Transit City Plan

[Hipster Duck]

Eglinton Crosstown could compare to the C-train if it were handled correctly. More likely than not though, it will be dumbed down so as to be "compatible" with the rest of the city's glorified streetcars. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up giving an order that all trains must stop dead before entering an underground station, ring the horn and check for passengers, then proceed into the station. Has anyone been on the Harborfront "LRT" recently? The entire underground segment proceeds at snail's pace of late.

This sounds kind of rancorous and Dichotomyish, but I avoid the Harbourfront LRT like the plague not only because of the speed of the line, but also because of the dankness and unpleasantness of the two underground stations. Both seem to have been built to a minimum infrastructure standard with the ambience and humidity of a wine cellar. Queen's Quay, in particular, has a funny smell and the at-grade crossing to the other platform is positively third world. These streetcar "stations" remind me of some of the more ill-maintained facilities in older American cities that have retained a legacy streetcar network; in particular, I'm reminded of some stations on Boston's Green Line or some other dank trolley stations in Philadelphia. The main difference, of course, is that the Boston and Philly stations are a hundred years old and predate basic safety and disability legislation. Queen's Quay and Union streetcar stations were built in 1990 but feel like they were roughed out in 1890.

I don't know anything about the design of the underground stations for Transfer City lines (eg: Eglinton, Jane) but I hope they're not like the Harbourfront LRT "stations".

 

[Dan416]

I like the idea of express routes that only stop at major intersections. If anything, I think they would most accurately give you an idea of what corridor requires higher order transit.

I've said many times that I think LRT would be fine if it had subway-like speeds on average. But so far that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Greens want to build 33 new or extended lines——in Melbourne

From ABC news (that's Australian), click on this link to get to the video:

Greens transport plan for new train, tram lines

The Victorian Greens have released a transport plan they say will rectify Melbourne's public transport problems.

The $14-billion plan proposes 33 new or extended train and tram lines across the city, but does not propose any new road projects.

Greens transport spokesman, Greg Barber, says freeways and road tunnels are inefficient transport options.

"They're hugely expensive and actually not very efficient at carrying people," he said.

"Clifton Hill railway station actually shifts more people than the Eastern Freeway next door. Just goes to show how inefficient freeways are at moving people."

 

[khris]

I'm a little bit confused now with proposals in Toronto.

Is Transit City and Metrolinx two different proposals?

 

[DavidH]

I'm a little bit confused now with proposals in Toronto. Is Transit City and Metrolinx two different proposals?

Not surprising, there is a lot going on.

Transit City was a proposal for a set of LRT lines made by the City of Toronto in March 2007.

MoveOntario 2020 was a provincial announcement funding a set of transportation projects in the GTA, including the entirety of Transit City, made in June 2007.

Metrolinx is a provincial transportation planning agency that is working towards creating a transportation plan for the GTA and Hamilton and has recently released a draft version of its plan. Its plan includes most of MoveOntario 2020, although there are some modifications being suggested. It's assumed that Metrolinx's plan (the Regional Transportation Plan or RTP) will replace MoveOntario 2020 as the go-forward plan.

Hope this helps.

 

[RedRocket191]

It's assumed that Metrolinx's plan (the Regional Transportation Plan or RTP) will replace MoveOntario 2020 as the go-forward plan.

It was always the province's intention to have Metrolinx review MoveOntario 2020. The RTP is the only regional transportation plan which will be considered for implementation.

 

[khris]

Thank you very much for that quick and easy to understand explanation. I was thinking along the lines of what you said, I just wasn't sure. Reading the two different topics can present a lot more confusion when you don't know what's what, as well.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Open sections need a roof over our heads

I really hope that Transit City's shelters on the open sections will provide better protection that the current crop of shelters we have.

If the shelters will continue to be in the open, heavy snow, rain, and strong winds will be a problem with users trying to escape from the elements. Could the stops be enclosed? With the LFLRT running on electricity, having the vehicles enter an enclosed shelter could be an option we should look at.

Unfortunately, transparent aluminum is not available, yet. So how about a light-transmitting concrete?

 

[Whoaccio]

There should be some kind of covenant whereby if a person(s) want to describe a project as "LRT" it should have real, bona fide stations. Not a glorified bus stop with no walls and homeless person-repellent benches.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Found where the sample came from. This is another example of a tram station is from Alicante, Spain, from the same page. Got this from the design company web site:

Alicante is a 400.000 inhabitants city of the southeast mediterranean spanish coast. Over the last years, there has been building a new tram infrastructure, using the old rails of the local train.

Unfortunately, the climate in Alicante would more tropical, judging by the palm trees, so the design shown would not really work here. However, that design is going in the right direction, if it could provide shelter from the snow and winds.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The Transit City Light Rail Plan Status Update October 2008.pdf can be found on the TTC Report Web Site.

Included is this little tidbit:

Design Work for Narrow Street Cross-Sections

A particularly difficult design challenge which is facing two of the Transit City LRT lines is how to accommodate a light rail right-of-way on roads whose width is less than thirty metres. In order for an LRT line to operate reliably and with good quality, it must operate within its own physically-separated right-of-way, insulated from other traffic. However, the establishment of such rights-of-way must also respect the access requirements of adjacent land uses and the need to retain road space for other road users. It is very difficult to meet the needs of all road users where road width is less than thirty metres. Although the option exists, in these situations, to construct the LRT underground, such an option is very expensive and does not support the urban design objectives of integrating the Transit City LRT lines into the street life and activities of the corridors in which they are located.

Therefore, the Transit City EA teams are working together to identify a right-of-way design which would allow all road users to co-exist on roads with narrow widths. Designs from other cities have been reviewed and a number of design options are being investigated in order to meet this challenge. A report will be brought forward when a conclusion is reached pertaining to the feasibility of LRT at-grade operation on narrow streets.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Innnnteresting:

The project team is currently re-visiting the option of converting the Scarborough RT from its current vehicle technology to light rail technology, when the current fleet of vehicles reaches the end of its service life. Such a conversion is being investigated as a means of providing more routing flexibility, and in order to take advantage of possible benefits of a vehicle technology which would be common to the other Transit City lines. In support of this option, a structural analysis is underway of the existing Scarborough RT infrastructure. The project team is continuing its work on the development of conceptual designs for a new maintenance facility.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Transit City video

The TTC web site has a Transit City video for viewing. Click on this link to view, it is in .wmv format. There maybe a delay in the download.

 

[JasonParis]

And they've got the CBC's Barbara Budd to do the voice over.

 

[Voltz]

I like the renderings of the new LRV's some thing seems a little familiar about them

If you look closely at the interior shots of the cars in the video, you can see that they are not 100% low-floor. Have they finally realized something?

(I know they likely just made up the renderings for this video)