The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[MexiQuebecois]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

The Plateau is actually quite anglophone now. I was surprised the last few times I was there.

Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie seems like a decent (and still overwhelmingly francophone) area to me (orange line - Rosemont, Beaubien).

Villeray might be a good bet as well (blue line between Jean-Talon and D'Iberville).

Ahuntsic-Cartierville is OK in some parts (orange line between Jarry and Henri-Bourassa), although it does border Montreal North and Saint-Michel (in case you don't want to be near those areas).

Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (Frontenac eastward) is also quite francophone, although is a little seedy in parts, but also quite nice and underrated parts too. (The area around the Angus Yards is somewhat nice, as are some of the historic buildings in the former city of Maisonneuve just south of the Big O).

If you were willing to consider the south shore, I would recommend the Old Longueuil area between Rue Saint-Charles and Rue Gentilly (and between Joliette and d'Auvergne).

I like the Rosemont-la petite patrie area, what's the average for a 4 1/2 there? Do you think I can get one close to the métro for like $700 - 750?

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by sober2ndthought

It won't be as fast as the Bloor HRT, it will have an average speed between 24-25 KM/H on the surface section and 30-35 KM/H in the underground sections. The main reason for this that there will be a much shorter stop spacing (500 meters) in the above ground sections than it would in the underground sections (1 km).

Eglinton will be nothing like St. Clair. St. Clair is not rapid transit by any stretch of the imagination, it is just a Streetcar line on its own Right of Way. The stop spacing is too narrow to be true LRT. The technology is dated (trolley poles as opposed to pantographs), accordingly speeds are much slower lacks signal priority.

Eglinton on the other hand meets the rapid transit standard. Only the Queensway Streetcar comes close to true LRT on Toronto's existing streetcar system. It still has two problems, dated technology and lack of true signal priority.

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As for waiting 20 minutes, if the city installs proper signal controls (not street lights but rather rail signals), you should get a very reliable system. The signal controls will prevent the bunching problems from which which the St. Clair ROW suffers which causes that 20 minute delay.

Is there any hope to cut local stops from the plan so it can go faster? I can't believe anyone would support anything slower thanm 40km/hour. What a sick joke.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by MexiQuebecois

I like the Rosemont-la petite patrie area, what's the average for a 4 1/2 there? Do you think I can get one close to the métro for like $700 - 750?

Yeah rosemont is where its at for young, inexpensive places. Though not as "nice" as the mile-end, plateau and co. it remains one of those quintessential montreal neighbourhoods where walking / biking / transit is the norm and its close to all sorts of little shops and restaurants.

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

Is there any hope to cut local stops from the plan so it can go faster? I can't believe anyone would support anything slower thanm 40km/hour. What a sick joke.

I love the TTC, but one thing they are obsessed with is local stops. They get very nervous whenever something that does not stop every 200 meters is planned.

they fight tooth and nail to not implement express services. Yet when they finally do implement them, they are beyond crowded and popular.

The worst are the stops they have for streetcars that are located right next to stops at the subway stations. You could spit between two stops.

[MTLskyline]

Originally Posted by MexiQuebecois

I like the Rosemont-la petite patrie area, what's the average for a 4 1/2 there? Do you think I can get one close to the métro for like $700 - 750?

You can get 4 1/2's for $700-$750, but they usually seem to be located a 10-15min walk from the Metro (like halfway between the blue line and green line).

Here are some: http://www.logisquebec.com/search.php?tr...&type_annonce=a-louer&type_recherche=%25

This site gives a map: http://www.padmapper.com/search/apartments/Quebec/montreal/104313091/

[begratto]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

I think the way to go would be to improve commuter rail service on the Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter train line to the point where there are at least 2 trains an hour between 6am and 9pm on weekdays (with a stop in the airport's already built underground station) and 1 train an hour outside then. At the moment there are only 13 outbound and 14 inbound departures daily.

That's pretty much the AMT's "Train de l'ouest" project. It would increase the number of departures from 27 to 85 daily.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by sober2ndthought

I like Montreal's system but I hate the fact that there really is nothing for the West Island. It almost feels like the powers at be are intentionally trying to keep it that way for political reasons.

Personally, I would like to the see a steel tire Metro line running at-grade along the Autoroute 40 to the west island, then travel along the Mount Royal Railway line eventually entering into a tunnel and linking up with the Universitie Du Montreal on the Blue Line, Guy Condorida on the Orange Line and Lucien L-Ailler on the Orange line alternatively an LRT line which continues along the Autoroute 40 (instead of dipping south) to the East Island. While extending the Green Line to La Salle and Blue Line to Notre-Dame.

The AMT's Train de l'ouest, with its 85 daily departures, will be a cost-effective solution for the west-island. And remember that the west-island only has 300 000 of the 4 000 000 people in the Montreal region, and its population density is very low. There are plenty of other areas much more densily populated in Montreal that do not have métro service yet (Saint-Léonard, Montréal-Nord, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and large parts of Rosemont and Longueuil, notably) that could certainly benefit from better transit.

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by miketoronto

I love the TTC, but one thing they are obsessed with is local stops. They get very nervous whenever something that does not stop every 200 meters is planned.

they fight tooth and nail to not implement express services. Yet when they finally do implement them, they are beyond crowded and popular.

The worst are the stops they have for streetcars that are located right next to stops at the subway stations. You could spit between two stops.

Translink Vancouver is also obsessed with local stops. 25 King Edward is pretty bad for this. Add rush hour traffic into the equation and I bet you could bike it faster.

Thankfully, though, they got it right with Canada Line (downtown to airport in 25 minutes ), the exact same system that our stupid politicians would install on Eglinton if they had any brains.

[1331Massi]

Originally Posted by sober2ndthought

Could you imagine if the PQ had been a little less focused on Sovereignty-Association and a little more focused on governing the province what Montreal's Metro could have been?

Could you imagine, if the PQ had been a little less focused om sovereignty-Association and a little more focused on governing the province, what MONTREAL could have been? I imagine a city with almost 3 million inhabitants, and a metro area of 6.5 million people.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by 1331Massi

Could you imagine, if the PQ had been a little less focused om sovereignty-Association and a little more focused on governing the province, what MONTREAL could have been? I imagine a city with almost 3 million inhabitants, and a metro area of 6.5 million people.

Sadly it is not just the PQ who are guilty. The Liberals neglect Montreal because they know they have the votes regardless. The sad fact is that, Montreal will get nowhere in the future if it remains part of this crappy province. Montreal should become an independent city, answering to its own needs. Of course that's never gonna happen, and even if it did, it would probably open another whole can of worms.

[MexiQuebecois]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

You can get 4 1/2's for $700-$750, but they usually seem to be located a 10-15min walk from the Metro (like halfway between the blue line and green line).

Here are some: http://www.logisquebec.com/search.php?tr...&type_annonce=a-louer&type_recherche=%25

This site gives a map: http://www.padmapper.com/search/apartments/Quebec/montreal/104313091/

Sounds good, I'll check it out, thanks!

[sober2ndthought]

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

Is there any hope to cut local stops from the plan so it can go faster? I can't believe anyone would support anything slower thanm 40km/hour. What a sick joke.

In fairness the Subway has an average speed of 32 KM/H, Calgary's LRT average speed is 34 KM/H.

[whiteford]

Originally Posted by sober2ndthought

Fair enough.

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Not much of a difference in speed in street sections. They basically are exactly the same. Faster on the highways and grade separated sections, slower in street sections.

The only number I care about is this 250,000 that is how many people use the CTrain everyday and that is before the new West Line opened. I suspect that will add another 30,000 - 50,000 riders.

But lets forget about all this lets discuss the Eglinton LRT. It is basically being built how you like LRT. Most of the line is completely segregated. Either in a tunnel under Eglinton or on the existing Scarbrough Tracks. Only a relatively short section is running down the median of a city street. So what's the problem? You will pretty much get subway quality travel for most of the trip.

P.S. did you notice the little yellow light on the street lights, that is how Seattle warns drivers of the LRT. They do that instead of crossing arms a sections where there are a lot of homes nearby because it reduces noise.

the ctrain hits speeds of 90km on some of the faster stretches. it is by no means slow.

[sober2ndthought]

Originally Posted by whiteford

the ctrain hits speeds of 90km on some of the faster stretches. it is by no means slow.

No doubt, even if with the slower sections the CTrain still has very strong speeds. As I have said it is easier and faster for me to get from my parents house in the NE to Chinook Station than it is for me to drive from my parents house to Chinook Station.

For the record the point of those videos was to prove Seattle LRT travels about the same speed as Calgary's LRT.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by begratto

The AMT's Train de l'ouest, with its 85 daily departures, will be a cost-effective solution for the west-island. And remember that the west-island only has 300 000 of the 4 000 000 people in the Montreal region, and its population density is very low. There are plenty of other areas much more densily populated in Montreal that do not have métro service yet (Saint-Léonard, Montréal-Nord, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and large parts of Rosemont and Longueuil, notably) that could certainly benefit from better transit.

85 departures (43 inbound and 42 out) is a major improvement, but if they're going through the bother of laying dedicated track for the commuter trains, I can't help but think they can do better. I would suggest they do 6 trains/hr during the rush periods, 4 trains/hour during normal times of day, and 2 trains/hr during quite times (and 1/hr overnight). That would equate to something like 125 departures per 24 hour period.

it would be really cool if they used stock similar to what's used on London Overground (Bombardier Capitalstar)
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[nname]

Maybe I'm just used to the system here in Vancouver. When I was in Seattle, the elevated and underground (Beacon Hill) protion seems to go pretty fast, but when the train reaches the at-grade portion between two fast sections, it just feel like it slowed alot and seems to take forever to go through that at-grade section. Although having no station in the past 9 minutes in the elevated portion could have something to do with it.

Well, maybe I'm just spoiled from taking Expo/Millennium line daily.. When I was on Canada Line, I even feel like the train is going really slow.. and the line actually have an average speed of 36km/h...

[feepa]

Originally Posted by whiteford

the ctrain hits speeds of 90km on some of the faster stretches. it is by no means slow.

Really?CTransit website seems to disagree with you. (of course its in the nature of Calgarians to exaggerate about their city.)

Average speed (km/hr): 35
Maximum speed (km/hr): 80

http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/technical_information.html

(The u2's can't even really go over 80km/h anyways... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens%E2%80%93Duewag_U2 )

[sober2ndthought]

Originally Posted by nname

Maybe I'm just used to the system here in Vancouver. When I was in Seattle, the elevated and underground (Beacon Hill) protion seems to go pretty fast, but when the train reaches the at-grade portion between two fast sections, it just feel like it slowed alot and seems to take forever to go through that at-grade section. Although having no station in the past 9 minutes in the elevated portion could have something to do with it.

Well, maybe I'm just spoiled from taking Expo/Millennium line daily.. When I was on Canada Line, I even feel like the train is going really slow.. and the line actually have an average speed of 36km/h...

The original SkyTrain system is actually the fastest rapid transit system in Canada. It has an average speed of 45 km/h and a top speed of 90 km/h.

[nname]

Originally Posted by sober2ndthought

The original SkyTrain system is actually the fastest rapid transit system in Canada. It has an average speed of 45 km/h and a top speed of 90 km/h.

The top speed is actually 80km/h. They only run it at 90km/h after a service distruption to close the gap between trains. After taking both lines, I think one noticable difference is how fast the LIM train accelerates out of the station...

[1331Massi]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Sadly it is not just the PQ who are guilty. The Liberals neglect Montreal because they know they have the votes regardless. The sad fact is that, Montreal will get nowhere in the future if it remains part of this crappy province. Montreal should become an independent city, answering to its own needs. Of course that's never gonna happen, and even if it did, it would probably open another whole can of worms.

Would you happen to know Taylor Noakes? He has a blog online about Montreal and the three of us seem to share very similar views. Check out his site:

http://www.taylornoakes.com/