Toronto LRT latest

From  TTCriders, a public transit advocacy group that gives transit riders a voice Why Silence Gary Webster? http://www.ttcriders.ca/  For the second time in less than a month, 5 TTC Commissioners are trying to silence TTC staff from doing their jobs: giving expert opinions on transit expansion that contradicts the Mayor’s calls for subways. This time, [...]

Atlanta & Cincinnati Streetcars

http://designinghealthycommunities.org/atlanta-getting-new-streetcar-line/ U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and local officials have kicked off construction of a new 2.6-mile streetcar line that will run through the heart of Atlanta’s business, tourism, and convention corridor, bringing jobs and new development to the city and reflecting President Obama’s blueprint for an America that’s built to last. [...]

In Toronto, a Major Victory for Light Rail

It was an $8.4 billion question that had simmered all year, but finally boiled over this week at Toronto City Hall during a no-holds-barred debate that may well determine the future of city’s transit expansion.* http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/02/toronto-major-victory-light-rail/1202/ For years, Toronto struggled to modernize and expand its transit system, which now carries about 500 million riders annually, [...]

LRT victory in Toronto

Victory in Toronto as Mayor’s all subway plan defeated by council Toronto’s Mayor Ford lost anti-light rail battle “Ford loses council transit battle TTC chair’s proposal revises portions of Transit City plan” http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/02/08/toronto-transit-debate-city-hall.html Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has lost his battle in the City Council to save his all-subway vision for future rail transit. Instead, [...]

Review of Light Rail/Tramway costs

A Federal Parliamentry Review of Light Rail/Tramway/Transit costs must be carried out!  Both Fang & Zwei have posted articles in the past weeks on the high costs of Canadian Light Rail, Tramway & Transit schemes. Vancouver, Toronto and Waterloo. Design, Utility relocation, Financing vehicles (ie P3) Project management, Construction management, Land purchase and now the concern that  Canadian [...]

What’s the Best Way To Get Users To Embrace Mass Transit?

Make it pleasant? Or make it efficient? An article in Slate magazine http://www.slate.com/articles/life/transport/2012/01/jarrett_walker_s_human_transit_are_we_thinking_about_urban_planning_all_wrong_.html Make it pleasant? Or make it efficient? by Tom Vanderbilt A few months ago, at an urban mobility conference in Frankfurt, the British consultant Charles Leadbeater presented a sort of x-y matrix for thinking about how to manage and design cities. The [...]

Utilities – to divert or to not divert?

The need for utility relocation on LRT schemes has been a major issue for promoters in Canada, the US and Great Britain but less so in continental Europe, where many utilities remain public owned, for decades. The Cardinal has received details of the project costs for the Waterloo, Ontario Light Rail project; http://www.tritag.ca/light-rail/why-light-rail/ and http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/showthread.php?t=219 also http://rapidtransit.region.waterloo.on.ca/ that [...]

Croydon Tramlink – new tram is delivered

London Reconnections http://www.londonreconnections.com/2012/in-pictures-the-new-croydon-tram-units/ Last year TfL tendered for six new trams for the Croydon Tramlink. These are primarily intended to allow services on the Elmers End branch to be increased by 4tph. The £16.3m contract was won by Stadler, who committed to produce, test and deliver 6 Variobahns in sufficient time for them to enter [...]

Transportation Planning – A North American view

An interesting extract from a commentary comparing current North American practice with European `In Vancouver, over a decade ago at the grand opening of the heritage streetcar project, a chap from Bombardier singled me out. What he said after a few niceties, astounded me. To paraphrase, he claimed that: Vancouver’s SkyTrain greatly retarded sales of Bombardier built [...]

The fictitious war on cars

Why the automobile is not — and has never been — endangered Jennifer Good — The Brock Press (Brock University) Canadian University Press http://cupwire.ca/articles/50669   Bike lanes don’t slit cars’ tires. There’s no war zone here. (Photo courtesy of Paul Krueger/Flickr Creative Commons.) ST. CATHARINES (CUP) — “The War On Cars.” It’s a slogan that I first [...]