10-29-2023, 04:00 PM
(10-29-2023, 01:47 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Do you have a link for the complete document?
It's a slide from a staff presentation at the October 18 budget review at the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee. You can find it in the agenda linked here.
https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/regio...-Committee
The point of this proposal is to avoid a budget increase to provide the level of daytime service required by current demand. Their reasoning is that the region "doesn't need" the capacity in the morning and evening because ION is "complemented" by Route 7. Bizarrely, they even highlight the fact that ION has very low operating costs.
Deutchmann mentions that the only time he typically uses ION is when he goes out for dinner in the evening, and also asks about the impact on students taking night classes. The staff member again claims it will have no impact because Route 7 runs along a "substantial" portion of the ION route and complements it with 15 minute service frequency. They also claim 30 minute frequency "matches the demand profile" but then immediately admits it's still entirely about maintaining the current contact capacity without any budget increase. And then they later go on to specifically highlight how high frequency affects LRT usage because people don't have to rely on trip planners, while making this proposal.
https://youtu.be/3g8EhYtZ6fE?t=8440