Recent content by Urban_Enthusiast86

I tend to be more libertarian than most in these circles, but I still think this is a good laugh. While I do think there are some issues around smart growth policies (re: cost of living and property rights), the claims of "habititation zones" are downright puzzling. People have been flocking...

Well, over the longer term, once the LRT/BRT has been established, the Region plans to align GRT routes along major corridors in more of a grid pattern (this should've been done already), as opposed to the subdivision-looping mayhem that exists now. East-west corridors would connect to the...

And that's only the start of it! Just think of what this accessibility will do for land values in the area. Not only will it make transit a much more viable alternative, but it'll finally get downtown Kitchener out of the slump where companies locating downtown say they need to have abundant...

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/819443 Region reveals $6M purchase of land for transit hub November 24, 2010 By Jeff Outhit, Record staff KITCHENER — Regional council secretly spent almost $6 million to buy most of two blocks, to build a central transit hub in downtown...

Related to the Kitchener extension... http://www.570news.com/news/local/article/148238--region-buys-land-for-transportation-hub Region buys land for transportation hub The region of Waterloo has purchased about 3 acres of land at the corner of King and Victoria in downtown Kitchener to...

I really like this idea. There is no reason why our future LRT systems (fingers crossed) shouldn't all be integrated with the GO-train network, or better yet, high speed rail. Due to Mississauga's dispersed nature of land-use, you can't possibly serve every corridor with higher-order...

About half of that traffic on the 401 is transport trucks. There is also a great deal of long-distance travel on the 401 (and QEW) as a result of being the main street of the Windsor-Quebec corridor. Not sure how 3-4% of your labour force commuting to the GTA constitutes being a 'bedroom...

That's a pretty terrible methodology, but I'd believe it still. Welcome to the world of politics. Although, if the province was trying that hard to win us over, they likely wouldn't have cheaped out of their previous commitments to LRT. With the 235 million dollar shortfall, that's become a...

^ Precisely. Not to mention that they don't even run the trains at the most important times (i.e. shuttling the students between the cities on weekends). Honestly, the difference in traffic on a Friday is noticeable on the highways, let alone just the Greyhound. What methodologies does GO...

Just speaking as a long time resident of Waterloo Region, I can tell you that some of the major destinations in the GTA for us are Pearson Airport and (seasonally) Wonderland. This would, however, need to be accomodated by an improved GO bus network, not train. And you're definitely right...

Well, if it ran at times other than weekday rush hours, it would likely have a lot more than 1500-3000 potential users, which was another point I made. There is also the possibility that the larger number of people working in Halton/Peel could transfer from GO to local transit to get to their...

That is true. Over the long term, it makes sense to build a multi-modal transit terminal at the intersection of King/Victoria and replace the old Charles street terminal, allowing for LRT, local GRT busses, and GO transit to integrate their services, sort of like a mini Union station. KW...

Commuting wise, it is. I've always said that GRT and Guelph Transit should operate a partnership together, in the same way that Mississauga Transit makes runs to Kipling station. The challenge (which GO trains wouldn't address) is that both cities have very decentralized employment patterns...

That is actually one of my major criticisms of the current proposal. Those 4 runs, 2 morning and 2 afternoon, are entirely geared towards commuters. As of the 2006 census, there were only around 3000 people from Waterloo Region working in the 416 (which doesn't even necessarily mean downtown)...

The big difference with this line is that it will be underground for 12km, effectively making it a subway for a decent portion of the route. The lack of interruptions makes it "rapid" transit, unlike the streetcars on Queen.