09-02-2015, 02:50 PM
(09-02-2015, 01:57 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote:(09-02-2015, 01:17 PM)MidTowner Wrote: I think this makes a lot of sense given the proximity to the Northfield Ion station.
Conversely, it is a source of continued frustration that the Grand River Hospital station is still not being served, and the 200 has no stop between downtown and uptown.
It's an unfortunate reality, but a reality nonetheless. The only way to serve GRH would be to take the same route as the 7, which currently sees a good deal of boardings (during my trips) at GRH. This would result in the Bridgeport-to-Water segment of the trip going from 10 minutes to at least 16, an increase of 6 minutes or 60% for this segment.
In reality, the 7 still comes more frequently, and virtually the same points at which you would get onto the iXpress to get to GRH will get you to GRH via the 7. I'm not sure there's any be-all, end-all reason to serve GRH during construction, much as it would be great for consistency.
I actually do think the 200 taking Park over Weber would be the better solution, though it's not the only one. I think you're citing 16 minutes as the distance between downtown and Bridgeport because that's what the 7 is scheduled to take. It would be less than this as the 200 doesn't have the intermediate stops that the 7 does. If it's a four minute increase in the time between downtown and uptown, that's a trivial delay for anyone taking the service more than one stop.
Alternately, the 200 could be put back on King as it is now partially re-opened, but this would also result in delays.
Alternately, a temporary stop could be introduced on the current routing somewhere around Weber and Guelph (I believe this is the closest) to provide express service to riders who have come to depend on it in the surrounding areas, and the area east of King. And also to cultivate ridership for the Grand River Hospital station when Ion opens in 2017.