Three: the number of prime ministers since light rail was first conceived in the region
Four: the number of politicians still active in the community who were around for the original vote in 2011
Eight: the time, in minutes, between ION trains during rush hour. That number will be between 10 and 15 minutes for the rest of the day
17: years since the region first began discussing rapid transit
19: the number of stops along the LRT line in phase one. That’s also the distance that phase one travels, in kilometres, from Conestoga Mall to Fairview Park Mall
200: how many people can stand and sit comfortably on each train at a time. That number consists of room for 60 people sitting and 140 people standing
56,000: the number of people expected to ride the LRT every day by 2031
641,879: the projected population of Waterloo Region by 2031, which played a role in the decision to adopt rapid transit
$50 million: the amount that the LRT went over budget
$818 million: the amount that was originally budgeted for the ION
$1.4 billion: how much the region says it would have had to spend to build 500 kilometres of new roads to accommodate expected growth if it hadn’t decided to implement the ION
$3.28 billion: the amount in economic development that the region has seen invested along the ION corridor
