The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[ainvan]

Richmond successfully raises $32 million to build Canada Line's new Capstan Station

The City of Richmond has reached and exceeded its original goal of raising the required funding to build Capstan Station on SkyTrain’s Canada Line.

This new additional station — located near the northeast corner of the intersection of No. 3 Road and Capstan Way, roughly mid-way between Bridgeport Station and Aberdeen Station — is intended to help serve the growing transportation needs of the new dense residential developments being built in and around the area deemed by the municipal government as Capstan Village.

The original funding target to cover the entirety of the station’s estimated construction cost was $27.79 million (adjusted for inflation), and this was reached and exceeded in November 2018 with $28.4 million raised.

But the pool of available funding for Capstan Station has continued to grow; City of Richmond spokesperson Ted Townsend confirmed to Daily Hive the municipal government has, as of this month, raised about $32 million.

This is from both the development levy of each new condominium unit built around the area, as well as the municipal government’s accrued revenue from interest from strategically investing the raised funds.

DailyHive

[zahav]

LOL it's so funny you can tell that rendering was just for Viewstar because none of the development on the other side of the station is showing, it's just a green field In reality the other side is already further along in it's development and that green space is basically gone

[CivicBlues]

Anyone know why they never considered 16th avenue for a station? Seems like an obvious place for a station.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Anyone know why they never considered 16th avenue for a station? Seems like an obvious place for a station.

Because underground stations cost a lot and it doesn't add much to the line's catchment (red existing stations, green a 16th station):

[CivicBlues]

Explain False Creek station then? Doesn't that fall under Broadway-City Hall's catchment easily? At least there's a vibrant commercial node at 16th....the same can't be said about FC station.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Explain False Creek station then? Doesn't that fall under Broadway-City Hall's catchment easily? At least there's a vibrant commercial node at 16th....the same can't be said about FC station.

FC was about a master planned redevelopment that the city put all the weight on the scales for, as the city had a lot of money at risk in the project. Also, avoiding 16th avoided redevelopment spilling too far into the single family zoning.

[nname]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Explain False Creek station then? Doesn't that fall under Broadway-City Hall's catchment easily? At least there's a vibrant commercial node at 16th....the same can't be said about FC station.

It was used for the staging area for TBM, so they would need to dig a giant hole anyways. They can either turn it into a station for $$, or backfill it with $.

[p_xavier]

So the Québec government has officially asked the CDPQi to work on two REM extensions plus two other lines that could be REM lines.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-n...tending-rem-into-laval-east-end-montreal

Studies to be finished in 2020.

[p_xavier]

So seems that the Montréal mayor is the only one complaining about the REM expansion, and "more studies" to the ARTM should have been done. She looks more like a mayor of immobility than mobility so far.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-n...tending-rem-into-laval-east-end-montreal

Would the REM be the world's longest automated network after that? I'm not aware of any other system being expanded so much.

[J.OT13]

I can understand Plante's position. She was elected on the Pink Line. She wants to work on reducing congestion on the current Metro system. Stage 1 of the REM will help, but expanding on the REM will get us back to where we are now. She's the Mayor of Montreal, not the metropolitan area.

This reminds me a lot of the Toronto situation. The City makes transit plans and then the province steps in and scrapes the current projects in favour of their own pet projects that will win more votes in the suburbs. That is what got us the Yonge-University mess. Downtown be damned.

Let's not make the same mistake in Montreal.

[Acajack]

Yes but on the other hand Valérie Plante needs to learn to be a team player and collaborate with other mayors and entities in the Montreal area, and obviously with the government in Quebec City.

On this and a number of other files she has not shown very much ability to do this of late.

She has to deal with whomever happens to be elected in the suburbs, in Quebec City and in Ottawa. Even if they're not her "friends". That's politics 101.

[Aylmer]

In a region as administratively fractured as Greater Montreal, it's best to have an arms-length organization coordinating transportation planning rather than handing the steering wheel to fleeting political interests and unaccountable private interests. Quebec has an unenviable history of politically- and privately-motivated transport plans which fizzle as soon as the next one flares. From the TRAMM to CP's monorail, there have been a lot of flash-bang proposals which have come to nothing because there's no good mechanism for actually following through, and there's always some new exciting thing on the horizon. Well, they finally got that mechanism - the ARTM - which managed to wrangle and herd the various political interests of the region into coherent and concrete plans, timelines, and funding.

I fear that if its authority to plan continues to be undermined, Montreal will return to its transit fantasy stupor where everything is possible and nothing gets done.

[Acajack]

I can understand that Plante is frustrated about her pink line plan not going forward but OTOH if this CAQ plan goes forward a large swathe of territory within Montreal city limits (in the far east end) will be getting rapid transit whereas at the moment it has none. The pink line was intended to provide relief in the central part of the island which I agree is needed but that area still has the best rapid transit in the Montreal region by far (even if it's congested) and it will be served by some new REM segments as well.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Aylmer

In a region as administratively fractured as Greater Montreal, it's best to have an arms-length organization coordinating transportation planning rather than handing the steering wheel to fleeting political interests and unaccountable private interests. Quebec has an unenviable history of politically- and privately-motivated transport plans which fizzle as soon as the next one flares. From the TRAMM to CP's monorail, there have been a lot of flash-bang proposals which have come to nothing because there's no good mechanism for actually following through, and there's always some new exciting thing on the horizon. Well, they finally got that mechanism - the ARTM - which managed to wrangle and herd the various political interests of the region into coherent and concrete plans, timelines, and funding.

I fear that if its authority to plan continues to be undermined, Montreal will return to its transit fantasy stupor where everything is possible and nothing gets done.

The best organization who saw things go through is the CDPQi, hence I trust (and the government) them 100x more than the ARTM which has shown incredibly weak results so far.

[MTLskyline]

I don't think the REM is the answer to all of Montreal's transit woes. Sometimes a metro extension will make more sense, sometimes commuter rail, sometimes better bus service. I also don't like the idea of suburban REM stations being designed as nothing more than giant park and ride lots. I expect something like that for commuter rail, but the REM should be a medium density option where a good chunk of people walk/bike, a sizable portion take buses there and a minority drive. To be honest, I think it would make sense to convert the Metro yellow line to an REM. This should make it easier to extend further, as Longueuil is around the perfect density for the REM.

I think that to qualify for a station there should be a few requirements: e.g. a minimum number of people within walking distance and sidewalks along all the main roads to the station (e.g. maybe 5,000 within 800m for all stations along the line until it drops below that density).

There's an interesting look at the density around the Metro/Commuter rail stations in Greater Montreal here: http://www.cat-bus.com/category/map/

In the case of east end Montreal it makes sense to build some sort of transit extension out there. For the density and distance to cover in that part of the island, maybe an REM would make sense, although I would suggest that should be done through a conversion of the Mascouche line, with another branch being built south, like in the West Island.

The other proposed REM extensions are just vote buying and will lead to more sprawl. Brossard south of the 30, Chambly or northern Laval are nowhere near dense enough to merit something like the REM. They they would be better served by commuter rail (to gather people from a wider area) or express bus service to commuter rail/REM stations.

Right now, there's all sorts of brand new manufactured sprawl being built south of Autoroute 30 in Brossard in what was previously farmlands. That money would have been better spent densifying already built areas closer to downtown that are lower density such as Saint Hubert. Easier said than done for sure.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I can understand that Plante is frustrated about her pink line plan not going forward but OTOH if this CAQ plan goes forward a large swathe of territory within Montreal city limits (in the far east end) will be getting rapid transit whereas at the moment it has none. The pink line was intended to provide relief in the central part of the island which I agree is needed but that area still has the best rapid transit in the Montreal region by far (even if it's congested) and it will be served by some new REM segments as well.

Officially in the media now.
https://www.985fm.ca/nouvelles/politique...rd-drainville-a-propos-de-valerie-plante

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

Right now, there's all sorts of brand new manufactured sprawl being built south of Autoroute 30 in Brossard in what was previously farmlands. That money would have been better spent densifying already built areas closer to downtown that are lower density such as Saint Hubert. Easier said than done for sure.

The developpers are getting angry at the Plante administration for many reasons, imposed high ratio for social housing, subsidized housing etc. Limits on height development around metro stations.

So where is the density built? DT Montreal and mostly in the suburbs where REM stations will be. NIMBYs don't want high density, cities don't want high density in existing residential areas. So what's left? TOD "sprawl". It's the best sprawl we can get until cities accept more density. People still refuse it so good luck with that.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by d_jeffrey

Officially in the media now.
https://www.985fm.ca/nouvelles/politique...rd-drainville-a-propos-de-valerie-plante

I would assume that the CAQ people are smart enough to realize that "Montréal" is bigger than "Valérie Plante" and won't penalize the city because of this.

Especially since a lot of CAQ bigwigs (including the Premier himself) are Montrealers - even though only a couple of them represent ridings on the island.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I would assume that the CAQ people are smart enough to realize that "Montréal" is bigger than "Valérie Plante" and won't penalize the city because of this.

Especially since a lot of CAQ bigwigs (including the Premier himself) are Montrealers - even though only a couple of them represent ridings on the island.

(off topic)

Interesting. I've always thought l'Assomption is part of Joliette.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

(off topic)

Interesting. I've always thought l'Assomption is part of Joliette.

François Legault's riding of L'Assomption spans the area from just across the river from the eastern tip of Montreal all the way to the outskirts of Joliette. It includes rural areas and also suburban areas of Charlemagne (where Céline Dion is from) and Repentigny which are right next to Montreal.

Legault himself is from Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue which is on the island of Montreal itself but at the other (western) end.