Calgary Public Transit II

[MalcolmTucker]

Instructions are pretty powerful, even with no visible way to enforce or penalties. I would bet of the 5-10% of the bins that are problem bins that stickers would reduce their volume by at least a quarter (all numbers pull from no where).

Pure exhortation is a great policy choice in situations where there are clear alternatives. Hopefully those dogs parks have their own poo bins as the alternative of letting it be is worse than the initial problem.

[mersar]

Originally Posted by DarkKeyo

Re: Whitehorn station upgrades: So they are back to doing renovations then? That's going to take a lot of work, and possibly a lot of closure... and if they intend to do this to the other 4 identical NE stations plus the two ones with tunnels, that could mean years of chaos... That notwithstanding, I think its a definite improvement. I am kind of curious whether the work they did last weekend there was related to this at all.

The work last weekend looked to be prep for the new walkway off the south end of the platform to the intersection. Looked like they were moving/replacing some signal cabinets and some minor rail work when I went by I believe on Friday night.

[CTrainDude]

Originally Posted by mersar

The work last weekend looked to be prep for the new walkway off the south end of the platform to the intersection. Looked like they were moving/replacing some signal cabinets and some minor rail work when I went by I believe on Friday night.

I know they were replacing the rails on the outbound side of the level crossing last weekend - not sure if it had anything to do with the station refurb or not.

[hulkrogan]

Does anyone know if the innercity bus review is actually being implimented as planned in June? I'm crossing for the #9 to turn into my express shuttle to patios on 17th.

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[freeweed]

I saw a bunch of the new LRT work in Edmonton shortly before opening. One thing that amused me is that they've covered their walkways to the new station at Southgate (not sure about the other one). Seems like a needless expense. Maybe we're just tougher here in Calgary.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

Whitehorn Station Upgrade Presentation
Display Panels

Links can be found on this page.

My thoughts:

I think this will be a good upgrade for this station. The new elevator will really make the station more accessible. It was a enclosed hallway before to access the elevator.

I really hope they do the proposed pedestrian crossing being studied at Whitehorn Drive.

The openness and new windows will be an improvement.

Pretty much what I suspected was involved.

I'm glad that they're going to be adding canopy covering to the NE stations. The stations being very open to weather compare to other stations made them feel pretty 39th avenue-ish and impression of shafting the NE.

I imagine they could make street level pedestrian crossing at Marlborough station as well. I wonder if they will do anything for Rundle in terms of quicker connection access to the professional buildings and hospital at the north end of the platform? The extension will fall a bit short of the 26 Ave intersection, so street level crossing seems unfeasible.

Overall the more open space environment is nice and necessary for those stations if all follow suit of Whitehorn.

[Wooster]

Transit cash back on table
By SHAWN LOGAN, Calgary Sun

Stalled provincial cash for commuter trains and LRT expansion could be ready to seek takers within weeks.

Alberta’s $2-billion Green TRIP fund, announced two years ago but put on hold due to recessionary pressures, will be ready to flow in six weeks say provincial officials, which will allow cities to pitch mass transit programs in hopes of acquiring some of the available money.

Alberta Transportation spokeswoman Tammy Forbes said because the criteria for projects hasn’t been fleshed out, it’s too early to say what types of projects will be at the top of the priority list.

“I can’t speculate on what will be the final program but we’re looking for projects that are going to take cars off the road and reduce greenhouse gases,” she said.

“We know how important this is for communities and we’ve been working on it very hard.”

On Saturday, Premier Ed Stelmach was in Edmonton for a pair of new LRT station openings and hinted more money will be coming to expand the capital city’s rail system in the near future.

Forbes said the only new transportation money available will be from the $2-billion Green Trip kitty, which means every town and city will have to compete for the cash.

Ald. Ric McIver said the city is always in need of cash to expand its transit system with a long-planned $2-billion southeast LRT line that he has lobbied for remaining unfunded as well as other projects needed to help curb gridlock.

“It’s all about money and setting priorities but we’ve already got a big debt load and our money’s been spent three or four years ahead,” he said.

“The City of Calgary is one of, if not the biggest, economic generators in the province and what’s good for Calgary is good for the rest of Alberta.”

The city has also been looking at plans to build a regional transit network, bringing commuter trains to surrounding cities like Cochrane, Airdrie and Okotoks.

Forbes said the province has budgeted $470 million over the next three years for green transportation plans and will set a “pay for progress” system, handing cash to municipalities that pay or borrow up front for projects.

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/04/25/13716701.html

============

Calgary's push for SELRT should come now. Isn't there money allocated from the federal governments Building Canada fund that could also go to this project?

I don't have much faith that this money will go to anything except commuter buses from Cochrane and Airdrie to Calgary. The SELRT could take multiple the number of cars off the road than these regional commuter plans.

[You Need A Thneed]

The problem is that phase 1 of the SELRT is going to cost $1.2B at least (including the downtown tunnels). The city's going to find it hard to get that percentage of the cash, however, if money could be secured from the feds as well, the city might be closer.

Of course, that still would just take the SE LRT down to Douglasdale.

[MalcolmTucker]

It is just too big to do before the WLRT is done. All the money the city could get for the project from the feds would just be removing it from existing projects on the cities 10 year list. Reordering the list doesn't get any extra money.

There is P3 Canada money which can contribute up to 25% of a project cost, but you can't use any other federal money for that project. The vast majority of the funding still has to come from GreenTrip and/or MSI.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Wooster

I don't have much faith that this money will go to anything except commuter buses from Cochrane and Airdrie to Calgary. The SELRT could take multiple the number of cars off the road than these regional commuter plans.

Yup, I can see Stelmach's saying his favourite line, "We want solutions for ALL Albertans.".

[SubwayRev]

Originally Posted by Riise

Yup, I can see Stelmach's saying his favourite line, "We want solutions for ALL Albertans.".

That's exactly what will happen, and ALL Albertans in this case will mean the tiny, tiny minority that make up these fringe communitites at the expense of Calgary and Edmonton, who only make up 65% of the Province.

And like Wooster said, the SE LRT would take more cars off the road in one day than a commuter bus to Airdrie would in a month.

[para transit fellow]

The challenge is that there is only going to be one greentrip application for the Calgary -region ( source: Alberta transportation presentation), so members of the Calgary regional partnership are going to have to decide on how apply for / use the funds.

If Calgary gets the cash, there is no more cash available for the surrounding CRP partners.

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I saw a bunch of the new LRT work in Edmonton shortly before opening. One thing that amused me is that they've covered their walkways to the new station at Southgate (not sure about the other one). Seems like a needless expense. Maybe we're just tougher here in Calgary.

Ever been to the Chuck in January? Our winters are positively balmy compared to Edmonton.

[Vascilli]

There were at least a pair of D60LFRs running the 101 today, (I was on one) could CT be assigning them during peak hours to relieve congestion or was it just a fluke?

[frinkprof]

Nevermind.

[MalcolmTucker]

Source: http://weburbanist.com/2010/01/18/more-than-fit-to-sit-15-clever-bench-ads/

[fusili]

Fortney: Transportation No. 1 youth concern


By Valerie Fortney, Calgary Herald

So you live in a city with a respectable amount of recreational and entertainment possibilities, programs for your age group and, despite a nasty couple of recessionary years, still a few good job opportunities.

Only thing is, you can't actually get to any of it. For you, Calgary is not a bustling urban centre -- it's a cluster of villages and towns, where living in McKenzie Towne or Coach Hill means about the same as Cranbrook or Edmonton. Your friends and family in those parts of our sprawling metropolis are reachable by phone or Facebook: but seeing them in person is a logistical challenge worthy of a TV reality show like The Amazing Race.

...

Link

[fusili]

Re: Mar wants cops to ride crime off LRT

How about undercover police officers on the train. I remember Berlin had something like this, and I am pretty sure New York does as well. In Berlin, the people who check your tickets are plain clothed young officers who show you their police identification as you show them your pass. The guy who checked my ticket was wearing a hoodie, jeans and sneakers.

Uniformed officers are good at creating a presence of authority, but undercover police officers are much better at actually catching criminals.