Wonderful Waterloo Archive

This site is maintained by Sam Nabi as a record of the vibrant Wonderful Waterloo community, which was taken offline in 2014. This site is a partial archive, containing some posts from 2009-2013. To read more about the recovery effort and access the data in a machine-readable format, check out the GitHub page.

Guelph Transit Route to Waterloo Region?

Post #3674 03-31-2010 12:10 PM Duke-of-Waterloo Construction Moderator Date Jan 2010 Location Waterloo, ON Posts 316	Guelph Transit eyeing bus and rail service to Waterloo Region Scott Tracey \| GUELPH MERCURY \| Wednesday, March 31, 2010 http://media.guelphmercury.topscms.c...ef339e539.jpeg GUELPH — In less than five years, city residents might be able to catch Guelph Transit in front of their homes and get off in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge or even Milton. The transit authority is considering several options to extend service beyond city limits, including the possibility of running heavy rail trains along existing tracks. “We have a charter license, so technically we could be the service provider,” explained Michael Anders, Guelph’s general manager of community connectivity and transit. “The demand is there right now. You just have to provide the right level of service at the right time.” The city is about one year into developing its transit growth strategy. Findings to date were presented Tuesday during two public information centres. While much of the strategy focuses on making the transit service more efficient within Guelph, it also considers how to make it more of a regional service. Anders said the city has done an analysis of commuting patterns, and believes service between Guelph and other surrounding centres is feasible. “It maybe wouldn’t be as financially viable as some transit services at first, but I think once we build up that service we’d be able to recover a significant portion of the costs,” Anders said. Guelph’s Lisa Sims wasn’t particularly surprised at the transit service’s expansion plans. “There’s been talk about that for years,” Sims said. “Everyone is trying to save the environment and get cars off the road and it just makes sense.” Sims attended the afternoon session to get a look at Guelph Transit’s proposed new routes, which should be implemented in June 2011 when the new transit terminal on Carden Street is expected to be operational. “I just wanted to see the impact it would have on my family,” Sims said. “For example, my parents won’t be able to get from their house to Willow West Mall with the new system unless they go downtown and transfer to another bus, which they don’t have to do now.” That aside, Sims conceded Guelph Transit’s current routes were in need of an overhaul. “Our system hasn’t had an internal review in many, many years,” Anders said, noting transit expansion has in the past been managed by tacking on routes or extending existing routes as the city has grown. With construction about to begin on the Carden Street terminal and GO Transit bringing trains to Guelph as early as next year, he noted. “All of the pieces (for a transit overhaul) came together at the right time.” Anders said the new proposed city-wide routes would eliminate a lot of the current long, looping routes. As well, the city will be working with some of Guelph’s largest industrial employers to revamp routes through the industrial sections in the south and north-west sections of the city; introducing “special routes” to service those businesses during peak times before and after shifts. “We’re trying to work with the major employers to come up with something that works for everyone,” Anders said. “There’s really been no partnership until now.” The transit growth strategy is expected to be completed by May. It would have to be ratified by city councillors. http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/Local/article/615205
Post #3676 03-31-2010 12:25 PM Shawn Senior Member Date Jan 2010 Location Kitchener Posts 145	I hope they start to offer this service BEFORE the New Highway 7 is completed. The sad thing is it's tough to break the " single passenger car commuting" habit. I believe once the new 4-Lane Highway 7 is complete you'll see a rise in intra-city traffic between Waterloo Region and Guelph. It would be better if much of it was already conditioned to use mass transit.
Post #3683 03-31-2010 01:30 PM Spokes Senior Moderator Date Dec 2009 Location Kitchener Posts 2,027	That's an interesting idea. I'd love to see it happen, see if it can be truly viable, and like Shawn said, have it happen before the HWY 7 expansion.
Post #3687 03-31-2010 03:08 PM mpd618 Senior Member Date Jan 2010 Location Waterloo, ON Posts 290	The highlights of their Transit Growth Strategy and Plan are very much worth reading. It's a great idea for Guelph to be looking at better quality of transit service along major corridors. Guelph-Kitchener and Guelph-Cambridge transit service is an idea whose time has definitely come.
Post #3689 03-31-2010 03:27 PM Urban_Enthusiast86 Member Date Mar 2010 Posts 69	Originally Posted by Shawn I hope they start to offer this service BEFORE the New Highway 7 is completed. The sad thing is it's tough to break the " single passenger car commuting" habit. I believe once the new 4-Lane Highway 7 is complete you'll see a rise in intra-city traffic between Waterloo Region and Guelph. It would be better if much of it was already conditioned to use mass transit. I'm sure they can run the busses on the new highway 7. I have a feeling that it will be a while before a 4-lane divided highway between Kitchener and Guelph becomes as congested as highway 8.
Post #3690 03-31-2010 03:41 PM Shawn Senior Member Date Jan 2010 Location Kitchener Posts 145	Originally Posted by Urban_Enthusiast86 I'm sure they can run the busses on the new highway 7. I have a feeling that it will be a while before a 4-lane divided highway between Kitchener and Guelph becomes as congested as highway 8. Yup. The point I was trying to make is that it would be best they start the bus service now, while traffic and congestion on the old Hwy 7 make taking the bus a better choice. Once the new 4 Lane Highway is open, people are less likely to get on a bus when they have a fast flowing highway they can drive themselves on.
Post #3691 03-31-2010 03:54 PM mpd618 Senior Member Date Jan 2010 Location Waterloo, ON Posts 290	Originally Posted by Shawn Yup. The point I was trying to make is that it would be best they start the bus service now, while traffic and congestion on the old Hwy 7 make taking the bus a better choice. Once the new 4 Lane Highway is open, people are less likely to get on a bus when they have a fast flowing highway they can drive themselves on. It's also much cheaper to fund bus service and even rail service than to build a new highway on a new corridor.
Post #3695 03-31-2010 05:57 PM Urbanomicon Transportation & Infrastructure Moderator Date Feb 2010 Location Kitchener, Ontario Posts 284 "Only the insane have the strength enough to prosper. Only those that prosper may truly judge what is sane."	I don't see this bus route getting a lot of the work commuters off of highway 7 and onto public transit. The way I figure it: 30 Minutes to catch and ride a bus from where ever you live in Kitchener/Guelph to the transit terminal (on average, especially if you live in the suburbs) 30-40 Minutes to catch and ride a bus from transit terminal to transit terminal (on average, depending on how many stops) 30 Minutes to catch and ride a bus from the transit terminal to your work (depending on how far work is from the transit terminal) That's an hour and a half to get to work and another hour and a half to get home (unless you live/work right by the bus terminal). By car (assuming traffic moves), it's about 30-40 minutes to get where ever you want to go in Kitchener/Guelph. I just can't see anyone with a car that has to make that commute voluntarily take an extra 2 hours per day to commute. A park and ride would reduce this time, but I doubt you'll see too many people giving up their cars. For non-work commuters, I can see this route being quite viable, to visit Stone Road Mall for example.
Post #3707 03-31-2010 10:37 PM mpd618 Senior Member Date Jan 2010 Location Waterloo, ON Posts 290	Originally Posted by Urbanomicon I don't see this bus route getting a lot of the work commuters off of highway 7 and onto public transit. It doesn't have to get everyone off the road to be worthwhile and to reduce congestion (or prevent increase). Here's an easy way it could work for a number of people: work in downtown Guelph or study at University of Guelph, live within walking or biking distance of downtown Kitchener or along iXpress or route 7. That should be maybe a 40-50 minute commute. Or vice versa for living within easy access to downtown Guelph and taking the bus to Kitchener then e.g. iXpress to UW. Some people who have a reason to live in one city but work in the other would choose to live within proximity of a quality transit link. Note also that a bus route between the two cities could make some key stops along the way that would make it more than a terminal to terminal connection.
Post #3709 03-31-2010 11:31 PM DHLawrence Member Date Mar 2010 Posts 70	A Pinebush-U of Guelph connection wouldn't hurt either. It would meet up with Route 51, iXpress, and the GO bus in the same place.