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

[W. K. Lis]

I'm wondering if they will short turn some cars at Laird. So they only operate in the tunnel.

Ridership will be lower east of the tunnel.

Comment should be in the Crosstown LRT | Metrolinx thread. But this map is from thecrosstown.ca website:

 

[Kyle Campbell]

Knowing Toronto, I fear they won't implement it...especially with the high frequency planned for the line.

That's always when light rail fails in North America, we're never willing to go the first distance. In France they always give priority to streetcars, so they move along at a good clip despite being mostly at grade. But here we'll make them stop at a traffic light as though they were a really big bus.

 

[hw621]

That's always when light rail fails in North America, we're never willing to go the first distance. In France they always give priority to streetcars, so they move along at a good clip despite being mostly at grade. But here we'll make them stop at a traffic light as though they were a really big bus.

Yet they are way more expensive than buses. It is a shame that we make the investment but do not maximize the benefits.

 

[mpd618]

Really the whole benefits of LRT won't be seen on the ION Line, its lower ridership means it is essentially a glorified streetcar.

The vehicle is basically a streetcar but the key point is it doesn't share the tracks with cars. And it's not expected to stop every block. That was what LRT meant here - a way to distinguish from the perception of the way TTC streetcars operate.

 

[jordanmkasla2009]

Knowing Toronto, I fear they won't implement it...especially with the high frequency planned for the line.

Keolis (the operator of ION) basically told the Region of Waterloo that they wouldn't get the results they wanted out of the project without Aggressive Signal Priority so the Region changed their tune on it. Metrolinx can strong-arm signal priority in the aboveground sections if need be.

 

[Streety McCarface]

The one good thing to ever come out of a P3...

 

[Kyle Campbell]

Keolis (the operator of ION) basically told the Region of Waterloo that they wouldn't get the results they wanted out of the project without Aggressive Signal Priority so the Region changed their tune on it. Metrolinx can strong-arm signal priority in the aboveground sections if need be.

It's if they keep it up. These systems usually start with signal priority, but eventually whiny drivers complain to councillors and things go down hill. Hopefully not the case in KW, and we'll wait and see in metrolinx, but there's hope. A successful line in KW might spur way more LRT elsewhere in the province and Canada as a whole, more so than lines in the big 6 metros (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Edmonton). It'd prove that it's a viable option for smaller cities as well.

A total aside, but I always found it interesting that Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa are always within spitting distance of each other in population, but Vancouver is much bigger than any of them, and then Montreal is much bigger again, and then Toronto again is much bigger. There's also a fairly big gap below them, as Quebec City is much smaller.

1 Toronto (Mississauga, Brampton) Ontario CMA 5,928,040
2 Montreal (Laval) Quebec CMA 4,098,927
3 Vancouver (Surrey) British Columbia CMA 2,463,431
4 Calgary Alberta CMA 1,392,609
5 Ottawa–Gatineau Ontario/Quebec CMA 1,323,783
6 Edmonton Alberta CMA 1,321,426
7 Quebec City (Lévis) Quebec CMA 800,296
8 Winnipeg Manitoba CMA 778,489

 

[KevinT]

That's always when light rail fails in North America, we're never willing to go the first distance. In France they always give priority to streetcars, so they move along at a good clip despite being mostly at grade. But here we'll make them stop at a traffic light as though they were a really big bus.

Ion has proper aspect signals at every intersection (the vertical and horizontal white bars) and we were told at the last open house that the trains will never see a red light. I don't think this is 100% achievable when trains run in opposite directions on the same road, but it will be interesting to see how close they get to this ideal.

 

[micheal_can]

Ion has proper aspect signals at every intersection (the vertical and horizontal white bars) and we were told at the last open house that the trains will never see a red light. I don't think this is 100% achievable when trains run in opposite directions on the same road, but it will be interesting to see how close they get to this ideal.

If only the TTC did that with the streetcars.

 

[Megaton327]

Ion has proper aspect signals at every intersection (the vertical and horizontal white bars) and we were told at the last open house that the trains will never see a red light. I don't think this is 100% achievable when trains run in opposite directions on the same road, but it will be interesting to see how close they get to this ideal.

Not sure how that will be possible with pedestrian crossings. I guess most of the roads are small enough that the total crossing time will probably never be more than 30 seconds anywhere, so it shouldn't be terribly hard to set priority that far ahead, but the unexpected does tend to happen. We'll see--I definitely hope they never see reds, that would be a wonder to behold, and an incredible victory/proof of concept for all of the LRT projects under consideration across the region.

 

[ShonTron]

Ion has proper aspect signals at every intersection (the vertical and horizontal white bars) and we were told at the last open house that the trains will never see a red light. I don't think this is 100% achievable when trains run in opposite directions on the same road, but it will be interesting to see how close they get to this ideal.

"Never see a red light" - but will they see lots of horizontal white bars?

 

[innsertnamehere]

Even if they rarely see reds it wouldn't be too bad - much of the corridor is dedicated anyway with railway style crossing gates. The city running bits can be a bit slower and still result in huge speed savings over existing services.

 

[KevinT]

"Never see a red light" - but will they see lots of horizontal white bars?

Lol, I debated making a joke about that in the post you quoted.

 

[KevinT]

Quite a bit of testing and driver training has taken place these past two weeks, and while I haven't been lucky enough to catch any of it, fellow enthusiast Gary Walsh has managed a number of ride-alongs with his bike and GoPro. Here's his latest YouTube playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAZlhbaWDZJpB-MN69hTtUTzJdgjZx4QM

Of note, while the vehicles still have an escort, it's just the one police car now so they've been blowing the Ion's horn at each intersection. It's loud, even from behind, so you may want to turn down your volume while watching.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Quite a bit of testing and driver training has taken place these past two weeks, and while I haven't been lucky enough to catch any of it, fellow enthusiast Gary Walsh has managed a number of ride-alongs with his bike and GoPro. Here's his latest YouTube playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAZlhbaWDZJpB-MN69hTtUTzJdgjZx4QM

Of note, while the vehicles still have an escort, it's just the one police car now so they've been blowing the Ion's horn at each intersection. It's loud, even from behind, so you may want to turn down your volume while watching.

The horn on those seems like it could get very annoying quickly and I'm not sure if they really do need to use it as much as they do. Thankfully the TTC streetcars don't have on as loud although they don't really need one as they don't operate on am active railway.