All posts by Michael Druker

Field Report: King Street Car-Transit Modal Split at Kitchener-Waterloo Border

Buses, Transit December 6, 2009 Michael Druker

In a 1999 paper, Weyrich and Lind argue that judging transit in North America by overall transit modal share is misleading, as most of the urban population is either not served by transit or served poorly. They suggest it is more appropriate to consider transit usage on transit-competitive trips. In light of this, I decided to investigate the modal split between transit and private vehicles on a transit-competitive corridor in the Region of Waterloo.

The proportion of overall trips in the Region of Waterloo taken on transit is perhaps 4%. But what about corridors with frequent transit?

There is really only one such corridor in the entire region – King Street in Kitchener-Waterloo. Between the Charles Street Terminal in Kitchener and University Avenue in Waterloo, Route 7 buses can be counted on to appear every 8 minutes or better from morning to evening. In addition to the 7, the iXpress route also runs along the same corridor, with 15 minute service. No other corridor has service better than every 12-15 minutes.

So on the morning of Monday, November 23, I set up on King Street right at the Kitchener-Waterloo border (between Union and Mt. Hope streets) with a clipboard and a video camera, and recorded trips between 7:30 and 8:30 am. It was overcast and foggy, with temperature between 1°C and 4°C. At the time I recorded all non-motor-vehicle trips, and the number of people on each Grand River Transit bus. GRT buses have 35-40 seats, but people rarely use all seats, so a bus with some standees can be expected to have around 35 people. Crush load is around 70-80 people. I used these figures to estimate the number of people on each bus as a multiple of five.

I counted other vehicles afterward on video, with one category for private vehicles (motorcycles, cars, and light trucks that weren’t obviously commercial) and one for all other vehicles. These included work vans, taxis, delivery trucks, transport trucks, dump trucks, and non-GRT buses, with a few one-offs.
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Canadians Want High-Speed Rail

Intercity Transit, News, Transit November 10, 2009 Michael Druker 1 Comment

Yesterday’s National Post carried coverage of a new poll which shows that 86% of Canadians support high-speed rail. More than enough studies have been done, and the Canadian public overwhelmingly supports the idea — it’s about time Canada got started on it. High-speed rail between Detroit and Quebec City would connect a corridor of nearly half the population of Canada, and extensions to Buffalo would allow interconnection with future HSR links in New York, Ohio, and New England. It doesn’t have to all be built at once, and Toronto to Montreal would make a great starter line.

We at TriTAG would certainly love to have high-speed rail go through Kitchener or Cambridge, but even if it doesn’t, good connections to the line will develop, and we would have an immense improvement in inter-city mobility. Fewer cars on the 401, less airport expansion, and the newfound ability to quickly and pleasantly travel between cities.

Several times a year I make the 11 hour drive to Washington, D.C. Not green or fun, but there are few reasonable alternatives. I would love to be able to take light rail to downtown Kitchener, a GO train to Hamilton, catch a high-speed train to New York via Buffalo, and another high-speed train to Washington, D.C. It would be better for the environment, not to mention safer and more pleasant for me.

GO Service to Waterloo Region Launches Soon

Intercity Transit, News, Transit October 26, 2009 Michael Druker 1 Comment

Starting Saturday, October 31, GO Transit will launch its bus service in Waterloo Region. The service will create the region’s first direct transit connection between Waterloo Region and Mississauga, two areas that exchange many commuters (in both directions). The service will be more than just for commuters, however, as buses will operate throughout the day and on weekends. Most will be Route 25 buses, operating between UW, WLU, downtown Kitchener, Cambridge SmartCentres, park and ride stations at Aberfoyle and Milton, and Mississauga Square One. Two Route 25A buses will connect to trains at Milton instead. See our intercity transportation resources page for more details, including information on connections from Square One.

This news has generated a lot of buzz in the region and at the universities, so we may well see GO adding more service quickly to this route. Hopefully this will serve to push along the plans for GO train expansion to Kitchener and Cambridge.

TriTAG Website Live!

News, TriTAG October 26, 2009 Michael Druker

After countless hours of work from numerous volunteers, the website has finally gone live! Some portions may take a few days to make it to the site, so be patient. Please let us know if something’s amiss.

Regional Council Approves Light Rail

Light Rail, News, Transit June 24, 2009 Michael Druker

In a historic decision on June 24, Waterloo Regional Council overwhelmingly approved the visionary staff recommendation for a rapid transit line for the region. Regional staff have been working on the project for three and a half years, and recommended a staged implementation of light rail, with the initial stretch from north Waterloo to east Kitchener, and an upgraded iXpress-style bus route between east Kitchener and south Cambridge.

At that meeting and the previous public meeting on June 10, numerous residents and delegations spoke in front of Council, the majority speaking in favour of the plan. TriTAG thanks its supporters who spoke at Council.

The vote will allow the Regional staff to proceed with funding negotiations with the provincial and federal governments, which are expected to cover the vast majority of the costs of launching our rapid transit system. Construction is expected to begin in 2011/2012, with the light rail line operational in 2014.