Quote:
Originally Posted by logan5
A street car trial between the Granville Bridge and Cambie is completely pointless, though as the Broadway Corridor becomes more densely populated, a more extensive system that runs into the downtown peninsula would get good ridership.
If the City allows mixed use residential/industrial in the Mt. Pleasant Industrial area, a light rail line becomes even more feasible.
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Exactly why this proposal showing a connection to the Expo Line is vital. It would provide enough ridership to this initial segment to justify future expansions into Chinatown/Gastown/Downtown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Changing City
It will be decades before there's enough additional density as a result of the Broadway Plan to make any difference to the viability of a Very Light Rail track running between Granville and Cambie. It stands, or falls, on the basis of there being enough potential riders to get to Granville Island, Fairview, and the Olympic Village. In a few years (maybe) there should be more residents at the eastern end, once McDonald's and the City parking lot get built.
Adding residents to the Mount Pleasant industrial area could reduce the viability of light rail, because you get a lot more jobs in the same space than you get residents, so if you displace potential employees with residents, you get fewer potential riders.
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There's potential riders such as myself that take the Expo Line in to the city that would use this to get to Granville Island and Senakw/Kits Beach area (taking people either off the seawall or the aquabus/fcf system, and probably generating new riders since there's likely plenty of people who would rather not deal with walking or the ferries). Without the connection to the Expo Line there wouldn't be nearly as many potential riders.
In this use case, a streetcar/tram makes sense since it is doing what streetcars/trams should be doing in a urban setting and making walking trips faster and more accessible.
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