News Article: How much would it cost to cancel Waterloo Region's LRT?

A handful of candidates running for office in the October 27 municipal elections – including Waterloo mayoral hopeful Dave MacDonald and Jay Aissa, who is running for regional chair – are seeking to cancel the region's light rail transit project.

(McCulloch, 2014)

But if the LRT were cancelled by the end of the year, the region says it would lose hundreds of millions of dollars, both to construction and other work that's already begun and lost government grants.

According to the region's transportation commissioner, Thomas Schmidt, by the end of 2014, the region will have paid between $225-250 million dollars in total costs already. That money, which covers everything from engineering and design consulting work, construction costs, payments for train cars, land appropriation and utility relocation, is lost if the LRT is cancelled. 

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Reference: 

Kand,M., & Bellemare, A. (2014, October 21). How much would it cost to cancel Waterloo Region's LRT? Retrieved 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news.canada.kitchiner-waterloo/how-much-it-cost-to-cancel-waterloo-region-slrt-1.2790359 

McCulloch, M. (2014, October 22). How much would it cost to cancel Waterloo Region's LRT? Retrieved 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/how-much-would-it-cost-to-cancel-waterloo-region-s-lrt-1.2790359

News Article:

Opinion: Waterloo Region's farmers have a vested interest in getting light rail transit built and used to control urban sprawl

Farmers and the agricultural community in Waterloo Region will not be required to pay for and will, in all likelihood, rarely use light rapid transit, yet we have a vested interest in ensuring that it is not only built but also used extensively by our urban neighbours.

  (Davis, 2014) 

Quite simply, without intensification and its key requirement, high-quality public transit, the future of farming in Waterloo Region is threatened..

Waterloo Region is growing at a rate that is higher than nearly any other municipality in Canada and the province of Ontario has clearly stated in the Places to Grow Act that we are to continue that growth. The agricultural views, vistas, farmsteads and indeed our cultural heritage that we all appreciate and admire are in peril if we don't continue to take measures to ensure that the official boundaries of our cities, our countryside lines, are kept in place.

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Reference:                                                                                        

Reusser, M. (2014, October 24). Opinion: Waterloo Region's farmers have a vested interest in getting light rail transit built and used to control urban sprawl. Retrieved October 26, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/4940167-opinion-waterloo-region-s-farmers-have-a-vested-interest-in-getting-light-rail-transit-built-and-us/

Davis, B. (2014, January 1). Farmers Work. Retrieved October 26, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/4940167-opinion-waterloo-region-s-farmers-have-a-vested-interest-in-getting-light-rail-transit-built-and-us/

Critical Reflection #2

As the LRT situation within Waterloo Region has progressed, more information has been available about the new LRT system. This includes running times, as well as the proposed routes. With an improved running time of 8 munities, from the current 15 munity running time for the iExpress line, it seems that the LRT will be more frequent and more convenient. I am an Urban Planning student at Waterloo University, so I may be biased in my opinion for the LRT project, but I think it is an amazing idea. Lately I have been taking the bus home from UW at around 5:30, and the busses are packed full of people. I think it is the worst time to take the bus, and it will only get worse with winter slowly coming. The new LRT system will have an increased capacity, from currently 54 passengers per bus to over 200 per LRT train.  This means more room for passengers, as well as a more comfortable ride for the passengers. With more room on the LRT, it may even attract new riders. The new opportunities that are available because of the creation of the LRT include more building intensification along the transit routes, the likely hood of a more walkable Waterloo Region. These are some of the opportunities that the LRT will bring to the Waterloo Region, and I cant wait for it to happen.  

(Jon, 2010) 

While searching online, I found the proposed route the future LRT. This route will replace some of the existing iXpress routes within Waterloo Region. With this new route, the LRT will essentially be faster than the current bussing system that is in place, and it will be able to hold more people. Up to 200 passengers would be able to fit into one LRT train. This all sounds great, a faster, higher capacity public transit system. This idea sounds great, but is it really the best for Waterloo Region? the cost of the project is predicted to be $818 million(Waterloo Region ,2014), but most likely it will go over costs and maybe cost over $1 billion.

References:

Waterloo Region. (2014) LRT is on the way!. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from a LRT info pamphlet

Jon. (2010, April 3). Light Rail Transit?. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://www.jonathanfritz.ca/politics/light-rail-transit

Lately there has been much debate about the Waterloo LRT. One very big question being asked was would the LRT be canceled, even after a huge investment by the region and the province, but would the new mayor canceled the project? This question has been bouncing around the news reels throughout the region within October. Apparently most waterloo mayoral candidates will not choose to cancel the LRT (Desmond,2014), but we can not know for sure until the end of the election.

Here is an article posted by the The Record.com that goes more in-depth about the question. 

Waterloo Record, Most Waterloo Region candidates wouldn’t cancel LRT

Desmond, P. (2014, October 3). Most Waterloo Region candidates wouldn't cancel LRT. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4896895-most-waterloo-region-candidates-wouldn-t-cancel-lrt/ 

News Article: LRT route inspires development in Waterloo Region

It looks like developers are investing – big time – along the Central Transit Corridor.

Over half of new development is occurring within the built boundary of the Region, with over half of that happening in the CTC.

Between 2011 and 2013, almost a quarter of all development in Waterloo Region was within 800 metres of a future ION stop.

Rob Horne is the Commissioner of Planning, Housing and Community Services for the Region.

He say a new report shows a sustained trend in development along the CTC.

“It hasn’t been one isolated year that the trend continues. A number of developers are in detailed discussion in terms of purchasing property and doing even more development.”

Over the two year time span private development in the area amounted to 1 billion dollars.

Original Article

Source Reference: 

Zimak, H.(2014, September 30). LRT route inspires development in Waterloo Region. Retrieved October 1, 2014 from http://www.570news.com/2014/09/30/lrt-route-inspires-development-in-waterloo-region/ 

Critical Reflection #1

(Zimak,2014

Ever since the proposal of the Kitchener-Waterloo LRT project, there has been a lot of controversy about the project. Many residence located within the tri-cities argue that the LRT system will cost the region more than its worth. Residence also argue that many of the tax payers within the Region of Waterloo will not even be able to use this system, even though their taxes are paying for it.  Even though there is much controversy, according to this report, almost a quarter of the developments build between 2011-2013 were build close to the location of the new ION LRT track (Zimak,2014).

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Zimak, H.(2014, September 30). LRT route inspires development in Waterloo Region. Retrieved October 1, 2014