Videos of Light Rail RAPID Transit

I know I am beating a dead horse here, but I do think there is much misconception about LRRT. Light rail rapid transit, also know as a pre-metro, refers to portions of a light rail line which are separated from other traffic. Though it can run in along a roadway in its own right-of-way, its operation is more in line with a GO Train than what we have along St. Clair or Spadina with full traffic priority and sometimes even signal crossings.

Here are some examples I could find:

Phoenix (ROW, traffic signal priority)
[video=youtube;OUM_h_resGI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUM_h_resGI&feature=related[/video]

Calgary (private corridor, protected rail crossings)
[video=youtube;AH3EjUfDgEw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH3EjUfDgEw&feature=related[/video]

Seattle (ROW, traffic signal priority)
[video=youtube;fTQUJHcJmgs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTQUJHcJmgs&feature=related[/video]

Minneapolis (mix of various running conditions)
[video=youtube;qx5ZR4ulK_U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx5ZR4ulK_U[/video]

A couple of points: First the point of this is to educate those who think LRT, or LRRT is nothing more than a fancier term for streetcars. This is not the case, and am trying to show that light rail can provide speed comparable to a subway/metro, while offering excellent capacity.

Secondly, I would like to note that the majority of the stops on Transit City projects are far closer than in these videos. Unfortunately, it is likely that these lines will be comparable to our current streetcar network than our subway network. But for those of you who believe that LRT is nothing more than a write-off, I urge you to watch these videos.

Where is Edmonton, the North American pioneer of LRT? It's an LRT with a very large amount of grade separation that is practically a subway.

It's funny how everyone touts LRT as being street friendly and brings about great street life and there are only industrial buildings and strip joints in most of these videos. Sorry Electrify, I agree that LRT might be comparable to a subway in terms of speed when built and handled properly but in Toronto, this will never happen. I'm not against LRT, I'm just against LRT in Eglinton and Sheppard Avenues. Both these roads supposedly had subway level demand a mere 15 years ago and now somehow the demand went away?? LRT in Finch, Don Mills and Jane are a good choice, but not for Eglinton and Sheppard. And definitely not when Eglinton LRT is tunneled 1/3 of the way and Sheppard already has a subway.

I appreciate what you are saying but in all fairness the line goes right to the international airport and the largest shopping centre in the country...................Mall of America but it's just that you can't see them from that side of the train.

Seattle's system is really quick, yet it is attracting around 20,000 riders.

They also show transit priority traffic lights done correctly.

One problem the videos show are single-story buildings surrounded by parking lots. The multi-story buildings should be either close to the stations and roadway, so that people don't have to walk past the rusting cars to get to their destination.

reaperexpress said:

Where is Edmonton, the North American pioneer of LRT? It's an LRT with a very large amount of grade separation that is practically a subway.

Click to expand...

Main reason I didn't show Edmonton is because I wanted to focus on LRT that runs along roads in its own ROW. However, I am going to post a video below.

fanoftoronto said:

It's funny how everyone touts LRT as being street friendly and brings about great street life and there are only industrial buildings and strip joints in most of these videos. Sorry Electrify, I agree that LRT might be comparable to a subway in terms of speed when built and handled properly but in Toronto, this will never happen. I'm not against LRT, I'm just against LRT in Eglinton and Sheppard Avenues. Both these roads supposedly had subway level demand a mere 15 years ago and now somehow the demand went away?? LRT in Finch, Don Mills and Jane are a good choice, but not for Eglinton and Sheppard. And definitely not when Eglinton LRT is tunneled 1/3 of the way and Sheppard already has a subway.

Click to expand...

Worth noting that most of these cities are far more suburban than Toronto. In many cases, you go from high density downtowns to low density suburban in a single leap - there isn't the same kind of moderate density that we have here in former Metro Toronto. With that said, I do respect your position and would like to re-state that the purpose of this thread is to educate those who believe that LRT is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig.

Anyways, here are some more videos:

Edmonton (private corridor and tunnel, protected rail crossings, double speed)
[video=youtube;H0LMDHtxHDg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0LMDHtxHDg[/video]

Dallas (private ROW, protected rail crossings)
[video=youtube;RUEH2N7SVPc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUEH2N7SVPc[/video]

Dallas (downtown transit mall and private ROW, signal priority)
[video=youtube;0WmwT9CefiQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WmwT9CefiQ&feature=related[/video]

Los Angeles (median ROW, traffic signal priority)
[video=youtube;hNHGnhiFRfs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNHGnhiFRfs[/video]

[video=youtube;fZ-yYMyxdr0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ-yYMyxdr0[/video]t3

I rode T3 last fall. Great line.

Lyon Tramway T1

[video=youtube;VlZydGiPmuo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlZydGiPmuo[/video]

The video of Lyon looks a lot like fleet street. It just goes to show how far a little transit priority can go.

The videos show that with stations/stops far apart, the speed increases, making them rapid. The stops on Spadina and St. Clair are too close together to be called light rapid transit, which is why they are have to be considered streetcars and not light rail.

^^I would consider the Spadina, and St. Clair lines to be "rapid streetcar" lines. That is, smaller, vehicles running in their own ROW, allowing for greater speeds while maintaining stop spacing suitable for local, and short distance trips.

The dictionary definition of what Rapid Streetcars are one thing, and the reality on the ground can be another.

Electrify,

We all know what LRT looks like. Nobody here is confused. Many of us are decently well travelled to have ridden several of those systems. Some of us just disagree with LRT being suitable for every transit corridor in Toronto. Though there are corridors where LRT is clearly applicable: the waterfront, Finch West, north Don Mills, STC-Malvern, etc. And then are corridors where I don't think LRT is desirable: Eglinton (because of its implications as a regional transport corridor), Kennedy-STC (becuase of STC desgination as an urban growth centre and regional transport Hub), Sheppard Don Mills to Agincourt (because it would hamper finishing Sheppard as the originally intended northern cross-town route).