LRT - Faces to the Facts
(photo c/o Bob Vrbanic of The Waterloo Chronicle)
Slide 1: My name is André Arseneault of Uptown Waterloo and I'm here to represent my family as well as myself. I feel very confident with the research that the Waterloo Region has generated over the past several years. I'm here to simply put some Faces to the Facts.
Our Experience in Transit
Slide 2: As part of the education for the School of Architecture at University of Waterloo, I had the opportunity to study and live in Rome. (Lived there for 2 months) While there, my family and I were solely dependent on public transportation.
Slide 3: One of the highlights of our experience was witnessing the integration of the new transportation technologies with the vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Waiting for LRT in Rome
Slide 4: Part of the joys of having my family accompany me in Rome was watching their curious reactions to the traffic, people, buses and trains.
One of the challenges in Rome was accessing the platforms and entering buses. I'm very excited about the purposed LRT that showcases platforms that are wheelchair friendly which are therefore stroller & family friendly.
Entertaining for the Kids
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| Mesmerized Yvon, 2yrs. old |
Slide 5: The experience of using transit in Rome always provided natural entertainment.
On the Other Side of the World...
Slide 6: My wife was born in New Zealand which allows us to visit family and experience yet another world of transit.
Daily Commute
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| Auckland, NZ |
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| Wellington, NZ |
Slide 7: A much less dense metropolis yet still the mix of light rail and buses play a significant role in the fabric of their major cities. On a side note, my wife's cousin just came to visit and was completely shocked by our transit debate. For him (where gas prices are well above $2.00NZD a litre or $1.60CND. Just came down from $2.30NZD a litre or $1.85CND) public transit - especially the energy efficient LRT - is in high demand as people leave their vehicles behind due to high cost of operations.
Our upfront LRT costs pales in comparison to the costs of not building it. This is our near future in Waterloo Region. We need to be ready.
Creates Public Spaces
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| Melaia 1yr. old |
Slide 8: The beauty of an attractive transit system is it creates the opportunity for interactive public spaces - which are closely tied to the transit routes.
Creates Public Spaces
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| Rémi 1yr. old in Roma |
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| Roma |
Slide 9: Another side note, while my wife and I indulged in the transit and public spaces in Rome, we both lost between 20 - 30lbs each (all while indulging lots of Gelato!). Public transit was amazing for our Health & Wellness.
Current Transit Not Sufficient
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| Public Square, Uptown Waterloo |
Slide 10: We are a one car family and are committed to always being a one car family. We chose our location in Uptown in order to teach our children to rely on their feet and transit. So, I'm a regular user of the GRT system (with commutes to Conestoga College in Kitchener and The School of Architecture in Cambridge) and can see the need for an improved system that meets the high demand in the Region now as well as in the future.
We've Done Our Research
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| Watching and Participating in the Interactive Webcast |
Slide 11: We've done our research and we appreciate the wealth of online resources.
We Love LRT
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| Roma |
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| New Zealand |
Slide 12: We love LRT because of the positive Benefits for ourselves and our Environment. With our son suffering from asthma, we also love the thought of cleaner air due to less vehicular pollution.
Our experience has been that the LRT is a smooth, clean and enjoyable ride for ALL family members. It WILL attract families.
Please don't dare discount these young LRT supporters & users of today -
as they are the parents of the LRT users of tomorrow.
Time to Face the Facts & Bring Home LRT
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| (photo c/o Bob Vrbanic of The Waterloo Chronicle) |
Slide 13: I'd like to thank the Waterloo Region for your thorough research done on our behalf.
We trust in it and plead with you to stay on track and BUILD for us today and for our future.
Thank you!!!!!
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