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Grand River Transit
(02-10-2017, 12:15 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: I feel like there were reasons they preferred not to use articulated buses?  Was it ONLY inability to fit in terminal space?  I would think that would still be an issue, Charles St. is not the only terminal.

Also, in general, is it not preferred to have more frequent service than articulated buses, even if it is more expensive?

Strasburg garage wasn't designed to handle them, which was the main reason they don't have them yet.
Bus terminals are now being built to handle artics, for instance, The Boardwalk doesn't use Zipper platforms, opting for straight curbs. The rebuild of the Fairway terminal will be the same.

It is preferable to have frequency! However by 2020, the 201 and 202 will both be running on 10 minute frequencies, hopefully at more than just rush hour. And that's starting to get to the point where larger buses are an option. Artics will also better handle the "class gets out" traffic at 9:30pm.
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I noticed a couple of tweets from GRT relating to when 200 iXpress service would be returning to Uptown/Grand River Hospital. Sounds like even if the underpass is completed by Spring 2017, GRT isn't in a hurry to return to King Street.

Anyone know what these "integrated stops" are?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/jessechad">@jessechad</a> Hi Jesse, the 200 will be on detour until construction of the integrated stops on King is complete.</p>&mdash; Grand River Transit (@GRT_ROW) <a href="https://twitter.com/GRT_ROW/status/831134645697859584">February 13, 2017</a></blockquote>



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/jessechad">@jessechad</a> Construction of shelters and the King Street grade separation will likely not be finished before September 2017.</p>&mdash; Grand River Transit (@GRT_ROW) <a href="https://twitter.com/GRT_ROW/status/831191337340895233">February 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Wasn't the idea at one point that busses would pull up onto the tracks and sit flush with the platform, as if they were an LRV?
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It's very disappointing that GRT is going to be avoiding King until September.

(02-17-2017, 11:42 AM)Canard Wrote: Wasn't the idea at one point that busses would pull up onto the tracks and sit flush with the platform, as if they were an LRV?

I thought I had heard they were explicitly trying to avoid that. As much as I think it could work fine, Seattle's transit tunnel seems to manage quite well. I'm also wondering what's going to happen for route 7's William St stop. Are they still going to have a northbound stop? Is it going to pull onto the LRT corridor?
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I think that articulated buses would be even more awkward getting out of the UW transit plaza than the current situation.
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The Functional Design Plans suggest that the buses will cross the tracks, to the outboard side:

   

...despite going through here a couple of times a week, I'm actually at a loss as to wether or not the curbing currently supports this design. I'll have to take a look later today!
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At Uptown, the on-the-ground reality says that the buses will be stopping north of the Spur Line, which represents a move north of the bus stop by about 100m. They'll be removing the Erb St stop, which will balance out the shift.

What I'm more concerned with is at William. The plans showed an island between the tracks and the road (not unlike the one on King St just south of Victoria,) but no island was built.
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Shoot, I'm sorry, I've done it again - I've confused "William" with "Willis Way"... argh! Blush
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(02-17-2017, 04:13 PM)Markster Wrote: At Uptown, the on-the-ground reality says that the buses will be stopping north of the Spur Line, which represents a move north of the bus stop by about 100m.  They'll be removing the Erb St stop, which will balance out the shift.

What I'm more concerned with is at William.  The plans showed an island between the tracks and the road (not unlike the one on King St just south of Victoria,) but no island was built.

Maybe 7s will keep going up Park....*hopeful* ... Tongue...*ducks*
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Modifications to 2017 Service Changes:
http://www.grt.ca/en/aboutus/resources/2...e-plan.pdf

New items (pending Council approval):
  • 51 Hespeler: early start of 15 minute frequency between Ainslie Terminal and Groh/Holiday Inn on Saturday mornings. 
  • 52 Coronation: additional weekday evening trips. 
  • 61 Fountain: new weekday evening service until 10:30pm.
  • 200 iXpress: additional weekday evening trips.
Modification to Proposed 2018 ION Opening Day Service Changes:
http://www.grt.ca/en/aboutus/resources/2...etwork.pdf

Route 2 and 20 will be swapped in east Kitchener:
  • 2 will follow the existing 23 Idlewood route beyond Stanley Park via Oldfield, Zeller, Fairway to Fairview Park. 
  • 20 will be extended to continue past Stanley Park Mall via Franklin, Kingsway, Fourth and Wilson to Fairview Park.
This change was probably made to maintain Sunday service on Franklin Ave and Sunnyside Homes.
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GRT confirmed on Twitter that they won't be restoring the Uptown or Grand River Hospital iXpress stops until September 2017 (because they "expect further closures on King this spring for ION deficiency work"), and that the #7 will also remain on Park St until September.
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Quote: ION deficiency work
I'm guessing this means 'fixing stuff on the ROW that wasn't done right the first time'. Odd that they're anticipating so much of this that they don't want to run buses, but I guess they know better than we do.
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If it's only six months between moving the 200 to King and the launch of Ion, I'd be tempted to suggest they leave the 200 routing as is, since riders have gotten used to it.

My preference would be that they move it to King as soon as possible, though...it really seems strange to leave it to the autumn. How much "deficiency work" could be going on six months from now?
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That makes me wonder if they're anticipating ripping up a bunch of embedded track and re-laying it after on-street testing starts... lawd.
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Typically deficiencies are found through a cooperative process near the end of construction, or even after the keys have been handed over. I remember having a crew walk through one of my offices a few weeks after I moved in marking deficiencies.

You'd hope most of the big items were caught along the way, but some small surface level things will be scrutinized closer to handover.
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