ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[GtwoK]

My understanding is that the intent for the weekend is to run the regular weekend schedule with service to all stops, but I don't have a reference I can point to to confirm.

Reading the thread on Twitter, my speculation is that this weekend is considered a special schedule in that it isn't being published to the various routing systems and they aren't necessarily making the same service level commitment that they would. Like, if a train is interrupted for any reason they might not feel the need to run the alternative bus route that they will have to do come Monday.

Found the answer — regular service to all stops, but stopping at 8 today, and 10pm tomorrow and sunday

[kps]

I drove down to Fairway Station for the opening ceremony, then hopped back in my car and drove up to Conestoga Station with my family. It worked out a lot better than expected, and we ended up on the first full-length southbound train.

So you're saying driving beats the LRT

[KevinL]

Reading the thread on Twitter, my speculation is that this weekend is considered a special schedule in that it isn't being published to the various routing systems and they aren't necessarily making the same service level commitment that they would. Like, if a train is interrupted for any reason they might not feel the need to run the alternative bus route that they will have to do come Monday.

Yes, this is basically it. If you're commuting and normally take the 200, it's best to still do so as the Ion's performance isn't guaranteed.

[jamincan]

I was looking at the platform itself and didn't really see anyone, so I didn't notice the line. It doesn't look too bad. I should have got in line to catch it back to Fairview, rather than the 7B. But I had a bunch of architecture journals to carry and it was hot haha. I'll go down to the market tomorrow and take the tram there and back instead.

Even though I don't live here, it's great to see this finally up and running. It's truly going to reshape this city.

It already has reshaped the city! (along with a bunch of supportive zoning and development policies).

[GtwoK]

Jeeeeesus christ, waiting at the Uptown Square station, right as a train is turning into the station from King, an SUV came flying down the tracks TOWARDS the oncoming LRV and very nearly had a head on collision. Police officers standing around and no one did anything.

[ijmorlan]

We took the shuttle back to Conestoga rather than waiting in line to take the train back. I overheard a few comments about how GRT should make it a full time route.

That idea has a long history. Before iXpress, somebody started a Conestoga/Fairview shuttle. I think it got shut down pretty quickly. Of course, at that time a hypothetical 20 minute shuttle would be competing with a 7 taking even longer than iXpress.

I still don’t know if that is a service that has high demand. The fact that it would connect the ends of the Ion in under half the Ion time doesn’t mean anything, especially not for whether or not Ion is worthwhile; Ion is about connecting lots of destinations, not just the two endpoints. But if there is sufficient demand for the end-to-end shuttle, it ought to exist as a separate service. In particular, if it could make a profit it definitely should exist.

Going further, I would suggest that the government or a designated operator should only be able to exclude a service if they already operate that service. Not sure exactly what the definition of “a service” would need to be to make this work. Even in the absence of transit subsidies, rules against jitneying are required in order to have a stable market.

[drum118]

https://youtu.be/tBI9TVADoXo
https://youtu.be/Vtu0K_kOM-Y
https://youtu.be/2yOZOYO9rOs

[jeffster]

Jeeeeesus christ, waiting at the Uptown Square station, right as a train is turning into the station from King, an SUV came flying down the tracks TOWARDS the oncoming LRV and very nearly had a head on collision. Police officers standing around and no one did anything.

Seems that the police in this region are pretty useless when it comes to traffic issues. I contacted WRPS regarding a hit-and-run, no response back. It is what it is.

[drum118]

GRT is claiming on Twitter that they arent operating on a regular schedule this weekend, and that it's a "special schedule". Anyone know what that is? Are all stations being serviced?

Its anywhere between a few minutes between cars to 10 minutes based on ridership load.

All stations are service with line up in place to allow X riders on the car.

The station next car time is not working correctly.

Found the time to lower gates/barriers before the car arrives too slow to the point the car has to slow down or stop.

[jeffster]

I'd be really curious to hear more details about these changes from people like you who both live in the suburbs, and pay attention to the details. I can say anecdotally that a lot of people I talk to from the suburbs tell me that GRT "is useless" but then can't give me any information about their closest routes like what the headways are at different times of days, or even how long it would take to get to a connection to a more useful route.

I was thinking about the places the new routes serve- and don't- the other day while looking at the new transit route. I thought it looked pretty good. I mean, someone in Lakeshore (as an example) can't really expect frequent service right outside his house, but he'll now have a half-hourly bus that connects to an LRT station with covered seating and an average wait of five minutes in the peak period. That's pretty good.

It's subjective, of course. I walk a kilometre to the bus right now, and I'm happy about it because the walk is not too hostile, and the bus service is good. Other people in that situation would not be happy and would consider that excessive. And if your walk were a kilometre to a bus that is less frequent, and requires a connection to another line, that walk might be excessive. But I do think the connection is important. Getting to the Ion seems like it will be easy for many people, and they may not be focusing on how much better that connection is going to be than to many of the bus routes that exist today.

As my car is a primary mode of transportation, I would still use the bus to go to places like Conestoga Mall (for shopping and the theatre) as well as Fairview Park Mall. If anything, I was teaching my children on how to use public transportation, but I also wanted to avoid those busy time at the mall (especially around BTS and Christmas Holidays). You can say my grandma taught me well when I was in Toronto, on using the public transportation.

When I first moved into this area, I used the bus daily to get to work. Shortly after that, I moved out of the area and relied mostly on the car, though at times, as a one car family, the wife would drop me off at my work, and I'd take the bus.

I eventually moved back to this area that I am in now, as a single dad with two kids full time. As mentioned above, teaching them how to use the bus. Around the time of the approval of the LRT, our services were cancelled. My daughter had just lost her main transpiration to school - she had "special needs", so she had to go to a different high school (KCI), but all fine until the route changed. She got her GRT pass for $5 per semester. It was hard enough for her to have to take transfers, but she could no longer use the bus after changes. At that point, they starting using a taxi, but that was too hard for her too (she has extreme social phobia) because the intimate quarters were too hard for her.

As for my son, we're exactly 3,150 metres from his high school - this disqualifies him from being bussed (which is 3,200 metres). His 7/8 school was 1,700 meters away, but those kids qualify at 1,600. Either way, he's a teen boy, so trying to get him up extra early to walk to the nearest bus stop, about 700 m, plus lack of shelter and our sucky weather just didn't work. This means me having to arrange transportation which is difficult.

Point is, though, for people living in this area, the loss of the bus service wasn't a positive. Apparently ridership wasn't high enough for the extra 4 or 5 minutes the bus had to cruise, but it did have a very negative effect on people. Seniors that had lived in this area had to move, as they couldn't drive, couldn't afford a taxi, and couldn't walk the 200 - 700 metres of extra walking. We *used to* have lower income people in the area, and they too moved.

As for the ION, my daughter is out of school now (last day a couple days ago), so she never had a chance to use it. My son currently doesn't need it, as his high school and his job are not part of the LRT route. My job too isn't close to any LRT. That said, I might use the LRT on the weekend and just park at the Charles and Benton garage and take the LRT somewhere (one of the malls). If for any reason, trains fascinate me. I love going back to Toronto and using the subway. I wish the GRT (LRT) had a similar ticket system, but perhaps in the future.

[Bob_McBob]

Here's a neat timelapse of the route from Fairway to Conestoga.

[rangersfan]

Thanks for sharing that time lapse.

[JoeKW]

Hey I'm in that video!

[EdM]

An unfortunate motorist got the "gate arm on the roof" experience with a train full of people going past. We did get to hear the "short delay" announcement though!

   

[ac3r]

A proverbial wack on the head for their inability to stop.