[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[stephan.richard]

To add my two cents here. I now live in Regina and i am a volunteer for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and let me tell you that rider fans are the best. Here in Regina we have the same parking challenges near Mosaic Stadium but fans here are accustomed to parking at a parking garage downtown and walk to the stadium. Also they started last season offering complimentary bus service from three points in town that drop you off to the front gate here. The way I look at it that it will take some times for people in Moncton to get used to the concept of arriving to the game or event early and also to use public transportation to the game.

[L'homard]

And Thank You Canada is a figure skating tour featuring pretty much figure skater who won an Olympic medals in the 15 years.

Oh yes. Thank you Filip. I am terribly forgetful.

[felip_ars]

Article this morning about the last media tour before the City take over the Centre.

http://huddle.today/what-the-new-mon...-to-get-there/

In it they talk about the website, and they mentioned that they will in fact change/stretch the bus schedule depending on how many people are at the event.

“If it’s 9,000 fans there will be more buses than 5000 spectators. The routes will be extended. It will go later in the evening, depending on the event,”

It's a step in the right direction. But it looks like it will be a lot of trials and errors for the first few months.

They even mentioned Uber, and I'm sure the taxi business will be "ecstatic" when it arrives :p

[MonctonRad]

Evening shot of the events centre today:

[drewber]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

They even mentioned Uber, and I'm sure the taxi business will be "ecstatic" when it arrives :p

The Taxi business isn't afraid of a little competition as long as those drivers have to follow the same regulations they are made to follow: Proper licensing, fees, etc. It wouldn't be fair for the province or city to expect that from Air/White and then allow Uber drivers to pay nothing to operate.

[felip_ars]

The purpose of Uber is to be an alternative to the taxi business, putting licensing and fees would made them back away, and put Moncton as a "Not Cool" city.

They could look at Quebec where the only regulations are 35h training, and background check. And they also perceive taxes from the money they are making.

[flyer99]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Article this morning about the last media tour before the City take over the Centre.

http://huddle.today/what-the-new-mon...-to-get-there/

In it they talk about the website, and they mentioned that they will in fact change/stretch the bus schedule depending on how many people are at the event.

“If it’s 9,000 fans there will be more buses than 5000 spectators. The routes will be extended. It will go later in the evening, depending on the event,”

It's a step in the right direction. But it looks like it will be a lot of trials and errors for the first few months.

They even mentioned Uber, and I'm sure the taxi business will be "ecstatic" when it arrives :p

Problem is...... they will know how many people are attending the event and adjust "after the fact". BUT, this does nothing for the people initially going to the event. Unless they can get the figures from SMG (Ticketmaster) and adjust beforehand.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

The purpose of Uber is to be an alternative to the taxi business, putting licensing and fees would made them back away, and put Moncton as a "Not Cool" city.

They could look at Quebec where the only regulations are 35h training, and background check. And they also perceive taxes from the money they are making.

Right, uber won't be here if they need drivers to have taxi licenses because the reason uber works is that the drivers don't need to pay for them, so its easy to find drivers who can work part time (busy weekends, event nights etc.) . Uber has built an empire around having a loophole that allows their drivers to operate without taxi licenses since they are a "ride sharing" service. That's how they disrupted the market. They were able to lower prices and also create a better experience for the customer than taxi's ever have

I'd welcome uber in with open arms, given my recent experience with cab companies there seems to be very low standards for vehicle condition. I've often questioned my safety driving in cabs in Moncton.

Uber drivers tend to have better kept vehicles because they use them for their own personal use and aren't bogged down financially paying for a taxi license.

[JHikka]

Moncton isn't appealing enough for Uber, IMO. Check back later.

Ride-sharing services are far-and-away better than normal taxis but it entirely depends on how the local municipal government treats the incoming businesses. Moncton council could update regulations to make ride-sharing appealing for smaller companies but I wouldn't be holding my breath for Uber to arrive for quite some time.

You would also ideally need cohesion between Moncton, Riverview, and Dieppe which, again, good luck...

[lirette]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Moncton isn't appealing enough for Uber, IMO. Check back later.

Ride-sharing services are far-and-away better than normal taxis but it entirely depends on how the local municipal government treats the incoming businesses. Moncton council could update regulations to make ride-sharing appealing for smaller companies but I wouldn't be holding my breath for Uber to arrive for quite some time.

You would also ideally need cohesion between Moncton, Riverview, and Dieppe which, again, good luck...

I would think size would keep uber out of the market considering it hasn't really worked in Halifax. Suprisingly there are small cities in North America that have uber already. Red Deer, Flint, Tacoma, Traverse City, Kingston for example. I'm guessing in the end its more of a government issue like you are saying.

Either way, I could see some type of ride sharing app working during peak event times, but likely more of a dream scenario.

[JHikka]

Kingston is a city roughly the same size as Moncton and they have Uber there. The biggest difference between the two is that UdeM has 4K students while Queen's has 25K. Slight difference.

Halifax's issue, IIRC, was the municipal regulations regarding ridesharing. If your city planning and regulating is progressive enough (and not intimidated by the taxi lobby) then ridesharing can work.

[drewber]

I see cops running in front and back of a forklift bringing oddly shaped grey branch like items down Vaughn Harvey this morning. I am thinking this might be the art installation though I could be wrong

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by drewber

I see cops running in front and back of a forklift bringing oddly shaped grey branch like items down Vaughn Harvey this morning. I am thinking this might be the art installation though I could be wrong

the Centre's plaza Webcam is offline so we cannot see what is going on. I think someone said the camera and maybe power poles would be moving for the hotel construction

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by drewber

I see cops running in front and back of a forklift bringing oddly shaped grey branch like items down Vaughn Harvey this morning. I am thinking this might be the art installation though I could be wrong

Those are the trellises that will be erected around the Ian Fowler Oval. I took a quick drive downtown to have a look.

I took a few pictures, but I'm still at work and will post them this evening.

I took some time to wander along the periphery of the construction fence around the plaza, and all I can say is WOW!!!

They have pushed the construction fence back, so you can now get pretty close to the plaza and to the front entry of the events centre. As such, you can start to form a real appreciation for the massing of the events centre and as such, you can really see the size of the building. They have also done more final landscaping and finishing of the plaza. This whole complex will be an absolute jewel for the downtown of the city.

The downtown suddenly feels much more complete, and I imagine this impression will be doubly strengthened with the completion of the renovations to the federal building, and the construction of the Hyatt Place Hotel.

Moncton is actually starting to feel (and look) like a big city.......

[MonctonRad]

Here are the trellis pieces lined up along Canada Street, waiting for installation:



And here are a couple of close-ups showing the nearly complete plaza and the events centre:





The second image shows some of the final landscaping out front. You can see the footings where the signature art piece will be installed in the front part of the landscaped bed.

[flyer99]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Here are the trellis pieces lined up along Canada Street, waiting for installation:



The second image shows some of the final landscaping out front. You can see the footings where the signature art piece will be installed in the front part of the landscaped bed.

I wonder why that front piece of landscaping isn't sodded like the others toward the back of the plaza.... looks like topsoil with a few small bushes.

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by flyer99

I wonder why that front piece of landscaping isn't sodded like the others toward the back of the plaza.... looks like topsoil with a few small bushes.

I guess they just want people to look and not walk on that part of the plaza.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

I guess they just want people to look and not walk on that part of the plaza.

Likely to deter kids from climbing on the art piece.

[lirette]

The trellis' are being installed as we speak. 1 is already set and they currently have a 2nd one hoisted

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by lirette

Likely to deter kids from climbing on the art piece.

Kids, and grown adults.