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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
I was stopped today at the intersection in front of Cameron waiting to turn left. The North bound lane was closed due construction work at Cameron. The two vehicles in front of me started to turn left as per the signal but were stopped by a flag man so they were stuck on the tracks as a southbound train was approaching. The train was blowing its horn and the stuck vehicles were blowing theirs.
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So the changes to the route closest to my house changed enough that my kid can no longer use the bus for his summer job. It used to be a 700m walk to the bus stop, and the bus would stop about 10 meters from his work. Now the closest 'drop off' is about 2 km. He could choose to take the bus to an Ion station, then transfer to another bus after that, but the travel time went from 7 minutes to over an hour, and if he works too late, he'll miss the bus to the Ion.

Oh well. Disappointed but not surprised, they have to make the routes profitable and better access to the Ion stations. I'm pretty sure that it only affects a handful of users, not like my kid would be using it every day (he relies on Daddy Taxi Service).

On the other hand, since our route does go to an Ion stations, and my daughter has an appointment at GRH (KW) this week, we can avoid the $15 parking fee. My dentist is on King as well, so if I need to have any major work done, I can just use transit now.
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(06-24-2019, 01:42 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(06-24-2019, 12:07 PM)KevinT Wrote: Taking the train downtown for lunch and just heard the platform announcement "To enter or exit the train, please push the button on the door."  Awesome!

This is the kind of thing it would have been good to explain during the weekend, however, nobody said this once, all the many many times I was chatting with them.

Frustrating moment when the train doors did not open arriving in station, and it took 7-10 seconds for someone to push the button.

Also worth noting that many many people are leaving Frederick station by the missing entrance, because of course they are.

I'm very happy to see the LRT running, but the frustrating bits are still there.

It makes me wonder who thought having manual doors opening and closing was a great idea. This used to be a frustration with me and other kids when we took the bus to school. Half the time you had to kick the door to get it to open, as it was manual.

Does anyone know if the got the "next station is" for the Kitchener stations figured out yet?
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(06-24-2019, 01:42 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(06-24-2019, 12:07 PM)KevinT Wrote: Taking the train downtown for lunch and just heard the platform announcement "To enter or exit the train, please push the button on the door."  Awesome!

This is the kind of thing it would have been good to explain during the weekend, however, nobody said this once, all the many many times I was chatting with them.

Frustrating moment when the train doors did not open arriving in station, and it took 7-10 seconds for someone to push the button.

Also worth noting that many many people are leaving Frederick station by the missing entrance, because of course they are.

I'm very happy to see the LRT running, but the frustrating bits are still there.

Say what?
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(06-24-2019, 06:01 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Also worth noting that many many people are leaving Frederick station by the missing entrance, because of course they are.

Say what?
[/quote]

Here:

https://goo.gl/maps/odRAoSdpcVRiLhx4A

Note that the east/north of the platform, towards which we are looking, is not an exit, ramp and tactile strip notwithstanding (and there is now a sign saying “Emergency Exit Only” which wasn’t present when the photo was taken).

There is further discussion in the last few replies on this thread.
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Got it. Thanks. I imagine I'd do the same thing, if my destination were, eg, the courthouse or the library or such.
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I just took the train with my girls from Fairway to Conestoga and back and I have to say it is awesome. So smooth, and length of time is ok. The train was very full and looked like a lot of new transit users were won over, myself and my daughters included. I did get a chuckle when we were returning and I saw a guy in a mini van with the crossing arm down on the hood of his van at Caroline because he stopped past the white line. Maybe people will get the message and start stopping in the proper position. I didn't feel bad for him at all...
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(06-24-2019, 06:15 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Got it.  Thanks.  I imagine I'd do the same thing, if my destination were, eg, the courthouse or the library or such.

As all human beings would.
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(06-24-2019, 05:48 PM)jeffster Wrote: So the changes to the route closest to my house changed enough that my kid can no longer use the bus for his summer job. It used to be a 700m walk to the bus stop, and the bus would stop about 10 meters from his work. Now the closest 'drop off' is about 2 km. He could choose to take the bus to an Ion station, then transfer to another bus after that, but the travel time went from 7 minutes to over an hour, and if he works too late, he'll miss the bus to the Ion.

Oh well. Disappointed but not surprised, they have to make the routes profitable and better access to the Ion stations. I'm pretty sure that it only affects a handful of users, not like my kid would be using it every day (he relies on Daddy Taxi Service).

On the other hand, since our route does go to an Ion stations, and my daughter has an appointment at GRH (KW) this week, we can avoid the $15 parking fee. My dentist is on King as well, so if I need to have any major work done, I can just use transit now.

I really must question this.  There are several conflicting statements.  What trip has gone from 7 minutes to over an hour.  And where does your son work that had a bus stop within 10 meters, and is now 2 km.

Given that its very hard to go 2 km on transit in 7 minutes.

Further, just an FYI, even on our brand new train, 7 minutes only goes about 1.8 km, which is about a 25 minute walk.
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(06-24-2019, 01:42 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(06-24-2019, 12:07 PM)KevinT Wrote: Taking the train downtown for lunch and just heard the platform announcement "To enter or exit the train, please push the button on the door."  Awesome!

This is the kind of thing it would have been good to explain during the weekend, however, nobody said this once, all the many many times I was chatting with them.

Frustrating moment when the train doors did not open arriving in station, and it took 7-10 seconds for someone to push the button.

Also worth noting that many many people are leaving Frederick station by the missing entrance, because of course they are.

I'm very happy to see the LRT running, but the frustrating bits are still there.


Boarding the train
  • Wait behind the yellow platform edge for the train to come to a complete stop. The train doors will line up with the black sections of the platform edge when the train stops.

  • Wait for other riders to exit before boarding.

  • To open the doors, press the red button on the door when the light turns green.

  • Allow riders with mobility devices to board first. Riders with mobility devices, bikes, strollers, service animals or other large items should board through the two middle doors.

  • Don’t hold the train doors open. Preventing the train from leaving by holding the doors open may result in a fine.

  • Mind the gap between the station platform and the train.
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(06-24-2019, 06:44 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(06-24-2019, 05:48 PM)jeffster Wrote: So the changes to the route closest to my house changed enough that my kid can no longer use the bus for his summer job. It used to be a 700m walk to the bus stop, and the bus would stop about 10 meters from his work. Now the closest 'drop off' is about 2 km. He could choose to take the bus to an Ion station, then transfer to another bus after that, but the travel time went from 7 minutes to over an hour, and if he works too late, he'll miss the bus to the Ion.

Oh well. Disappointed but not surprised, they have to make the routes profitable and better access to the Ion stations. I'm pretty sure that it only affects a handful of users, not like my kid would be using it every day (he relies on Daddy Taxi Service).

On the other hand, since our route does go to an Ion stations, and my daughter has an appointment at GRH (KW) this week, we can avoid the $15 parking fee. My dentist is on King as well, so if I need to have any major work done, I can just use transit now.

I really must question this.  There are several conflicting statements.  What trip has gone from 7 minutes to over an hour.  And where does your son work that had a bus stop within 10 meters, and is now 2 km.

Given that its very hard to go 2 km on transit in 7 minutes.

Further, just an FYI, even on our brand new train, 7 minutes only goes about 1.8 km, which is about a 25 minute walk.

The bus turns down a different road after his pickup, in a different direction but the closest drop off is much further, and in fact, only about 200 m from his original pick-up. The old route literally drop him off right in front of his work and only went on 2 streets, but with the way the new route would go, he's be dropped off on the other side of the street, rather than in front of his work on the same side (this is if he takes the bus, the Ion, then the Xpress).

BTW: You math is way off. The LRT can run its route in 43 minutes for those 19 km which is 27 km/h. Your math (1.8 km in 7 minutes) works out to 15 km/h, or about 12 km/h less than actual. Travel distance from the bus stop to his work was 2.2 km (2.9 km from our home), 7 minutes means the bus was traveling, on average, at 19 km/h, or about 2/3 the speed of the Ion. Even that seems low, but factoring in lights and bus stops, I guess that is accurate.

Also, perhaps you misread what I wrote -- if he were to take the bus only, he'd be saving 200 metres. If he took public transportation all the way to work, he'd hop on the bus, be dropped off at an Ion station, get off at the 3rd Ion station, then walk about 200m to the closest Xpress route, wait for that bus, and this would drop him off 400m from his job. Looking at the GRT trip planner, it was almost an hour.

Since his job is close to DTK, I really don't want him walking home from there, especially at night. And really, I would't want him walking around the Charles and Benton garage, and King and Frederick area at midnight to get onto the Ion (the ride home would take longer as the walk is further). Too many crazy people in that area. Either way, though, when I looked for the trip back home, his end time would take over 90 minutes to get home (up from 7 minutes) -- just a lot of walking, transfers and waiting.
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The 'second entrance' at Frederick (see also Kitchener Market and Borden) is, I believe, signposted as emergency only for legal reasons. It saves them from making it accessible or formalizing a crosswalk, but any able-bodied person who feels safe using it is free to do so.
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(06-24-2019, 10:39 PM)jeffster Wrote: Also, perhaps you misread what I wrote -- if he were to take the bus only, he'd be saving 200 metres. If he took public transportation all the way to work, he'd hop on the bus, be dropped off at an Ion station, get off at the 3rd Ion station, then walk about 200m to the closest Xpress route, wait for that bus, and this would drop him off 400m from his job. Looking at the GRT trip planner, it was almost an hour.

How far from your house is the nearest LRT stop? If he can walk there (a strapping young lad!) that would reduce the commute to a single change, and likely cut out a big chunk of time. Or the nearest iXpress stop?

Minimizing the walking often ends up increasing the travel time.
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Do you get a transfer when taking the LRT? Could I take the LRT from downtown to say, Vincenzos, have some lunch and then return on one fare?
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(06-24-2019, 11:25 PM)JoeKW Wrote: Do you get a transfer when taking the LRT?  Could I take the LRT from downtown to say, Vincenzos, have some lunch and then return on one fare?

Yes. From when you first tap your EasyGo card, all additional taps within 90 minutes are free. For the return trip, you just have to tap on at the LRT station before the 90 minutes is up. Even if your return trip takes you over the 90 minute mark, all that matters is when you tapped to board the return trip (I confirmed this with a fare inspector).
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