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London Rapid Transit (In-Design)

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London has just announced it's SHIFT rapid transit plan. For the time being it is still unsure whether the rapid transit will be LRT or BRT.

From the London Free Press
In a city with about 40 transit routes, the future may be built around two main corridors.

London’s $380-million vision for a rapid-transit system is coming into sharper focus, with city hall set to announce a pair of L-shaped routes that would be the heart of the massive overhaul, The Free Press has learned.

A focus on feeding into downtown London is a key part of the proposed transit blueprint, which Mayor Matt Brown says is the lifeblood of the vision for targeted growth outlined in the London Plan.

“There is no London Plan without rapid transit,†Brown said.

And there’s no rapid transit if it isn’t rapid — a challenge created by the level rail crossings that have long frustrated city drivers and snarled traffic.

So the transit plan’s next phase offers another new option: a transit-only tunnel that could be dug under the tracks cutting across Richmond St. just north of Richmond Row.

The tunnel would run from Central Ave. to north of Oxford St. Cars would veer around its openings and remain on Richmond St.

As these plans develop, they do so in the shadow of a massive price tag, in the hundreds of millions of dollars. About $100 million of that would be needed from city hall, with much of that coming from development charges.

The proposed rapid-transit system may include light rail, rapid bus routes or a combination of both. City hall is expected to recommend which technology to use by year’s end.
Click to expand...

The two corridors:

kX7AT0L.jpg


The Orange Line will be from the Masonville Place area along Richmond St., past Western University to the core, and east to Fanshawe College.
The Blue Line will be from the White Oaks Mall area along Wellington Rd. to the core, and west to the intersection of Wonderland Rd. and Oxford St.
So-called transit villages, areas where more intense development is planned, would pop up along those routes.

Other traditional routes would be designed to feed those two main paths, so even commuters not along them would have quick access. The system would run along King St. in the core, making the downtown stretch of Dundas St. bus-free.

Public Meetings are being held on Thursday and Saturday

Thursday, May 28, 2015
Western Fair, Agriplex
845 Florence Street, London
Open House 4:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Saturday May 30, 2015
10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Goodwill Industries
255 Horton Street East
 
Very interesting. So London might end up having their own LRT, too. Will it connect to the train station? I'm not familiar with London. It would certainly (eventually, by 2030s) make London-Kitchener-Toronto higher-speed/higher-performance service even more viable, with all these cities connected with strong transit networks.

EDIT: I googlemapped to overlay the map. The intercity train station is almost exactly in the center of the cross -- so the train station will near the centre hub of SHIFT and directly on one or both of the routes. That's good news, whether it be BRT or LRT!
 
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Yes it will be very close to both VIA and Greyhound, just a block or two. This is great news for the city and London has high enough transit ridership to support it. Also, if built to rapid speeds and frequent enough, could be very competitive with car speed in the city. London has no urban freeways and few roads go from one end of the city to another and not one does so that goes downtown. London has horrific traffic due to this so freeways are not an option when travelling in the city making them not a whole lot faster than a car and certainly not for going downtown.

Unlike Hamilton and Kitchener which both have extensive freeway systems and freeways that go right downtown, there is nothing but a slow crawl in rush hour in London and so an LRT or BRT with complete ROW will be seen buy Londoners as not only a convenient option but also a fast one.

If it's LRT do they plan on using the London-Port Stanley rail corridor which runs parallel to Wellington for about 3 km?
 
Why tunnel when Bombardier makes a mighty fine monorail:

[video=youtube_share;qqH-cDmwf_g]http://youtu.be/qqH-cDmwf_g[/video]
 
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ssiguy2 said:
Yes it will be very close to both VIA and Greyhound, just a block or two. This is great news for the city and London has high enough transit ridership to support it. Also, if built to rapid speeds and frequent enough, could be very competitive with car speed in the city. London has no urban freeways and few roads go from one end of the city to another and not one does so that goes downtown. London has horrific traffic due to this so freeways are not an option when travelling in the city making them not a whole lot faster than a car and certainly not for going downtown.

Unlike Hamilton and Kitchener which both have extensive freeway systems and freeways that go right downtown, there is nothing but a slow crawl in rush hour in London and so an LRT or BRT with complete ROW will be seen buy Londoners as not only a convenient option but also a fast one.

If it's LRT do they plan on using the London-Port Stanley rail corridor which runs parallel to Wellington for about 3 km?
Click to expand...

While Dundas and Wellington crawls there are plenty of roads nearby that move quite nicely even in rush hour (and rush hour is not that long).

UWO was one of the first universities to give their students a transit pass. It really shifted the use of transit (the usage was moribund before this program). At the same time Fanshawe has become huge. About 40,000 students. Both have housing issues (not enough) and many students want to live on Richmond Row or near it. The "L" shape makes sense because of these factors.

There has also been an increase in lower earning service jobs downtown and many of these can't afford a car.

Looking at the plan I can see both UWO and Fanshawe students using these quite often (and you will need to operate them until 2:30 am on Thurs-Sat). I can also see the southern leg being used for hospitals, shopping and housing.

I question the need for the westerly line (it looks like they didn't want the residents to feel left out). It will not be significantly used and it has to cross the Thames (costly).
 
Elevated is superior in a respects to at-grade or underground.
 
mdrejhon said:
Very interesting. So London might end up having their own LRT, too. Will it connect to the train station? I'm not familiar with London. It would certainly (eventually, by 2030s) make London-Kitchener-Toronto higher-speed/higher-performance service even more viable, with all these cities connected with strong transit networks.

EDIT: I googlemapped to overlay the map. The intercity train station is almost exactly in the center of the cross -- so the train station will near the centre hub of SHIFT and directly on one or both of the routes. That's good news, whether it be BRT or LRT!
Click to expand...

I get the impression that Kathleen Wynne is like Oprah, only instead of giving out cars she's been giving out LRTs. "Toronto gets an LRT! Waterloo gets an LRT! Missisauga gets an LRT! Hamilton gets an LRT! EVERYONE GETS AN LRT!"

And now London wants in on the 100% provincially funded action.
 
aquateam said:
I get the impression that Kathleen Wynne is like Oprah, only instead of giving out cars she's been giving out LRTs. "Toronto gets an LRT! Waterloo gets an LRT! Missisauga gets an LRT! Hamilton gets an LRT! EVERYONE GETS AN LRT!"

And now London wants in on the 100% provincially funded action.
Click to expand...

LOL. This wins comment of the day.
 
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