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King-Victoria Transit Hub
(11-23-2018, 11:26 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Just as a quick note on costs (Canard), I can look right now and rent a car 8am Friday to 8am Monday, unlimited kilometers, for under $90 tax included. Not to make any other point about any other aspect, but you can indeed rent quite affordably.

Also I think the “every weekend” thing was to make a point — if somebody actually wanted a car every weekend, then owning might make more sense. But lots of people would only need a car one or two weekends a month, at which point the rental costs really won’t be much compared to owning.
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I like the idea of taking transit to work in Toronto, but the 3 hour end to end travel time makes it a rough go. Yesterday, I left home at 530, arrived at the office at Yonge/Bloor at 840 (train was delayed), left the office at 1505, and arrived home at 1820.

Typically I drive to Aldershot for a 2-2.5 hour trip, or I could drive the entire way in 1.5-3, pending on when I catch the 401 in Mississauga and the Gardiner at the CNE. For people to consistently want to take transit, it needs to be convenient.

Currently it is not and driving is.
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(11-22-2018, 10:25 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: Just because you don't own a car doesn't mean you can't drive to the country or explore off the beaten path places.

Rent a car. Join the car share. Car pool.

You can rent a car every weekend of the year and still come out ahead of owning.

Don't you need parking spots for rental vehicles and ride share vehicles?  Those spaces may not be part of the central station but they have to exist somewhere.

Also for the central station I think some parking would be very desirable in order to pick up passengers arriving on trains and inter-city buses.
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Back on topic, of course there will be parking at the Transit Hub, just not a ton of it. The layout for each of the floors are somewhere (including the underground parking levels), can't find it right now though.
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There are no designs for the transit station yet because it hasn't been designed. There were some concepts but no concrete designs.
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(11-23-2018, 10:08 AM)clasher Wrote: Or bulldoze 70 60 Victoria, it's ugly as sin anyway Wink

Fixed that for you.  [Runs and hides from the "every brick POS we ever erected is precious" society.]
...K
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(11-23-2018, 05:46 PM)KevinT Wrote:
(11-23-2018, 10:08 AM)clasher Wrote: Or bulldoze 70 60 Victoria, it's ugly as sin anyway Wink

Fixed that for you.  [Runs and hides from the "every brick POS we ever erected is precious" society.]

LOL. At the rate this project is moving the building will probably fall down on its own.
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Province to change municipal tendering rules  

Quote:Proposed legislation unveiled Thursday by the Ontario government could change the way contractors bid on municipal, hospital, school board and post-secondary infrastructure projects.

If passed, the amendments to the Labour Relations Act would explicitly define these public institutions as "nonconstruction employers" — a move the provincial government says will "increase competitiveness for broader public-sector construction projects" by ensuring bidding is open to non-unionized contractors.

The amendment is one of 32 proposed changes under the Progressive Conservative government's Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, and closely mirrors an unsuccessful private member's bill put forth by former Kitchener-Conestoga PC MPP Michael Harris in 2013.

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If I'm understanding this correctly, would this not help the hub project?
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It would, but there are a plethora of other provisions in the act that would dramatically reduce safeguards and regulations required on new construction.

So who's to say if it's helpful in the interim. Long term, I believe we'll be worse off.
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I don't think the union labour requirement was the critical issue here.

And does this actually affect regional projects, or only municipal ones?
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(12-07-2018, 11:08 AM)tomh009 Wrote: I don't think the union labour requirement was the critical issue here.

And does this actually affect regional projects, or only municipal ones?

I would think they're both lumped in together, but that's a good question.
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(12-07-2018, 11:08 AM)tomh009 Wrote: I don't think the union labour requirement was the critical issue here.

And does this actually affect regional projects, or only municipal ones?

I would have thought both, since the Region is a municipality, is it not?
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(12-07-2018, 09:59 AM)Spokes Wrote: If I'm understanding this correctly, would this not help the hub project?

Yeah, definitely. One of the requirements of the hub project was all bidders being registered with the union, which represented a massive restriction on who could bid. This should open it up significantly when the region tries the bidding process again.

(12-07-2018, 10:53 AM)timio Wrote: It would, but there are a plethora of other provisions in the act that would dramatically reduce safeguards and regulations required on new construction.

So who's to say if it's helpful in the interim.  Long term, I believe we'll be worse off.

I'm not a fan of the bill on the whole, or just about anything the Ford government does, but I think this particular change is excellent and long overdue. Two employees building a shed on a Saturday got the entire region designated a construction employer, requiring every single regional project since 2012 (including the LRT) to not just have to hire unionized construction workers, but workers under one specific union. A study showed it shut out 84% of firms that previously would have bid on regional projects. Regardless of what one generally thinks of unions, it's clearly an insane result for two workers building a shed.

(12-07-2018, 02:29 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(12-07-2018, 11:08 AM)tomh009 Wrote: I don't think the union labour requirement was the critical issue here.

And does this actually affect regional projects, or only municipal ones?

I would have thought both, since the Region is a municipality, is it not?

Yes, the region is a municipality. They're already in the news saying it will affect them https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...-1.4936608
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A big announcement today:

[Image: king-victoria-transit-hub.jpg]

More here: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ay-1162500
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