ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Bob_McBob]

There is a tent and heater set up along the track right in the middle of the intersection at King and Northfield. I'm not sure if they're doing this one in stages because of the impact on traffic or if it's just a small part of the curve affected. I drove through there on Northfield earlier and the lane reduction was really slowing down traffic.

Gone tonight, that was quick.

[Square]

There is a tent and heater set up along the track right in the middle of the intersection at King and Northfield. I'm not sure if they're doing this one in stages because of the impact on traffic or if it's just a small part of the curve affected. I drove through there on Northfield earlier and the lane reduction was really slowing down traffic.

Gone tonight, that was quick.

The one at Union and King was gone today also.

[urbd]

Enjoy this beautiful piece of journalism fresh off the Record press...

Waterloo Region's low-tech transit future

"On one hand, a 19th century-style, capital-intensive system that forces riders to travel on fixed routes at fixed times. On the other, an on-demand system that takes riders door-to-door and requires only operating dollars.

Which option would you prefer — as a passenger or taxpayer? Which best emphasizes Waterloo Region's high-tech aspirations?"

Edit: here is the full text in case the paywall becomes active for the article:

What does the future of public transit look like?

For current residents of Waterloo Region, the future appears to look like a bunch of empty tracks designed to make driving more awkward and confusing.
Assuming our missing trains do eventually arrive, however, our region will soon have a brand-new, billion-dollar light rail transit system meant to put us at the vanguard of a public transit revolution.

Across the country, LRT is promoted as the forward-thinking solution to transit and urban development in many medium-sized cities. Citing Waterloo Region as its model, Hamilton is now embarking on its own billion-dollar LRT scheme meant to revitalize its dreary downtown. Surrey, B.C., is planning a $2.6-billion LRT. The same goes for Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.
The trend is so pervasive that London was recently complaining of being the largest city in Canada without rapid transit. In short order, London received government funding for a $560-million rapid bus network.
One vision of the future of transit: enormously-expensive infrastructure projects. But this isn't the only possibility.
Last week I visited Innisfil, a town of 37,000 south of Barrie. You may already know it as 'that Uber town.' Last year Innisfil made international headlines when it scrapped plans to build a small two-bus transit service and instead partnered with ridesharing app Uber.
Rather than spend over $600,000 on buses, Innisfil figured it made more sense to spend $150,000 subsidizing Uber rides. Trips to and from certain destinations, such as the arena, employment district and library, cost just $3. Other rides get a $5 discount; when destinations coincide, riders double up.
A transit system that picks you up at your door and takes you wherever you want to go for the price of a bus ticket is an addictively attractive proposition. The town faces no capital outlay and no risk its transit budget will be wasted on empty buses or trains.
The program has proven so successful that last month the town rolled out a major expansion. "We are hearing from people that it is a totally life-changing experience," says Deputy Mayor Lynn Dollin.

There are obviously many differences between Innisfil and Waterloo Region. But issues of scale aside, these two communities reveal two starkly different visions of the future for public transit.

On one hand, a 19th century-style, capital-intensive system that forces riders to travel on fixed routes at fixed times. On the other, an on-demand system that takes riders door-to-door and requires only operating dollars.

Which option would you prefer — as a passenger or taxpayer? Which best emphasizes Waterloo Region's high-tech aspirations?

In the U.S., many transit systems are already partnering with ridesharing companies such as Uber as an alternative or supplement to traditional buses or trains. Arlington, Texas, for example, recently got rid of its existing bus system in favour of an app. The arrival of autonomous cars will further speed this trend away from rigid old-school transit systems toward services with much greater flexibility.

Of course, Uber is unlikely to put the Toronto subway out of business: the volume is simply too great. But in smaller cities already less reliant on public transit — ridership is falling in Waterloo Region — ridesharing technology has enormous potential to steal business away from conventional buses and trains, even without an Innisfil-style subsidy.

A recent academic study asked "Is Uber a substitute or complement for public transit?" It finds that in big metropolises, Uber helps commuters get to and from major transit spots. In smaller cities, however, "our results indicate Uber reduces transit ridership." And those smaller cities, the authors note, "are almost always university towns." Sound familiar?

Similar worries about the clash between Uber and LRT are popping up in Ottawa. In a delightful turn of phrase, Ottawa Citizen editorial writer Tyler Dawson observes "it would be clownery of epic proportions if Ottawa built an LRT and nobody rode it," given that vast advantages in convenience of Uber.

Waterloo Region's billion-dollar Ion is a massive transit bet against the dominant trends in demographics and technology, says Baruch Feigenbaum, assistant director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation in Washington, D.C., and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board's bus transit and intelligent transportation committees.

"Based on past experience, most metropolitan areas with fewer than one million people cannot justify a light rail system because of size and development patterns," Feigenbaum says. Going forward, he expects the prospects for light rail to get even grimmer as Uber makes its presence felt. The eventual arrival of autonomous vehicles will be the final death knell for fixed rail systems outside major metropolises.

"It's a problem," Feigenbaum says of the current mania for building expensive LRT systems in smaller cities. "Automated vehicles using software to facilitate car pooling − that's where transit is going." This suggests the Innisfil approach may be the best way to avoid epic clownery in municipalities the size of Waterloo Region.

Feigenbaum admits an argument can be made for bus rapid transit, as in London, if only because it's cheaper and more flexible. "When automated cars do arrive," says Feigenbaum, "with BRT at least you can redeploy those buses somewhere else."

With LRT no redeployment is possible. We're stuck with it, whatever the future holds.


Peter Shawn Taylor is editor-at-large of Maclean's. He lives in Waterloo.

[danbrotherston]

I sure wish I had a platform like PST is endowed with.

[Rainrider22]

I sure wish I had a platform like PST is endowed with.

You said it before I could.  The Record seems to give him cart Blanche like he is the resident expert on so many topics....

I am tired of his diatribes....

[KevinL]

An excellent Twitter thread in response: https://twitter.com/mikeboos/status/984425723665448960

[urbd]

An excellent Twitter thread in response: https://twitter.com/mikeboos/status/984425723665448960

Wow... all those gifs. Is there a way to turn off autoplay gifs on twitter?

[Coke6pk]

And the big issue... taxpayers/government can control their transit system. Routes/Costs/etc.

Uber is a private corporation... and the drivers are "independent contractors", that can't be controlled by the Innisfil govt.

As you rate the Uber driver, the driver rates you as well. Drivers have the right to refuse low rated riders. What happens when one of those residents can just never get a ride because of a low rating?

[Canard]

Best of both worlds:

https://youtu.be/ERdF0FK-2io

Often, I wish I was born about 20 years earlier...

[jamincan]

There was a really good Ideas program awhile back on the problems with the gig economy and Uber was highlighted in particular.

[MidTowner]

Jarrett Walker has discussed ride sharing as a competitor and alternative to fixed route public transit at some length at Human Transit. It's a good place to read more nuanced explanation of ride sharing, and where it can and can not replace transit.

The writer tries to portray streetcars as "19th century" and ride sharing as "high tech." There's nothing high tech about ride sharing besides the software. We're talking about taxis here, essentially, and municipalities- and other bodies- subsidizing transportation by paying for taxi rides is nothing new.

The article is nothing new, either. Plenty of people have been making the same argument for some time.

[url=http://www.humantransit.org][/url]

[Bob_McBob]

There was some discussion of the Innisfil Uber system in the Waterloo subreddit back in January. Anecdotally the residents aren't quite as impressed with it as PST claims.

https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/commen...to_create/

[Canard]

1/1 - Thursday, April 12, 2018

   
Ticket Vending Machines (TVM's) have started popping up all along the line.

   

   

   
...so too have the track rework tents...

   

[Pheidippides]

I'm curious what Pheidippides has in mind when he talks about service without the full complement in Labour Day.

I meant that I could see them starting service at greater than 8min headways using 8 or 10 vehicles and a spare by Labour Day just to get it up and running before the municipal elections.

I was momentarily hopeful that the vehicles were going to start arriving at regular and predictable intervals, especially after Canard said another one was loaded last Friday, but if it is still in Millhaven than even the latest commitment of 3 delivered in April is now in doubt.

[Canard]

In fairness, they're at the whim of CP or CN (whoever it is - I don't follow freight!) picking it up whenever they get around to it. Hopefully it won't be too much longer to get here.

There may be other factors as to why they don't really need them here any quicker. ie, my last two pictures above.