
Thanks!
It's a real pain that ridership isn't part of the Open Data initiatives. I wonder if we could build a model to approximate ridership based on the estimated time buses are stopped at a stop's location... it wouldn't be accurate, but it might be the best measure we have.
At the very least, we could see if the time spent at stops is increasing or decreasing over time, which might be a decent canary for ridership levels...
RE: Grand River Transit - D40LF - 02-17-2016
That's a shame about Conestoga College. I imagine some of this funding will still go towards additional service in the area as all routes to the college are beyond capacity. The 110 for instance could easily use 10-minute service during the morning rush hour.
Edit: I've just learned that only a measly 31% of eligible students chose to vote in the referendum. Ridiculous...
RE: Grand River Transit - plam - 02-17-2016
(02-17-2016, 05:40 AM)D40LF Wrote: That's a shame about Conestoga College. I imagine some of this funding will still go towards additional service in the area as all routes to the college are beyond capacity. The 110 for instance could easily use 10-minute service during the morning rush hour.
Edit: I've just learned that only a measly 31% of eligible students chose to vote in the referendum. Ridiculous...
Student referenda have notoriously low participation rates. 31% is actually quite high for one.
RE: Grand River Transit - Viewfromthe42 - 02-17-2016
Interesting read: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/02/commuting-driving-work-free-parking-transit-subsidy-benefits-parity-congress/462963/
I wonder what might change at tech companies if they approached things this way? Both the Tannery and Google, for all the high-tech talk of supporting lifestyles, etc, still have massive surface lots that are full of employees. Do they charge for this parking, without any subsidy? And thinking of something like Conestoga college enrollment, what kind of deal could you get for employees if every tech company that spent any time in the Tannery was a part of a collective that bought transit passes for all employees, would it be even half as cheap as Conestoga College was able to get (would be ~$1/day/employee at that worse rate, less than any piece of a catered lunch).