Amare
Senior Member
Those are some of the worst BRT shelters i've ever seen in my life. Who did London contact for the designs, Metrolinx?
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London Rapid Transit (In-Design)
- Thread starter Midtown Urbanist
- Start date
ARG1
Senior Member
A) They look better than Line 5 at least
B) Metrolinx was also in charge of VivaNext and those shelters are pretty damn good.
Amare
Senior Member
Metrolinx has a history of giving the stick to large cities, while giving suburban areas gracious and nice designs. But yes you're right, in that they are marginally better than the Eglinton Crosstown "shelters".
smallspy
Senior Member
The VIVA shelter designs came from VIVA's designer, not Metrolinx. Metrolinx simply sent the cheques for construction.
Dan
innsertnamehere
Superstar
the VivaNext shelters are incredibly overbuilt and overly expensive. That whole program is a gigantic waste of money. A case of urban designers run wild with nobody telling them "no".
Londons are clearly run on much more of a budget, maybe a little bit too much, but are more reasonable.
Northern Light
Superstar
Viva's shelters/stations don't strike me as a problem.
The problems with Viva related to inadequate service levels justifying said infrastructure investment.
Infrastructure should be built for optimal function, comfort and aesthetic value within a context of ecologically responsible design choices.
In the context of a bus waiting area, in a region with a winter climate; I want to see the availability of shelter from the elements, optional or limited heating, snow melt systems if platforms are subject to snow, comfortable if durable seating, waste/recyling receptacles, lighting, and, ideally, a drinking fountain. There should also be a section w/tinted glass and/or shade for hot summer days.
If it costs $200,000 per stop, I have no issues with that.
Converting every existing stop to that standard is a generational, if not cross-generational project, and I would only support those investments during road reconstruction or the like.
But when building new, why not aim for comfort and style?
I'm not suggest opulence, nothing plated in gold or granite.
Just excellence, rather than mediocrity.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
The issue with viva is those stations cost a wee bit more than $200k. Probably closer to $2 million. At a certian point you have to question if the same quality infrastructure can be delivered at a better price. You could easily have constructed similar shelters with heated areas, etc. for a much lower cost.
Northern Light
Superstar
How the hell do you get 2M out of that? (not you personally, LOL, I mean that as an absolute question)
I mean, I'd be prepared to go 400k, in as much as a 'station' is 2 stops (one in each direction). But 2M??
Haljackey
Active Member
For 2 million dollars I'd expect Lay-Z Boy chairs in my climate-controlled bus shelter with huge 4K TVs showing premium content to pass the time along with private washrooms.
Rapid transit is new to London. Anything more than a large bus shelter would be considered a huge waste of money.
Rapid transit is new to London. Anything more than a large bus shelter would be considered a huge waste of money.
micheal_can
Senior Member
If this is supposed to be a rapid route, shouldn't it have a frequency that negates waiting in a bus stop?
Haljackey
Active Member
Other bus routes connect here as well. Frequencies for other routes can be 30-60 mins so if you just miss your bus, you could be stuck here for a while.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
I might have been elaborating with the $2 million number, but I recall hearing that it was well north of $1m a station from somewhere.
smallspy
Senior Member
The steelwork alone is about $1mil per shelter. Then you have to factor in the glass, conduit, electrical and infotech systems, concrete, benches, tiling, etc.
It wouldn't surprise me to hear that each single stop - not pair of stops - has north of $3mil invested in its construction, not including all of the other construction required for the transitways.
Dan
ARG1
Senior Member
I don't disagree with you. I'm just pointing out that it is also a "metrolinx project"
ssiguy2
Senior Member
The stations are rather plain but still decent and functional. Also, unlike VIVA, the frequency will be there. These 2 routes already run more than every 10 minutes during the day and every 6 minutes in rush hour and that frequency will increase. London's BRT will also be faster as it won't have near as many stations as VIVA , making it reasonably fast.