Edmonton Public Transit

[Coldrsx]

^down 87ave from the university IMO

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by RicoLance21

From what I heard, it can travel 1250m under right conditions and that's with NiCd batteries. Edmonton's hybrid buses have NiMH batteries. Imagine how far it will go if the trolleys use NiMH.

Last night, the new trolley traveled a little over a kilometer (including stops) before running out of juice.

Interesting. I was used to live in Vancouver and I was on a trolley at UBC when the power failed. The trolley driver just got off the bus, pulled the poles down and then ran under battery to Blanca, where the power was on - reconnected to the lines and kept going.

The battery is not intended to run the bus far, just get it through a dead spot or in Vancouver, to get around a line maintenance (done in the day in Vancouver), or on a short detour.

[Kevin_foster]

Saw the NRLT plans (as posted)

I love it. Having a stop at Grant MacEwan college is fantastic.

When I was taking some courses for a few years at GMC, I don't know how many times on days like today (cold, wet, snowing etc.) me and my fellow students would say "If there was an LRT to downtown, we would go to the pubs etc. there". But instead because we'd already be in vehicles, we'd end up just going to Whyte - because we were already en-route.

This will have a visible impact on downtown, for sure.

Also, alot of people at GMC live downtown... it 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 to have to walk to school on cold days; so I'm sure it will be a well used line.

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^down 87ave from the university IMO

87ave might be nice, but it will never happen.

As fun as it's going to be having the North Edge all developed, is there some reason that 105Ave wasn't set aside for WLRT? There's nothing there - all you have to do is jog around GMAC a bit. After that it would be fairly easy to run a line all the way to 116st or even to 119th, then jog north to 107ave, and then head west from there. There's so much potential for development along there - you can just count all the future TOD's. And then the north edge could have actually been transit-focused instead of...whatever it's going to be.

[Coldrsx]

^north edge had thoughts of incorporating it...but alas

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^north edge had thoughts of incorporating it...but alas

What does that mean?

105th would be the easiest way out of downtown, because there's nothing there - at least until the Quarters, Roundhouse, etc. fill the whole area with nimby's. And further west 107ave would have much less oposition than either 87, 102, or 104. None of those other routes will ever happen, but 107 might actually stand a chance.

For a city that likes its grand plans I don't know how this one got ignored. Am I missing something?

[Coldrsx]

^yes...bureaucracy and interdepartmental fun with a side of "we dont need LRT" and "Edmonton will always be a car city"

[Mikemike]

Operationally, having NELRT, NLRT & WLRT doesn't work. with all 3 lines in one tunnel, 6minutes per lines is as good as it will ever get. Since that's what we have now in the NE, which would likely be the least travelled line (sans game days + kdays), and NELRT-SLRT will likely have all 4car trains within 2 years, thats only 25% for future expansion (to 5 cars). we'll likely see 25% growth on the LRT before NLRT is opened, let alone whenever WLRT is complete.

No, I think that having grand plans prevents us from planning 3 lines stiffed into one tunnel. Flip WLRT to exit downtown with SLRT, then there are only 2 lines, and 50% for growth. I think it's smart.

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by Mikemike

No, I think that having grand plans prevents us from planning 3 lines stiffed into one tunnel. Flip WLRT to exit downtown with SLRT, then there are only 2 lines, and 50% for growth. I think it's smart.

The way we're heading though we'll probably have WLRT, SLRT and SELRT all sharing a tunnel and a bridge over a much longer distance. I don't see how that's any better, especially given the population growth in those areas vs. the north, the split university campuses, the airport...

The main thing though is that getting LRT from the downtown/UofA to the west end is going to be incredibly difficult. An 87ave route will face huge political opposition, as would 102ave or 104ave. 105ave was just sitting there. It would have been a great option to keep open, but instead we've directed residential development into the area. That definitely has benefits, but it also means the chances of ever using it for LRT are pretty much nil.

[Coldrsx]

111ave for the LRT works fine as well and a station at 124st and westmount are good...then at space sciences, but i want it to go south from there...to meadowlark and wem...but then the question of "how long will this damn serpent take" comes up

[noodlenoodle]

Does every LRT train need to come downtown?

I took a peek at the last proposed 87th ave alignment and while it's a political nightmare, it's a well laid out alignment that's tied to South Campus rather than going Downtown. It's the quickest route West to Main Campus and West to Downtown. Departing from Lewis Estates and having to go thru Churchill before getting to the University seems a little nonsensical.

[Coldrsx]

^agreed...and it can just tie into the new line north rather than having to "switch trains"

[Mikemike]

The SE LRT will not go via the existing downtown tunnel, unless it's as a spur off SLRT at 23rd. I'm confident that by the time NLRT and WLRT are built, it will be clear that we can't shove a third train in that tunnel.

By then, CP might be out of their yards along gateway, and the high level will look good for another option.

[Mikemike]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^agreed...and it can just tie into the new line north rather than having to "switch trains"

That appears to be what they're angling for, especially with the plan for NLRT trains to run from Nait to Health Sciences.

[Coldrsx]

^i hope so...id like to see the SELRT spur off at the university and come down or near whyte, hit faculty st.jean along whyte, then boonie doon before heading south to millwoods.

[newfangled]

I get the point about training all the way to Churchill and then doubling back.

But while heading all the way to Churchill to get the to U might be a detour for people in Lewis Estates, heading all the way to WEM to get to the U is a detour for all the people between downtown and WEM.

Also, access from the West to the U is not all that bad. With the whitemud and fox drive it's already reasonably freeflow (or at least theoretically freeflow). If ETS cut out their milkrun garbage that could be a fairly reasonable BRT route.

The real problem is access from the West to the downtown. It all goes through 142/SPR with a bit of spillover to 142/107. If we're not going to put in a freeway (which we shouldn't) then there needs to be some form of rapid transit for that route.

Ultimately, I guess it depends how fast a trainride from WEM to downtown is via any route. And also how fast you can that route built around all the nimbys.

[Mikemike]

Actually, I'd like to see WLRT go 107, but not to churchill. Using the same 121ST CN ROW, crosstown's lot, 104Ave (already unwalkable so LRT can't hurt) a Robbins(MacEwan) Station and then south down 110st (rail town park) to corona. No loop around downtown and operational symmetry, but westenders would need to transfer to get to the UofA. Supplementary superexpress busses from southcampus to either wem or to meadowlark station (or both) would be needed.

[Coldrsx]

westend to uofa is worse than westend to downtown...

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

westend to uofa is worse than westend to downtown...

How so? And particularly for UofA students?

The only ones who have 8:00 classes or labs until 5:00 are the engineers - everyone else moseys in at 10:00 and is gone by 3:00 (although I might be a bit biased )

Seriously though, if you're not heading to/from the U at rushhour (and a lot of students aren't) then an express bus from WEM would be almost as good as LRT. The whitemud is a pretty good road most of the time, and most of the time is when a lot of students travel.

On the other hand, WEM>downtown is a pretty bad road at rushhour, and rushhour is when most commuters travel. If you could make that trip without having to use the stupid roads it would be a huge benefit.

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by newfangled

How so? And particularly for UofA students?

The only ones who have 8:00 classes or labs until 5:00 are the engineers - everyone else moseys in at 10:00 and is gone by 3:00 (although I might be a bit biased )

.

HA!




oh 🞵🞵🞵🞵.