The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Ayreonaut]

So Excited to ride it! And I'll have to get to the last couple stops on the NE line to finish the system (I've only been to Whitehorn). That'll give me an excuse to eat at Smashburger again anyways.

[ssiguy]

Calgary is a model transit city.

[White Pine]

Saw a truck carrying a TTC subway car in North Bay today! kinda neat.

[vid]

They leave Thunder Bay by train. I wonder when it got transferred to a truck.

I've been seeing oodles of GO Train cars again lately, maybe one or two a day. They're taller than most of the stuff in the yard and they're green on top so they stand out, especially in the snow. Definitely not turning out as many bi-levels as they used to, though. Back in 2008 I saw all kinds of different vehicles going all over the world.

Kind of related to the subway order, work in Thunder Bay has halted because of fault axles from China, and the assembly plant in Quebec that makes walls and roofs for the cars just went on strike, so productions is gonna be delayed a bit.

[whiteford]

i cant wait to ride the westlrt line. it looks amazing. this is the leg of the lrt that should have been built decades ago. if it had been, the existing west devalopment of calgary would no doubt be significantly different than it is today. i believe that a more transit orented style of devalopment for the far west end of the city (smaller, compact, taller),would have been a reality. as it is, it is an awefull waste of land, that has seemingly no vision. a wasteland of row after row of same as me, stucco nightmares and plastic eyesores.

[spaceprobe]

Originally Posted by logan5

OK Thanks, last few posters.

Does the 7th Ave transit corridor have signal priority for the trains, or are the frequencies too high for signal priority in the downtown core.

I've never been able too get a good answer about how effectively signal priority works - are trains able to travel from station to station as if they were grade separated using signal priority, especially in an urban environment like DT Calgary. Maybe somebody knows an example of a system that uses signal priority effectively.

7th avenue, in my opinion, is quite slow....about the same or even slower than the spadina street cars in toronto since although there are less stations, there are more traffic lights. There is supposedly coordination with traffic lights, but it doesn't seem to coordinated more than 50% of the time. For example, very frequently, trains stop at a station, then as it is about to leave, the light turns red in front and the train stops again. It is definitely not like a grade separated train. The rest of the c-train line though is quick and efficient like a grade separated train even though it isn't actually grade separated.

Burying 7th avenue would do wonders for the c train system and, in my opinion, should be done before additional LRT lines are built.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Calgary is a model transit city.

Not quite.

I love the LRT just as much as any other Calgarian but Calgary Transit's bus system is a complete joke. If you live outside the corridors adjacent to the four LRT lines getting anywhere is slow and painful. It usually involves multiple transfers, slow buses, overcrowding, and no reliability even during off-peak hours.

My commute according to CT's online trip finder should take ~45 minutes during the am peak. This is the same as biking the ~13km and probably twice as bad as driving (never done that though). If there's any snow on the ground the time increases to 1 hour and with light flurries (all I've seen here so far) it pushes to 1.5 hours. I should mention I live right next to Sandstone Terminal which is supposed to be well serviced.

This is why in January I'm moving to Bankview which while not serviced excellently by the LRT it is within reasonable distance if needed and its close enough to everything I need I can forget about CT's bus system and just walk, bike, and Car2Go everywhere instead.

[MTLskyline]

These videos show only bus routes I think.

Montreal
One weekday (from 4am to 4am) of transit activity in Montreal, based on the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data made available by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Société de transport de Laval (STL), and Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL).

• Video Link

Toronto
One weekday (from 4am to 4am) of transit activity in Toronto, based on the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data made available by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).
• Video Link

Vancouver
One weekday (from 4am to 4am) of transit activity in Metro Vancouver, based on the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data made available by Translink.
• Video Link

Ottawa
One weekday (from 4:00am to 4:00am) of transit activity in Ottawa and Carleton, based on the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data made available by OC Transpo.
• Video Link

[SteelTown]

HUGE NEWS for Hamilton.....

Metrolinx is gonna build LRT for Hamilton. Connecting from Downtown to McMaster. Cost $1 billion.

https://twitter.com/Metrolinx/status/274216317068926976

[The_Architect]

The rest of Metrolinx' next big wave announcement:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1080785/metrolinx-unveils-next-wave-of-big-move-projects

Includes Toronto DRL, electrification of GO and Airport line, LRT on Hurontario, etc..

[Chadillaccc]

That is wicked! It has been an impressive couple of days for Canadian proposals for sure yay Hamilton LRT!

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

HUGE NEWS for Hamilton.....

Metrolinx is gonna build LRT for Hamilton. Connecting from Downtown to McMaster. Cost $1 billion.

https://twitter.com/Metrolinx/status/274216317068926976

Excellent. Hamilton now has the Ring Road and a new intra-city LRT line. It remains to be seen if this will continue to help the downtown and the more troubled areas of the city, but still, things are going well. So, Metrolinx, what are the plans for London and Windsor?

[Rico Rommheim]

Hamilton seems to be waking up from a long sleep and is now back in business. Let's hope the good news keep on coming.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Wharn

Excellent. Hamilton now has the Ring Road and a new intra-city LRT line. It remains to be seen if this will continue to help the downtown and the more troubled areas of the city, but still, things are going well. So, Metrolinx, what are the plans for London and Windsor?

There is nothing for London or Windsor.

London council is too afraid of anything forward thinking that could help the city (I grew up in Woodstock so I understand the feeling) and Windsor's future is too uncertain to invest so much money into a project that probably isn't feasible at this point in time. At least Windsor council is starting to talk about LRT.

But then again, the Waterloo regional LRT isn't even through Metrolinx or MoveOntario2020, so I think both of these entities are probably just focusing on the Greater Toronto/Hamilton area.

Also one must consider that metro Hamilton is twice the size of metro London.

[Innsertnamehere]

They still need to find funding for it, remember.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Wharn

So, Metrolinx, what are the plans for London and Windsor?

Ask the London Transit Commission and Transit Windsor. Metrolinx was created to manage transit in the GTAH, not London, Windsor, or anywhere else.

[Chadillaccc]

Metrolinx priority plan for the next fifteen years in order of most important to least.

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The list

1st, Brampton BRT
2nd, the Dundas BRT project
3rd, 36 new km of transit to connect Scarborough Centre through dt Pickering to dt Oshawa
4th, the Hamilton LRT
5th, the Hurontario LRT
6th, a new extension of the Yonge subway from Finch subway station to Richmond Hill.
7th, expanding GO Train service by introducing more two-way, all-day service
8th, electrification of GO’s Lakeshore and Kitchener lines, and Union Pearson Express

[caltrane74]

Wow! Exciting Stuff, can't wait for the electrification of the GO line on Lakeshore, and the ARL.

I'm hoping the ARL can also be used as an intra-city line for Toronto. Something like a secondary downtown relief line.

[Innsertnamehere]

What I am interested in is to see how Metrolinx proposes to fund these. I prefer a regional sales tax personally, But we will see.

[Innsertnamehere]

The Eglinton Crosstown will now apparently be tunnelled to Don Mills, a 1.7 km extension of the tunnelled portion. The grade seperated portion of the Eglinton Crosstown is now expected to travel 13.5 kilometers, from Jane to Don Mills.

It will now cross only 7 Intersections on the surface, as this eliminates 1 of the original 8.

December 11, 2012

Metrolinx invites you to attend a public information meeting to get a project update, learn more and share your input on a change of the east tunnel portal location from east of Laird Station (Brentcliffe Road) to just east of Don Mills Station. This change will allow uninterrupted tunnelling from Don Mills to Yonge Station with significant improvements to construction staging, schedule and impacts.

The information meeting will be held starting at 7:00 pm with an opportunity to view displays and speak one-on-one with staff, followed by a presentation and question and answer at 8:00pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

Download the event flyer (PDF)

Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Time: 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Location: Ontario Science Centre, Telus Conference Room, 770 Don Mills Road