The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[vid]

Fabric is definitely better for moving vehicles. You need the friction to hold you in place. That said, they could use a textured plastic instead of smooth plastic.

The seats on the buses in my city are more like carpets, they clean them with a carpet cleaner-like contraption and they're very rarely dirty. I can only think of one seat on one bus (and there are only 49 buses so I see them all on a fairly regular basis) that has a stain on it, and it's a 15 year old bus.

[The Gibbroni]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

Perhaps if they were to hinge the bar so that it swung up when not in use?

I was thinking of this as well. Berlin has 2 types of cars and the both use centre-facing seats. Works really well, in my experience.

The kleinprofil trains are narrower than ours (2.3 m vs 2.5 m)


The grosseprofil trains are wider (2.65 m vs 2.5 m)


Seems a lot simpler.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LU1973ts-interior.jpg

Those are a lot swankier than the ones I rode in London!

[The Gibbroni]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

1. Guangzhou
2. Tokyo
3. New York
4. Madrid
5. Montreal
6. Paris
7. Sao Paulo
8. London
9. Singapore
10. Copenhagen

http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/10-best-metro-systems-746919

This list ignores Berlin and every other German city. Bad list!

[davidivivid]

Quebec City is taking another important step in the betterment of its public transport services. A complete feasibility study concerning the planned LTR system will be realized. Several important bidders have manifested interest in the project. In fact, most engineering firms in Quebec (and some from Ontario) hace associated themselves with renowned European partners:

Ontario company MMM is working with Quebec's SMi and IBI/DAA as well as franco-german experts TTK and Richez Associés.

Quebec's Roche and SNC-Lavalin teamed up with France's Egisrail.

Genivar is working with Canarail and with european partner Systra.

Dessau with Transurb Technirail of Belgium.

Finally, Cima+ and Aecom partnered with France's Setec and ITS.

http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/dossier...presse_B13b_la-capitale_577_section_POS4


Here's an... artist representation of wath the LTR would look in Quebec City (the logo of the municipal transport agency RTC can be seen on it)


http://www.journaldequebec.com/2012/06/06/labeaume-a-son-argent

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by vid

Fabric is definitely better for moving vehicles. You need the friction to hold you in place. That said, they could use a textured plastic instead of smooth plastic.

If its a molded plastic seat (like the ones in Montreal) its not really a problem. Just as long as they're not like the R142's in New York with the sheer plastic benches - can't sit still on those things.

All of those are uncomfortable though. What ever happened to padded vinyl seats?


http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/01/a_last_ride_on_the_ttcs_h4_subway_before_its_scrapped/


They might not be pretty, but damn were they comfy.

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by Tony

Actually, I do find them to be quite a bit more comfortable than 6 other metro systems I have ridden. Plus you're not sliding or shifting all over the place when in motion.

So perhaps speak for yourself when you're dreaming.

True, I forgot about sliding around, but as MonkeyRonin mentioned, if they're moulded then there really is not much of an issue. Even on some of London's older buses, which are bouncing around constantly, you don't really move much. I also like Vid's idea of textured plastic, so long as the texture does not impede cleaning. Maybe it's just because I'm used to car fabric, but I honestly cannot tell the difference between TTC fabric and London plastic in terms of comfort. Agree to disagree.

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

All of those are uncomfortable though. What ever happened to padded vinyl seats?


http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/01/a_last_ride_on_the_ttcs_h4_subway_before_its_scrapped/


They might not be pretty, but damn were they comfy.

I assume they ripped easily and just looked too "old fashioned", but damn were they ever cool. Almost like sitting in a '67 Impala. Comfortable and easy to clean, the only issue was having your back stick to them in hot weather

[Innsertnamehere]

after looking at all these photos of subway cars around the world, and then looking at torontos, I can now see why we have such a small subway network. when the few lines we have can handle all of the capacity of another citie's network with just a couple of trains, why expand? why do you need more if your current infrastructure can handle all the demand? (it's a different story now, with the yonge line at capacity)

[Nouvellecosse]

^ Because having to travel on feeder buses half way across town in order to get to the subway is a nuisance that and drives down ridership and wastes people's time.

The real question governments and agencies should be asking is whether there's enough potential ridership in a given area to support a subway, not whether there's a line outside the given area that can handle the ridership. The goal should be efficiency, which is a combination of how well the task can be performed and how low the cost is. Just being cheap at the expense of comfort and time is no more efficient than just being comfortable and fast at the expensive of budget. Both should be balanced, but funneling everything onto a couple lines to avoid building others is only cheap.

[vid]

The vinyl seats were expensive. Why buy a bunch of foam and material to cover the frame when you can have a single frame/bench unit with carpet on it?

I don't find the carpet-on-plastic-mold benches too bad for short trips, but after 45 minutes or so, you wish there was something more to it.

[feepa]

Edmonton NW LRT construction photos by EdmCowboy11 on connect2edmonton.ca

Originally Posted by Edmcowboy11

Photos taken Saturday June 9, 2012

MacEwan Tractiop Power Substation











Kingsway Traction Power Substation

[caltrane74]

Fancy Union Station Renovation

Originally Posted by drum118

Had no time to get to the station, but got this shot showing the glazing being place on the east end last night

From drum118 at UT

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread....Zeidler-Partnership)?p=644499#post644499

Originally Posted by ShonTron

I stayed on the 17th floor of the Royal York last weekend and captured these shots:

from Shontron at UT

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread....ck-Upgrades-(Zeidler-Partnership)/page39

[Metro-One]

Cool shots of the Edmonton project there! Thanks for posting them. How long is the extension (and how many stations?)

[bulliver]

^ Only 3.3 km, and three stations for now, but it will eventually travel through the redeveloped City-Centre airport lands and make its way towards St Albert.

[logan5]

Just noticed in another thread that Winnipeg has built a 3.6 km BRT route for 138 million dollars. I have a few questions if anybody can answer:

1. Was the new transit way built entirely from scratch or is it, or a portion of it built on existing roadway?

2. How much did the tunnel and bridge portion cost, and is there any other infrastructure like this incorporated in the project - anything else underground or elevated?

3. Was there any property acquisition. And if so, how much? (in dollars)

4. What was the cost of the vehicles?

Kinda tough questions to answer, but if somebody knows, it would be appreciated.

[Andrewjm3D]

I always knew Union Station was big, but this really puts it into perspective. Nice shot.

Cool Edmonton shots as well. Will Edmonton have more underground stops then Calgary?

[srperrycgy]

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

Will Edmonton have more underground stops then Calgary?

Umm...Yes. There aren't any underground stations in Calgary right now. However, there will be one station (Westbrook) that will be open when with the West LRT opens. And that will be either December 2012 or March 2013.

[1331Massi]

Originally Posted by davidivivid

Quebec City is taking another important step in the betterment of its public transport services. A complete feasibility study concerning the planned LTR system will be realized. Several important bidders have manifested interest in the project. In fact, most engineering firms in Quebec (and some from Ontario) hace associated themselves with renowned European partners:

Ontario company MMM is working with Quebec's SMi and IBI/DAA as well as franco-german experts TTK and Richez Associés.

Quebec's Roche and SNC-Lavalin teamed up with France's Egisrail.

Genivar is working with Canarail and with european partner Systra.

Dessau with Transurb Technirail of Belgium.

Finally, Cima+ and Aecom partnered with France's Setec and ITS.

http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/dossier...presse_B13b_la-capitale_577_section_POS4


Here's an... artist representation of wath the LTR would look in Quebec City (the logo of the municipal transport agency RTC can be seen on it)


http://www.journaldequebec.com/2012/06/06/labeaume-a-son-argent

So... Régis Labeaume is still high on something?

But seriously, if it's taking Montreal forever to get LRT, what would make anyone think that Quebec is going to get it soon? Hell, they can't even get the BRT on Pie-IX working!

[ToxiK]

Originally Posted by 1331Massi

So... Régis Labeaume is still high on something?

But seriously, if it's taking Montreal forever to get LRT, what would make anyone think that Quebec is going to get it soon? Hell, they can't even get the BRT on Pie-IX working!

Quebec City can more easily get what it wants from the provincial government because they don't always vote on the same side. In Montreal, there are only 2 or 3 ridings that change party in each elections. In the west of Montreal, they would elect a fire hydrant because it is red, in the east they would elect a smurf because it is blue. More changes are possible in Quebec City and therefore they have more chances of getting what they want.

[1331Massi]

Originally Posted by ToxiK

Quebec City can more easily get what it wants from the provincial government because they don't always vote on the same side. In Montreal, there are only 2 or 3 ridings that change party in each elections.

I tried to leave the government's internal bullshit out of my post, but whatever. Good point, though. It's the Laval Effect times 1.4 ...

In the west of Montreal, they would elect a fire hydrant because it is red, in the east they would elect a smurf because it is blue.

I had to laugh reading that comment, but deep down, I know it's true...

[dancinb]

Originally Posted by bulliver

^ Only 3.3 km, and three stations for now, but it will eventually travel through the redeveloped City-Centre airport lands and make its way towards St Albert.

The three stations will be well used though. They're connecting two major post-secondary schools (NAIT and MacEwan University), a major shopping centre and a major hospital. Not to mention the new arena (when it's completed in ~3 years).