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Region of Waterloo will receive over $341m in funding for public transit
#16
https://www.canada.ca/en/office-infrastr...erloo.html
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#17
At this point I wouldn't expect it, but I suspect that some regional politicians were hoping for a specific announcement of full funding for the next phase of Ion like other municipalities have recently had full funding for their own LRT projects.

The scale of this investment is pretty impressive when you compare it to GRT's 2018 operating budget ($63 million) or its 2018-2017 capital budget ($314 million) or the rapid transit 2018-2017 capital budget ($118 million).


LTC's ridership is not that much higher. In 2016, the last year I could find comparable numbers,  LTC had a ridership of 22.9 million vs. GRT at 19.7 million.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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#18
(03-17-2018, 04:21 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: At this point I wouldn't expect it, but I suspect that some regional politicians were hoping for a specific announcement of full funding for the next phase of Ion like other municipalities have recently had full funding for their own LRT projects.

The scale of this investment is pretty impressive when you compare it to GRT's 2018 operating budget ($63 million) or its 2018-2017 capital budget ($314 million) or the rapid transit 2018-2017 capital budget ($118 million).


LTC's ridership is not that much higher. In 2016, the last year I could find comparable numbers,  LTC had a ridership of 22.9 million vs. GRT at 19.7 million.

That's a lot higher though if you factor in population base. I'm sure that London services London only, while GRT services Kitchener, Cambridge, Waterloo, Elmira (and St. Jacobs) and New Hamburg. We have an extra 120,000 (roughly 30%) people in the service area but had ridership that is 3.2 million lower (16%). That's huge. Based on population alone, we should be up to 30M compared to London.

Though you can blame it on poor design (layout of the streets) of the cities, especially KW, and Cambridge really being 3 separate towns, when you think of it. And really, the poor design hasn't really stopped. Not transit friendly at all.

My daughter could have gone to a different high school, but it meant 3 different busses (and taking the early bus) and getting to school late every day, and getting home by 5:30. 5 hours on the bus plus 30 minutes walking wasn't going to work for us.
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#19
(03-17-2018, 04:21 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: At this point I wouldn't expect it, but I suspect that some regional politicians were hoping for a specific announcement of full funding for the next phase of Ion like other municipalities have recently had full funding for their own LRT projects.

The politicians would know that such an announcement won't come until we have a solid proposal for Phase 2, which is still some time off given the amount of consultation we're needing to do.
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#20
Accounting for the difference in population is a valid point.

I think that is a bit of an over-correction though.

London's mid-year 2016 census population was 384,000 + about 51,000 students (UWO 30k + 21k Fanshawe) = 435,000. - I was surprised to find UW has more FT students than UWO.

I think it is unfair to include Elmira and St Jacob's (most of Woolwich's) population and New Hamburg's population (most of Wilmot) in the comparison since they are only served by one route each and contribute <125,000 riders per year (route 77 was averaging 1,200 per month or 14,400 in 2017, I think the Elmira route was averaging 350 people per day (109k year).

Their combined populations contributes 8% to the regional total, but their ridership only accounts for 0.6% of the total.

Kitchener + Waterloo + Cambridge's year-end 2017 population, (census adjusted for growth and students) = 525,000 (a more comparative figure would be the year-end 2016 population = 515,500)

That's a difference of about 80,000 people if you use the comparable-ish 2016 populations

It is still a larger difference in ridership per capita than I would have thought (56 (LTC) vs. 38 (GRT)  (which is comparable to the official 2016 MBN Canada figure for our region of 30.0; London is not a part of MBN Canada (formerly OMBI)).

Thanks for pointing that out.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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#21
Do many students at the main campus of Conestoga College use public transportation?
I know that the service level to get there is not comparable to Fanshawe in London which is on one of the cities busiest streets serviced by multiple, frequent bus routes. That could have a substantial impact on ridership numbers. Hypothetically if you moved Conestoga College to the former Schneider factory lands, it would be a much easier destination to reach by public transit.
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#22
Conestoga College students rejected a universal bus pass and extra service in 2016.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/kitch...-1.3452117
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#23
(03-18-2018, 07:29 AM)rangersfan Wrote: Do many students at the main campus of Conestoga College use public transportation?
I know that the service level to get there is not comparable to Fanshawe in London which is on one of the cities busiest streets serviced by multiple, frequent bus routes. That could have a substantial impact on ridership numbers. Hypothetically if you moved Conestoga College to the former Schneider factory lands, it would be a much easier destination to reach by public transit.

From the Agenda for the March 20 meeting of the Planning and Works Committee link

Quote:Transit ridership continues to grow significantly at Conestoga College with more than a 20% increase between 2015 and 2017. Over 8,300 College semester transit passes were sold in 2017, almost 2,000 more than in 2015. 

That only includes those who can afford the $292 pass at the beginning of each semester. There are a significant number of people in my experience who pay by cash fare, tickets or monthly pass.
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#24
This is where the region would do really well to have a convertible EasyGO pass, one where if you tap in a day enough to pay for a day pass, it only takes the remaining difference from your card and treats your card as a day pass (instead of single ride fare/transfer time). Similarly, in a month if you were to spend the full value of a monthly pass, it takes only the remaining difference and for the rest of the month, your card is treated as a monthly pass. That way you don't have to have the money up front. A college student could use the card day-by-day, eventually having it convert up into a monthly pass to prevent them overspending, and if they went up to the $292 in Sep-Dec time period, it would become a semester pass. Removes so many barriers to adoption, and disproportionately helps those most in need.
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#25
(03-18-2018, 02:02 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: This is where the region would do really well to have a convertible EasyGO pass, one where if you tap in a day enough to pay for a day pass, it only takes the remaining difference from your card and treats your card as a day pass (instead of single ride fare/transfer time). Similarly, in a month if you were to spend the full value of a monthly pass, it takes only the remaining difference and for the rest of the month, your card is treated as a monthly pass. That way you don't have to have the money up front. A college student could use the card day-by-day, eventually having it convert up into a monthly pass to prevent them overspending, and if they went up to the $292 in Sep-Dec time period, it would become a semester pass. Removes so many barriers to adoption, and disproportionately helps those most in need.

That seems like a good idea ... are there other transit systems that have implemented something similar?
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#26
(03-18-2018, 02:09 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(03-18-2018, 02:02 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: This is where the region would do really well to have a convertible EasyGO pass, one where if you tap in a day enough to pay for a day pass, it only takes the remaining difference from your card and treats your card as a day pass (instead of single ride fare/transfer time). Similarly, in a month if you were to spend the full value of a monthly pass, it takes only the remaining difference and for the rest of the month, your card is treated as a monthly pass. That way you don't have to have the money up front. A college student could use the card day-by-day, eventually having it convert up into a monthly pass to prevent them overspending, and if they went up to the $292 in Sep-Dec time period, it would become a semester pass. Removes so many barriers to adoption, and disproportionately helps those most in need.

That seems like a good idea ... are there other transit systems that have implemented something similar?

GO Transit using the PRESTO card has a monthly maximum if you take more than 35 trips in a month the next 5 trips are at a significantly reduced cost then any trips you take over 40 are free.
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#27
(03-18-2018, 02:02 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: This is where the region would do really well to have a convertible EasyGO pass, one where if you tap in a day enough to pay for a day pass, it only takes the remaining difference from your card and treats your card as a day pass (instead of single ride fare/transfer time).

It is absolutely beyond my comprehension how PRESTO still does not do this.

I will never get a PRESTO card until it does. It is just beyond stupid.
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#28
...the post above yours explains how Presto does that on GO. Or did you mean a different transit provider?
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#29
TTC. And I'm talking about the day-pass, not monthly passes (which is why I quoted only the day-pass part).
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#30
London (England)'s Oyster card has a fare cap per day - so as a tourist, you don't need to worry about buying day passes.
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