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zenmeister
Guest
Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton are bigger than Waterloo region in population. And you haven't actually stated what they are failing to realize, so do please enlighten us
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Waterloo Region Transit Developments (ION LRT, new terminal, GRT buses)
Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton are bigger than Waterloo region in population. And you haven't actually stated what they are failing to realize, so do please enlighten us
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Duck
Guest
Waterloo Region is smaller, yes - perhaps where Mississauga, Hamilton and Brampton were at size-wise 20 or 30 years ago. I think what p5connex is getting at is those areas are only now (and perhaps too late) realizing they should have invested in Rapid Transit much earlier.
Many people here in K-W have mentioned they think we're a little too small for a project of this magnitude. But in 20 or 30 years, we'll be very glad we did it now.
Rennes (France) is half the size of Waterloo region, and has a Siemens VAL 208 fully automated metro. They are currently building a second line right now (the first CityVal prototype).
Many people here in K-W have mentioned they think we're a little too small for a project of this magnitude. But in 20 or 30 years, we'll be very glad we did it now.
Rennes (France) is half the size of Waterloo region, and has a Siemens VAL 208 fully automated metro. They are currently building a second line right now (the first CityVal prototype).
cplchanb
Senior Member
I think the current progress can arguably be a display of how fast these lines can be built if there was no political interference and when construction was given priority.
They only started the hard digging last year and now they are well on their way. People even worked on weekends. Now if Toronto had the stomach to hire weekend and overnight shifts on Eglinton as well as sort out their construction schedules, I can bet
the line would be finished 1 year earlier at least.
They only started the hard digging last year and now they are well on their way. People even worked on weekends. Now if Toronto had the stomach to hire weekend and overnight shifts on Eglinton as well as sort out their construction schedules, I can bet
the line would be finished 1 year earlier at least.
muller877
Senior Member
Waterloo Region has a population of 507,000. Brampton has a population of 523,000 (each in 2011).
The difference is that Waterloo region has concentrated its growth along the King St corridor (and has urban policies to encourage even more growth along this corridor). It has urban sprawl but has a urban street where its business, education and population are centred.
ehlow
Senior Member
Also the Universities have a huge impact on Waterloo, I see many large apartment towers sprouting up near by now for students. I'd assume they will have big impact on transit ridership as well given they have free transit passes.
Megaton327
Senior Member
While that's definitely largely true, there are a LOT of students in Waterloo who almost never take transit. I have a friend who recently attended the University of Waterloo, lived on residence his first year and in a University Ave apartment just a couple of minutes' walk away after that--I visited him a few times a year, and he always expressed thorough unfamiliarity with the transit system. I asked him about it and he said he very rarely took it, maybe a couple of times a year. He was within walking distance to the university, most of his friends lived similarly nearby, there was a small grocery store across the street, so I guess he just didn't want to leave the area ever. It's an odd thing for a university student in a city to do, but it's not uncommon--many of his friends and classmates did the same thing.
In fact, when I drove over to visit him, we would regularly go to a restaurant that's easily accessible by bus from his place but an easier drive on account of the bus not being tremendously frequent--it's his favourite restaurant, and the bus ride was only about 15-20 minutes with little walking and a $0 fare for him, and yet he only went when someone could drive him. That, of course, seems utterly insane to me in Toronto. I guess some people just have that mindset.
When I asked him if he was excited about the LRT, he said "the what?" even though there were to be two stops about a 5-minute walk from his place (and one by the restaurant he likes) for the same $0 fare. Boggles the mind.
Red October
Senior Member
Man does that guy live in a cave or something? That's ridiculous and definitely not the majority.
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
As a student I can agree that many of us don't take transit even when its free with our tuition. I go to Western and most of us will just Uber because it is more convenient than bussing. Lots of students don't want the hassle of figuring out bus routes and waiting for busses. Don't get me wrong, many students still take the bus, but that number could easily double with LRT, because its just that much easier to navigate. Its amazing what embedded rail and a clearly laid out route will do.
Markster
Senior Member
In my first year at UW, I too lived in the Campus Bubble. I rarely adventured beyond campus. It wasn't until 2nd year and later that I started discovering the city proper. I'd say their behaviour is not entirely uncommon (particularly for first years), but neither is this the "norm" for all students. With all the new housing that has gone up around University/Lester, it's really increased the number of students who now can choose to live walking distance to campus, which certainly changes the dynamic.
So... where was the restaurant? (or what was the name?) I'm curious about just how ridiculous this is.
Red October
Senior Member
Watch it be like the Huether or something...
Megaton327
Senior Member
Uptown Waterloo (King/Erb~William). The 7 ran from his doorstep to it, or a brief walk to an iXpress stop (just on his end of the trip) got him a quicker ride.
nfitz
Superstar
Do students not own bicycles any more? Though it's hardly a long walk through the park ...
... this isn't sounding normal to me. I could certainly spend weeks on end on campus ... but I knew how to take a 7 or 8 bus (whichever came first) to get me to downtown Kitchener to hop a Train or Bus to civilization.
... this isn't sounding normal to me. I could certainly spend weeks on end on campus ... but I knew how to take a 7 or 8 bus (whichever came first) to get me to downtown Kitchener to hop a Train or Bus to civilization.
Megaton327
Senior Member
To be fair, this friend of mine is very bad with transit usage in general, but like I said several of his friends/my other friends there are similar.
When I lived in residence at U of T at Spadina and Willcocks, with the 510 ROW stop a 15 second walk from the door and Spadina subway station maybe a 7-minute walk away, I had a metropass and was constantly exploring the city whenever I had time. I was close friends with a dozen odd people on my floor, and probably 10 of them used the TTC only once or twice in their entire first year, and barely even walked or biked off campus either. Not saying everybody should have had metropasses, I was a transit/exploration junkie and it's expensive, but not using it at all...boggles the mind.
I agree that it's very strange. I was flabbergasted by people attending University in downtown Toronto and never really stepping foot off campus. Waterloo it's maybe a bit more understandable, but there's definitely still stuff to do and that's easily counterbalanced by the free transit pass.
MafaldaBoy
Senior Member
As a University of Waterloo student who lives within walking distance to campus, I can definitely confirm that there are a lot of students, especially in first and second year, who don't go outside of the campus and the stretch of University Avenue between UW and King Street, save for a trip to Conestoga Mall or for groceries at Bridgeport Plaza. A lot of them simply visit the same restaurants in the plazas next to the Engineering buildings and those on King Street north of University Avenue.
That being said, I've seen a lot of GRT buses that are packed with upper year students who are more likely to live further away from campus. While there definitely has been a huge construction boom of new housing within walking distance of the universities, I'm thinking that a lot of these are occupied by second/third-years as well as international students who might not be as comfortable taking the bus.
As for cycling to school, I've noticed that this year there hasn't really been a large percentage of students who choose to cycle compared to the last, though that may be because of the closure of the Laurel Trail and ION construction work south of the university.
That being said, I've seen a lot of GRT buses that are packed with upper year students who are more likely to live further away from campus. While there definitely has been a huge construction boom of new housing within walking distance of the universities, I'm thinking that a lot of these are occupied by second/third-years as well as international students who might not be as comfortable taking the bus.
As for cycling to school, I've noticed that this year there hasn't really been a large percentage of students who choose to cycle compared to the last, though that may be because of the closure of the Laurel Trail and ION construction work south of the university.
Markster
Senior Member
I have an interesting anecdote like that, too.
I was walking around E5, where the UW Station is, during class change, and was caught up in a huge throng of students. I overheard some talking about the LRT, and their overriding thought was that it's going the "wrong way". It was their belief that "no one" needs to go north/south, and that it should be built east-west along University Ave.
I do understand their thought. University Ave, from Westmount to Weber, is a growing clusterfuck of buses. And at peak hours, a lot of those buses are very packed. It's only natural to think that's the "best" route, particularly when viewed from a University-centric viewpoint. Once the LRT cuts the corner through Waterloo Park, I think that Uptown will feel a lot closer to most UW students. No more relying on the infrequent (and very unreliable) 7D, or the not-so-conveniently-located 200, if you want to go to Uptown.