Is It Time To Get Back To Basics?

Perusing many transit oriented blogs, there seems to be a common thread appearing, we are changing our travel and commuting habits. This poses a very important question; “Is it time to get back to basics with transit planning?”

This is a valid question because as driving and commuting habits change, expensive transit infrastructure just may become redundant infrastructure or monuments of gross over expenditures political vanity project. We cannot afford another Canada Line White Elephant; Even the much touted Evergreen Line is far to expensive for the job it will do.

Many European cities have kilometres of disused tramways, because as demographics change, peoples travel habits change too. The rails are kept in situ because travel habits may change again and what was a disused tram route, is again a functioning route.

A few cities have abandoned subway lines and/or stations because travel habits change and the route is abandoned; which is a far more expensive proposition, than with tram tracks.

We must rethink the Broadway subway altogether, even if traffic flows double within twenty years, traffic flows won’t even be near the traffic flows that requireAi?? a subway.

An European style tram service from UBC to BCIT, would be a fraction the cost to build and would attract more ridership than a stub Millennium Line subway only to Arbutus.

The proposed LRT in Surrey, estimated to cost $80 million/km to build is far too expensive for current or future traffic flows along the route.

Instead of “head in the sand” TransLink planning for light rail, would it not be better to actually hire professionals who have experience building with LRT, Even an European style tram service, with lawned rights-of-ways, would be far cheaper than what is being planned!

Regional transit planners should dust off the the Leewood/Rail for the Valley transit study and implementAi?? A starter route from Langley to downtown Vancouver, with two trains an hour each way would cost around $10 million/km. and would provide a faster trip to Vancouver than using the present SkyTrain!

Lawned rights-of-way makes traffic calming

an easier sell to local residents.

It’s time to get back to basics and build affordable transit on transit routes.

Example:

Traffic flows 0 to 5000 pphpd – bus.

Traffic flows 2,000 to 20,000 pphpd – tram.

Traffic flows exceeding 15,000 pphpd – metro.

Apologies to the SkyTrain light-metro crowd because as we all know, light-metro is all but obsolete in today’s transit world and building light-metro is building a vanity project.

It is no good planning transit as we would have in the 70’s and 80’s, with the advent of new technology, would it not be better to build viable transit network, rather than a very expensive vanity project here and an equally expensive gadgetbahnen there.

On-street operation may not please motorists, but it makes transit very handy and easy to use.