Comments, Outtakes & Feedback on Opening Day

It's been a little over a week since the opening of the Confederation Line. As I've chatted with people about the kick-off and the inaugural ride I've gotten a few comments. Here're are few.

Why did the tv crews use such large, shoulder held video cameras in this day-and-age when there are much smaller ones of likely comparable video quality out there? Surprisingly, this question was raised by a few people. I have no idea why those big things are still in use.

Was the train noisy? On the inaugural ride I couldn't say because there were so many people packed in my section. Last week when I took it out to Rideau, and there were far fewer passengers, I'd say it was no better or worse than a TTC subway train.

OCTranspo doesn't seem to care about providing enough parking for people who want to drive their car to a station and then take the train into the city. The GO and TTC seem to do this, but not OCTranspo. I'd say the commenters are correct, but I can't say why OCTranspo has taken the approach they have. Maybe they don't have enough cash to buy the needed land ? Maybe they want to eliminate auto usage instead of reduce it ? Maybe they haven't thought about station location in terms of parking possibilities? I don't know their rationale, but I agree this reduces potential ridership, and a few have told me this is a show-stopper for them. I need to look into if they're doing anything on this issue in the next phase.

It's too bad that there aren't any kiosks or small shops in the stations.True, from the stations I've seen so far they're aren't any. They're utilitarian to the max, and provide no amenities other than some rudimentary shelter from the weather. Or maybe it's the times we live in. Newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, candy, gum, and other such small items travellers might want aren't so much a part of life as they were in earlier eras of station building.

Why wasn't the first day, or first week, of operation free to all riders? Again, I have no idea why this common practice wasn't implemented to entice riders and act as a goodwill gesture to commuters who have endured a lot of inconveniences during construction. When we emailed a city rep to ask about this I got a rather bureaucratic answer, but all it did was remind me that although Ottawa is a world capital, it's still driven by a lot of small mindedness. I've heard on the news that the city is considering a free day maybe in the fall. We'll see what happens.

The big, red O's that are used to mark OTrain stations are quite effective even though they remind me of a giant cherry Life Saver on a stick :-) The one over there marks the location of the Rideau station. That's the Chateau Laurier in the background. I snapped this while chowing down on a burrito before heading back home - railway evaluation is hungry work :-)