Grand River Transit

[timc]

As one who drives everywhere and never takes the bus, I find the idea of cost being a factor in the "car or bus" decision a bit surprising, at least in a K-W context.  I one can afford the car, one drives, no?  

I could afford to drive to work. But then I would have less money for the other things I like.

[tomh009]

Perhaps it has to do with the way it scales?  i.e., in a town of 20k, you might only need a couple of "Bus-Plus" sized buses.  But in Waterloo Region there are hundreds of big buses, with a huge depot, etc. and maybe the cost of maintenance doesn't scale linearly with the population like that?  (I don't know, I'm just throwing it out there)

(I loved Iceland, too!)

I know I said the KC Streetcar was free, but I should have mentioned that only the new Streetcar line is free - their bus and BRT system still has a fare.

The region's current transit operations budget is roughly $120M, with revenues of about $60M.  If we made it completely free, that would be a hit of about $60M on the regional budget, or an increase of about 22%.  Given that the regional budget accounts for about half the property taxes, that would increase everyone's property taxes by around 11%, or maybe $200 on average.

It's not a huge amount, and lower-income people who would feel it the worst, would benefit the most from free transit.  But there would surely be highly vocal opposition to such an idea.

Now, there would be some cost savings because we could eliminate fare collection.  But on the other hand, transit usage could rise significantly, requiring GRT to spend more on buses (and eventually more trains).

[tomh009]

As one who drives everywhere and never takes the bus, I find the idea of cost being a factor in the "car or bus" decision a bit surprising, at least in a K-W context.  I one can afford the car, one drives, no?  At least in the vast majority of cases.  I suppose if one had to pay for parking at work, etc, it might lead to some shift.

I walk everywhere if I can (including walking to work -- the advantage of both living and working downtown).  For longer distances (say, Vincenzo's) bicycle is the best choice for me right now, but later I might take the LRT: carrying a lot of things on a train is much easier than on a bicycle.

I still drive, but mostly when I'm going out of town, or going to play hockey (carrying hockey gear is not so much fun).

The convenience of parking is also a factor, and the LRT will provide significant (perceived) added convenience in turn.

[Spokes]

Wilmot bus route attracts 39 riders per day so far

Anyone know what the expectation was?

[plam]

Wilmot bus route attracts 39 riders per day so far

Anyone know what the expectation was?

Says in the article that the expectation was 80-90 per day, but that summer ridership numbers are always lower. (Also recall that this line is being funded as a 1-year pilot project by MTO.) They want to see what it's like once it's been around longer, especially in the winter. It's only been going for 2 months.

[nms]

With 1000+ students at Waterloo-Oxford DSS, I would expect ridership to rise in the non-summer.  This is also your only GRT option to go visit Sir John A. Macdonald at Castle Kilbride.

[KevinL]

Not sure if W-O students are really in the target ridership, but it's possible.

[Spokes]

I wouldn't think WO students are a target either, so many of them already come in on the school bus, not sure they'd change that for the GRT

[Markster]

With 1000+ students at Waterloo-Oxford DSS, I would expect ridership to rise in the non-summer.  This is also your only GRT option to go visit Sir John A. Macdonald at Castle Kilbride.

School being in session will definitely help. There will be students who can now do after-school activities without needing to rely on getting a picked up by their parents after.

[Pheidippides]

1) Anyone tried the new EasyGo phone service? Twice now I've been told the next bus is arriving in "minus X minutes" and another time told the bus stop was not in service (when it clearly was). Wondering if it is just a few flukes (I don't call the system that often to know) or a wider-spread issue.

2) Any sign of shelters and electronic signage for the 204 route yet? The route is nearly a year old and the contract was awarded ages ago yet only a few concrete pads are in place along much of the route.

[Markster]

I thought that most of the stops had their shelters? I know there were a few stops that weren't going to be getting shelters due to space constraints.

As for electronics, it took over a year for the 202 to have electronics installed.

[KevinL]

Some 201 stops on Columbia still don't even have permanent metal signs, let alone shelters.

[timio]

The conduits are embedded in the concrete for shelters at Highland/Fischer Hallman, but still no sign of shelters. The stops at Westheights/Westforest/Eastforest are temporary until road reconstruction on Highland in a few years.

[Pheidippides]

Is there a reason the #8 Fairview via Weber is taking Victoria/Weber/Water/Joseph/Gaukel instead of sticking closer to its route on Margaret/Queen/Joseph/Gaukel? Turning radius perhaps?

[Markster]

The intersection of King/Queen on Queen is too difficult to navigate for the buses. It's one of the many no-go zones downtown.