The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The first ever train in service at the new Bayview Station. Lower level Trillium Line.


https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa

Close-ups of the first train at Bayview's new Trillium Line 2 platform.



https://twitter.com/brent68075343/status/1166649995312979968

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by niwell

It doesn't necessarily make intuitive sense, but airports are actually fairly poor trip generators. Particularly in smaller centres. For most groups of travelers a taxi/ride-share is cheaper and less work with baggage. Business travelers will do the same unless it's a big city and some form of (usually expensive) express rail is faster. Individuals returning home and airport workers are more likely to take transit, however their destination isn't always downtown. A transit link to the airport is always desirable, but may not be the best routing for transit users.

Although Quebec is a major tourist destination I suspect that driving to most hotels is easy enough from the airport, and in terms of direct transit link a bus would suffice.

People who visit Quebec City will probably visit Montréal, they land in YUL and go to Quebec City by car. It's just a 2h30 drive. If you want to visit the National Capital region, you absolutely need a car.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I agree, for Québec City, 35 stations on 26 kilometers is a little much. I would probably maintain all of the proposed underground stations: these are your commercial, cultural and tourism sectors, you do not want to under-build like the Canada Line, and I suspect the Confederation Line (we shall see in a few weeks). The north and west (up until la Pôle uLaval) could stand to lose a few stations and re-align others.

I think if people were traveling 26km and stopping at 35 stations that would be very tedious, but this is basically like the Yonge or Bloor lines in the sense that there are two separate arms that extend from outer areas into the city centre and back out again rather than a single arm extending 26km away from the city centre. That means that most trips will be less than 1/2 of that distance. One arm seems to be about 12km and the other about 14km and the average stop spacing seems to be about 600m-800m which is quite reasonable for that trip length imo. For comparison, the Bloor line is 26.2km and 31 stations and this is only part of many trips since many people still have to transfer to the Yonge line to get to other parts of downtown while the QC route go right to the prime parts of the city centre. It will be much faster than standard bus service since in most cities bus stops are anywhere from 150m - 350m apart. express buses have greater stop spacing but often much lower service frequency.

[FrAnKs]

I made a print screen from the video of the Québec City's structuring network, so you'll see what the full thing looks like.
The Tramway & Trambus will be indeed the most important part of the network, but it's not just this. And since this year, the city if offering a bus service to the airport.



• Video Link

[J.OT13]

Another Trillium train at Bayview.


https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/1166746347762016256

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[J.OT13]

One more image of the new Bayview Station. Trillium platform now open.


https://twitter.com/OC_Transpo/status/1167014127727984641

[SFUVancouver]

SkyTrain Expansion Project Moves Closer Thanks to UBC Funds
Frances Bula
VANCOUVER
Published August 29, 2019

The ambitious plans to expand the Vancouver region’s subway system to the University of British Columbia in the far west and Langley will get a significant boost from money committed by UBC and from development fees, says the head of the transit authority.

TransLink chief executive Kevin Desmond said UBC is now prepared to contribute $100-million or more, along with potential contributions from the three Indigenous nations with developable property near the university. Plans for significant new density along the Fraser Highway will make the Langley section workable, he explained in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

“The [UBC Board of Governors] said they want it and they’re willing to put in a very large amount of money, into nine figures,” Mr. Desmond said. “We believe the Musqueam [and others] would be similarly interested in contributing to the line.”

And, he said, the Surrey-to-Langley line now being planned will see significant development along its route, which is something local politicians are prepared for.

“They understand you’re going to have to build up density around the stations,” he said.

UBC’s associate vice-president for community planning, Michael White, said in an e-mailed statement that the university’s contribution to the line could consist of land for stations, charges collected from developers or transit-enabled revenue collected from people coming to the campus for recreation or culture. He said no specific dollar amount has been determined yet.

…

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/a...roject-moves-closer-thanks-to-ubc-funds/

This is very good news for the project, the university, and the region. People rhetorically slagged UBC and its students, faculty, and staff for "wanting" SkyTrain to extend to the university.

"Why not just build more residences?" they said. "Let UBC put up money for the project if it's so important" they said.

Well, UBC is building thousands of new students residence beds [Exchange Residences, Pacific Residences, and Brock Commons Phase 2] and steadily moving along with the build-out of Westbook Village and planning thousands of market and non-market homes in the new Stadium neighbourhood. With this news, the second piece is in place.

Frankly, $100M from a university shouldn't even be needed for such an obvious project such as this and it's a drop in the bucket on a $3.8B project, but it is politically expedient, lives up to the precedent of YVR and the Canada Line, and it will come from IICs, so it's not a Sophie's Choice of classrooms or SkyTrain.

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Our newest video is on Highway 407 Station, perhaps Toronto's most glorious and massive transit station. It's most certainly a white elephant but, it's beautiful nonetheless, enjoy!

https://youtu.be/348FTxtY5_8

Quite frustrating. While hundreds of thousands are packed into the downtown portion of the line and cramped 50s and 60s era stations, Toronto, Queen's Park and the Feds invest billions upon billions for humongous underground stations in empty fields far outside town. Meanwhile, Governments have been promising the relief line for 30-40 years.

I'm not discrediting the Vaughan extension completely. Finch serves some density, York University, as with any post-secondary institution, is a high transit ridership generator for its two stations and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre comes with the promise of significant TOD.

Downsview Park and Highway 407 could have been roughed-in for future use. Many of the stations could have been built at a more reasonable scale. Another way they could have saved funds would have been to build elevated for a portion of the line.

[Dengler Avenue]

Highway 407 Station could have been roughed in at a much later time if only HOV lanes were built on Keele Street from York U to Highway 7. The rush hour traffic on Keele Street severely compromised the reliability of Go Transit so 407 Station was built.

[CityTech]

The Vaughan extension was a worthwhile project but it could have used some value engineering.

[J.OT13]

At and around Bayview Station.


https://mobile.twitter.com/brent68075343/status/1167026367885713408






https://twitter.com/dbellerive15

[J.OT13]

Couple videos released by OC Transpo as part of the Confederation Line launch. Second and third videos have great panoramics of the Ottawa skyline and stations. Last video is good for those interested in the trains, station features, schedules, wayfinding and other.

Thank you for using our crappy service during the years of disruptions and delays

• Video Link

September 14th opening

• Video Link

Welcome aboard, from OC Transpo staff

• Video Link

Ready4Rail intro to new service video

• Video Link

[J.OT13]

Memo: Achievement of the Revenue Service Availability for the O-Train Confederation Line

Shane Seguin Tuesday, September 03, 2019
O-Train Fans



The City of Ottawa media relations has just released the following memo regarding RSA.

The purpose of this memorandum is to advise Mayor and Members of Council that the Rideau Transit Group (RTG) has achieved Revenue Service Availability for the O-Train Confederation Line.

Rideau Transit Group (RTG) submitted their notice for the Revenue Service Availability (RSA) milestone on August 30, 2019, which includes the required verification by the City's Independent Safety Auditor (ISA) that compliance with safety requirements for the RSA milestone has been met.

Following receipt of the RSA notice, the City issued an opinion to the Independent Certifier indicating that requirements of this milestone have been achieved. Pending completion of final open items and documentation that the City requires just prior to public launch, any remaining work will be tracked as minor deficiencies for completion within six months. A further follow up on procedures and documentation will be completed by the ISA as the final step in their safety verification just prior to public service.

The Independent Certifier reviewed RTG's notice and the City's opinion this weekend and certified that the requirements for the Revenue Service Availability milestone were achieved as of August 30, 2019.

As announced by Mayor Watson last week, the service launch date for the public is Saturday, September 14, 2019. Staff continue to undertake the operational readiness activities required to ensure that the Confederation Line seamlessly integrates into the OC Transpo network prior to opening day, including additional City-led system practice, simulated system operations and staff training.

We are looking forward to launching the system to our City. Our priority remains to provide Ottawa with a safe, reliable and world-class transit system and to protect the interests of Ottawa residents and transit users.

​Source : City of Ottawa

https://www.otrainfans.ca/news/memo-achi...ility-for-the-o-train-confederation-line

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

I wonder how long it is until we see platform screen doors (or lower barriers like on some systems) on this given the platforms and ATO appear to be perfect for it.

Platform screen doors were initially part of the plan around 08'-10', along with 180 meter platforms and a longer, much deeper tunnel through downtown. The age of Jim Watson 2.0 came along in 2010 and the project was, for better or worse, value engineered to 120 meter platforms, a shorter and much shallower tunnel and the elimination of platform screen doors.

Now that the City is focused on expanding the system to the far reaches of suburban Ottawa, which will likely take another 10-15 years to complete, I don't think platform screen doors are on the radar. I could see them as part of a significant upgrade in 30 years once the maintenance contract with the builder comes to an end. At that point, the City might need to increase capacity and therefore lengthen the platforms, buy new train sets (or add modules to existing trains sets) and maybe go full ATO, with the elimination of drivers.

In the meantime, I believe the City will have to invest in additional vertical circulation and station entrances at some stations because of the value engineering efforts in 10'-12', similarly to Vancouver's Canada Line. The shallower tunnel will make those upgrades a little simpler.

[Nouvellecosse]

Value engineered platforms to 120m? That's longer than any platform on the Paris and Madrid Metros or Vancouver Skytrain. When and if there comes a day when that's not sufficient capacity will be the day when the city needs another central tunnel to both expand capacity and serve additional parts of the city centre.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Value engineered platforms to 120m? That's longer than any platform on the Paris and Madrid Metros or Vancouver Skytrain. When and if there comes a day when that's not sufficient capacity will be the day when the city needs another central tunnel to both expand capacity and serve additional parts of the city centre.

Keep in mind we have low-floor LRT vehicles, so interior configuration is greatly limited by the bogies sticking out of the floor therefore, Vancouver's Expo and Millennium Lines have the same capacity with shorter trains.

That said, the initial design was way over-built. Don't get me wrong. With the current 120 meter platforms, capacity can reach 24,000 phpd. More so if we ever remove driver cabs (4 per 2 car train currently) and/or buy trains that are a continuous 130 meters (overhang at the front and back). That is more than adequate.

The shallower tunnel also saves everyone a whole lot of time getting in and out of stations. Here's a comparison from original deep bored tunnel design to the straight and shallow Queen Street alignment.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-lrt-tunnel-to-go-under-queen-street-1.1004851

Rideau station was moved east to under Rideau Street about a year later to make it shallower as well, and better serve the Rideau Centre and Byward Market. The depths of the stations as they exist today are, from west to east, 17.5m, 19m and 26.5m.

So value engineering isn't always a bad thing in the case of modifications to the tunnel itself. However, removing the platform screen doors is debatable. Removing the double escalators, I'm quite positive, will cause problems. Parliament station, the busiest on the system, only has two elevators from street level to the concourse, which could also be an issue. The configuration of Bayview station was greatly modified to save money, making possible expansions of the Trillium Line quite awkward (double track, extension to Gatineau, passenger flow between the street, Confederation and Trillium). We shall see.

[Nouvellecosse]

In wonder if the use of low-floor stock was also just a cost saving measure? High platforms with high floor vehicles like Calgary and original Edmonton systems) not only provides more usable space but can also help reduce maintenance costs since apparently there's less wear on the wheels.