Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka
Nothing about the conversion from BRT to LRT has been easy. Other Ottawa users can speak to this if they like but in my opinion it would be easier to just build LRT outright rather than build BRT, wait twenty or thirty years, and then change it to LRT. It's been a long couple of years of bus rerouting, construction delays, and the costs are getting higher and higher. This is beside the fact that once LRT begins it requires urban residents to transfer more frequently than they had to under the BRT-only system. Also also beside the fact is that Stage 2 is primarily further servicing suburban residents at the expense of inner-city residents.
The only upside is that the right-of-way is somewhat reserved already for Stage 2 and most of the stations are already pre-existing in location.[
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I don't understand why this is a plus for Stage 2 when 95% of the Ottawa forumers (including you in this post) say that the old Transitway was totally useless when it came to building Stage 1.
I realize that Stage 1 had a major tunnel component downtown which was built from scratch but aside from that to the east and west of downtown Stage 2 has pretty similar pros and cons (in terms of what it inherits from the Transitway) as Stage 1 did. |
1. ROW. It's easier on public consciousness and acceptance if you're building a new line (LRT) physically in place of an old line (BRT). The difficulties around things like land acquisition, demolition, and other movements are already primarily taken care of.
2. With stations already pre-existing it allows for easy shifting from BRT to LRT. People already know where the stations are and, similar to the first point, don't need to be constructed in new areas altogether. The Orchard station is a point of contention because it's a new location and in/near a greenspace area, so it's facing some difficulty in design. Compare this to a currently existing station that simply needs to be upgraded (Dominion, or Westboro, etc.) and you'll see the difference.
Did I say the Transitway was useless for building Stage 1? It's useful to some degree (the points above) but the conversion from BRT to LRT is such a hassle regarding bus routing, delays, etc. that it's easier to just build LRT outright rather than bothering with BRT at all. I'm speaking in regards to forty years ago or whenever the Transitway was created.
I do have issues with the Transitway as a whole but it's 50/50 on pros and cons moving to LRT. Could be better but could be worse.
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