Grand River Transit

[tomh009]

Region of Waterloo trying out transit affordability project for people living with low income

http://www.570news.com/2017/09/15/region...ow-income/

That's good.  And I like the fact that they are looking at a few different models in order to find the right fit for the low-income segment.

[Elmira Guy]

/\ Agreed. I think it's a very good idea and I hope it has a smooth and effective implementation..

[MidTowner]

I'll be curious to see what the results are. I think that a couple of those ideas might be positive for the system at large, not just the low-income riders. The off-peak pass, for instance, is interesting.

[KevinL]

It's also showing the ability to create different and interesting fare products - I hope they look into various options and see what they can produce. Good to see!

[timio]

There's much more flexibly offered with an electronic fare card. Hopefully we'll see more like this available.

[Canard]

New bus pads are poured at Maple Grove & Beaverdale.

[KevinL]

Have just heard (unofficially) that routes 11 and 22 will be returning to their Stirling-Charles routing later in October! I had feared they would be stuck to Courland until Ion launch - very good to hear.

[Pheidippides]

Noticed a number of the 204 stops along Highland seem to have had electrical work done on them in the last week; perhaps the LED displays are nearing installation (finally!).

[Pheidippides]

Looks like the 2018 transit survey is missing some key user groups:
   

   

   

   

[tomh009]

46 responses really isn't enough. Was this a web site survey?

[Elmira Guy]

/\ It was posted a few pages back.

https://www.peakdemocracy.com/portals/274/Issue_5366

It is a pretty limited survey in my opinion.

[tomh009]

Why on earth wouldn't they spend a few thousand dollars and talk to people who are actually using GRT? It's easy enough to board a bus, and you'll even get a representative sample.

Web surveys aren't always the best option ...

[danbrotherston]

Why on earth wouldn't they spend a few thousand dollars and talk to people who are actually using GRT?  It's easy enough to board a bus, and you'll even get a representative sample.

Web surveys aren't always the best option ...

Your sample there will be highly skewed towards people who take the bus more frequently.  Worse, you'll entirely miss people who might take the bus, but aren't able to because the service improvements you're planning aren't implemented.

Sampling is very hard.

[tomh009]

Why on earth wouldn't they spend a few thousand dollars and talk to people who are actually using GRT?  It's easy enough to board a bus, and you'll even get a representative sample.

Web surveys aren't always the best option ...

Your sample there will be highly skewed towards people who take the bus more frequently.  Worse, you'll entirely miss people who might take the bus, but aren't able to because the service improvements you're planning aren't implemented.

Sampling is very hard.

Still better than 46 self-selected Internet users.  If we want a broad sample of all Waterloo Region residents, then we need a telephone survey.  But what's the purpose of the survey? 

The current one is not useful at all in my opinion.  For example, there is only one respondent who takes the bus less than once a month.  And only nine daily users.  The margin of error on this survey would be massive.

[danbrotherston]

@tom009 telephone surveys miss millennials like me who don't have a land line.

I don't think GRT is using the web survey as the only source of public input. In fact they are doing the right thing and sampling from many sources.