I don't and you don't and 95% of the people on UT don't. But we're the exception. Most aren't very knowlegable about transit issues and consider LRT to be second class. It's unfortunate that Ford "canceled" the SELRT. If he hadn't it would be opening by now. We would have the oppertunity to show everyone that LRT is not "second class" transit.
I would like to comment on that...
You have to give people a little bit more credit than that. I lived in both London and Paris and I can clearly see that Paris Tram system that they call
"Tramways" for Streetcar instead of
"Train Leger sur Rail" for LRT is far from being the same thing as the
DLR in London.
Montreal will build an LRT on Champlain Bridge and they call it
SLR "Service leger sur Rail". They also want a line that is just as long as SELRT with similar vehicles and same operating methods. They don't call it an LRT. They call it a
Tramway (streetcar). Nothing to do with the vehicle, let's be clear on that. It's
how they operate it that clearly differentiates them
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/por...ments/1_rapport_synthse_projet_du_tramway.pdf
You can't expect people to not be smart enough to make the difference between LRT and Streetcar. Eglinton up until Don Mills is an LRT. If they would have kept the whole line 100% grade separated like the RT then it would have been on the same level as the DRL in London or the Sky Train in Vancouver.
To go back to the Eglinton Crosstown in Scarborough, they are upset that the LRT operates like a streetcar on their doorsteps. (Same vehicles but lower mode of operations, second rated if you prefer). Sure, the trains will short turn in the tunnel section if there's an accident at an intersection like Victoria Park...meaning if something happens on their side of the line, they get stuck waiting for shuttle buses (imagine in winter) while the rest of the line gets the service. Is it so hard to see it from their perspective, especially when they pay taxes like everybody else to the city?
Personally, the only reason I support the BD going to Sheppard is to avoid the RT shutdown for 3-4 years otherwise, there's nothing wrong with the RT upgrading which would serve Centennial College and go deeper within Scarbourough unlike CDL thinking that it's not even worth crossing the 401.
Except for the RT and most of Eglinton Crosstown along with parts of the West Waterfront line, Transit City was a massive and ambitious streetcar network expansion but they used the LRT brand all over it to sell it. Nothing wrong with a streetcar expansion. Yes, I said the sacrilegious word streetcar. But advertising it for something it's not is wrong. Go to Europe and you will see the same vehicles operating the same way Transit City was suppose to be managed and they call it Streetcar or are we calling Europeans ignorants for not calling their lines LRT's?
Transit City's main problem is that those who came up with it, wanted that plan to substitute itself to subway extensions. Would we be talking about a DRL if Jane and Don Mills were under construction today? Why did Miller and Giambrone pushed Transit City harder than the DRL then?
Like I said, give people more credit instead of calling them ignorant.
