Calgary Public Transit II

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by technomad

Edmonton was a lot better off environmentally speaking with the electric trolley buses. Going battery powered?

CNG is a good choice for Alberta until better battery tech can be developed.

I still remember taking the number 3 bus back in 2006 when it was electric trolley, it was January and sparks were flying everywhere. Possibly because of the ice buildup on the wires. Vancouver lent "Vanna" to Edmonton sometime later for them to test out and I didn't blame ETS one bit for discontinuing the trolleys.

I do wonder what's the range of these electric buses when they have to run heaters?

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by DKaz

I do wonder what's the range of these electric buses when they have to run heaters?

Apparently New Flyer can equip their electric buses with a liquid fuel heating system for "very cold" climates. Yes, it sounds a bit silly to put a fossil fuel heating system on an electric vehicle, but it probably makes sense on a bus where the volume to heat is so large.

[para transit fellow]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

Apparently New Flyer can equip their electric buses with a liquid fuel heating system for "very cold" climates. Yes, it sounds a bit silly to put a fossil fuel heating system on an electric vehicle, but it probably makes sense on a bus where the volume to heat is so large.

Diesel-fired auxiliary heaters are already a common purchase specification for Canadian buses. The heat from the engine isn't enough to keep the large interior warm.

Webasto is one make of such heater

[Socguy]

Good to see. I wonder what can be done at this point to delay or stop the BRT?

[joe498]

Originally Posted by Socguy

Good to see. I wonder what can be done at this point to delay or stop the BRT?

The best defense is progress on the project. It would be dumb to stop a project half done.

[YYCguys]

Forgive me for my ignorance on the topic, but why is there strong opposition from some to the BRT project? Would it not connect MRU in a better, more efficient, and quicker fashion than current services?

[outoftheice]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

Forgive me for my ignorance on the topic, but why is there strong opposition from some to the BRT project? Would it not connect MRU in a better, more efficient, and quicker fashion than current services?

Yes it absolutely would be a plus to MRU. The strong opposition to the SWBRT was started by a bunch of rich residents from Eagle Ridge who didn't want to see any widening of 14th Street. They started a group called Ready 2 Engage that flooded Ward 11 with all kinds of anti BRT material with most of it being totally BS. Problem is that people believed the info Ready 2 Engage provided and an organic opposition against the SWBRT began to grow. It's not helping that a candidate for ward 11 has been more than happy to spin Ready 2 Engage's propaganda for his own gain and that has given the group more legitimacy than it deserves.

[Socguy]

Considering the wealth of the Eagle ridge residents, it's also highly likely that they are donating to Smith's campaign. Several of them are already volunteering for his campaign. If we ever see the donor records, that's the first thing I'll look for.

We've also been assured by the owner of Checker cabs that despite the fact that his company was involved with the ready to engage group, that his opposition to the SWBRT is entirely personal. http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary/201...nd-group-opposing-sw-brt-says-owner.html

Once you cut through the sound and fury of a bunch of well-heeled NIMBY ranting and raving, pretty much the only argument left is that people are afraid that densification may happen around a BRT line.

[joe498]

If Bill Smith wins, we can look forward to all BRT projects being halted half way through construction to please the NIMBY's and a canceled Green Line LRT. In 10 years time, the city can look forward to a public transit system which has had zero improvements.

[Corndogger]

"Car service app companies are stealing riders from public transit, study shows "

Uber, Lyft and the other app-based car services are taking riders away from public transit and putting more miles on roadways, according to a study involving U.S. cities.

Public transit use dropped 6% on average in seven major American cities, including New York, the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California-Davis found in its study.

“When asked explicitly why one might substitute ride-hailing for public transit, the most popular response of all ride-hailing respondents was that ‘services are too slow,’” the report said.

The net drop in public transit use came from bus and light rail trips, balanced out with slight increases in commuter and heavy rail trips among ride-hailing travelers.

Full article at: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national...-service-app-companies-article-1.3559109

[Doug]

Originally Posted by joe498

Edmonton plans to buy only electric transit buses beginning in 2020

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-transit-bus-electric-diesel-robar-1.4276453

Anyone know where Calgary stands on electric buses?

That can be charged by gas fired power generation

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by Doug

That can be charged by gas fired power generation

...or solar or wind or hydro.

[Socguy]

Looks like Farkas was elected in Ward 11. Score one for ready to engage. I'm hopefully the SWBRT is tightly integrated enough into the rest of the transit plans that he will not be able to stop it.

[speedog]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

...or solar or wind or hydro.

Solar or hydro in Alberta? Insignificant to the point of not even discussing and even wind generated power is just a drop in the bucket. Alberta's power generation will be fossil fuel based for a while yet.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by speedog

Solar or hydro in Alberta? Insignificant to the point of not even discussing and even wind generated power is just a drop in the bucket. Alberta's power generation will be fossil fuel based for a while yet.

Renewables are hardly insignificant in Alberta. It is true that province doesn't have the vast hydro potential of our neigbour to the west, but pumped storage is very real and is going to play a bigger role in the future. Currently there is about 900 MW of installed hydro.

There is 1500 MW (~9%) of wind generation installed in Alberta today. The Renewable Electricity Program auction will add at least 400 MW of renewable generation (expected to be mostly wind) by December 1, 2019.

Just as an FYI, total installed generating capacity is around 16000 MW. 6200MW is coal and 7500 MW is gas.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by technomad

Edmonton was a lot better off environmentally speaking with the electric trolley buses. Going battery powered?

CNG is a good choice for Alberta until better battery tech can be developed.

Chinese cities, particularly the first tier ones like Beijing and Shanghai, are going electric in a big way. At this point I'd say as many as 1/3 of Shanghai's buses are now battery electric, plus a few oddballs like super capacitor buses (used primarily in the inner city) and trolley buses with battery backup (used on routes that have trolley lines for most of the distance, with the ability to run short distances without). I don't see why Calgary couldn't do the same.

Originally Posted by Socguy

Looks like Farkas was elected in Ward 11. Score one for ready to engage. I'm hopefully the SWBRT is tightly integrated enough into the rest of the transit plans that he will not be able to stop it.

My hope is that he's just one man on a 15 person council and won't be able to stop the BRT by himself. Yes, DCU is also opposed, but I doubt they'll be able to convince a majority of council to change what they've already approved and started building.

[speedog]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Renewables are hardly insignificant in Alberta. It is true that province doesn't have the vast hydro potential of our neigbour to the west, but pumped storage is very real and is going to play a bigger role in the future. Currently there is about 900 MW of installed hydro.

There is 1500 MW (~9%) of wind generation installed in Alberta today. The Renewable Electricity Program auction will add at least 400 MW of renewable generation (expected to be mostly wind) by December 1, 2019.

Just as an FYI, total installed generating capacity is around 16000 MW. 6200MW is coal and 7500 MW is gas.

So about 15% is not fossil fuel generated, that doesn't seem like a significant amount. Oh, and solar since you mentioned it?

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by 5seconds

It's also worth noting that something like 60% of voters voted for a pro-BRT candidate, so Farkas' mandate on that issue is minimal.

It's a stretch to assume that everyone made their candidate choice solely based on the BRT issue. I know I didn't.

[CrossedTheTracks]

Originally Posted by Porfiry

It's a stretch to assume that everyone made their candidate choice solely based on the BRT issue. I know I didn't.

Goes both ways, regardless of the position.

Not every person who voted for Farkas hates BRT.

Not every person who voted for someone other than Farkas loves BRT.

Maybe they even cancel each other out

[Porfiry]

Originally Posted by 5seconds

It would be a stretch to assume that, which is why I didn't.

You concluded that Farkas has "minimal" mandate on the BRT, because 60% of voters chose pro-BRT candidates. The problem with that statement is this was not a referendum on the BRT. Voters make their choice on the whole package, not a single issue. I'm not in favour of the BRT, but I sure did NOT vote for Farkas (or Smith), for other reasons.