Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[1overcosc]

Most, if not possibly all, of a Rideau-Montreal route could fit on the surface if the bus/parking lanes were removed and the road narrowed to 1 car lane per direction with mid-block left turns banned. It would get tight in certain spots in Vanier, but could probably still be squeezed in.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by JM1

I support Stage 2, but can't help but feel that the East End is getting short-changed. An LRT up and down the centre of St Laurent (comparable to the Spadina LRT) would be beneficial and low-cost. A more useful, but more expensive alternative could be a Rideau-Montreal Road LRT. Even a St. Laurent Mall (up St Laurent) then East on Montreal Road could be a huge benefit to the region at very little cost -- it could also serve the new developments that are occurring along Montreal Road and relieve congestion in the area.\

I get what you're saying but Spadina is bad model to copy. It's usefulness as an LRT ROW is completely ruined by a lack of signal priority and close station spacing (every 200m or so throughout its entire route) which results in it being no faster than a local bus and in some cases even slower.

St. Clair is a slightly better model from Toronto; it has proper signal priority but still stops way too close. It's slightly better but still really slow considering.

[JM1]

I am actually really surprised that nobody has built a gondola across the Ottawa River as a public transit solution. It would provide valuable connectivity and would be less than a tenth of the cost of an LRT line or a vehicular bridge. Modern gondola systems can move very large numbers of people (e.g. 6000 per hour) at a fraction of the cost of LRT. What is more, they are ideal systems for dealing with river crossings, escarpments, and places where rights of way don't exist.

I could see three locations in Ottawa where these would work:
1. As mentioned, from Codd/Montreal to the Rapidbus System in Gatineau (with a stop at CFB Rockcliffe)
2. From the top of Bank Street down to the island development and then to Place Du Portage and up to Montcalm Rapidbus.
3. From Pimisi Station to the the island development and then on to Place Du Portage.

Originally Posted by FFX-ME

I do find the idea of getting an aerobus to be very romantic. Too bad not many cities have opted for those options. It may work well as a Gatineau to Ottawa transit option. As for Montreal road LRT, many have already stated that there isn't enough space, it would need to be a metro or an elevated rail so it would require quite a bit of capital.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by JM1

I am actually really surprised that nobody has built a gondola across the Ottawa River as a public transit solution. It would provide valuable connectivity and would be less than a tenth of the cost of an LRT line or a vehicular bridge. Modern gondola systems can move very large numbers of people (e.g. 6000 per hour) at a fraction of the cost of LRT. What is more, they are ideal systems for dealing with river crossings, escarpments, and places where rights of way don't exist.

I could see three locations in Ottawa where these would work:
1. As mentioned, from Codd/Montreal to the Rapidbus System in Gatineau (with a stop at CFB Rockcliffe)
2. From the top of Bank Street down to the island development and then to Place Du Portage and up to Montcalm Rapidbus.
3. From Pimisi Station to the the island development and then on to Place Du Portage.

I've got to say... I laugh out loud whenever you mention your gondola ideas. I think of cable cars as a last-resort transportation system for difficult terrain situations when no other system can cope (think Rio de Janeiro, or any ski resort), or as a novelty attraction, like in Barcelona. With roads and bridges available in a relatively flat terrain like we have here in Ottawa, I can't see a gondola system ever getting off the ground.

[ACmodels]

Can we have a gondola over Bank Street??? Would be very nice instead of LRT/subway and cheap.

[Radster]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

I've got to say... I laugh out loud whenever you mention your gondola ideas. I think of cable cars as a last-resort transportation system for difficult terrain situations when no other system can cope (think Rio de Janeiro, or any ski resort), or as a novelty attraction, like in Barcelona. With roads and bridges available in a relatively flat terrain like we have here in Ottawa, I can't see a gondola system ever getting off the ground.

They did it in La Paz, Bolivia, and they are expanding:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Telef%C3%A9rico

[silvergate]

Originally Posted by Radster

They did it in La Paz, Bolivia, and they are expanding:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi_Telef%C3%A9rico

They work well in South America, especially in the Favelas, due to limited space for conventional transit and rough terrain, especially steep inclines. I think it would look great on the Carling Avenue hill, running straight up the median. But how fast can a Gondola realistically travel?

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by silvergate

They work well in South America, especially in the Favelas, due to limited space for conventional transit and rough terrain, especially steep inclines. I think it would look great on the Carling Avenue hill, running straight up the median. But how fast can a Gondola realistically travel?

A single cable gondola might hit 22 or so km/h, while a 3GS could push 30.

[lrt's friend]

I don't think the Carling hill would constitute difficult terrain. After all the street (and bus route) go straight up the hill. I don't know how a gondola would be advantageous or cheaper or provide better service than the current option. The only reasonable possible use would be from downtown Hull to the north end of Bank Street and even then, that might be more of a tourist option, and may have a negative effect on vistas towards or from Parliament Hill.

[Uhuniau]

Rockcliffe to Pointe-Gatineau?

I don't see much application here, either. Too little relief; there's no transportation problem to solve. Maybe a tower-to-tower system somewhere across the river as a novelty, but that's about it.

[FFX-ME]

Originally Posted by JM1

I am actually really surprised that nobody has built a gondola across the Ottawa River as a public transit solution. It would provide valuable connectivity and would be less than a tenth of the cost of an LRT line or a vehicular bridge. Modern gondola systems can move very large numbers of people (e.g. 6000 per hour) at a fraction of the cost of LRT. What is more, they are ideal systems for dealing with river crossings, escarpments, and places where rights of way don't exist.

I could see three locations in Ottawa where these would work:
1. As mentioned, from Codd/Montreal to the Rapidbus System in Gatineau (with a stop at CFB Rockcliffe)
2. From the top of Bank Street down to the island development and then to Place Du Portage and up to Montcalm Rapidbus.
3. From Pimisi Station to the the island development and then on to Place Du Portage.

The place I had in mind may be well suited would be to connect the confederation line to the stadium. Have a gondola go from U of O strait to lansdowne over the canal. The students would be a great pool of potential attendees as well and it would look great over the canal.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by FFX-ME

The place I had in mind may be well suited would be to connect the confederation line to the stadium. Have a gondola go from U of O strait to lansdowne over the canal. The students would be a great pool of potential attendees as well and it would look great over the canal.

Why would the U of O be a good starting point? I didn't know students had large pools of extra money to attend potentially expensive events at Lansdowne.

The gondolas may look nice over the canal but to do this requires the construction a very large metal towers at various points on the route. This will get much resistance from the neighbouring communities. And then you have to get everybody back down to ground level at both ends. This is why they typically get built where there is a big change in elevation.

Wouldn't water taxis accomplish the same thing at a lot less cost?

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by FFX-ME

The place I had in mind may be well suited would be to connect the confederation line to the stadium. Have a gondola go from U of O strait to lansdowne over the canal. The students would be a great pool of potential attendees as well and it would look great over the canal.

Although a gondola sounds like a nice idea, and sure does come across as a reasonable proposition, what I see as the likely development is the Bank street -Rideau/Montreal road subway line. Phase 1 Queenway to Vanier Parkway, Phase 2 Billings Bridge to St-Laurent.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Why would the U of O be a good starting point? I didn't know students had large pools of extra money to attend potentially expensive events at Lansdowne.

The gondolas may look nice over the canal but to do this requires the construction a very large metal towers at various points on the route. This will get much resistance from the neighbouring communities. And then you have to get everybody back down to ground level at both ends. This is why they typically get built where there is a big change in elevation.

Wouldn't water taxis accomplish the same thing at a lot less cost?

Water taxis would only work for part of the year. That said, I don't like a gondola either.

[ACmodels]

The NCC would never allow a gondola over the parkways.

[JM1]

Building a gondola or an LRT to serve a stadium to meet game night demand would be a waste of money.

I wish Lansdowne were a better draw... But it always seems lifeless and deserted to me. Too bad.

The only way to serve Lansdowned is by serving Bank Street with an LRT (I would be fine with a surface route).

Originally Posted by FFX-ME

The place I had in mind may be well suited would be to connect the confederation line to the stadium. Have a gondola go from U of O strait to lansdowne over the canal. The students would be a great pool of potential attendees as well and it would look great over the canal.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by JM1

Building a gondola or an LRT to serve a stadium to meet game night demand would be a waste of money.

I wish Lansdowne were a better draw... But it always seems lifeless and deserted to me. Too bad.

The only way to serve Lansdowned is by serving Bank Street with an LRT (I would be fine with a surface route).

A rail corridor would have to be underground on Bank Street for its entire length at least from downtown to Billings Bridge, since the ROW is insufficient (at stations, there isn't even room for 2 lanes) and the properties have already been redeveloped which means expropriation would not be an option.

[cityguy]

When in 2018 is this project suppose to be completed?

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by cityguy

When in 2018 is this project suppose to be completed?

Sometime in May

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

A rail corridor would have to be underground on Bank Street for its entire length at least from downtown to Billings Bridge, since the ROW is insufficient (at stations, there isn't even room for 2 lanes) and the properties have already been redeveloped which means expropriation would not be an option.

This to me would be the obvious Phase 3 of the LRT project