[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by trueviking

^portage for sure....it really makes little sense to end at the forks...the most important destination would be to the graham avenue transit corridor....traffic to the forks is 1% of commuter traffic to downtown every day.

i hear rumours that this could be a system that is being considered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombard..._Light_Transit

from Wikipedia:

Disadvantages

The GLT systems in place have experienced some mechanical problems which, though they have largely been resolved, have discouraged some other cities from adopting the technology. [1] The vehicles have shown a tendency to move erratically when running free, and do not respond well should the driver mistakenly attempt to steer while following the guidance rail (for example, to avoid a jaywalking pedestrian or an animal running into the street).

In addition, due to the tyres running over the same spot in the road, in both Nancy and Caen there has been significant rutting of the roadway, resulting in extensive repairs at significant cost to the operator. This could be considered to add to the already high running costs. Ride quality is also said to be poor, not much of an improvement on a bus, due to the 4 wheeled design, whereas trams have bogies with shock absorbers.

Problems with the guidewheel breaking have also emerged, leading the trolleybus to swerve off its roadway. This is due to the high centrifugal forces exerted on the wheel when it goes round corners. As a result of the breakages, a speed limit of 10k/h is now enforced on corners.

One of the main aims of the system, to achieve a lower cost per km than trams, has failed. Other French tramways achieve a cost per mile at least 10% lower than that for the Guided Bus. Similarly, the cost per person of the vehicles is also noticeably higher with the guided bus that a tram.

Where snowfall is an issue, this system may not be practical.

Critics of the system also point out that unlike a conventional tramway, GLT is a proprietary system, meaning that once having installed it, a city would face difficulties in purchasing vehicles from any manufacturer other than Bombardier. [2] A standard tramway, on the other hand, can easily accommodate vehicles from multiple suppliers; Nancy’s neighbour Strasbourg, for example, recently chose the Citadis tram from Alstom to supplement its existing Bombardier Eurotram fleet.

Because of the significant problems encountered by the cities which have opted for the Bombadier Guided Bus, one of which has demanded compensation for the costs it has had to pay out for the GLT, Bombadier will not sell any more GLT systems, at least until all the issues have been resolved.