Quote:
Originally Posted by casper
In principle, I think the Lower Mainland eventually needs LRT (lets call it street cars since that is what it is). Well suited to locations that require a lower capacity, lower frequency service that can not justify the cost of skytrain.
What is odd about this is, this is not a route that requires lower capacity or frequency. How can this possible be this expensive.
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Skytrain + TrolleyBuses are the only acceptable transit for Metro Vancouver, here's the reasoning:
a) The Skytrain is fast, frequent, cheap to run (no drivers, hence it can run even when Skytrain staff on are on strike,) and the grade separation makes it safe for pedestrians, cars and transit riders.
b) LRT is slow, infrequent, expensive to run (it will not be running when bus driver unions strike) and the level crossings will result in gridlock, pedestrians and bike riders being injured in locations where there is no overpass.
c) Street-car mode LRT takes all the inefficiencies of LRT and adds car-train collisions at any point in the track.
d) Trolleybuses have more capacity and are more flexible than LRT/Streetcars that run on a fixed track.
It is a naive thing to think that just because the rails exist that they will always have street cars on them, just look at Arbutus and the old interurban.
All the trolleybus routes we have used to be streetcars at one point in time. That was back when the city population was sparse and not many people owned private automobiles. Every time people suggest going back to street cars, they are ignoring the part where you would have to make the ROW exclusive to the street car, otherwise it will be excessively dangerous due to car/train and pedestrian/car interactions of having to go to the middle of the road to board the train.
Every time someone proposes bringing back streetcars they don't provide a reason why building expensive-to-maintain rails in the street is supposed to be better than just running trolleybuses. The fact is the only advantage "streetcar" LRT has over a Trolleybus only comes when you make the LRV train long like the Skytrain, which LRV's never are, they max out at 35.7m. Any potential LRT will have capacity less than the Canada Line even if it was run at Canada Line frequency and speed.
The City of Surrey is lying through it's teeth about any benefits the "L Line" will bring over the Skytrain, and at this point the only people who even want it are those who don't know that the Skytrain+BRT was the preferred option by Translink in the first place.
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