Grand River Transit

[Markster]

In Ottawa in the 90s, they staggered bell times to allow for *three* waves.
My middle school's first bell, (telling us to come in and go to homeroom) was at 7:50.

[Spokes]

The high schools and elemetary schools where I grew up did that. It meant that when I was in high school we went in super early but we're done school at 2:26, which was awesome. It made better use of the hardware available, I think. You can half as many busses that way, just run them more. Free for the parents too, which I'm sure they will appreciate.

Unfortunately, it's terrible for the students to start super early, in terms of doing well at school:

http://www.startschoollater.net/whats-the-big-deal.html

There is a movement to get schools to start later.

High school students at least.

We've got it backwards as it currently stands in terms of elementary/secondary start times.

[tomh009]

The high schools and elemetary schools where I grew up did that. It meant that when I was in high school we went in super early but we're done school at 2:26, which was awesome. It made better use of the hardware available, I think. You can half as many busses that way, just run them more. Free for the parents too, which I'm sure they will appreciate.

Unfortunately, it's terrible for the students to start super early, in terms of doing well at school:

http://www.startschoollater.net/whats-the-big-deal.html

There is a movement to get schools to start later.

Starting school at 7 AM or earlier is pretty crazy.  8 AM is not so unreasonable, though, I think.

That web site makes a huge number of claims about how evil early school days are, but it has precious little evidence to back up those claims.

[plam]

Unfortunately, it's terrible for the students to start super early, in terms of doing well at school:

http://www.startschoollater.net/whats-the-big-deal.html

There is a movement to get schools to start later.

Starting school at 7 AM or earlier is pretty crazy.  8 AM is not so unreasonable, though, I think.

That web site makes a huge number of claims about how evil early school days are, but it has precious little evidence to back up those claims.

That was perhaps not the best link. This one may be better: http://www.startschoollater.net/wake-up-...facts.html

I certainly don't get up at 8 routinely. When I need to, I feel like it affects my productivity. It is certainly true that one is less smart when sleep deprived, and I just can't see how kids wouldn't be sleep deprived by starting at 8.

(So I'm happy for GRT to spend more money if it means that our kids get more sleep.)

[Canard]

You don't get up by 8? What job do you have? everyone is in our office by 8 at the latest, most are here at 7, some people start at 5-6am.

[tomh009]

There are references for the amount of sleep needed. But no references for the (biological) inability to get to sleep before 11. That is the key question, are humans really unable to go to sleep earlier? (It certainly wasn't the case in the old days before electric lights and TV.)

I'm definitely no teenager any more, but I normally get up between 6 and 7 AM. Without an alarm clock. And I think the morning hours are the most productive for me.

[Markster]

You don't get up by 8? What job do you have? everyone is in our office by 8 at the latest, most are here at 7, some people start at 5-6am.

Meanwhile.... I just nonchalantly walked into work at 11:30!

[MidTowner]

You don't get up by 8? What job do you have? everyone is in our office by 8 at the latest, most are here at 7, some people start at 5-6am.

In my office, not everyone feels the need to come in every day. If they have meetings or something, they come in for those, but there are a few people who make it clear that, if possible, they don't want meetings scheduled earlier than a certain time. I worked with one guy who didn't prefer to be made to attend meetings earlier than noon, and was known to send e-mails at truly ungodly late hours.

I'm an early riser, personally...I don't think I was in high school as much...

I'm probably off topic, too. I wonder what impact the iXpress and 7 (and other) detours have had on ridership. At least a few riders must have found other modes of travel.

[plam]

You don't get up by 8? What job do you have? everyone is in our office by 8 at the latest, most are here at 7, some people start at 5-6am.

Professor. I often get up at 9 and go to bed around 1.

There are references for the amount of sleep needed.  But no references for the (biological) inability to get to sleep before 11.  That is the key question, are humans really unable to go to sleep earlier?  (It certainly wasn't the case in the old days before electric lights and TV.)

I'm definitely no teenager any more, but I normally get up between 6 and 7 AM.  Without an alarm clock.  And I think the morning hours are the most productive for me.

There are all sorts of interesting facts about sleeping. People used to sleep for 4 hours, then get up in the middle of the night, and then go to sleep again.

Having said that, there is also new research about traditional peoples: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/our-an...ght-either

High school students think they're busy and so they will tend to stay up past 11. (What I've found since then is that at stage X you always think you're busy but then somehow stage X+1 is even busier...)

[Markster]

I'm probably off topic, too. I wonder what impact the iXpress and 7 (and other) detours have had on ridership. At least a few riders must have found other modes of travel.

I was expecting that ridership would take a large hit, thanks to all the detours. It's not just the 7 and 200. Everything downtown has been heavily disrupted.

I know that for me, it was enough to get me biking regularly to work ever since June started. I'd tried to bike regularly in previous summers, but the bus was just too easy. The detours, schedule padding, and early service reductions all pushed me away. I can't imagine anyone with remotely easy access to a car sticking around under the present circumstances.

[tomh009]

You don't get up by 8? What job do you have? everyone is in our office by 8 at the latest, most are here at 7, some people start at 5-6am.

Professor. I often get up at 9 and go to bed around 1.

I guess you don't need to teach any 8:30 classes!

[goggolor]

I'm probably off topic, too. I wonder what impact the iXpress and 7 (and other) detours have had on ridership. At least a few riders must have found other modes of travel.

I was expecting that ridership would take a large hit, thanks to all the detours.  It's not just the 7 and 200.  Everything downtown has been heavily disrupted.

I know that for me, it was enough to get me biking regularly to work ever since June started.  I'd tried to bike regularly in previous summers, but the bus was just too easy. The detours, schedule padding, and early service reductions all pushed me away.  I can't imagine anyone with remotely easy access to a car sticking around under the present circumstances.

I used to bike to work once or twice a week, but since iXpress no longer stops at GRH it increased my commute to 45 minutes from 25, whereas biking takes only 20. So I started biking 4-5 days a week and working from home more. I started biking to the Kitchener Market on most Saturdays, and stopped going downtown otherwise. I also used to regularly take the bus a few stops to Uptown Waterloo but now I just walk or bike. So I'm probably using GRT 80-90% less than this time last year. Unfortunately I'm locked in to my corporate pass at work so I'm still paying GRT $60+ a month for the handful of times I do take the bus.

[tomh009]

I used to bike to work once or twice a week, but since iXpress no longer stops at GRH it increased my commute to 45 minutes from 25, whereas biking takes only 20. So I started biking 4-5 days a week and working from home more. I started biking to the Kitchener Market on most Saturdays, and stopped going downtown otherwise. I also used to regularly take the bus a few stops to Uptown Waterloo but now I just walk or bike. So I'm probably using GRT 80-90% less than this time last year. Unfortunately I'm locked in to my corporate pass at work so I'm still paying GRT $60+ a month for the handful of times I do take the bus.

[goggolor]

Yeah, I'm not complaining... I'm just stating the facts about how the construction has impacted my travel habits, since someone asked. I'm sure the money I'm donating to GRT every month by my underused pass will be more than offset by the increase in the value of my station-adjacent house.

And the number of people who have stopped taking GRT because detours are a PITA will be offset by the people who start using it once there is a clear, convenient system in place. In the meantime though, biking is a better option for me than taking the bus and it's not a surprise that others would feel the same way.

[clasher]

Has anyone taken the new 204 express bus to boardwalk? I don't really have business in that part of town but was wondering if anyone knows how it is starting to work out?