The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[mistercorporate]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I wonder why no cities other than Calgary do 24-hour RT service during exhibitions/major events though. It just seems like the most obvious way to limit drinking and driving. Though, that doesn't really work even here haha

The 24 hour bus network is pretty good and seems to handle the job just fine after-hours during major events, but yeah, 24 subway would be nice even if it means cleaning operations are more visible from 2am-6am (stupid TTC unions make everything more difficult).

[Chadillaccc]

Yeah. Even if they run only at half hour headways (such as CTrain during stampede), it's still fast, reliable, 24-hour service!

[Innsertnamehere]

mind you at 4 am the buses that run are still very reliable, as there is NO traffic that time of night. they would probably actually be faster than the train anyways.

[niwell]

TTC has run all night subway service for nuit blanche (and possibly other occasions?), although trains did not go to the end of the lines.

The real issue is maintenance, particularly on the Yonge line which has to close early north of Eglinton for repairs to the tunnel itself. If we had a 4 track system like NYC I'm sure this would not be as much of an issue, but running trains just isn't possible for these kinds of maintenance operations.

The night bus system works well and is frequent along Yonge and Bloor. The only issue can be crowding

[rike5]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

That's why we need to sell VIA rail to a private company that is willing to invest in HSR to compete with airlines.

No private company would build HSR as it stands right now. The capital costs are just too high to justify on a system that can't prove itself to be profitable (there is no precedent in Canada). That being said, I am completely for HSR on the Windsor-Quebec City route and I believe that it will be profitable once built but only the government will be willing to fork those first several dozen billion dollars to make the project a reality.

However, my way of looking at this is that the Canadian government should aim to build a base HSR line between Toronto and Ottawa as a base for the system. If it proves successful I'm sure private investors will be begging to get a share in the construction of the remaining legs.

[kwoldtimer]

But they'll soon be shooting us through tubes at 1200kmh!

[franktko]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

But they'll soon be shooting us through tubes at 1200kmh!

Yes. We should get that guy to build the Montreal-Toronto tube which is almost the same lenght as LA-SF, which he thinks would be profitable.

(http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/12/tech/innovation/hyperloop-fastest-trains/index.html?hpt=hp_c4)

[Chadillaccc]

Ottawa's Confederation Line and Canada's newest metro! UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

Originally Posted by ortelius

I took a few pictures a week ago or so

[armorand93]

Caught the Xcelisor electric battery bus out today in Winnipeg, for testing:

[kwoldtimer]

Why is it hauling a trailer?

[LeftCoaster]

It's the gas generator that it needs to power the batteries

[rike5]

^ maybe it's the battery, because it wasn't included, lol.
This hypothesis seems to be backed by all the wires at the back of the bus.

[Riise]

Is it me or do other people think that New Flyer buses look much nicer than those of Nova Bus?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by rike5

No private company would build HSR as it stands right now. The capital costs are just too high to justify on a system that can't prove itself to be profitable (there is no precedent in Canada). That being said, I am completely for HSR on the Windsor-Quebec City route and I believe that it will be profitable once built but only the government will be willing to fork those first several dozen billion dollars to make the project a reality.

However, my way of looking at this is that the Canadian government should aim to build a base HSR line between Toronto and Ottawa as a base for the system. If it proves successful I'm sure private investors will be begging to get a share in the construction of the remaining legs.

Agreed.

[Aylmer]

I used to be a big advocate of HSR until, ironically, I lived in Europe for a while. I realized that building HSR before having a well-used and well-run train network is much like learning to run before learning to walk. The high capital cost of HSR will make for high ticket prices, putting it out of reach for most people, especially if there isn't a culture of taking the train. It will compete with airlines, but what it won't compete with is the car and therefore won't alleviate our roads or their costly upkeep.

VIA, before all else, should concentrate on making its service reliable, frequent and more accessible, both geographically and financially: they should run smaller, Bombardier Talent-styled trains on more local routes and buy or build their own track in order to avoid conflicts with freight and to attain significantly better speeds (120-170 km/h is easily reached by non HSR in most developed countries).
The government, far from casting VIA into bankruptcy, should subsidise it heavily to reduce ticket prices to make the train attractive to everyone as a serious mode of transportation. These subsidies would pay themselves back in a reduced need to pay for expensive roads and accidents and, indirectly, by reduced healthcare costs and environmental costs.


And only then, once rail has become a direct competitor with the automobile, should trains go after short-haul air routes with HSR.

My 5¢.

[Innsertnamehere]

yep. the only route that manages high speeds (relatively) currently is Toronto-Montreal with maximums around 160km/h. If most of VIA's network could be upgraded to allow for those Kinds of speeds (except for the cross country tourist trains) that would be great. (along with HSR of course)

[GlassCity]

The biggest problem with trains is that it's so expensive. I just looked up how much it would cost to take the train from Vancouver to Edmonton, and it's $170, and still slower than a car. It's not hard to see why it loses out.

[Chadillaccc]

Hey that's not bad for $170! I'd totally do that one day! I bet the ride is incredible.

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

The biggest problem with trains is that it's so expensive. I just looked up how much it would cost to take the train from Vancouver to Edmonton, and it's $170, and still slower than a car. It's not hard to see why it loses out.

For an extra $20, you could get the discount ticket to Toronto!

That's one of VIA's big issues- it's got little going for it: not speed, price, flexibility... it is relaxing and there's WiFi, but that's not enough to make people pay the premium. To get a foot in the door, VIA will have to make a train ticket comparable to the price of a car trip both for individuals and for groups: $20 from Ottawa to Montreal might be an alright price for me, but if I were to take a group of friends or my family, it makes give times more sense to take a car. In Germany, you can buy regional ticket which costs the same for one person as it does for 5 - just like a car does. When I lived there, it was just common sense to take the family by train whereas it's almost unheard of here.

But I digress: VIA has to be properly subsidised to make itself accessible and attractive to the average Canadian.

[vid]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Anyways back to transit.

God knows we don't need another weather thread.

Anything new going down in Thunder Bay?

The city is going to rebuilt 18 bus shelters every year with a new modern design, some featuring luxuries like heating and lighting inside! Last year, we introduced a new corporate identity, bus livery, map designs and bus stop signs. Next year, the new transit system layout will go on-line, it will be a total overhaul of the network (with the exception of 1 route), and is designed to reduce travel times considerably by connecting every part of the city to more transit hubs.

Originally Posted by Beedok

The automated stop readout likes to pronounce Algoma Street as Alogma Street, but that's all I can think of.

TBTransit riders will get this one: