I went to the Rally for Rails. I was among the roughly 200 people to show up to show support for this initiative. I believe that light rail is important to our future development.
A few days later, I was invited to the Region of Waterloo’s mayoral inauguration. In his speech, our Regional Chair said that this would be a “transitional counsel”. It would shape the future of Waterloo Region. He talked about other milestones, decisions made in our past that have made us what we are today. He mentioned the Conestoga Parkway, the creation of the University of Waterloo amongst other important landmarks.
Back to the Rally for Rails, we know a lot of people don’t support light rail. There was one such person at the rally handing out leaflets. I scanned mine, you can read the argument against light rail here.
Mr. Shortreed believes that we are too small for light rail. He doesn’t like the minimal coverage and the number of stops compared with the bus. He thinks that bus can replace rail. However, the real issue is light rail replacing car. Busses are for losers. I’m sorry, but no one is going to give up their car to ride a bus, but they will to ride a train.
I would.
I will never leave my car for the lrt I would be 100% more likely to leave my car for the use of a bus not that I ever use public transit or ever will
What do I see for the future of the lrt absolutely nothing
With my job I won’t be using the LRT either, at least not on a daily commute basis. But I’ll use it other times (like to see a movie or visit Conestoga Mall or to see a concert at Centre in the Square, visit a downtown restaurant…). I think what a lot of people miss is that the LRT sends a message that we are a forward looking city investing in our infrastructure — investing in our future. Just think, someday you will be able to get on a high speed train in downtown Toronto and come visit Google or UW and never need to think about driving and parking.
On a personal note: I’m happy to see that a post I wrote seven years ago is still getting read!