Rural Commuter Rail

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by acottawa

To me none of the LRT extensions (beyond maybe Lincoln Fields) has a transit rationale. The existing BRT system is nowhere near capacity and travel time will likely increase as limited-stop buses are replaced with milk-run LRT. These extensions are purely driven by politics. In that context, Kanata/Stittsville is Ottawa's most populous suburb and is going to get higher order transit.

It depends on your definition of "transit rationale." From a purely capacity perspective, you are absolutely correct, but there are other factors. First of all there is the cost (in both dollars and environmental) or running hundreds of buses a day along the same route. Secondly, transitway extensions to Barrhaven and Kanata were patched together and still aren't very efficient. For the Kanata transitway, an eastbound 61 does the following:

1. Travel on city streets without bus lanes from Terry Fox Station to Eagelson Station
2. Use bus lanes on 417 to Moodie Dr.
3. Left turn at traffic light on Moodie Dr. and cross 417 to busway
4. Busway past Bayshore to Pinecrest.
5. Right turn on Pinecrest and cloverleaf onto 417
6. Use mixed traffic lanes on 417 to Qweensway station
7. Cloverleaf around onto transitway.

West bound is a bit better as it doesn't have to cross the 417 as much. Other bus routes are basically the same, though the routing to Eagleson (if they stop there at all) is different.

Not only will LRT avoid all that mixed traffic and dipsy-doodling, but it will use a route that is over 2km shorter. Because of that, I suspect the extension to Moodie will shorten travel times from Kanata. An extension to Terry Fox will have no affect for some but will be helpful for those who can then get a direct connection from a local bus or at a park and ride. Given how cheap that section of the extension is, it is worth doing IMHO.

As an alternative to a $2B LRT extension that would be slower than the bus and would be unlikely to drive new ridership,

Much of that $2B will be for the aprox. 3km of tunnelling (even if it is cut and cover) needed for the extension to Lincoln Fields that you admit to be important.

IMHO, a commuter rail system could be set up that would 1) be cheaper, potentially allowing resources to go into other transit priorities

Given the cost of double tracking the parts shared with VIA Rail, I highly doubt if would be cheaper unless VIA ends up doing it anyway for HFR (which you seem to think won't happen).

2) be faster for a lot of people, potentially actually driving ridership and

As Truenorth00 showed, travel time benefits for those in Kanata North are minimal and you would likely sacrifice frequency of service.

3) could serve areas not well served by the Queensway corridor, particularly Stittsville and the March Road Tech corridor (where there might be some reverse-commuting possibilities).

The southern route might have some benefits but with the tracks gone, it would be much more expensive. It certainly wouldn't work as the only route to Kanata.

As for reverse commuting, given that most would have to transfer to a bus in Kanata anyway and how far south the line runs, most people's reverse commute would be bus/LRT/train/bus and end up being a longer, slower route. With an LRT extension it would be bus/LRT/bus and the bus to/from Eagleson/March could also be used by Kanata/Stittsville residents who currently have no good way to get to Kanata North by transit.