The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[begratto]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Scheer announced this morning that his government, instead of giving money to cities, that a Conservative government would give money to users by bringing back that tax credit, at a cost of $230 million a year to start, $300 million a year by 2028-2029.

https://www.conservative.ca/andrew-scheer-to-reduce-cost-of-public-transit/

They should use the $300M to subsidize transit projects instead.

[milomilo]

Nothing angers me more than pointless complication of the tax code. The Conservatives prove themselves more unworthy of governance by the day.

[hipster duck]

Damnit, this is as stupid as the Liberal's First Time Homebuyer subsidy for largely the same reason.

When it comes to public transit, most of our cities have a supply problem, not a demand problem.

[bikegypsy]

Periscope from O-Train Fans of the press ride before the official launch of Confed Line https://www.pscp.tv/otrainfans613/1OwxWdZaRmAKQ

[mintzilla]

Dumb question but why is the Ottawa trillium line single track in some sections. Seems like an odd choice

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[corynv]

Originally Posted by mintzilla

Dumb question but why is the Ottawa trillium line single track in some sections. Seems like an odd choice

because in 2000 (or whenever it started) it was started as easy to slot in pilot project for about $20 million at the time to see how ottawa would react to a rail system. It was so successful it's been on service (with some disruptions) ever since.

Also it was made from an old Freight main line (which was still seeing a small amount of use at the time), and to completely double track it, it would require a 2nd tunnel under dow's lake.

[GoTrans]

Originally Posted by mintzilla

Dumb question but why is the Ottawa trillium line single track in some sections. Seems like an odd choice

Because the city is cheap.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

We were AMAZED and pleasantly surprised by how nice Ottawa's LRT is. Calling it an LRT is doing it an injustice because it really does feel like a metro similar to Montreal's. Trains were running every 4 minutes most of the day without a hitch.

Enjoy our video and consider sharing it!

https://youtu.be/ttek78mRoRg

Thanks for linking this.I'm checking it out now.
I myself am going to wait until I actually need to use it, but looking forward to the experience. I'm not 100% sure, but is Ottawa now the 3rd city in Canada to have some sort of underground subway, albeit just through the downtown core?..I know Vancouver has the Skytrain..Not sure if Edmonton and/or Calgary's LRT has any below grade sections?

Ottawa residents will soon have another hidden bonus, as the 417 highway widening through downtown was off limits for vehicles, because buses were re-directed on the new lanes while the Light rail was being built through the old transit way..I imagine vehicles will be able to take over these lanes soon, and the temporary buses taken off the 417. Pretty exciting times for a transformed Ottawa..A widened main highway + a new Light rail line, with another few lines to come!

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by GoTrans

Because the city is cheap.

Actually, the city is expensive. It just looks cheap ...

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Razor

Thanks for linking this.I'm checking it out now.
I myself am going to wait until I actually need to use it, but looking forward to the experience. I'm not 100% sure, but is Ottawa now the 3rd city in Canada to have some sort of underground subway, albeit just through the downtown core?..I know Vancouver has the Skytrain..Not sure if Edmonton and/or Calgary's LRT has any below grade sections?

Edmonton's LRT does through downtown.

I think the C-Train has a few tunnel segments too.

[SaskScraper]

Originally posted by Razor
...I'm not 100% sure, but is Ottawa now the 3rd city in Canada to have some sort of underground subway, albeit just through the downtown core?..I know Vancouver has the Skytrain..Not sure if Edmonton and/or Calgary's LRT has any below grade sections...?

Edmonton's Capital line LRT between Churchill & Grandin (about 3 kilometers) has been running under downtown Edmonton for the last 40 years.
After crossing North Sask River the Capital line runs under part of U of A for a kilometer.

Calgary's C-train has a section of tunnel running under downtown Calgary from Central Library block to 12 Ave SE for about half a kilometer and again under Burnsland Cemetery for half a kilometer...

There are other sections of underground in Edmonton and Calgary but outside of the downtowns.

Vancouver's 'Sky'train runs almost completely underground on both downtown lines and the Canada line to YVR airport in Richmond is almost all underground (~dozen kilometers underground total) The rest of Skytrain is mostly on elevated pillars.

[milomilo]

Calgary does have an underground station also. It's a short section and just barely underground (a covered trench really), but underground nonetheless.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by wave46

Edmonton's LRT does through downtown.

I think the C-Train has a few tunnel segments too.

Oh okay.I knew that both Edmonton and Calgary's planners were progressive enough at the time to go right to the light rail vs that middle step of a rapid bus transit way a la' what Ottawa did , but I didn't know that Edmonton installed a fully enclosed tunnel through it's core .I assumed that it was all above grade. Even better fore sight..Thanks!

[milomilo]

This is all very pie in the sky right now but at least it's being talked about.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/banff-liricon-waterous-transit-parking-gondola-1.5283691

Something for ssiguy - look at what it says on the train:

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Razor

Oh okay.I knew that both Edmonton and Calgary's planners were progressive enough at the time to go right to the light rail vs that middle step of a rapid bus transit way a la' what Ottawa did , but I didn't know that Edmonton installed a fully enclosed tunnel through it's core .I assumed that it was all above grade. Even better fore sight..Thanks!

I've always been curious if the C-Train would eventually migrate underground through downtown Calgary. It would eliminate a lot of the stop-and-go at traffic lights.

Is that in the long-term plan?

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by wave46

I've always been curious if the C-Train would eventually migrate underground through downtown Calgary. It would eliminate a lot of the stop-and-go at traffic lights.

Is that in the long-term plan?

Yep, the long term goal has been to eventually move the Red Line (only, not the blue) into a tunnel under 8th Ave. There is even a roughed in tunnel under the library connecting to the existing tunnel, and you can see it from the train.

However, the more time passes, the less interested council is in building it. And that's understandable, the line still has capacity to carry more people without the tunnel.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by begratto

They should use the $300M to subsidize transit projects instead.

Simply allocating $300M to help the transit authorities buy electric buses instead of diesel would go a long way to helping transit become more financially sustainable over the long run.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by GoTrans

Because the city is cheap.

Also, because of the political football that became of the original Trillium Line extension in 2006. After that, it became politically impossible to double track the line.

[SpongeG]

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