The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[megadude]

Right when I was tapping my card at the turnstile at union to take the subway some lady in her 60s was asking me how to get to St Clair station. She followed me right through. She sounded very genuine. But then I thought maybe it was a con and she does that all the time to avoid paying. I really don’t know.

Three seconds later a guy with a heavy Arabic accent of some kind that spoke just passable English, so probably a visitor, asked me how to get to Windsor. I said the city? He said yes. Then I showed him on google maps to confirm. He confirmed. I said it’s going to be like four hours. He said yeah. Dude had no luggage. No kind of bag whatsoever. Anyway, I pointed at the yellow VIA sign and said go that way and look for a ticket desk with that sign.

On average I get two people a year stopping me on the street for directions. That’s while I was working downtown five days a week. I only go in once a week now, which started in February. Looks like I covered my quota for the year.

[Beedok]

Really wishing Canada had city bus design more like Sweden. They’ve got coach bus like seats, which are so much more comfortable. It seems like there’s way more node stations served by several with next bus arrival screens set up. And even the ordinary bus stops generally seem nicer and more substantial.
(Trams where I’m staying are also nice, but I think this is the only city with a substantial tram network? So it’s an outlier.)

[JustForTheHalibut]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVZYqjcDnKY

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by JustForTheHalibut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVZYqjcDnKY

• Video Link

[itom 987]

LRT construction by West Edmonton Mall.
West LRT line Edmonton August 2022 by Jason Woodhead, on Flickr

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by itom 987

LRT construction by West Edmonton Mall.

West LRT line Edmonton August 2022 by Jason Woodhead, on Flickr

I feel connecting to this should have been a bigger priority as it is a major draw.I'd be interested in how the ridership is affected by this opening up.

[Coldrsx]

Regional transit takes another step forward with Edmonton’s continued support
Sept. 14, 2022 · The Pulse
By Mack Male
Comments

Edmonton city council voted 10-3 this week to support the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission phase one service plan that will see 11 routes across the region launch in the spring.

Though council endorsed the plan, it did not commit any funding at this time. Instead, administration will bring forward a service package for council’s consideration during the upcoming budget discussions. The plan is expected to require an investment of at least $7.2 million from the City of Edmonton.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he firmly supports regional public transit, but cautioned the commission model could result in Edmonton paying more.

“I want everyone to know that the commission model is going to cost us more and we need to go into that with open eyes and a clear understanding,” he said.

Several councillors raised concerns about investing in regional transit ahead of improving local service. But Coun. Andrew Knack suggested council could do both with its support for the plan.

“This actually adds service hours to Edmonton. To me that is clearly better service, right now,” he said. “And it’s going to help strengthen the region.”



https://edmonton.taproot.news/news/2022/...1302&mc_cid=b52c350751&mc_eid=b81cde227f

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Regional transit takes another step forward with Edmonton’s continued support
Sept. 14, 2022 · The Pulse
By Mack Male
Comments

Edmonton city council voted 10-3 this week to support the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission phase one service plan that will see 11 routes across the region launch in the spring.

Though council endorsed the plan, it did not commit any funding at this time. Instead, administration will bring forward a service package for council’s consideration during the upcoming budget discussions. The plan is expected to require an investment of at least $7.2 million from the City of Edmonton.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he firmly supports regional public transit, but cautioned the commission model could result in Edmonton paying more.

“I want everyone to know that the commission model is going to cost us more and we need to go into that with open eyes and a clear understanding,” he said.

Several councillors raised concerns about investing in regional transit ahead of improving local service. But Coun. Andrew Knack suggested council could do both with its support for the plan.

“This actually adds service hours to Edmonton. To me that is clearly better service, right now,” he said. “And it’s going to help strengthen the region.”



https://edmonton.taproot.news/news/2022/...1302&mc_cid=b52c350751&mc_eid=b81cde227f

Is this the beginnings of bringing Commuter rail to the 6th largest CMA?




Hey, Calgary and Ottawa, what are you waiting for?

[Coldrsx]

Likely all BRT given densities and costs, but yes, an important step forward.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Likely all BRT given densities and costs, but yes, an important step forward.

I wonder if this will be used to extend the LRT along the busy routes like the 9x series buses in Vancouver and the old Transitways of Ottawa. I'd much rather see a commuter rail system instead, but time will tell what will be done. The good thing is, if Edmonton did want to, except for the sections in the core, they do have a decent rail network that might be able to be utilized.

[Coldrsx]

The light blue to the NW will be a line (planned/unfunded) to St.Albert's border and then potentially through that city as well.

Eventually there will be LRT from the south terminus to YEG, Nisky, Leduc.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

The light blue to the NW will be a line (planned/unfunded) to St.Albert's border and then potentially through that city as well.

Eventually there will be LRT from the south terminus to YEG, Nisky, Leduc.

Looking at Edmonton area, the city likely only will need a robust LRT. Much more than that likely won't be needed.
My only thought now is how many lines are going to be enough. There is a plan for 5 lines that cross the city and go to 6 places.

[J.OT13]

I used to see the benefit of commuter rail before the pandemic, though there was a good argument that commuter rail can encourage people to live further out in car-oriented suburbs. Today though, I'm not sure it's a good idea. With WFH (don't know how the levels compare in other cities, but proportions are still high in Ottawa), it seems commuter transit investment are kind of a waste.

Municipal candidates in Ottawa continue to push for Stage 3 of the O-Train (converting perfectly functional bus Transit to Kanata and Barrhaven to rail for Billions upon Billion of dollars) when we should probably start serving those who use, or would like to use, transit for other trips outside the home other than commuting (i.e. urban transit), or even transit within suburban areas. They seems to understand that we need to focus less on commuting, but are still stuck on that waste of money that is Stage 3.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I used to see the benefit of commuter rail before the pandemic, though there was a good argument that commuter rail can encourage people to live further out in car-oriented suburbs. Today though, I'm not sure it's a good idea.

Commuter rail is a better proposition in a city like Toronto or Montreal where the central train station is right in the heart of a downtown financial district. In Ottawa, almost every commuter would have to transfer to another mode to complete their trip. There’s also only a handful of rail lines and they don’t travel close to where a lot of people live or work. Ottawa is better off with a commuter bus system.

Among cities of Ottawa’s size, Calgary would be a good place for commuter rail. It has the rail line that runs right through a dense office district and there are some far flung commuter towns that are also right on that rail line.

[ButterNutPecan]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I used to see the benefit of commuter rail before the pandemic, though there was a good argument that commuter rail can encourage people to live further out in car-oriented suburbs. Today though, I'm not sure it's a good idea. With WFH (don't know how the levels compare in other cities, but proportions are still high in Ottawa), it seems commuter transit investment are kind of a waste.

Sprawl sucks, but I think it's part of the solution for housing. I want denser cities, a lot of people do. There are still people still want to live in the 'burbs though. So we should focus on building transit oriented suburbs when we expand out commuter rail.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Commuter rail is a better proposition in a city like Toronto or Montreal where the central train station is right in the heart of a downtown financial district. In Ottawa, almost every commuter would have to transfer to another mode to complete their trip. There’s also only a handful of rail lines and they don’t travel close to where a lot of people live or work. Ottawa is better off with a commuter bus system.

Among cities of Ottawa’s size, Calgary would be a good place for commuter rail. It has the rail line that runs right through a dense office district and there are some far flung commuter towns that are also right on that rail line.

For sure, Ottawa is limited. We removed a lot of railways and replaced them for pathways. Some could still be used, like the one to Kanata North, but I'm not sure if it would capture residential areas where Kanata North employees live. And of course, the extra transfer to the O-Train doesn't help.

I think the train station works fine for VIA, but could be annoying for daily commuters.

[Nouvellecosse]

The return to office is well underway in most places since the management of private sector enterprises tends to be strongly opposed to WFH. But regardless, commuting to downtowns has been a pattern in cities for over a century so we need more than a couple years to understand how things will be going forward. Perhaps one might consider a wait and see approach in cities where commuting rates are still low, but for ones where it has mostly rebound, there's no justification for waiting.

If anything they should be encouraged to speed up progress to complete projects before demand fully returns since the process is made easier by the lower necessary service levels and the fewer people who might be disrupted.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I used to see the benefit of commuter rail before the pandemic, though there was a good argument that commuter rail can encourage people to live further out in car-oriented suburbs. Today though, I'm not sure it's a good idea. With WFH (don't know how the levels compare in other cities, but proportions are still high in Ottawa), it seems commuter transit investment are kind of a waste.

Municipal candidates in Ottawa continue to push for Stage 3 of the O-Train (converting perfectly functional bus Transit to Kanata and Barrhaven to rail for Billions upon Billion of dollars) when we should probably start serving those who use, or would like to use, transit for other trips outside the home other than commuting (i.e. urban transit), or even transit within suburban areas. They seems to understand that we need to focus less on commuting, but are still stuck on that waste of money that is Stage 3.

The more I look at it,the more some cities would work better than others. The Stage 3 does make sense if you want to bring LRT to as many people as possible.You should not have to live in the downtown core to be near an LRT station.

Originally Posted by ButterNutPecan

Sprawl sucks, but I think it's part of the solution for housing. I want denser cities, a lot of people do. There are still people still want to live in the 'burbs though. So we should focus on building transit oriented suburbs when we expand out commuter rail.

The biggest thing that needs changing is the zoning. If we really want to avoid sprawl, just for sprawl sake, SFH should not be its own zone designation.

Originally Posted by J.OT13

For sure, Ottawa is limited. We removed a lot of railways and replaced them for pathways. Some could still be used, like the one to Kanata North, but I'm not sure if it would capture residential areas where Kanata North employees live. And of course, the extra transfer to the O-Train doesn't help.

I think the train station works fine for VIA, but could be annoying for daily commuters.

An underground line to the old downtown Union station, or any other purpose build building could work, but I feel it won't be on the radar of anyone till the LRT is fully built out and is jammed packed.

[SteelTown]

Hovercraft service plans to take passengers between Toronto and Niagara in 30 minutes
The hovercraft would operate all year round
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/...iagara-1.6584136?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

A new hovercraft service could cut travel time between Toronto and the Niagara Region down to 30 minutes.

Hoverlink Ontario Inc. announced that they have entered the final stage of approval to introduce a high-speed hovercraft service to the Golden Horseshoe. The first of its kind in North America.

With plans to begin operation next summer, the hovercraft service will travel across Lake Ontario between Ontario Place in downtown Toronto and Port Weller in St. Catharines, Ont., a trip that can take about two hours by car or train.

"What this means for families across our country is potentially game changing," Michael "Pinball" Clemons, Hoverlink's chief government relations officer and former Toronto Argonauts star, said.

"It's a rapid transit solution for the Golden Horseshoe and as most people are saying it now, a game changer," said Chris Morga, CEO and founder of Hoverlink Ontario Inc.

The company said the service will complete 48 rides each day, carrying up to 180 passengers on each trip. The hovercraft is designed to operate on land, water and ice, making it available for trips year-round.

Ticket prices are expected to be $25 to $30 for one-way and $50 to $60 for a return trip.

[Nouvellecosse]

Aren't hovercraft notorious for being extreme gas guzzlers? Would be interesting to see how emissions compare to driving.