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

[KevinT]

Did they activate the priority signals, if there is any?

I wasn't able to catch it on video because I was behind the wheel at the time, but as it proceeded past Grand River Hospital the traffic lights at the four affected intersections went red with the white vertical bars appearing in a beautiful wave. The vehicle breezed right through without stopping.

Edit to add: Much of the current testing has been focused on tuning the crossing signals on the off-road sections, and the loops/signals in the on-road sections. Some of the vehicle's return trip on Saturday proceeded with the intersections appearing to react automatically, other points had the police escort with clearance to proceed given by radio.

 

[jordanmkasla2009]

Did they activate the priority signals, if there is any?

They can't use the priority signalling until the test vehicles have all the specialized equipment installed in them. This equipment is required to preempt the traffic signals before the train reaches the intersection. Until then they can't sustain full operation speed on the on-street sections without having crews manually switch the traffic signals or activate the signal loops with their cars.

 

[mdrejhon]

Did they activate the priority signals, if there is any?

Were these priority signals activated manually? (in lieu of automatic)
- White bar activated
- No-left-turn activated

 

[jordanmkasla2009]

Were these priority signals activated manually? (in lieu of automatic)
- White bar activated
- No-left-turn activated

They were activated by the vehicle presence detector embedded in the concrete

 

[mdrejhon]

They were activated by the vehicle presence detector embedded in the concrete

So, still functioning automatic transit priority -- at least via one channel.

What are the other ways of forcing transit priority?
-- GPS-triggered remote signalling? (For full speed approaches far ahead of the sensors)
-- Manually triggered?
-- Etc?

 

[jordanmkasla2009]

So, still functioning automatic transit priority -- at least via one channel.

What are the other ways of forcing transit priority?
-- GPS-triggered remote signalling? (For full speed approaches far ahead of the sensors)
-- Manually triggered?
-- Etc?

that's not real priority. That's being stuck at the light waiting for it to change. They need the traffic signal premption device installed for true priority, and currently they don't have them installed.

 

[KevinT]

So, still functioning automatic transit priority -- at least via one channel.

What are the other ways of forcing transit priority?
-- GPS-triggered remote signalling? (For full speed approaches far ahead of the sensors)
-- Manually triggered?
-- Etc?

Some of the "No Right / Train" signals seem to use some sort of radar/sonar detector mounted on a nearby pole as one of their inputs. Right now a cyclist approaching on the multi-use trail beside the tracks on Caroline can trip the one at Alexandra Ave. A retreating or stopped cyclist has no effect:

I can only assume that further inputs from inductive loops and/or CBTC signalling will be factored into the mix by the time the system is up and running.

 

[KevinT]

LRV 505, the region's 7th delivered and 6th on-property (501's back in Millhaven for completion) was offloaded yesterday morning:

 

[innsertnamehere]

they need 14 of them, right?

 

[KevinT]

they need 14 of them, right?

Correct, 12 for peak headways plus two spares for training/backup.

 

[KevinT]

Thursday saw some testing of 506 with a full load of sandbags in the King/Wellington, and Charles/Cameron areas. I caught up with her on Charles St at the end of the day just before she crossed over to the northbound track and headed back home to the OMSF:

 

[W. K. Lis]

Thursday saw some testing of 506 with a full load of sandbags in the King/Wellington, and Charles/Cameron areas. I caught up with her on Charles St at the end of the day just before she crossed over to the northbound track and headed back home to the OMSF:

"My other job is as a dump truck delivering sand."

 

[steveintoronto]

Because our system was affordable. I doubt it would ever have been approved if specified with buried feeders, batteries, the Alstom APS system, or Bombardier's inductive loops. Even the cheapest of those would probably have taken it above the $1B mark, and made the whole proposal a non-starter.

There's also climatic considerations with burying crucial systems and supply. I realize that might seem a bit abstract when compared to nations like Sweden, with *similar* weather, (Albeit the larger cities are moderated by the North Atlantic Drift) but still not the deep ground freeze we get in this part of the world.

Some of the "No Right / Train" signals seem to use some sort of radar/sonar detector mounted on a nearby pole as one of their inputs. Right now a cyclist approaching on the multi-use trail beside the tracks on Caroline can trip the one at Alexandra Ave. A retreating or stopped cyclist has no effect:

Mmmm...Doppler Effect...software can easily be programmed to recognize pitch/freq shift direction (discrimination). I'd expect IR/Laser rather than sonar, but would be very interested to know more on that.

 

[Allandale25]

Brief update in this article:

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8638218-ion-report-details-status-of-all-14-vehicles/

 

[Allandale25]

^ And here's the actual staff report detailing the status of each of the 14 LRVs: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a5hkpthxrdclbyt/ION Update Memo - May 29, 2018.pdf?dl=0