Grand River Transit

[timio]

Drove down Ira Needles and Highland last night and didn't see any pads poured for the 204 iXpress stops. Pads have been poured along Victoria at the other end of town.

[tomh009]

You said "But with aBRT connecting Cambridge to Fairview, I really don't think it would be a huge loss for Cambridge." Do you honestly expect someone to take BRT to Fairview just to take an intercity bus right past Cambridge? Why should we be inconvenienced so people in Kitchener can save ten minutes?

Because it would allow Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge residents all to reach the depot on a single ride on rapid transit.  And have a single intercity bus depot for increased efficiency.

But if Cambridge is more important than the rest of the region, please ignore the above.

[DHLawrence]

I still don't see what's wrong with keeping two bus stations, one in Kitchener (mostly likely King and Victoria) and one in Cambridge (now Galt, eventually closer to the highway I hope). Is having a bus station in Cambridge that offensive?

It's not about being "more important" - it's about the ridiculousness of riding a bus for nearly an hour just to double back on the route they already took when the could just go to a bus stop close to the 401 and closer to home in half that time. Hardly anyone lives directly on the aBRT route; they have to take their own local routes to the nearest aBRT route first. Why make it less convenient to catch a bus than it already is? Moving the nearest intercity bus station to another town is hardly going to encourage ridership.

[notmyfriends]

I tend to agree. While the area might not have the population of Toronto, it is a 40km drive from Monsignor Doyle to Sir John A MacDonald which is roughly the same as Square One to Scarborough Town Centre. Two bus stations seems to make sense, especially if the one in Cambridge is moved to align with, say, the Eagle and Hespeler LRT stop. Buses going straight through to London only stop there, others stop downtown/uptown.

[mpd618]

I still don't see what's wrong with keeping two bus stations, one in Kitchener (mostly likely King and Victoria) and one in Cambridge (now Galt, eventually closer to the highway I hope). Is having a bus station in Cambridge that offensive?

It's not about being "more important" - it's about the ridiculousness of riding a bus for nearly an hour just to double back on the route they already took when the could just go to a bus stop close to the 401 and closer to home in half that time. Hardly anyone lives directly on the aBRT route; they have to take their own local routes to the nearest aBRT route first. Why make it less convenient to catch a bus than it already is? Moving the nearest intercity bus station to another town is hardly going to encourage ridership.

I agree with this, and honestly I think the idea of moving the Kitchener intercity bus terminal to Fairview is a bit like moving it to another town. Downtown transit terminals are where it's at, and also allow make the most sense when (not if) trains are again in the picture.

[Spokes]

Drove down Ira Needles and Highland last night and didn't see any pads poured for the 204 iXpress stops.  Pads have been poured along Victoria at the other end of town.

There are a number of signs up along ira needles indicating "future stops"

[chutten]

Drove down Ira Needles and Highland last night and didn't see any pads poured for the 204 iXpress stops.  Pads have been poured along Victoria at the other end of town.

There are a number of signs up along ira needles indicating "future stops"

There's also one for the 200 on Parside at Northfield. Future stop for the fall service change on the 7th. Obviously getting people used to the idea of having a rapid transit stop up there.

[Smore]

the Bingemans Ctr Dr stops are also marked, but seem exceedingly close together.

[KevinL]

It's official, the Highland Hills terminal will serve only the 22 effective Sept 7, as seen here: http://www.grt.ca/en/travelwithus/resour..._hills.pdf

See the other terminal layouts as well: http://www.grt.ca/en/travelwithus/terminalsstops.asp

[rangersfan]

I was very happy to see the stop for the 200 added to north end of Parkside, this should reduce my bus commute by at least 15 minutes!

[timio]

An update on the Electronic Fare Management System was posted this morning.

Implementation in 2016.

[MidTowner]

I was very happy to see the stop for the 200 added to north end of Parkside, this should reduce my bus commute by at least 15 minutes!

I think this makes a lot of sense given the proximity to the Northfield Ion station.

Conversely, it is a source of continued frustration that the Grand River Hospital station is still not being served, and the 200 has no stop between downtown and uptown.

[plam]

An update on the Electronic Fare Management System was posted this morning.

Implementation in 2016.

Thanks. Sounds like not-PRESTO although they don't go out and say that. Also, no bills is somewhat passenger-unfriendly, but not as much as in New York City. It really is inconvenient in NYC because they don't do dollar coins. It should be much less inconvenient in Canada.

[Viewfromthe42]

I was very happy to see the stop for the 200 added to north end of Parkside, this should reduce my bus commute by at least 15 minutes!

I think this makes a lot of sense given the proximity to the Northfield Ion station.

Conversely, it is a source of continued frustration that the Grand River Hospital station is still not being served, and the 200 has no stop between downtown and uptown.

It's an unfortunate reality, but a reality nonetheless. The only way to serve GRH would be to take the same route as the 7, which currently sees a good deal of boardings (during my trips) at GRH. This would result in the Bridgeport-to-Water segment of the trip going from 10 minutes to at least 16, an increase of 6 minutes or 60% for this segment.

In reality, the 7 still comes more frequently, and virtually the same points at which you would get onto the iXpress to get to GRH will get you to GRH via the 7. I'm not sure there's any be-all, end-all reason to serve GRH during construction, much as it would be great for consistency.

[Viewfromthe42]

An update on the Electronic Fare Management System was posted this morning.

Implementation in 2016.

Thanks. Sounds like not-PRESTO although they don't go out and say that. Also, no bills is somewhat passenger-unfriendly, but not as much as in New York City. It really is inconvenient in NYC because they don't do dollar coins. It should be much less inconvenient in Canada.

I'm pretty confident based on a focus group I attended that GRT is going with non-PRESTO system. Partly due to roll-out hiccups, but I believe primarily to ensure that GRT retains control of pricing structures and options, rather than being stuck using PRESTO's options.