The Great Canadian Transit Thread - Page 54

niwell · #**1061** Posted **Feb 6, 2012, 3:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

Btw the only news source I would quote (off the top of my head) is Russian Television or in some cases the Globe and Mail. Sun TV is just as much neocon propoganda as the star is neoliberal propoganda.

Sorry for taking this off-topic, but I'm not sure you understand what the word "neoliberal" refers to. Hint: it doesn't mean left-wing, and the Star certainly does not fit into that category.

Wharn · #**1062** Posted **Feb 6, 2012, 5:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by losername

^^^^Correction it may get them out of their cars for part of their trips but they will still drive to the subway station.

And you see something wrong with that? Therein lies your problem. If people are willing to get out of their cars for the segment of their trip that takes them into the most congested part of the city, then that is desirable and should be encouraged. They do the exact same thing with commuter rail: drive to the damn station, leave the car at the station and go downtown with all the modern kids and sing Rococo to their hearts' content. If you force people to do a long stint on slow surface routes, they're just going to disregard transit completely and clog the core with more vehicles.

nname · #**1063** Posted **Feb 6, 2012, 6:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

Under Fords plan that's what's going to happen. And don't even get me started how people along Finch in the westend are going to be getting less transit then ever before.

Transit City map vs the Ford map, and keep in mind Transit City is fully funded, Ford expects the private sector to pick up the tab for his plan.

Well, except none of the plans are the one currently on the table. The Transit City plan had more than half of the lines deferred to post 2020 before it was cancelled, and the subway plan have a line at Eglinton instead of Sheppard.

Just amazing to see how much the plan changes in just over a year...

Rico Rommheim · #**1064** Posted **Feb 6, 2012, 6:21 PM**

Yikes I had no idea how much Toronto was underserved by its subway. I understand now the massive expansion plans.

yaletown_fella · #**1065** Posted **Feb 6, 2012, 9:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

Sorry for taking this off-topic, but I'm not sure you understand what the word "neoliberal" refers to. Hint: it doesn't mean left-wing, and the Star certainly does not fit into that category.

My bad. I thought it meant authoritarian left of center politics?

Symz · #**1066** Posted **Feb 6, 2012, 9:03 PM**

I thought I'd post a pic of Transit Windsor's hybrid buses.

The buses look neat. I'm not sure who many we have in total now, maybe around 20?

Even though we've gone environmental, I still think the bus system in Windsor is a bit lacking.

niwell · #**1067** Posted **Feb 6, 2012, 9:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

My bad. I thought it meant authoritarian left of center politics?

Not really, it is a modern (and arguably bastardized) form of classic liberalism. Generally refers to right of centre fiscal policy emphasizing privatization and globalization a la Thatcher / Reagan. Also the current ire of left leaning university programs - or at least it was prior to the current economic situation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

Andrewjm3D · #**1068** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 12:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wharn

If you force people to do a long stint on slow surface routes, they're just going to disregard transit completely and clog the core with more vehicles.

The LRT at grade will not be slow. Nothing like St.Clair it's completely different. Rob Ford and his cronies have been trying to convince Toronto that LRT = slow transit. When really the only reason he wants to kill Transit City is because he hated Miller, Ford is showing zero respect for the citizens of this city.

This Wednesday we will find out if transit City is back up and running, all be it under a new name.

2 years 9 months 3 weeks left with this idiot of a mayor.

BTW - LOL at your Rococo comment.

Dwils01 · #**1069** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 1:11 AM**

Union Station Revitalization

Pic by me from Sunday February 05, 2012.

Wharn · #**1070** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 1:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Symz

The buses look neat. I'm not sure who many we have in total now, maybe around 20?

Even though we've gone environmental, I still think the bus system in Windsor is a bit lacking.

We have a few Hybrid buses in London as well. Being a bit of a gearhead I'm already not a huge fan of hybrid vehicles because of their high initial cost and complex drivetrain systems.

If people want to waste their money on that crap (sans subsidy) then fine by me, but the government shouldn't be pandering to environmentalists by buying these things. You get fewer vehicles for your money (which means less coverage), and you're saddled with higher maintenance costs (especially once the drive systems start to fail). Two problems that small cities such as Windsor and London really don't need.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

The LRT at grade will not be slow. Nothing like St.Clair it's completely different. Rob Ford and his cronies have been trying to convince Toronto that LRT = slow transit. When really the only reason he wants to kill Transit City is because he hated Miller, Ford is showing zero respect for the citizens of this city.

This Wednesday we will find out if transit City is back up and running, all be it under a new name.

2 years 9 months 3 weeks left with this idiot of a mayor.

The surface route comment was actually in reference to YRT/TTC buses, which I hate. I hate them with the burning passion of a thousand suns. The LRT would no doubt be an improvement over buses (in fact, plain old streetcars would be a massive improvement), but not suitable for long-distance travel. You wouldn't get the convenience of bus stops or the speed of a subway, and you'd still be at the whim of red lights or traffic accidents blocking intersections or morons who just waltz across the tracks. On top of that, if the aim is to reduce congestion, it's best to grade-separate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrewjm3D

BTW - LOL at your Rococo comment.

Arcade Fire- Always appropriate.

Andrewjm3D · #**1071** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 1:24 AM**

Union Station is going from great to amazing. It's nice to see the new train shed making progress. One of the best things in the upgrade will be covering the link between the Subway and train stations. the Pigeons wont be happy.

vid · #**1072** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 1:32 AM**

Thunder Bay just uses biofuels for its buses. We use NovaBuses, which are apparently 38 times more efficient than the 13 year old OBI buses we are currently retiring.

dleung · #**1073** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 3:07 AM**

Look forward to the Union station upgrades. I still remember returning from the beach and being stranded in that passage during a freak rainstorm where there were 4 inches of water separating the subway from the massive crowd trying to figure out how to cross over

Quote:

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

Exactly! Hit the nail on the coffin!

No kidding. And those are projected figures for 2018, 3 years after scheduled completion. Very optimistic too, since there is literally nothing north of YorkU, and they're relying on acres and acres of park and rides to get that ridership

To put it in perspective:

-------------------------Cost-------------Daily Ridership
Yonge/University-------------------------700,000
Bloor-Danforth---------------------------500,000
Sheppard---------------$1.0 billion-------47,000
Spadina Extension------$2.7 billion-------80,000 (3 year target)

Vancouver:
Expo Line---------------------------------200,000
Canada Line------------$2.0 billion-------140,000
Millenium Line-----------$1.0 billion-------90,000

Hence transit dollars - and their matching provincial and federal contributions - don't seem to go very far in Toronto these days...

armorand93 · #**1074** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 3:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid

Thunder Bay just uses biofuels for its buses. We use NovaBuses, which are apparently 38 times more efficient than the 13 year old OBI buses we are currently retiring.

Does anyone even BUY OBI anymore?

davidivivid · #**1075** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 3:25 AM**

Quebec City's écolobus. As the name might suggest, these buses function only on electricity and are used exclusively in the historic district.

"The Écolobus is a free downtown circulator service operated with electric buses. The vehicle’s maximum speed is 33km/h (20.5mph) and they have a service range of 100km (62 miles) or 12 hours. The buses take 8 hours to charge and seat 10 passengers, with room for 10 more to stand. The buses consume C$3.25 (~US$3.16) of electricity per day. The design of the bus with a large side door does not allow for fare collection, the bus driver is separated from the passengers in their own compartment. "

I believe a 1$ fee is now demanded... Thruth be told, these buses are manufactured in Italy and we've run into some problems especially during the winter.

http://www.quebecenmouvement.com/nos-positions/des-quartiers-bien-desservis/

Andrewjm3D · #**1076** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 3:49 AM**

That bus is hilarious.

MonkeyRonin · #**1077** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 4:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

No kidding. And those are projected figures for 2018, 3 years after scheduled completion. Very optimistic too, since there is literally nothing north of YorkU, and they're relying on acres and acres of park and rides to get that ridership

This is the plan for Vaughn Centre:

Though I'm of the opinion that it should've at least seen a start to construction before any subway is built. As I've said before, existing ridership bases should always take precedence over spurring future TODs.

dleung · #**1078** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 9:26 PM**

I've seen the plans for Vaughan Centre.

I can think of a million better ways to spend $3 billion on transit in Toronto/GTA for the next decade before considering extending Spadina past York U. Having it underground is already insulting enough without all the opulent stations.

vid · #**1079** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 10:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by armorand93

Does anyone even BUY OBI anymore?

Thunder Bay only bought them because Harris demanded it. Since then, we've only used Nova.

We got NewFlyers once. They all had to be sent back and rebuilt within the first year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

This is the plan for Vaughn Centre:

Though I'm of the opinion that it should've at least seen a start to construction before any subway is built. As I've said before, existing ridership bases should always take precedence over spurring future TODs.

The plan for Port Arthur Centre in 1903 was "Largest city in the world".

I wish them better luck than we had!

someone123 · #**1080** Posted **Feb 7, 2012, 11:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid

The plan for Port Arthur Centre in 1903 was "Largest city in the world".

Yes, but Port Arthur didn't have an IKEA.