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Waterloo Region Transit Developments (ION LRT, new terminal, GRT buses)

kalis0490 said:
There do seem to be some signaling glitches with the ATP - we should be able to hit 70 on the Waterloo Spur. Places with an up arrow or down arrow seem to be the places where the ATP kicks in. I was talking to a signaling engineer (who did not work on this project) and they think that the ATP speed blocks are incorrectly placed (too far behind stations) so there is improper control.
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We have a weird ATP system. If you look at Ottawa's, there are glorified little RFID tags (balises) bolted between the rails at regular intervals to let the trains know exactly where they are. I've heard that our system instead relies on the AC track signalling in the same blocks that are used for the crossing gates and other signals. It's accuracy is finicky, and I suspect we were over-promised while the equipment provider under-delivered. If they can't simply tune (or software upgrade) their way out of it, then they should add more blocks until they can get it to work correctly, on the provider's dime.

Of course that's easy enough for me to say, but I suspect the contracts around it were weasley enough (how well did the region really understand the technical implications of what they were signing?) that we'd have to pay substantially for such rework. There'd probably also be significant downtime. Ultimately it needs doing though, especially if the headways are shortened in the future to deal with increased demand.

SideNote: we have updated planning info for the Cambridge-Guelph Rail concept:
www.engagewr.ca

Cambridge to Union Passenger Rail Connection Initial Business Case and Concept Design

Project Overview The Region is developing an Initial Business Case to explore passenger rail service between Cambridge and Guelph, connecting to Union Station via the Kitchener GO Line. Providing an efficient, well designed transit service for Cambridge residents to
www.engagewr.ca www.engagewr.ca
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Thanks!

Edited: Grammar, readability, and added the word/link for balises.
 
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E•MO•TION said:
Much of the increased ridership can be attributed to the influx of international students to the area.

I would be a lot more impressed if there was a larger modal shift, but there isn’t.
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Sure routes feeding into the college are exceptionally busy but you certainly see more families and younger people using it when compared to 5 years ago so there is definitely a modal shift happening, sure it isn't necessarily substantial yet but it's definitely happening. It was particularly noticeable in the summer when there wasn't classes occuring.
 
ZEBuilder said:
Sure routes feeding into the college are exceptionally busy but you certainly see more families and younger people using it when compared to 5 years ago so there is definitely a modal shift happening, sure it isn't necessarily substantial yet but it's definitely happening. It was particularly noticeable in the summer when there wasn't classes occuring.
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Schools nowadays run summer courses for Int. students.

Conestoga has the highest number of Int. students in Ontario which is probably why we're seeing huge ridership numbers on the ION.

ConestogaIntStudents.jpg
 
Bojaxs said:
Schools nowadays run summer courses for Int. students.

Conestoga has the highest number of Int. students in Ontario which is probably why we're seeing huge ridership numbers on the ION.

View attachment 547390
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Yes they run summer courses, so do many institutions, the point however is that the college is not purely the reason for an increase in ridership, certainly it plays a substantial role of the general ridership increase throughout various parts of the GRT network but it isn't entirely why.

If you ride the ION you'd notice that there is a substantial increase in the amount of general users not related to the college using it now then in years past. Obviously it is anecdotal but when you compare the ION now to 2019 you are definitely able to see a modal shift occuring.

A lot of this has to do with the substantial amount of units that have been completed within MTSAs, the city of Kitchener has been really aggressive in reducing parking requirements with some buildings having zero parking spaces but many are around 0.5 or less. In Kitchener alone since 2019 there has been roughly 4000 additional units built, currently there's another 2000 under construction. You also have another 2000 units which are currently getting permits for shoring/balance of construction, and you also have prep work in progress for another 3500 units (demolition/soil remediation). So while it may appear that the college is the pure driver behind the increase in ridership it isn't true as there is a modal shift occuring.
 
E•MO•TION said:
Much of the increased ridership can be attributed to the influx of international students to the area.

I would be a lot more impressed if there was a larger modal shift, but there isn’t.
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Do you have any information on mode share? I didn't notice it in the article.

It's interesting to compare it to other transit agencies which who have seen post-pandemic ridership grow quite slowly, likely due to an increase in people working from home who might otherwise be more likely to use transit. While I wouldn't be surprised to see student numbers driving GRT's growth, it does put the agency in an enviable position of having revenue surpass their budget and hopefully allow service improvements that would drive growth for non-students as well.

Am I correct in surmising that this would push GRT past London and Hamilton as the 4th largest transit agency in the province?
 
E•MO•TION said:
Much of the increased ridership can be attributed to the influx of international students to the area.

I would be a lot more impressed if there was a larger modal shift, but there isn’t.
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There was a Record article earlier this month that showed the breakdown of boardings by fare type compared to 2019. Another of the charts displays the % of ridership by type.

The data is from the September/October periods of 2019 and 2023.

In 2019 the amount of monthly pass holders and other types (cash fare/discount cards) was 2.8 million boardings, in the same period in 2023 that number jumps to 3.7 million boardings which continues the anecdotal evidence that there is a modal shift occurring to some degree.
Likewise for UW/WLU/Conestoga in 2019 there was 2 million boardings, in the 2023 period it jumps to 2.7 million boardings.

In terms of a percentages in 2019 57% of riders were monthly pass holders/other types, in 2023 that jumps to 58% of riders. In terms of percentages it doesn't look like there is a large modal shift because there is so many more international students, but since 2019 there's an additional 0.9 million boardings for monthly pass/other types, compared to 0.7 million boardings for UW/WLU/Conestoga. So there is definitely a modal shift.

Boarding Data by Type
Screenshot 2024-03-28 130746.png


Ridership Breakdown by Percent
Screenshot 2024-03-28 130734.png


https://www.therecord.com/news/wate...cle_940399d9-e740-5fe5-8184-44553f46e3ba.html
 
Waterloo Region is seeking comment for ideas for their 2025-2030 business plan. I'd like to encourage those who are interested to take the short survey/mapping their GRT/ION ideas here: https://www.engagewr.ca/grt-business-plan

In other news:

 
SaugeenJunction said:
Some updates! Phase 1 seemingly advancing, Phase 2 (the station passenger waiting area) awaiting ICIP funding confirmation. The project has been re-named to the Kitchener Central Transit Hub.
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I still wish they'd call it Berlin HBF; at least commission a mural or something with that name on it somewhere, like on the grade separation wall facing King Street.
 
KevinT said:
I still wish they'd call it Berlin HBF; at least commission a mural or something with that name on it somewhere, like on the grade separation wall facing King Street.
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You got to go back before 1916 when the city was call Berlin in the first place for the German population at the time. It got change after the war started.

One reason Oktoberfest has a strong base there as well been celebrate yearly.

I Learn Minnesota is/was mostly German and the language for them just fail to be the state official language when a vote was taken in the early days of being a state.

I see nothing wrong for a mural, but using Berlin may open a can of worms.
 
I'd think naming your city after the guy who invented concentration camps would open a bigger can of worms.

I don't see what the issue would be with Berlin now.

Should we rename Baden, Breslau, and New Hamburg too?
 
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