The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[srperrycgy]

Calgary WestLRT Construction:

Bow Trail SW looking towards downtown. Sunalta Station in the background.


WLRT-03102012-9 by srp775, on Flickr

New 24th Street Pedestrian Bridge. Enmax working below the bridge on the next section of caternary to be put up. The "oval" shape is a common design element on the line.


WLRT-03102012-10 by srp775, on Flickr

[feepa]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

A few NLRT shots from Edmcowboy11 on C2E


(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a..._100000436549239_1362725_229387218_n.jpg)

From http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=91336&page=270

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by 1331Massi

It amuses me that Harper, born and raised in Alberta, decides to weigh in on the Toronto LRT-subway debate.

As someone already pointed out, Stephen Harper is really a Torontonian, born and raised. Had you been listening, you would have heard Harper preface his comments by saying his opinion was based on his personal experience as a Toronto commuter.

Stephen Harper's biographical information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Harper#Early_life

[vegeta_skyline]

Originally Posted by 1331Massi

Did I wake up in 2030? Since when is the population of the GTA 9.5 million? That's more like the population of Ontario. If this person thinks that Toronto is twice the size of Montréal, then I don't trust their judgment of what is the cutoff to be considered one of

That's probably referring to the Golden Horseshoe, the population of which in 2011 for the core area was 7 million and the extended area almost 8.6 million http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horseshoe#cite_note-2006CensGGH-0

Btw, Ontario's population is 12.85 million;
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recens...able-Tableau.cfm?LANG=Eng&T=101&S=50&O=A

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by armorand93

Or Halifax MetroBus network, since I'm actually familiar with that one

Do you mean MetroLink? It's a little bit better than the standard bus routes here but not much. The system relies mostly on transit signal prioritization but this isn't even installed at all intersections along the routes. Bus-only ROWs are very few and far between. The MetroLink routes both cross the harbour bridges and get stuck in traffic during rush hour. Only one stop in the entire system is on the Peninsula. The system relies very heavily on park-and-ride. The goal was to "make drivers jealous when they see the MetroLink buses speeding past them while they sit in traffic" but I don't think I've ever seen this happen.

[someone123]

The whole MetroLink project in Halifax cost on the order of $20M. It was sold as "BRT" but really it is a limited express bus service similar to the GO Bus.

Halifax is at the point where the municipality needs to get serious with transit infrastructure. It's getting too large and too congested to fix things by occasionally adding new bus routes, and road widening projects are always shot down, so eventually some form of rapid transit will be needed. Projects like MetroLink don't really cut it, particularly since the buses remain stuck in traffic, and for that single minor success there have been multiple DOA plans like the Bedford fast ferry or commuter rail that wasted years of planning and debate.

Of course, right now there's zero transit service because there's been a transit strike happening for more than a month.

[Hali87]

LRT/commuter rail is becoming a hot topic in the Halifax area again, and with a new mayor and remodelled council in the fall, along with a review of the municipal planning strategy, it seems likely to continue to gain momentum. One thing driving this is the stagnation of the fast ferry project due to speed limits that were unaccounted for during the trial runs, along with increasing road congestion and a local aversion to road widening.

My honours thesis is based on the prospects for rapid rail-based transit in the Halifax area. Many other Dal students also seem to be doing major projects on the theme of rail-based transit as well. I presented the following poster at a symposium hosted by my department on Friday and it was very well-received. The hypothetical system is based loosely on different transit systems across the country, with Ottawa's system in particular serving as a model in many ways.





Basically the green line would use DLRT trains on a mainline track and the other two would use standard LRT trains on "in-street" tracks (but with a reserved ROW and signalling priority) along two major north-south corridors. The green line is more commuter-oriented (stations are about 2 km apart on average while those on the other lines are spaced by about 1 km). All three lines would initially have a single set of tracks with trains traveling in both directions and passing each other at certain points along the line, much like the O-train in Ottawa. Any questions or comments are more than welcome!

[someone123]

That plan looks good. I take it you want to use the CN ROW running along the basin? Are there trains that would be permitted to run along active freight lines and along surface streets? I guess the lack of trains like that is why you have 3 separate lines?

I really like how you've gone beyond the basic proposal of simply running trains out to Bedford. The route from Bedford/Sackville/Fall River to the South End train station is not that valuable on its own, but it could be very valuable if combined with some other routes, and the other routes could provide important high-quality transit service to the urban core. I think it's important to serve the North End and support transit-oriented development. There is lots of room for infill in the Young/Robie area and the shipyard is a major employment centre.

Cost-wise I think this plan is very realistic for Halifax. The city can afford to run diesel trains along existing rail lines or along surface streets. In the future this system could be improved with a downtown tunnel or other infrastructure projects.

[armorand93]

Originally Posted by someone123

The whole MetroLink project in Halifax cost on the order of $20M. It was sold as "BRT" but really it is a limited express bus service similar to the GO Bus.

Halifax is at the point where the municipality needs to get serious with transit infrastructure. It's getting too large and too congested to fix things by occasionally adding new bus routes, and road widening projects are always shot down, so eventually some form of rapid transit will be needed. Projects like MetroLink don't really cut it, particularly since the buses remain stuck in traffic, and for that single minor success there have been multiple DOA plans like the Bedford fast ferry or commuter rail that wasted years of planning and debate.

Of course, right now there's zero transit service because there's been a transit strike happening for more than a month.

Still?! Jesus Christ

[Nouvellecosse]

The poster might be better if it was big enough to read. Or maybe my monitor isn't big enough?

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by someone123

That plan looks good. I take it you want to use the CN ROW running along the basin? Are there trains that would be permitted to run along active freight lines and along surface streets? I guess the lack of trains like that is why you have 3 separate lines?

I really like how you've gone beyond the basic proposal of simply running trains out to Bedford. The route from Bedford/Sackville/Fall River to the South End train station is not that valuable on its own, but it could be very valuable if combined with some other routes, and the other routes could provide important high-quality transit service to the urban core. I think it's important to serve the North End and support transit-oriented development. There is lots of room for infill in the Young/Robie area and the shipyard is a major employment centre.

Cost-wise I think this plan is very realistic for Halifax. The city can afford to run diesel trains along existing rail lines or along surface streets. In the future this system could be improved with a downtown tunnel or other infrastructure projects.

From talking to one of the O-train's project directors, there doesn't seem to be any diesel-based trains that can run on city streets - I think this is partially to do with policy and also because the diesel engines are bulkier, which pushes the floors up and makes street side loading/unloading impractical. Previous proposals for commuter rail/LRT using diesel vehicles made the assumption that vehicles could use both the rail cut and in-street tracks, but this doesn't seem to be true. One thing that I'm not sure about yet is whether CN would have major issues with electrified trains running in the rail cut between Robie St and the VIA station.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

The poster might be better if it was big enough to read. Or maybe my monitor isn't big enough?

Sorry, I'll have to convert it to a PDF later, I thought the JPEG would be readable if you could zoom in but I guess not.

[Nouvellecosse]

The River Line (New Jersey Transit) runs mainly on a railway but has street-running sections at either end. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_LINE

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Sorry, I'll have to convert it to a PDF later, I thought the JPEG would be readable if you could zoom in but I guess not.

I can read everything except for the coloured printing under the station names. Zooming makes that printing bigger but then it's too blurry lol.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

From talking to one of the O-train's project directors, there doesn't seem to be any diesel-based trains that can run on city streets - I think this is partially to do with policy and also because the diesel engines are bulkier, which pushes the floors up and makes street side loading/unloading impractical. Previous proposals for commuter rail/LRT using diesel vehicles made the assumption that vehicles could use both the rail cut and in-street tracks, but this doesn't seem to be true. One thing that I'm not sure about yet is whether CN would have major issues with electrified trains running in the rail cut between Robie St and the VIA station.

Yeah, there were definitely plans suggesting that the rail line could just be extended down Hollis. I don't think that would work along the streets and I don't think the expense of building a tunnel is justified.

Diesel trains would be pretty undesirable along city streets. It would be much better to run electric trains along a corridor like Robie Street and in the future that might even be cheaper to operate than diesel. There are also low floor streetcar and LRT vehicles.

The Portland streetcar system seems like the kind of thing that would be worthwhile to run in Halifax. Portland's line carries 11,900 riders per day along 6.3 km, and was proposed for around $30M in 1995 according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar). If the costs are in the $60-100M range today then a line like that makes a lot of sense for Halifax.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

The River Line (New Jersey Transit) runs mainly on a railway but has street-running sections at either end. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_LINE

That's interesting. The OC Transpo rep was pretty emphatic that this would not currently be possible in Canada. However even if it were, the characteristics of electric LRT give it an advantage for in-street tracks - lower floors, no street-level emissions, better acceleration and braking, quieter.

[1331Massi]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

Harper was born and raised in Toronto.

Sorry, you're right. I meant he seems to like Alberta so much, and his riding is there, too. It's like he has no connections to the city, so he might as well have been.

[Nouvellecosse]

Good news! The American Public transportation Association (APTA) has just released it's Public Transportation Ridership Report for the 4th quarter of 2011 completing the year's statistics. http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2011-q4-ridership-APTA.pdf



Highlights for year over year ridership in Canada:

- Every city/agency except Calgary saw year over year ridership gains

- Calgary Transit's overall ridership dropped by 2.49% (-2.98% rail, -1.96% bus)

- Brampton had the largest percentage gain system wide (17.95%)

- Scarborough RT ridership increased by 18.09%

- Toronto's TTC still has the highest ridership of any agency in Canada with 2,655,500 weekday riders on average

- Montreal's STM is a close second with 2,540,700 weekday riders on average

- Montreal's ridership growing faster (4.17% vs 3.54%)

- Ottawa's O-train ridership up 16.56%

- Montreal's commuter service AMT's ridership increased 7.65%

- Vancouver's ferry ridership down (-6.73%)

Not every city/agency is represented due to some not having released their statistics at the time of the report.

[Hali87]

PDF version now available here

Hopefully this works

[Hali87]

Incidentally the Halifax strike might end this week after about six weeks without transit service.