Millennium Line - Broadway Extension: Planning & Pre-Construction

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

Then why are they talking about SkyTrain to Langley?

Because beyond Langley you have the rest of the Fraser Valley ? I know lots of people who will drive to King George from Langley to go downtown, something similar would probably happen with Abbotsford residents.

[rxp]

Originally Posted by fredinno

A combination elevator-gondola from Lonsdale to Waterfront would be cheaper.

are we talking something like the Emirates airline cable car in London? https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/emirates-air-line/

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by rxp

are we talking something like the Emirates airline cable car in London? https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/emirates-air-line/

I don't know how much sense that makes vs. Seabus, I think Burnaby Mountain gondolas alot more likely and especially with all the harsh weather as of late this might be the best time to make a push fro that.

[trofirhen]

That Emirates cable car gondola in London seems more a sightseeing thing than a commuter system.
For Vancouver's North Shore, I could see: a greater frequency of the current Seabus, plus Seabus from downtown to West Van Ambleside, and North Vancouver Phibbs Exch' area.
With higher frequencies; about 10 minutes apart. Seattle has a more extensive commuter ferry system, I believe,
though their ferries are larger, more traditional vesselsas well as water taxis, but with lower frequencies. We could adapt the Seabus to hook it up to the western, central (current) and eastern parts of the North Shore, for passengers only, keeping higher frequencies..... Just an idea.
http://commuteseattle.com/commuteportal/ferry/

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by fredinno

A combination elevator-gondola from Lonsdale to Waterfront would be cheaper.

It may be cheaper, but wont be faster than Skytrain.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

That Emirates cable car gondola in London seems more a sightseeing thing than a commuter system.
For Vancouver's North Shore, I could see: a greater frequency of the current Seabus, plus Seabus from downtown to West Van Ambleside, and North Vancouver Phibbs Exch' area.
With higher frequencies; about 10 minutes apart. Seattle has a more extensive commuter ferry system, I believe,
though their ferries are larger, more traditional vesselsas well as water taxis, but with lower frequencies. We could adapt the Seabus to hook it up to the western, central (current) and eastern parts of the North Shore, for passengers only, keeping higher frequencies..... Just an idea.
http://commuteseattle.com/commuteportal/ferry/

I was thinking more like the Peak2Peak gondola.

It should be cheaper than a Seabus due to less maintenance, and an aerial tram can run at twice the speed (but be limited in capacity). A normal gondola runs at about the same speed, but has much higher scalable capacity.
http://gondolaproject.com/aerialtram/

Plus, it's a nice tourist attraction, and could connect to a gondola up to Lynn Valley (I would reckon the slope gradient is too high for Skytrain)

I don't know its viability vs. increasing ferry speed. We might need materials advances until it's benefits are more obvious.

[waves]

Originally Posted by fredinno

I was thinking more like the Peak2Peak gondola.

The Peak2Peak Gondola has a parabolic equation of roughly y(d)=-(1/97^2)*d^2

The span from Lonsdale Quay to Waterfront Station would be at least 3050m long. Evaluating the above equation for d=1525m gives us a cable height of 250m. Add on the minimum height requirements for cruise ships (61m is the height of Lions Gate Bridge and that is even too small) and we would need a tower of at least 315m. The Shangri-La, the tallest building in Vancouver is only 200m tall.

Even if two towers were placed in the water, the free span would still have to be at a minimum of 1100m and therefore a tower height of 100m would be needed. To achieve that minimum span length those towers would have a 25m underwater portion. Closer than 1100m and the depth of Burrard Inlet extends up to 70m.

It's engineering challenges aside, I also think it would be incredibly unsightly.

[SpongeG]

wouldn't cable cars going from waterfront to Lonsdale interfere with the seaplanes and helicopters?

[flipper316]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Because beyond Langley you have the rest of the Fraser Valley ? I know lots of people who will drive to King George from Langley to go downtown, something similar would probably happen with Abbotsford residents.

why not just jump on the 503 express bus or the 555 from Carvolth instead of driving.

[Metro-One]

I am sure this must be all working its way back to the Broadway subway somehow...

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

I am sure this must be all working its way back to the Broadway subway somehow...

It will be great when we get more information, sometimes the process seems so slow.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

I am sure this must be all working its way back to the Broadway subway somehow...

Here - I'll do it: We could save a lot of money on the Broadway line by bulding a gondola instead of tunneling!

(...which makes just as much sense to me as a gondola across Burrard Inlet...)

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Here - I'll do it: We could save a lot of money on the Broadway line by bulding a gondola instead of tunneling!

(...which makes just as much sense to me as a gondola across Burrard Inlet...)

Hush now... You don't want the snow flakes to melt due to the heat, do you?

I challenge anyone to post something that shows a city over 1 million with a gondola system for rapid transit.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Hush now... You don't want the snow flakes to melt due to the heat, do you?

I challenge anyone to post something that shows a city over 1 million with a gondola system for rapid transit.

I'll take you up on that.... hope this wasn't sarcasm haha...

Medillin Columbia has over 2 million people
~
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2013/04/golden-age-gondolas-might-be-just-around-corner/5220/

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

I'll take you up on that.... hope this wasn't sarcasm haha...

Medillin Columbia has over 2 million people
~
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2013/04/golden-age-gondolas-might-be-just-around-corner/5220/

First line was, second wasn't.

Thank you for showing me, and others real world cities with it.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

I really wish a government would declare all people working for the government, or providing service for government be declared essential service. That would solve most union issues.

It would never work because the only real services that are really essential are disaster-response (Fire, Police, Ambulance/Emergency Room, E-Comm) and Utilities (Hydro, gas, water, sewage) otherwise fire or disease spreads rapidly. Can you imagine what the consequences would be if an infectious disease outbreak started while all emergency services were on strike?

As much as we want it, Transit and Teachers are not essential services. Something we fail to learn every time the bus drivers go on strike is how much the bus system impacts the car traffic and if there were no buses, people who drive just go back to driving, and those without buses call a taxi (Hello Uber...)

Now an argument could be made that in the event of an emergency (say an earthquake) transit drivers could be called in to service, even if they are on strike to evacuate people, but short of that scenario there's nothing essential about transit. People would be singing a different song if the bridges were closed however when the buses are on strike since Translink operates some of the bridges.

My opinion on the Teachers though is a mixed bag. Suffice it to say the NDP ruined it for Teachers with district amalgamation, and the Liberals said "hold my beer" and tore up contracts, but the Teachers may have earned the ire of the government for reasons including bogus teaching credentials.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

I'll take you up on that.... hope this wasn't sarcasm haha...

Medillin Columbia has over 2 million people
~
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2013/04/golden-age-gondolas-might-be-just-around-corner/5220/

Yeah, I kind of realized it was a bad idea. Though a gondola through north Van to Lynn Valley actually seems reasonable.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by fredinno

Yeah, I kind of realized it was a bad idea. Though a gondola through north Van to Lynn Valley actually seems reasonable.

While North Shore isn't my area of expertise there are certainly lots of places where it could work, Im a huge believer in building it to SFU, too bad Nimbys exist.

[Reecemartin]

Went up to Eglinton Avenue where Toronto is building it's new Eglinton LRT today and was pretty impressed with the scale of work going on on that corridor. With the BC Provinical Budget and the election coming up I seriously hope Government steps up to the plate, Ontario's current government is obviously not without its flaws however their investments in transit are nothing short of miraculous.

Within ten years Ontario will have:
-6 new LRT's 2 of which are largely grade separated
-2 Subway Extensions
-Several new BRT Systems
-Brand new LRT like Streetcars completely rolled out in Toronto
-GO Transit will become a 15 minute grade separated electric service in core sections
-100+ new rapid transit stations

Obviously Ontario is much larger than BC but, the point is they building far more transit per person than we are. We are having difficulty finding the money from the province for a 6 station extension of the Millenium Line and a single at grade LRT.

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Obviously Ontario is much larger than BC but, the point is they building far more transit per person than we are. We are having difficulty finding the money from the province for a 6 station extension of the Millenium Line and a single at grade LRT.

First we need a new provincial government that gives a damn about one of it's primary revenue generating metropolitan areas. Most other parts of the province are subject to inconsistent boom and bust cycles (forestry, mining, LNG etc.)

It's a slap in the face to wait until its election time to propose these infrastructure projects.

Not Many people realize that it was the same team that got Mr. Harper in to run the country as got Christy Clark to run BC. Same people, political party doesn't mean much any more, a Conservative in Liberal clothing.