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

[KevinT]

503 was finally offloaded at the OMSF this morning, and this afternoon 501 took it's place on the flatcar for its return to Millhaven for finishing.

It started with them picking up 503 from the siding at Randall Dr, and loading a mysterious item that turned out to be a winch:

With the winch loaded, she headed to the OMSF:

 

[KevinT]

Here's her arrival at the OMSF:

And the positioning of the ramp:

 

[KevinT]

They gave her a few test pulls to see how much traction they had:

Then decided to hook up the winch to brake her down the ramp:

(I didn't catch all of this as my phone's battery capacity crashed in the cold!)

 

[KevinT]

I came back later in the day and thought I saw 503 coming out of the wash building all snow free. I was mistaken though, because the vehicle I saw got pulled out to the ramp!

They connected the winch to it (Aha! This is why they had a winch today!) and pulled her up the ramp:

(Note: Winching a vehicle up the ramp goes far slower than any of the four offloads I've witnessed! It was just too cold to stand out there filming the whole operation with a handheld phone...)

Although there's no sign of the Waterloo Region decals that 501 had, those were just vinyl and could be easily peeled off, and I can't imagine it being any vehicle other than the incomplete 501 that they would be loading onto a flatcar for the return trip to Millhaven.

Edit to add: it's been confirmed in the Facebook group that this was 501.

 

[Streety McCarface]

When do we expect services to start operating? Are they planning ot start with an incomplete fleet?

They aren't uing Presto right?

Nope (the stupidest decision they've ever made)

 

[jordanmkasla2009]

Presto doesn't respond to RFPs, and didn't at the time offer what the Region wanted for Fare integration with GRT so they tendered out to Scheidt & Bachmann Canada

 

[Megaton327]

When do we expect services to start operating? Are they planning ot start with an incomplete fleet?

They aren't uing Presto right?

No presto. Presto didn't respond to their tender, but they knew Presto doesn't do tenders since it's the virtually-universal fare payment media of the province. Stupid, stupid reason to cast their transit system out of the whole and create a huge hassle for inter-regional riders. A Torontonian can use their card in Ottawa but not in KW. You can tap your Presto card on the GO train to Waterloo, tap off there, then get on a bus or LRT next door and have to pay cash or buy an entirely separate farecard for one single transit agency.

I think they were putting out early 2018 or Spring 2018 as a target date, hopefully March-ish? Of course, it was supposed to start operating Fall-Winter 2017 previously.

I have been betting that it will open after Ottawa's Confederation Line LRT (scheduled for Late May or Early June 2018) due to vehicle delays. I don't believe they will start with an incomplete fleet. They need at least one or two cars on standby in case of maintenance issues, and they don't want to set a poor image for the service operating it at half its headway just to open a couple of months early.

I don't think powered testing has started yet, has it? At least not outside the MSF.

 

[jordanmkasla2009]

No presto. Presto didn't respond to their tender, but they knew Presto doesn't do tenders since it's the virtually-universal fare payment media of the province. Stupid, stupid reason to cast their transit system out of the whole and create a huge hassle for inter-regional riders. A Torontonian can use their card in Ottawa but not in KW. You can tap your Presto card on the GO train to Waterloo, tap off there, then get on a bus or LRT next door and have to pay cash or buy an entirely separate farecard for one single transit agency.

Presto also didn't meet the qualifications required for the GRT system as it didn't offer support for key GRT fare products.

I think they were putting out early 2018 or Spring 2018 as a target date, hopefully March-ish? Of course, it was supposed to start operating Fall-Winter 2017 previously.

I have been betting that it will open after Ottawa's Confederation Line LRT (scheduled for Late May or Early June 2018) due to vehicle delays. I don't believe they will start with an incomplete fleet. They need at least one or two cars on standby in case of maintenance issues, and they don't want to set a poor image for the service operating it at half its headway just to open a couple of months early.

I don't think powered testing has started yet, has it? At least not outside the MSF.

Powered testing outside of the OMSF should be starting either next week or the week after. They needed 3 operational vehicles to do it and they have them now.

 

[Sandpit]

GRT (and any other agency that connects with GO but doesn't offer Presto) should offer a "pay app" like YRT (https://www.yrt.ca/en/fares-and-passess/pay-app.aspx). That way, you only need a Presto card + smartphone, instead of multiple fare cards.

 

[Megaton327]

Presto also didn't meet the qualifications required for the GRT system as it didn't offer support for key GRT fare products.

Powered testing outside of the OMSF should be starting either next week or the week after. They needed 3 operational vehicles to do it and they have them now.

I'm not aware of Presto failing to meet any of GRT's requirements. It can handle QR codes as evidenced by Ottawa's faregates, that covers single-ride tickets. U-Pass is being evaluated by several universities in Presto-serviced areas right now, I believe they can embed an RFID chip into the student card or print a QR code on it.

 

[KevinT]

I'm not aware of Presto failing to meet any of GRT's requirements. It can handle QR codes as evidenced by Ottawa's faregates, that covers single-ride tickets. U-Pass is being evaluated by several universities in Presto-serviced areas right now, I believe they can embed an RFID chip into the student card or print a QR code on it.

For better or for worse, this is what the region claims on their web site:

6. Why wasn't Presto selected?

Presto could not be selected because they did not respond to a Request for Proposals, which is a Regional requirement. Also, Presto could not provide many of the functionalities that the Region deemed essential for our system including the ability to accept payment on MobilityPLUS vehicles, the ability to integrate a U-Pass program and the ability to issue machine readable paper tickets from Ticket Vending Machines. Having our own system allows us to ensure our fare products meet our unique customer needs.

 

[Megaton327]

For better or for worse, this is what the region claims on their web site:

Yeah, all of that is utter nonsense. Clearly revisionist history to defend their absurd choice. Presto accepts payment on the YRT and TTC equivalents of MobilityPLUS, it can integrate the U-Pass, and it can issue machine readable paper tickets from TVMs as proven in Ottawa and coming this year in Toronto as well.

 

[rbt]

I'm not aware of Presto failing to meet any of GRT's requirements. It can handle QR codes as evidenced by Ottawa's faregates, that covers single-ride tickets. U-Pass is being evaluated by several universities in Presto-serviced areas right now, I believe they can embed an RFID chip into the student card or print a QR code on it.

The Ottawa QR code isn't a Presto managed system AFAIK. Separate gate module, separate backend. I thought it was clever as they have quite a bit of control during Presto negotiations since they have 90% of a fall-back mechanism in place.

I'm not even certain GO's paper tickets are driven by the Presto backend.

 

[timio]

The EasyGo fare card will also allow multiple users to travel and transfer on the same card (bus only). I don't think Presto allows that.

 

[Megaton327]

The EasyGo fare card will also allow multiple users to travel and transfer on the same card (bus only). I don't think Presto allows that.

You can do that in Ottawa and on several GTHA transit agencies. The driver has a separate Presto reader that looks like the one on GO buses, you tell them you want to pay for your companion's fare, they deduct it from your card balance and print out a paper transfer, then you tap to pay your own fare.