Posted February 3rd, 2012 by Duncan Clemens
On Tuesday, February 21st, TriTAG will be hosting an informal drop-in to get in touch with members of the community, and for people to share with us their concerns and ideas in the realm of transit and active transportation in the Region of Waterloo.
If you’d like to stop by for some pub fare and friendly conversation, feel free to join us at any time between 5 and 9 pm at the 3rd floor boardroom of Barley Works (Huether Hotel), at King & Princess in uptown Waterloo. Bring your ideas! We will have a digital projector set up for those who may want to put something on a larger screen.
Visit this link for the Facebook Event Page. We hope to see you soon!
In News, TriTAG | No Comments »
Posted January 27th, 2012 by Michael Druker
The Region has released its staff report recommending an LRT procurement strategy, which will determine the approach used to design, build, and operate the system. More specifically, it recommends a public-private partnership, with extensive private sector responsibility. See the report for full details.
On Tuesday, January 31, at 2pm, Deloitte (the Region’s consultant) will be giving a presentation at a special meeting (see agenda) on the recommendation and its basis. The following Tuesday, February 7, at 6pm will be the public meeting on LRT procurement. Regional Council will make the final decision on February 8.
Do you have an opinion on how the Region should build and operate LRT, and on the recommendation? Then make sure to contact your Regional Councillors to express your opinion, and consider being a delegation at the February 7 public meeting.
In Light Rail, News | No Comments »
Posted January 9th, 2012 by Tim Mollison
It’s that time again: the Rapid Transit team has sent out notices of the Transit Project Assessment meetings to be held on January 24, 25, and 26:
24th Jan, 3-8pm: First United Church, King and William, Waterloo
25th Jan, 3-8pm: Region of Waterloo Headquarters, 150 Frederick, Kitchener
26th Jan, 3-8pm: United Kingdom Club, 35 International Village Drive, Cambridge
Speculation aside about whether or not there will be cookies, these meetings are important because they discuss what impacts LRT construction/operation will have on the environment. With parts of the LRT route being near floodplains, being next to or on top of the Laurel Creek tunnel through Uptown Waterloo, and running through some parkland, it will be very important for the Region to explain to the public how environmental impacts of the project are to be mitigated and how an incident of provincial significance can be avoided (the Laurel Creek runs into the Grand River, and that’s where Brantford gets its drinking water from), and how any contract for construction and/or operation will ensure high quality transport for the citizens of Waterloo Region while taking the health and well-being of our neighbours downstream into account.
So with so much on the line, an informed public, and the feedback it provides, are very important here. Please take an hour out of your busy schedule to attend one of these information meetings above, and continue to be an active participant in the affairs of your local government.
In News | 4 Comments »
Posted November 27th, 2011 by Michael Druker
On Friday, the province finally announced the schedule for GO trains in Kitchener and Guelph. They’ll be starting on Monday, December 19th — and the Georgetown Line will become the Kitchener Line. A trip from Kitchener to Toronto is two hours each way and a round trip costs $29.20. Kitchener to Guelph is 22 minutes and a round trip costs $12.60. VIA is more expensive, but provides faster runs during other parts of the day – no word yet on any combined GO/VIA fares nor for that matter on any fare discounts with Grand River Transit.
Combined GO/VIA schedule (eastbound)
|
Kitchener |
Guelph |
Brampton |
Toronto – Bloor |
Toronto – Union |
| GO (Mon-Fri) |
05:52 |
06:14 |
07:05 |
07:38 |
07:53 |
| VIA (Mon-Fri) |
06:29 |
06:57 |
07:44 |
- |
08:20 |
| GO (Mon-Fri) |
07:10 |
07:32 |
08:21 |
08:53 |
09:08 |
| VIA (Mon-Sun) |
09:10 |
09:42 |
10:22 |
- |
10:50 |
| VIA (Mon-Sun) |
21:35 |
22:07 |
22:51 |
- |
23:20 |
Combined GO/VIA schedule (westbound)
|
Toronto – Union |
Toronto – Bloor |
Brampton |
Guelph |
Kitchener |
| VIA (Mon-Sun) |
10:55 |
- |
11:29 |
12:08 |
12:36 |
| GO (Mon-Fri) |
16:45 |
16:54 |
17:30 |
18:18 |
18:42 |
| VIA (Mon-Sun) |
17:40 |
- |
18:14 |
18:52 |
19:20 |
| GO (Mon-Fri) |
17:45 |
17:54 |
18:30 |
19:18 |
19:42 |
| VIA (Mon-Fri, Sun) |
22:10 |
- |
22:45 |
23:29 |
23:57 |
GO train in Kitchener (Photo: Gord Spence via Flickr)
Judging by how much the coverage of Friday’s announcement has been linked and discussed, there is much enthusiasm for GO trains finally rolling into Kitchener. But local politicians clearly are not thrilled with Kitchener being treated as a bedroom community for Toronto. The Globe has written about the frustration that the new service does nothing for commuters from the GTA into Waterloo Region, who Communitech says are now more numerous than the reverse. And as our survey helps to show, the general public has a keen interest in travelling to Toronto on weekends – something for which GO Transit has no apparent plans.
But more problematic than a limited train service to start is that GO is not rolling out bus service on the corridor during off-peak times and the reverse direction. Officials from GO and Metrolinx are quoted by CTV as saying that train service will be added and adjusted according to the demand. However, without the bus service there on the same corridor, GO has little means to gauge the demand for anything other than commuter service to Toronto.
Service on Route 25 (between Waterloo Region and Mississauga) is barely relevant to the trips which a Kitchener Line train serves. One can hope that GO will at least have the sense to try running Friday evening and Sunday evening trains for students to/from the GTA, when Route 25 and Greyhound are very busy. GO could even run shuttles from the universities to the train, and replace a dozen buses with a couple of shuttle buses and a couple of trains. Since existing bus ridership is a poor indicator of Kitchener Line demand, GO Transit will need to actually try out service at other times to convince itself of the demand – such as on a weekend.
All that said, there is still reason to think that the trains will be well-used, as I’ve written before. They may prove particularly useful both to occasional commuters to Toronto, but also commuters from Kitchener to Guelph and Brampton. Though here too, GO undermines its utility by having the exorbitant price of $12.60 for a round trip between Kitchener and Guelph — quite a bit more expensive than gas and parking for such a commute by car.
In Intercity Transit, News, Transit | 7 Comments »
Posted November 7th, 2011 by Michael Druker
Below is the TriTAG statement Duncan Clemens presented tonight to Waterloo City Council, prior to its deliberation about the Region’s preferred approach to LRT routing in Uptown Waterloo. We will present a similar one tomorrow at Waterloo Region’s Planning & Works Committee meeting.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight about what has been a lengthy process. We congratulate other members of the community who have also come tonight to add their voice.
The Tri-Cities Transport Action Group is pleased that the Region of Waterloo has taken the time necessary to carefully explain the Uptown Waterloo routing challenges to the public in its September 27 meeting. This process of engagement was good for the community, and we hope to see more of it as the detailed system design commences. Doing this kind of consultation helps the public take ownership of what will in 2018 become their rapid transit system.
The preferred option helps to address new development in the quickly-growing area of Waterloo surrounded by the new station at King and Allen. In addition, moving one of the two platforms of the station at Willis Way next to the Public Square encourages people to use Waterloo’s main public space and its surroundings. The use of the spur line and the station platform adjacent to the square will allow for the preservation of surface parking on King, traffic flow on Erb, and is truly a best practice in placemaking. The routing will enhance a square that is already a resounding success for the City of Waterloo.
Read the rest of this entry »
In Light Rail, News, TriTAG | No Comments »
Posted October 25th, 2011 by Tim Mollison
Last week’s Planning and Works agenda (PDF) had an update on the Rapid Transit project, and the RT Team has also released a summary of public comments from the September 27 Uptown LRT planning workshop held at Knox Presbyterian Church. Kudos to the Rapid Transit team for attempting to organize what was discussed by 24 distinct groups over the course of three one-hour meetings into a very big, rather unwieldy set of tables.
This meeting was good for the community. LRT through Uptown Waterloo is a pretty contentious issue, because everyone is scared of how it will change the landscape. This meeting did a good job of explaining why the Rapid Transit team selected its preferred option — but didn’t present all of the alternatives available, just the ones being considered by the Rapid Transit team.
With that in mind, TriTAG has produced two additional alternatives for Uptown Waterloo LRT routing that would have no impact to the Waterloo Public Square ice rink, wouldn’t require any buildings to be destroyed, would impact road traffic less than many of the presented options, and would improve the user experience of transit customers in Uptown Waterloo. Read the rest of this entry »
In Light Rail, News | 12 Comments »
Posted October 23rd, 2011 by Michael Druker
Few people attended Thursday’s consultations about the Grand River Transit 2011-2014 business plan. Which is unfortunate, because there’s a real zinger lurking in those plans, as I mentioned in our post on them. Over the next three years, GRT wants to raise fares by 16%, 23%, or 30%. Don’t think a fare increase is warranted? Tough luck, as GRT isn’t talking about any option of keeping fares matched to inflation. If you’re concerned about this, make sure to submit your comments on the business plan and contact your Regional Councillors.
Why fare increases? To reach 50% cost recovery from fares, apparently — from the current 37%. Why 50% cost recovery? Who knows. Chris Klein has some speculation over at Waterloons. I saw and heard nothing to indicate that this figure isn’t arbitrary.
Let’s be clear, we’re not opposed to increasing GRT’s farebox recovery rates. And we’re not necessarily opposed to fare increases, particularly if their purpose is to substantially improve service. But these fare increases look like fare increases for the sake of fare increases. It’s fare increases because we can, because “people will ride anyway”, and because “see, other cities have higher fares!”.
Which, well, is not convincing. On the one hand, the Region claims to want to get far more people using transit. But considering transit demand as static and transit riders as expendable is counterproductive, to put it mildly. Read the rest of this entry »
In Buses, News, Transit | No Comments »
Posted October 19th, 2011 by Michael Druker
Tomorrow from 4:30pm to 7:30pm Grand River Transit is holding public consultation centres in Kitchener (150 Frederick St) and Cambridge (Cambridge Centre) on its 2011-2014 business plan. See the GRT site for details and for an outline of the current proposal and an online feedback survey. (Some more information, including maps, is in the report on page 19 of this month’s Planning & Works Committee agenda.) If you can, please attend a session in person — but in any case, please send your comments in.
To me, the outline strongly suggests that GRT (and by extension, Waterloo Region) is already giving up on the Regional Transportation Master Plan (RTMP). It’s giving up on making major changes to the bus network, and limiting itself to tweaks here and there, hoping for LRT to come along and make everything better. GRT leaves changes of substance to beyond a three-year horizon. The RTMP aims to increase the transit mode share from 4% of peak hour trips to 15% by 2031. If that happens, it will be no thanks to GRT’s current plans. Read the rest of this entry »
In Buses, News, Transit | 5 Comments »
Posted October 6th, 2011 by Michael Druker
Last night I presented to Regional Council on behalf of TriTAG regarding the plans for extending River Road across Highway 8 and Hidden Valley in south Kitchener. See the agenda (PDF) for the staff report and recommendation. Below is the text of my written submission. Other presentations focused on the environmental impacts, the cost, and alternative alignments. In a 13:2 vote Council went ahead with this step of the planning process, but several indicated reservations and there seemed to be some interest in the suggestions in my presentation and those of others.
I would like to express TriTAG’s disagreement with the direction being taken on the River Road extension project.
We do not believe that there has been serious consideration of alternatives for increasing capacity for east-west movement of people in that part of Kitchener. We do not believe that expanding capacity for the movement of vehicles in this corridor at great cost is appropriate – not to mention the environmental costs, both local and Region-wide. However, if capacity for vehicle movement has to be increased, we believe there are better alternatives which have not been considered. Read the rest of this entry »
In Cycling, News, Transit, TriTAG, Walking | 1 Comment »
Posted September 26th, 2011 by Michael Druker
Recently we made a short survey regarding GO Transit service available through our social media networks. It was described as being about the service extension, and we avoided describing its purpose. That purpose was two-fold: to get a sense of the demand for the upcoming GO train service from Kitchener to downtown Toronto and – more importantly – to see how much demand there is for weekend service, which GO Transit is not currently planning.
We had 84 respondents to the questionnaire – 48 from Kitchener, 32 from Waterloo, 2 from Cambridge, and one each from Elmira and Guelph. Some conclusions from these data follow. More details are at the bottom of the post.
While current bus service seems to meet weekend travel needs as well as weekday travel needs, people don’t use VIA Rail service on weekends for travel from Kitchener to Toronto. This is not surprising, given that a return trip costs over $50 and that there is only one available round-trip – which leaves Toronto rather early for a weekend (5:40pm). This suggests a high latent demand for train service suitable for weekend trips.
There is a sizable weekday travel demand from Kitchener-Waterloo to downtown Toronto, and GO trains are poised to capture a substantial portion of it. However, the weekend demand from K-W to downtown Toronto is about twice as high as the weekday one, and survey responses indicate that weekend GO train service from Kitchener is more than justified.
Though GO Transit has historically been a commuter service, its extension to Kitchener has reached beyond the GTA to what is a self-contained urban area. Few people commute daily to Toronto from Kitchener-Waterloo. However Toronto is close enough to be a destination for non-commuter travel. It’s about time for GO Transit to acknowledge and embrace the intercity travel market, and not pigeonhole Kitchener-Waterloo into an ill-fitting role as a suburb.
Read the rest of this entry »
In Intercity Transit, News, TriTAG | 9 Comments »
