Easter Parade in Toronto

With thanks to Mr. Cow, wholesome eye-candy!

Five Generations of Toronto Streetcars,Ai??a little history: The Peter Witt was the first streetcar class purchased by the then brand new TTC in 1921 and ran in TorontoAi??until 1963. The PCC streetcar ran in Toronto from 1938 to retirement in 1995. The TTC had the largest fleet of PCC’s in North America operating up to 745 at one point (203 second hand). The PCC’s replacement the CLRV (Canadian Light Rail Vehicle) has been running in Toronto since 1979 and its longer stable mate the ALRV (Articulated Light Rail Vehicle) began its TTC carrier in 1983. The Flexity Outlook from Bombardier just startedAi??serving TorontoAi??in 2014. The Flexity will replace all of the CLRV’s but it appears quite a few ALRV’s are going to be updated and will continue to be in service for some time.

Photo’s courtesy of Steve Munro.

 

 

BART’s Problems Today Are TransLink’s Problems Tomorrow

Aging metro systems are a big problem in North America and the more complicated the transit system, the more costly it is to maintain.

Unlike TransLink, BART’s (Bay Area Rapid Transit) bureaucrats are far more forthcoming with system ills and for that they must be congratulated for their candor.

We see none of this with TransLink where costly infrastructure such as subways and grade separated R-o-W’s are all the rage, yet silence on the massive maintenance costs to keep the system running.

The last CEO to tried to be honest, Tom Penderghast, was sent to Coventry by senior staff and was ultimately forced out.

Last years failed TransLink plebiscite was another pointed message for honesty at TransLink, yet even a resounding defeat by the taxpayer fell on deaf ears and except for cosmetic changes (enough to fool the mainstream media), nothing has changed.

We must demand honesty from TransLink, the Mayors council, Metro Vancouver, and the Ministry of Transportation, yet all seem to deathly afraid to be honest, especially about future maintenance costs.

This Is Our Reality: Why I Couldn’t Hold Back About the Bay Area’s Real Transit Problem

Faced with a flood of complaints during a messy commute last week, the officialAi??Twitter account of BART got frank about the system’s woes. Taylor Huckaby, who manned the account that day, explains why he started tweeting truth bombs, and why public transportation in America must be saved.

 

Major delays system-wide. Rising anger. Endless frustration. That was the all-too-familiar theme of last Wednesday evening’s commute on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), the sprawling regional rail system here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Since mid-morning, BART had been suffering anomalous electrical problems that were burning out thyristors on our train cars, one by one, at the end of one of our lines. By the time the evening finished, 50 damaged cars had to be taken out of service.Ai??A busy weekday couldn’t have been worse timing for a mess of this magnitude. Providing roughly 430,000 weekday trips on a system that initially served a mere 100,000 people per week, BART simply doesn’t have any extra bandwidth to absorb losses.

For the rest of the story………..

Traffic Congestion Declines

Interesting tidbit from the news which has been overshadowed by the tragedy in Brussels.

Traffic congestion is down in Metro Vancouver and this begs the question:

“If there is less traffic on the roads, then should we not waste money to plan and build $3 billion SkyTrain subway under Broadway and a $3.5 billion bridge replacing the Massey tunnel?”

I can think of far better ways in spending $6.5 billion like a combined road/rail bridge replacing the decrepit Patullo and Fraser river rail bridges, the Leewood/RftV TramTrain from Vancouver to Chilliwack; A White Rock to Surrey Central/downtown Vancouver LRT/TramTrain and a BCIT to UBC and Stanley Park tram.

And they say that Zwei has not conception of good transit.

Traffic congestion down in Metro Vancouver: survey

Vancouver, BC, Canada / News Talk 980 CKNW | Vancouver’s News. Vancouver’s Talk

Gord MacDonald

Posted: March 22, 2016

Traffic congestion in Metro Vancouver is down by 1% compared to a year ago ai??i?? according to the latest survey by Tom Tom, the GPS company.

Itai??i??s the first drop in Vancouver since 2010.

However, itai??i??s still the worst in Canada, followed by Toronto, and then Montreal.

The least congested city in the country is Calgary.

Around the world, the most congested city is Mexico City, followed by Bangkok, Instanbul, Rio De Janeiro, and Moscow.

 

The Federal Budget – LRT Mentioned, But Not A Subway

The Federal budget did not hold any transit surprises, with $370 million to be spent over five years for transit project support.

Well, $370 million will buy you about one kilometre of a Broadway subway or put another way, 200 metres a year spread over five years, big deal!

We could build 2 km of light rail a year for the same price.

Lots of bumf from the regional mayors, but despite brave faces and vague promises, there was no extra cash for Vancouver’s cherished subway yet, light rail was mentioned in the budget.

One did get the impression from the language, that the Trudeau Liberals did not want to fund vanity projects. We will wait and see.

5 wins for B.C. in the federal budget

Felicity Stone | Mar 22, 2016

THE#BCBIZDAILY
The budget we’ve all been waiting for

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau released the Trudeau Liberal governmentai??i??s first budget on Wednesday. Hereai??i??s some of whatai??i??s in it for B.C.

1. $460 million for transit
$3.4 billion over three years to upgrade and improve public transit systems across Canada; B.C will receive $460 million.Ai??The budget specifies light rail in Greater Vancouver, but no mention of the proposed Broadway subway line

For the rest of the story……
Vancouver traffic congestion is worse than in Toronto or Montreal, according to the latest Tom Tom survey. (Globe and Mail)

Trams for Vegas?

Las Vegas has a monorail, but due to political intrigue, it doesn’t service the main airport and is next to useless.

I would surmise that the powers that be do not know enough about modern LRT and do not worry about competition from a “tram”

What I find interesting is the USD $460 million cost for 8.7 mile (14 km.), (CAD$600 million) which is certainly much cheaper at $43 million/km than the $80 million/km for the proposed Surrey LRT.

I wonder if the trams will feature slot machines?

Other than being an elevated billboard, the Las Vegas monorail

is next to useless as a people mover.

The proposed Maryland Parkway 8.7-mile (14 km.) , $460 million light rail route at LAS VEGAS, the southern Nevada casino-resort city, would have LRT tracks flanking the roadway inside of running in the center, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Maryland Parkway LRT would extend east from downtown and then head south more or less parallel to the “Strip” of casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard and wind up at the southern end at McCarran International Airport. It would be entirely at grade and would be a “streetcar” similar to LRT services at Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Denver. Public meetings will be held March 15 and 16, preparing the way for an environmental assessment study:

Of Trains, Station Platforms, and Capacity

Zwie has got wind of a local transit advocate getting a nasty phone call a few evenings back from a chap incensed over a blog post on Facebook that went like this: The Canada line has station platforms 40m to 50 m long and operates 41 m long coupled sets of EMU’s, has about one half the capacity of the Expo and Millennium Lines, which stations have 80m long platforms and operate two; four; and six car trains up to 76m long.

The following is a list of Canadian Cities that operate metro, modern light rail, and trams and compare train and station platform sizes.

Thus it can be said in complete honesty:

” The Canada line is the only heavy-rail metro in the world, built as a light metro and has less capacity than a tram.”

For those who do not agree, may I suggest taking out memberships in the Flat Earth Society.

Vancouver

 

Edmonton & Calgary

 

Ottawa

 

Toronto

 

Has Trudeau “Caved-In” To Bombardier?

Bombardier Inc. is in trouble with their aircraft program; are near bankruptcy and need cash.

So what is the Federal government going to do?

Simple buy Bombardier’s light-metro and call it light rail.Ai?? The same ruse certainly fooled the Social Credit Party in BC in 1980 by renaming the unsellable Urban Development Transportation Corporation (UDTC a Ontario Crown Corporation) Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS or light-metro) to Advanced Light Rail Transit (ALRT).

Sad fact is, this name change ruse still fools TransLink, as well as MLA’s!

What ever the City of Montreal want to call the dated and now obsolete SkyTrain, it is definitely not light rail.

To quote Quebec transit advocate Avron Shtern: “This is scandalous. Everything will be done in secrecy. No public consultationAi?? when it matters. Public pension money is being used and is being framed as private enterprise. If Quebec were in Latin America, it would be run like a Venezuela, etc… “

And the federal Liberals? Well, they are paying for this and have certainly given Quebec a “wink and a nod” to go ahead and are no better than their BC provincial namesakes.

Good old SkyTrain Mk.2 cars with coaches (Mk.3) and pantograph – definitely not LRT.

Montreal May Get ai???Light Rail Linesai??? From Downtown To The West Island

On the Champlain bridge, too.

by Michael D’Alimonte Ai?? March 17, 2016

Modular Trams Just Keep On Growing!

Light Rail, Streetcars & Light-Metro – A Primer.

First published in the RftV blog in 2011, it is still pertinent today.

Updated and edited for March 2016.

 

Due to many people posting, on various blogs, absolute rubbish about light rail, it is time again for a quick primer on streetcars, LRT and SkyTrain.

Question: What is the difference between LRT and a Streetcar or tram?

Answer: Today the difference between LRT and a streetcar/tram is the quality of rights-of-way, where a streetcar operates on-street in mixed traffic, light rail operates on a reserved rights-of-way (R-O-W), such a boulevard or a streetcar/tram only HOV lane on-street, which gives LRT an unimpeded transit route and faster commercial speeds. Today, there is little difference between a modular tram or streetcar and light rail vehicle except for motor size.

Q: What is SkyTrain?

A: SkyTrain is a proprietary unconventional light-metro system system first designed and marketed by the Urban Transit Development Corporation ICTS/ALRT), a once Crown Corporation of the Province of Ontario, which is now marketed by Bombardier Inc. (ART) , who hold the technical patents; the engineering patents are held by SNC Lavalin.

SkyTrain is considered an unconventional railway because it is powered by Linear Induction Motors and is incompatible to operate with any other transit system, save itself. The Canada Line light-metro and SkyTrain are incompatible in operation. There are only 7 ai???SkyTrainai??? type systems in operation around the world, despite being first marketed in the late 1970ai???s and the number will be reduced to 6 when the TTC will soon replace the Scarborough RT, with either LRT or a subway.

Q: What is light metro?

A: Light-metro was originally supposed to bridge the gap of what old streetcars could carry and what ridership would justify a heavy-rail metro. Modern LRT has made light-metro almost obsolete by bridging the bus ai??i?? metro gap at a far cheaper cost.

Automatic (driverless) light-metros, with its higher construction and operating costs just canai??i??t compete against modern LRT and the mode is now a niche transit system, on the verge of total obsolescence.

Q: Is SkyTrain cheaper to operate than LRT?

A: No, SkyTrain costs about 40% to 60% more to operate than comparable LRT operations. A recent example of costs not borne by light rail is the now over $6 million annual maintenance costs just for escalators and elevators at SkyTrain stations.

SkyTrain does notAi?? pays its operating costs from fares.

The provincial government subsidies the SkyTrain network by about $250 million annually.

Q: How fast can LRT operate?

A: Generally speaking, LRT can operate as fast as its R-o-W will permit. Streetcars or trams, with stops every 300 to 5oo metres generally have smaller motorsAi?? (there is no need for larger, more expensive motors) giving maximum speeds of 60 to 70 kph, while light rail vehicles has larger motors, giving speeds of 80 to 110 kph.

Q; What about the claim that Skytrain is faster than LRT?

A: SkyTrain seems to be faster than LRT because TransLink has designed SkyTrain to be faster by having fewer stations per route km. Fewer station on a transit route attracts fewer customers. Studies have shown that over all journey times for trips under 7 km. are actually faster by streetcar, than by a metro.

Q: How much does LRT cost to build?

A: Light rail can be built as cheaply as under $10 million/km using TramTrain; $25 to $35 million/km. for a streetcar; $30 million/km + for light rail. TransLink has always gold-plated light rail with all sorts of added costs to drive up the cost of construction to be as close to Skytrain it can.

Q: What is the capacity of a light rail vehicle (LRV)?

A: Today, the capacity of a transit vehicle in North America is put at 5 persons per metre length of vehicle. In the past a transit vehicles capacity was put at all seats filled and 4 persons per metre/sq., but this calculation doesnai??i??t address the fact that in North America people are bigger; that there is a constant movement of people entering and exiting the vehicle; and that most North American customers demand seats.

Q: What is the capacity of LRT and/or streetcar line?

A: The capacity of a tram/streetcar line is dependent on vehicle size and headway’s. In Karlsruhe Germany, the main tram route through the city was seeing peak hour capacities in excess of 30,000 persons per hour per direction, which is 15,000 more than the maximum capacity ofAi?? the present Expo/Millennium Lines! The line is now being relocated in a subway, but it does show the threshold that demands a subway today. Today, most light rail lines are able to handle 20,000 pphpd.

Q: What is TramTrain?

A: TramTrain is a tram/LRT vehicle that has the ability to both operate on mainline railways or streetcar track. Since being introduced in 1994, there are now 3 times as many TramTrains in service that SkyTrain type systems.

Q: What is BRT?

A: BRT or bus rapid transit is a bus that operated on its own guideway or bus way, either guided or not. True BRT costs about 30% less to build than modern LRT, yet has not demonstrated any real advantage over LRT. BRT lines mainly seem the political way of tarting up express bus service and trying to sell it to the public as rapid transit. in most cases, the public are not fooled.

A reserved rights-of-way enables LRT to obtain commercial speeds of that of a metro.

Bombardier “Stuffed It Up” in London. Is Transit Planning “Stuffed Up” In Metro Vancouver?

Not all is well with Bombardier Inc.

The massive transit conglomerate has had too easy for too long and now is accused ofAi?? “‘duping’ the British capital into awarding it a train-signalling contract that it was incapable of delivering, creating ai???nothing short of a disasterai??? for the London Underground.”

I would like to remind everyone that Bombardier’s influence on TransLink in the past being the sole supplier of ALRT/ART SkyTrain, is now affecting our present transit planning with a $3 billion subway under Broadway to Arbutus and the $2.5 poor man’s SkyTrain disguised as LRT in Surrey.

Is Bombardier’s legacy helping to “stuff it up” in Metro Vancouver?

Bombardier Inc slammed by London for ai???shamefulai??i?? Tube project: ai???Nothing short of aAi??disasterai??i??

Republish
Reprint

Kristine Owram | March 14, 2016 |

 

Londonai??i??s city council has lambasted Bombardier Inc. for ai???dupingai??? the British capital into awarding it a train-signalling contract that it was incapable of delivering, creating ai???nothing short of a disasterai??? for the London Underground.

The scathing report, prepared by the London Assemblyai??i??s Budget & Performance Committee, doesnai??i??t mince words in its criticism of Bombardier and Transport for London (TfL), the government body that awarded the contract.

London Mayor Boris Johnson also didnai??i??t equivocate, telling the committee that Bombardier ai???totally stuffed it up.ai???

In June 2011, Bombardierai??i??s transportation division was awarded a contract to upgrade the London Undergroundai??i??s automatic train control, or signalling system.

The company said it could do the job by 2018 for 354 million pounds (about $670 million) but it quickly became apparent that it wouldnai??i??t be able to deliver on time or on budget, according to the report, which calls Bombardierai??i??s performance ai???shameful.ai???

For the rest of the story…..