Welcome Guest!
In order to take advantage of all the great features that Waterloo Region Connected has to offer, including participating in the lively discussions below, you're going to have to register. The good news is that it'll take less than a minute and you can get started enjoying Waterloo Region's best online community right away.
or Create an Account




Thread Rating:
  • 4 Vote(s) - 4.75 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Grand River Transit
It's correct in that the way it leaves the southern part of the route is by the 7B's direction along Weber. The old sign said '7 Weber', avoiding the lettering confusion.
Reply


(10-30-2014, 05:53 PM)Markster Wrote: Word is that the detailed information for the 2015 improvements/changes will be published tomorrow.
They were briefly published on GRT's site, and even had a facebook post about them, but they have since been pulled.  Presumably they weren't quite finished with them!

I look forward to the rampant debates here!

You mean ridership numbers?
Reply
(07-02-2017, 01:54 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:
(07-02-2017, 12:40 PM)KevinL Wrote: Precisely. There is no such thing as a northbound 7B, either. And yet there it is, on a sign at the southern terminus...

I just realized this is at Fairview, not at the downtown terminal. But now I’m confused by your earlier message where I thought you said the sign was correct. To me it seems like signs at Fairview for the 7 should list 7C, 7D, 7E only; or they could just say “7” since most people getting on there won’t care which one they get (anybody who cares is probably better off taking the iXpress).

Unless you change the way the buses enter and exit the Fairview terminal, this isn't possible. As the buses are currently routed, the Connaught/Wilson 7s always depart facing Kingsway, while the Weber 7s always depart facing Fairway. This is for good reason, because that is the direction those buses need to go to get onto those streets.

The fact is that many, many people at the Fairview terminal need to know whether the bus is going down Wilson, Connaught or Weber. In fact, you have it exactly backwards. If a passenger is interested in a C D or E in particular, taking a 200 and switching at Charles St. will frequently get them to their destination faster. If on the other hand, they need to go to, say, Weber/Fergus, telling them the bus is a C D or E after it departs north from Charles St. does not give them useful information at all.

People already ask which flavour of 7 they are boarding. Having a 7C sit at a stop labelled 7B will just compound the confusion.

This will all be cleared up when the Wilson and Weber portions are replaced by other routes, but by that time, there won't be a 7B at all. That makes the decision to label the stops 7B and 7A/F at Fairview even more mind-boggling.
Reply
(07-02-2017, 08:22 PM)PhilippAchtel Wrote:
(07-02-2017, 01:54 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I just realized this is at Fairview, not at the downtown terminal. But now I’m confused by your earlier message where I thought you said the sign was correct. To me it seems like signs at Fairview for the 7 should list 7C, 7D, 7E only; or they could just say “7” since most people getting on there won’t care which one they get (anybody who cares is probably better off taking the iXpress).

Unless you change the way the buses enter and exit the Fairview terminal, this isn't possible. As the buses are currently routed, the Connaught/Wilson 7s always depart facing Kingsway, while the Weber 7s always depart facing Fairway. This is for good reason, because that is the direction those buses need to go to get onto those streets.

The fact is that many, many people at the Fairview terminal need to know whether the bus is going down Wilson, Connaught or Weber. In fact, you have it exactly backwards. If a passenger is interested in a C D or E in particular, taking a 200 and switching at Charles St. will frequently get them to their destination faster. If on the other hand, they need to go to, say, Weber/Fergus, telling them the bus is a C D or E after it departs north from Charles St. does not give them useful information at all.

People already ask which flavour of 7 they are boarding. Having a 7C sit at a stop labelled 7B will just compound the confusion.

This will all be cleared up when the Wilson and Weber portions are replaced by other routes, but by that time, there won't be a 7B at all. That makes the decision to label the stops 7B and 7A/F at Fairview even more mind-boggling.

I think everything you say makes sense. Part of the problem is that I had forgotten that the 7 splits up near Fairview, so I wasn’t thinking about that aspect. So I think what you’re saying is that somebody boarding at Fairview doesn’t care about 7C/D/E, but they do care whether it goes via Wilson or via Weber. So maybe the stops should be labelled either “7” or “7C/D/E”, with one stop saying “via Wilson” and the other “via Weber”. In any event, I think we’re in agreement on the radical notion that a bus labelled X should stop at a stop labelled X.

I have long (since before iXpress) though that the 7 should just pop on to the expressway to get from where Charles and King meet down to Fairview. Then have a local milk run handle all the stuff currently handled by the 7 that would be skipped by my idea. The 7 was painful for getting to Fairview — the last bit of King St. tended to be not too bad in the speed department, and then you’re at the expressway, maybe a 2 minute ride from Fairview. Then the bus turns off and winds through a residential neighbourhood for 10 minutes. And this is the main spine route that runs the length of the city?

The introduction of iXpress was an alternative way of providing a reasonably fast route to Fairview, but I’m not sure it invalidates my idea. In any case as you point out something different will be done soon.
Reply
Yeah, to be honest, the 7 is really a mess of a route as is. You have buses with labels that aren't even relevant until they branch off at King/University 45 minutes later. Connaughts and Wilsons depart from the same platform at Fairview, but there is no way to tell the difference by looking at the label on the bus.

Even using letters at all is confusing for people new to the system. Does this bus go to Connestoga Mall? The stop I'm at just says "7", but the bus coming says "7E". Oh, wait, I'm supposed to wait at the "7" stop at King/Columbia, not the "7" stop at Columbia/King?

With the possible exception of people downtown being able to directly access stops on Wilson, things will be much better when the 7ABF is busted up into the 7, 18, and 2, and when the 7DE becomes the 92.
Reply
(07-02-2017, 09:29 PM)PhilippAchtel Wrote: Even using letters at all is confusing for people new to the system. Does this bus go to Connestoga Mall? The stop I'm at just says "7", but the bus coming says "7E". Oh, wait, I'm supposed to wait at the "7" stop at King/Columbia, not the "7" stop at Columbia/King?

My first experience with GRT not long after moving to KW ended up with me expecting the 7E, allowing the 7D to pass me, running 1/4 of the way around Ring Road at UW only to find out that the bus I wanted was the 7D and 7E didn't run on Sundays, eventually getting onto an 8 on University, and then transferring at Charles Street to the exact 7D bus that had passed me at UW 45 minutes earlier.

This was 2003.  Not much has changed about route 7, apart from frequency, since then.
Reply
Noticed new vehicles in use for BusPLUS - an electronic destination sign, front bike rack, and a ramp for accessible access, not a lift!
Reply


(07-03-2017, 01:45 PM)KevinL Wrote: Noticed new vehicles in use for BusPLUS - an electronic destination sign, front bike rack, and a ramp for accessible access, not a lift!

Yep those are the new ARBOC Spirit of Freedom vehicles the region ordered.
Reply
http://www.grt.ca/en/schedules-maps/bus-...rades.aspx
Looks like a busy summer for upgrades
Reply
(07-20-2017, 03:48 PM)Rick O\Shay Wrote: http://www.grt.ca/en/schedules-maps/bus-...rades.aspx
Looks like a busy summer for upgrades

Some big stuff in here if you look closely, and a lot of it is helpful for pedestrians as well. For example, a better crossing of Ottawa at Elmsdale; King and Riverbank in Freeport; plus Bleams at Fallowfield, and Highland at Fieldgate (these two include refuge islands).
Reply
(07-20-2017, 03:48 PM)Rick O\Shay Wrote: http://www.grt.ca/en/schedules-maps/bus-...rades.aspx
Looks like a busy summer for upgrades

Looks like they're installing some 205 iXpress stops ahead of time! 

Also interesting they're adding a new stop on the 203 at Maple Grove / Beaverdale (aka middle of nowhere). I thought the new subdivision being built there was further west near Speedsville Road?
Reply
It is. Maybe someone influential requested one.
Reply
(07-21-2017, 09:43 PM)yige_t Wrote: Looks like they're installing some 205 iXpress stops ahead of time! 

Also interesting they're adding a new stop on the 203 at Maple Grove / Beaverdale (aka middle of nowhere). I thought the new subdivision being built there was further west near Speedsville Road?

If you build it, they will come.



I've only come across the new fare boxes and handful of times, but do others find the printing times of the new transfers excessively long (upwards of 30 seconds)?

Maybe fare boxes I've seen and used were just having a bad day, but to me that has the potential to create some operational delays beyond even the learning curve of the new machine.

If you get just 10 cash or ticket fares on a route suddenly you're 5min behind schedule.

They seem pretty quick with reading the barcode, but the actual print time seems slow.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
Reply


(07-22-2017, 04:24 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: I've only come across the new fare boxes and handful of times, but do others find the printing times of the new transfers excessively long (upwards of 30 seconds)?

Maybe fare boxes I've seen and used were just having a bad day, but to me that has the potential to create some operational delays beyond even the learning curve of the new machine.

If you get just 10 cash or ticket fares on a route suddenly you're 5min behind schedule.

They seem pretty quick with reading the barcode, but the actual print time seems slow.

It has been a long time since I've been on a bus without one.  I'm guessing they're fully deployed now.

Yes, printing is very long.  But I don't think it will be a problem in the long run, as they will only be used for cash fares, when the farecards are available, those won't need printed transfers.
Reply
There is a known software bug causing the long transfer print time, which should be eliminated soon.
Reply
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »



Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 8 Guest(s)

About Waterloo Region Connected

Launched in August 2014, Waterloo Region Connected is an online community that brings together all the things that make Waterloo Region great. Waterloo Region Connected provides user-driven content fueled by a lively discussion forum covering topics like urban development, transportation projects, heritage issues, businesses and other issues of interest to those in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the four Townships - North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich.

              User Links