(10-10-2025, 10:13 PM)Momo26 Wrote: How does Helsinki do it so much cheaper?

(10-17-2025, 01:47 PM)Acitta Wrote: An article in the Atlantic starts off with this paragraph, "Mass transit in the United States lacks mass appeal. In a 2024 study of data from nearly 800 cities, Asian urban residents used public transit for 43 percent of trips; 24 percent of Western Europeans in cities did the same. In American cities, the figure was less than 5 percent."

(10-19-2025, 06:58 PM)ac3r Wrote: Does anyone know why they've bolted black plastic strips on the platforms at Fairway? They're similar to the yellow ones with bumps they have for blind people, but these aren't sunk into the concrete. They're slippery in the rain and serious tripping hazards.

Quote:Installation of a new tactile pathway on bus and train platforms at Fairway Station is ongoing until early November. We’re testing tactile wayfinding at Fairway and Conestoga stations as part of work we’re undertaking to make our stations more accessible.

(10-18-2025, 08:19 AM)nms Wrote:

(10-17-2025, 01:47 PM)Acitta Wrote: An article in the Atlantic starts off with this paragraph, "Mass transit in the United States lacks mass appeal. In a 2024 study of data from nearly 800 cities, Asian urban residents used public transit for 43 percent of trips; 24 percent of Western Europeans in cities did the same. In American cities, the figure was less than 5 percent."

I couldn't tell from my albeit quick read of the study, but it would be interesting to see if there has been any shift in North American transit habits have changed in the last 20 years or so since there has been incremental investment in transit and active transportation improvements (at least in Waterloo Region's case).  If 20 years ago, the number was 4% and today it's 5%, that's a big proportional increase.  Over time, the incremental improvements will add up and suddenly driving isn't the default transportation mode.

(10-19-2025, 11:55 PM)plam Wrote:

(10-18-2025, 08:19 AM)nms Wrote: I couldn't tell from my albeit quick read of the study, but it would be interesting to see if there has been any shift in North American transit habits have changed in the last 20 years or so since there has been incremental investment in transit and active transportation improvements (at least in Waterloo Region's case).  If 20 years ago, the number was 4% and today it's 5%, that's a big proportional increase.  Over time, the incremental improvements will add up and suddenly driving isn't the default transportation mode.

The University of Waterloo Sustainable Transportation people feel like they haven't made headway on shifting modeshare over the past 20 years. They would really like to---but then the question is how empowered are they to make the actual changes that are needed.

(10-20-2025, 07:29 AM)ZEBuilder Wrote:

(10-19-2025, 11:55 PM)plam Wrote: The University of Waterloo Sustainable Transportation people feel like they haven't made headway on shifting modeshare over the past 20 years. They would really like to---but then the question is how empowered are they to make the actual changes that are needed.

If they keep developing on the parking lots they certainly will, you can only drive if you've got a place to park. The key to that however is to not expand parking lots (like they did with Lot A) or building any parking garage. Once you do that you'll make driving more difficult and will inevitably get a switch in mode share.

In reality as a society we just need to make parking and driving more difficult to get a significant switch. One could tax parking lots to a degree that it hurts to have acres of parking which would incentivize the removal of parking for other uses. The other way would be putting a strict cap on the number of parking spaces with zoning, instead of minimums which create acres of unused parking (look at Sunrise Centre for example). Both of those would force different mode share because no ones going to be glued to their cars once you make something difficult.

(10-19-2025, 11:55 PM)plam Wrote: The University of Waterloo Sustainable Transportation people feel like they haven't made headway on shifting modeshare over the past 20 years. They would really like to---but then the question is how empowered are they to make the actual changes that are needed.

(10-22-2025, 03:21 AM)ijmorlan Wrote:

(10-19-2025, 11:55 PM)plam Wrote: The University of Waterloo Sustainable Transportation people feel like they haven't made headway on shifting modeshare over the past 20 years. They would really like to---but then the question is how empowered are they to make the actual changes that are needed.

They should start by charging for parking in a sensible way.

Get rid of the massive discount for people who have monthly passes, and stop charging per day. In the per-day lots, one pays the same to be there all day as to arrive at 6PM when it’s emptying out and staying for an hour. If one has a parking pass, one cannot save money by driving fewer days unless one goes down to parking less than half of all days*. Also there is a free lot that reliably fills up on class days in Fall and Winter terms (so why is it free?).

Just charge using approximately the same scheme as SFPark, with rates depending on the specific demand in different times and places. Build structured parking if it would pay for itself (including some reasonable calculation of land rent to reflect the inability to build something else while the structured parking is there).

As far as I’m concerned, “Sustainable Transportation” is a great example of the Yes Minister idea of getting the difficult bit out of the way in the title.

* Daily parking $7.25; Monthly permit: $62.00 or 8.5 days worth assuming 20 days per month. So as a monthly permit holder to save money by not driving all the time, one must drop down to 8 days driving per month before the daily rate is cheaper. Many more people could easily reduce their parking demand by only driving certain days of the week than can easily reduce demand by rarely or never driving.

(10-22-2025, 04:24 PM)MidTowner Wrote: I'm attending an event at UW tomorrow. The organizer (a government entity) sent out an e-mail today with parking passes to be printed out, and detailed directions to the venue on campus.

No mention of transit.

Terrible.