London Rapid Transit (In-Design)

[ericmacm]

I wonder if that is the reason GO is being extended. Maybe it is a way for Metrolinx to sneak in and do some good.

It wouldn't surprise me at all. London will now be part of Metrolinx's territory with the presence of GO, and it should give them a lot more pull in the region. Not that they really needed to sneak in anyway, since their mandate can be wherever in the province they want.

Either way, things are going to have to change in London significantly with this new census data. Personally I want to see the full BRT plan get resurrected again first and foremost, in addition to eventually getting another GO connection through Brantford and Woodstock once the current GO connection sees some improvement.

 

[Towered]

It wouldn't surprise me at all. London will now be part of Metrolinx's territory with the presence of GO, and it should give them a lot more pull in the region. Not that they really needed to sneak in anyway, since their mandate can be wherever in the province they want.

Either way, things are going to have to change in London significantly with this new census data. Personally I want to see the full BRT plan get resurrected again first and foremost, in addition to eventually getting another GO connection through Brantford and Woodstock once the current GO connection sees some improvement.

London should also act as its own GO hub for the smaller cities that surround it. Isn't something like that happening in Kingston?

 

[ssiguy2]

London should also act as its own GO hub for the smaller cities that surround it. Isn't something like that happening in Kingston?

That is where GO should get involved.

It not just that the City of London is the fastest growing major city in the Province {take that KW!!!} but also it suburban ring cities are also growing very fast such as St.Thomas, Strathroy, Ingersol, Tilsonburg, and Woodstock. There is already a small "community transit" connection service to London from many of these places {except St.Thomas} but it is very weak, only runs the little community size buses, and none of them even go to downtown London but Fanshawe and the LHSC. There is also no fare integration with LT.

London is an ideal place for a comprehensive GO bus service and even a small commuter rail one. The latter would get a lot of ridership because London has no urban freeways so the train would be MUCH faster than driving. For example, the VIA trip from Strathroy {pop 16,000} is 21 minutes but in rush hour it would take one twice as long to get downtown. Such a system would be money far better spent than on the truly useless GO "service" train they are currently running.

 

[micheal_can]

It wouldn't surprise me at all. London will now be part of Metrolinx's territory with the presence of GO, and it should give them a lot more pull in the region. Not that they really needed to sneak in anyway, since their mandate can be wherever in the province they want.

Either way, things are going to have to change in London significantly with this new census data. Personally I want to see the full BRT plan get resurrected again first and foremost, in addition to eventually getting another GO connection through Brantford and Woodstock once the current GO connection sees some improvement.

Has Metrolinx built a BRT yet?

 

[north-of-anything]

Has Metrolinx built a BRT yet?

They have two in the planning stages, if I recall correctly: the Dundas BRT from Waterdown to Kipling Station, and the Durham BRT from UTSC to Oshawa.

 

[micheal_can]

They have two in the planning stages, if I recall correctly: the Dundas BRT from Waterdown to Kipling Station, and the Durham BRT from UTSC to Oshawa.

I was hoping they didn't as that would be a good indication that they may bring an LRT to London.

 

[ericmacm]

I was hoping they didn't as that would be a good indication that they may bring an LRT to London.

As much as I prefer the prospect of an LRT over BRT, I think the right move right now is to build out the full original BRT plan plus some additional spur lines, but what they should also be doing is planning for conversion over to LRT in the near future. It's too late to change the plans to an LRT and deliver a rapid transit solution within a reasonable time frame, which is ultimately the most important thing for a fast-growing city. It was a mistake to pursue BRT over LRT in the first place, but it would be an even bigger mistake to cancel the BRT and restart the planning for an LRT.

 

[ssiguy2]

ML will never get involved in LT nor should it.

GO will hopefully develop a commuter bus/rail type system for London but even that could be problematic if they decide to put Torontonians in charge of it instead of Londoners. We see how this has worked with it's GO "service" to London. It is completely useless to any commuters in London and was clearly designed by a Torontonian who thinks that that only place people commute to is Toronto. Seriously, who would design a commuter service with just one train a day per direction that leaves the city in the morning and comes back at night? When GO opened it's first Lakeshore line section the entire service would have been cancelled within a year due to low ridership if they decided to run the few trains in the morning from Union to Oakville instead of the other way around yet somehow they think such a stupid scenario would work for London.

This is why no one in London takes this stupid GO train and why Londoners view the service with such distain.

 

[micheal_can]

As much as I prefer the prospect of an LRT over BRT, I think the right move right now is to build out the full original BRT plan plus some additional spur lines, but what they should also be doing is planning for conversion over to LRT in the near future. It's too late to change the plans to an LRT and deliver a rapid transit solution within a reasonable time frame, which is ultimately the most important thing for a fast-growing city. It was a mistake to pursue BRT over LRT in the first place, but it would be an even bigger mistake to cancel the BRT and restart the planning for an LRT.

Getting a BRT is better than nothing.

ML will never get involved in LT nor should it.

GO will hopefully develop a commuter bus/rail type system for London but even that could be problematic if they decide to put Torontonians in charge of it instead of Londoners. We see how this has worked with it's GO "service" to London. It is completely useless to any commuters in London and was clearly designed by a Torontonian who thinks that that only place people commute to is Toronto. Seriously, who would design a commuter service with just one train a day per direction that leaves the city in the morning and comes back at night? When GO opened it's first line Lakeshore line the entire service would have been cancelled within a year due to low ridership if they decided to run the few trains in the morning from Union to Oakville instead of the other way around yet somehow they think such a stupid scenario would work for London.

One train to Union would be fine for the next 5-10 years, but it has to get there before 9am and leave after 5pm. That small fix would see a much higher use.

 

[ssiguy2]

London made the right choice going for BRT and not LRT.

London is not a linear city like KWC and hence has commuters from all directions and only BRT would be able to serve these residents within any form of reasonable budget. I think the city dodged a bullet by not following this LRT mantra that has swept NA often for the sole purpose of being able to state "look Mom we have LRT too". Added to this is that the entire new articulated fleet needed for the new BRT service will be electric hence greatly reducing LRT {read streetcar} often touted advantage over buses.................zero emissions, faster acceleration, and quieter ride.

Right now the city has to spend another $120 million for transportation infrastructure {on top of the BRT money and $40 million for pedestrian and cycling already earmarked} or they will lose the money if the projects are not COMPLETED by 2027. Mayor Holder who voted against the west & north BRT, has said that is out of the question and the money will be spent on rapid transit construction. That will make some form of west/north line back on the table as well as the under construction Eastern line pass Fanshaw to the airport which is also home to thousands of industrial jobs.

 

[ssiguy2]

Some good news for the East BRT section which is to begin construction early next year. After years of negotiations it looks like the city has {if not officially} given the go-ahead for the huge redevelopment at the old London Psychiatric Grounds. Finally there are demolition trucks on-site to tear down the non-historic buildings on the site.

It's a massive high density development with 7 towers, many low-rise apts and some higher density SFH/townhomes. It is on a 150 acre site and will be home to 3,000 residential units. Due to it's unique location where the BRT at the 2 turning sections of the BRT route, it will be served by 3 East BRT stations all within a block of the residential development. The developer said the land is ideal for development but also said that a good part of the reason they are building there as well as high density is directly due to the BRT.

 

[ShonTron]

That is where GO should get involved.

It not just that the City of London is the fastest growing major city in the Province {take that KW!!!} but also it suburban ring cities are also growing very fast such as St.Thomas, Strathroy, Ingersol, Tilsonburg, and Woodstock. There is already a small "community transit" connection service to London from many of these places {except St.Thomas} but it is very weak, only runs the little community size buses, and none of them even go to downtown London but Fanshawe and the LHSC. There is also no fare integration with LT.

London is an ideal place for a comprehensive GO bus service and even a small commuter rail one. The latter would get a lot of ridership because London has no urban freeways so the train would be MUCH faster than driving. For example, the VIA trip from Strathroy {pop 16,000} is 21 minutes but in rush hour it would take one twice as long to get downtown. Such a system would be money far better spent than on the truly useless GO "service" train they are currently running.

Strathroy’s bus does serve Downtown London. But not Middlesex Centre’s or Huron Shores’ services.

 

[ssiguy2]

^^^ You are quite right, I stand corrected.

 

[ssiguy2]

Some good news for London commuters. Right now construction is well underway on a massive new Amazon distribution centre in Talbotville near ST.thomas and between ST & London at the old Ford factory. It's a monster and will employ 2,000 FT workers.

The problem?...............it has absolutely no transit service whether from London or ST. Remember these are standard Amazon jobs starting at $18/hr so not exactly high paying ones so many of the potential employees will be transit dependent. Of course this has not gone unnoticed by Amazon, London, or ST. In a city with low unemployment, getting those workers will be hard enough and almost impossible without proper transit. The 3 are actively working together right now to co-ordinate some form of transit service to the area which automatically means that ST & London will FINALLY be connected by transit which is long overdue as ST is growing very fast and much of that growth is London commuters.

There has been talk of connecting the 2 cities with regular transit for eons and this seems like it has resulted in a good kick in the ass both cities needed to get on with it and fast.

 

[micheal_can]

Some good news for London commuters. Right now construction is well underway on a massive new Amazon distribution centre in Talbotville near ST.thomas and between ST & London at the old Ford factory. It's a monster and will employ 2,000 FT workers.

The problem?...............it has absolutely no transit service whether from London or ST. Remember these are standard Amazon jobs starting at $18/hr so not exactly high paying ones so many of the potential employees will be transit dependent. Of course this has not gone unnoticed by Amazon, London, or ST. In a city with low unemployment, getting those workers will be hard enough and almost impossible without proper transit. The 3 are actively working together right now to co-ordinate some form of transit service to the area which automatically means that ST & London will FINALLY be connected by transit which is long overdue as ST is growing very fast and much of that growth is London commuters.

There has been talk of connecting the 2 cities with regular transit for eons and this seems like it has resulted in a good kick in the ass both cities needed to get on with it and fast.

There is a rail line right by there. I wonder if something could be worked out with GO.