What $536 Million Will Buy You, Part 2 – A Rail for the Valley TramTrain

What $536 Million Will Buy You – A UBC to BCIT LRT!

Mr. Haveacow made the following important observation; “I am also surprised that few have picked up on that the LRT portion of the contract is only $536,000,000 for 19 km of surface route.”

Zwei, referring to his ‘Google’ maps found that 19km of LRT would stretch from UBC, down 10th Ave. onto Broadway, then along Broadway and the Lougheed highway to past Willington in Burnaby. BCIT is only 1.5 km from the Lougheed Hwy., on Willington.

Why a BCIT to UBC LRT makes sense? Light rail would replace TransLink’s busiest transit corridor with a transit line connecting the University of Vancouver to the BC Institute of Technology, providing a far better service (which in turn will attract more transit customers) with much cheaper operating costs. Much smaller construction costs, means less tax burdens on the local taxpayers.

By using Broadway and other streets for LRT, would greatly improve capacity along this transit corridor at a far cheaper cost than a subway. As most of the Broadway route previously operated with streetcars, much of the infrastructure is in place for the OHE, thus further reducing the cost of construction. The most expensive piece of engineering would be a span over Hwy. 1 to connect to UBC.

It all makes sense, why then doesn’t TransLink and the City of Vancouver ‘get it‘?

So when TransLink and the C0V and their hangers on go on and on for the need of billions more in new taxes & user fees, why not a LRT P-3 connecting UBC to BCIT for around $536 million. What is said that can’t be done in Vancouver,Ai?? is being done in Kitchener Ontario.

Canada Line airport surcharge to hit more (ghost) riders

Maybe, just maybe that the expected numbers of people expected to take the Canada line to YVR was grossly overestimated to secure YVR’s money for a light-metro/subway connection to Vancouver.

YVR contributed about $300 million to the Canada Line on the condition that a downtown to YVR service would be no longer than 25 minutes. This demand has shaped the Canada Line’s construction and operation but it seems much fewer people are taking the mini-metro to the airport, than was originally estimated.

Zwei has always wondered why a surcharge was authorized, while at the same time offering free service on the Sea Island portion of the CanadaAi?? Line. Getting tourists in a “gotcha” position with a transit surcharge is not the best way to greet tourist and with YVR being so central to Vancouver, taking the taxi is a viable option, especially if two or more people are traveling.

I believe the truth of the matter is that fewer people are taking the Canada Line option to YVR and TransLink, refusing to believe that, are applying the surcharge to more people in hopes of generating more revenue and in the end probably deter even more transit customers to the airport in the future.

Canada Line airport surcharge to hit more riders

byAi?? Jeff Nagel – Richmond Review

posted Dec 27, 2013 at 12:00 PM

TransLink wants to make many more passengers pay a $5 surcharge to ride the Canada Line branch from Vancouver Airport to Bridgeport Station in Richmond.

The YVR AddFare is currently charged only for Canada Line riders who pay in cash to take the rapid transit line off Sea Island.

But with the introduction of the Compass card in 2014, TransLink is proposing to apply the same $5 additional fee to Compass cardholders who pay with stored value.

The YVR AddFare was approved in 2010 to generate extra cash to help cover TransLink’s shortfall in funding the Canada Line to Richmond and YVR.

TransLink officials say large numbers of people who now pay in cash at the airport are expected to switch to Compass cards next year, resulting in a $1.4-million drop in annual revenue if nothing is done.

Extending the AddFare’s reach to more people is forecast to generate an extra $1.7 million.

Many savvy transit riders dodge paying the $5 surcharge by instead buying a day pass or a booklet of FareSaver tickets from a retail outlet at the airport, instead of paying at the station ticket machines.

But they’ll be out of luck once the Compass cards roll out and FareSavers are discontinued.

TransLink also proposes to charge the AddFare on day passes sold on Sea Island either by retailers or from the ticket vending machines.

The machines at Sea Island stations are currently disabled from offering day passes but TransLink says riders want to have the option to buy them there and are willing to pay the premium.

YVR employees and Sea Island residents would be exempt from the revised AddFare, as would holders of monthly passes, U-Passes, B.C. Government bus passes and CNIB passes.

The AddFare hasn’t been generating as much revenue as TransLink originally expected ai??i??Ai??the cumulative shortfall was $5.4 million at the end of 2012 and that’s forecast to grow to $12.2 million by the end of next year without changes.

TransLink Commissioner Robert Irwin will make a final ruling on the application and has asked for public comment by Jan. 31. Comments can be emailed to info@translinkcommission.org.

Three bidders vie for Waterloo LRT contract

Improving Metro Vancouverai??i??s public transit system

It seems you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, especially ex GVRD types.

Mr. Spaeth has, like many other GVRD/Metro Vancouver types, have deluded themselves that transit has taken cars of the road in Vancouver.Ai?? The reason for declining car use is the changing nature of the city, but this has not translated to modal shift from car to transit. For many, downtown Vancouver is a no-go area.

Though Spaeth understands that the proprietary SkyTrain mini-metro is very expensive for what it does, he fails to understand that the Canada Line is more of the same, except that spiraling construction costs, truncated construction resulting in a $2.5 billion mini-metro system, that has less capacity than a modern streetcar line at one tenth the cost! Subways do not guarantee faster service, nor greater capacities, rather it is the quality of R-o-W; the number of stations per route km. and the station platform length, which can accommodate trains, trams, etc. The Canada Line’s 40 to 50 metre station platforms can only accommodate two car trains, which happens to be about the length of a modern tram, the Canada Line can’t operate four car trains, but a modern streetcar could operate in couples sets.

Yet Spaeth seems to be naive about modern light rail and calls it by its American name Light Rapid Transit, which is a misnomer meant to hide the fact that streetcars and LRT are one and the same, with the quality of R-o-W determining the difference between LRT and a streetcar or tram.

Zwei offers his opinion in the following article.

By Douglas Spaeth, Vancouver Sun December 26, 2013

It takes less than a busload per minute to replace a whole lane of rush-hour traffic. Our transit is rated the best in North America, and ridership has grown significantly in the last decade, particularly into downtown Vancouver while downtown traffic has decreased. With improved transit more people will ride, but only if there is actually usable service in suburban areas and adequate capacity on the most heavily traveled city routes.

(Zweisystem replies: The fact is transit mode share in Metro Vancouver has not changed much since 1994, with auto use remaining at 57% and transit use a mere 14%, an increase of 3% in 20 years!)

However, before spending more money on transit, TransLinkai??i??s must cut waste, and deliver service cost-effectively.

Three major aspects of transit expenditures should be scrutinized: First, discretionary spending on rapid transit; Second, the operating costs of the bus system; And third, ways to attract more revenue producing riders to fill empty seats on some routes and during the ai???off-peakai??? times.

Rapid transit

The biggest costs looming on the horizon are billions for the Evergreen Line, Broadway Line and potential rapid transit south of the Fraser. SkyTrain, light rapid transit, streetcars and other descriptions are misleading. What is important is how many people a rapid transit line can carry, how fast and how conveniently. The bottom-line is how to get the most lines for the buck.

How much subway we really need? Tunnels are enormously expensive. It is highly unlikely that Metro will go ahead with needed extensions if every NIMBY gets a subway. TransLink in public consultation needs to develop common-sense criteria for when subways are justified. For example, does subway, surface or overhead best support the character of the area served? Is a subway the only way to achieve desired speed and capacity?

(Zweisystem replies: As noted above, subways do not guarantee faster travel times, nor greater capacity than surface transit. The Canada Lines 40-50 metre station platforms mean that only short trains can be used. A simple streetcar line, costing a tenth to build, has a higher capacity than the Canada Line. Subways tend to offer slower point to point travel times due to longer station spacings, transfers, and entrance and exit from subway stations.)

Despite popular perception, surface rapid transit can fit into the community in ways that are functional and attractive. (The old B.C. Electric interurban traveled from Commercial Drive to New Westminster only two to three minutes slower than SkyTrain today, mostly because the tracks had few street crossings.)

(Zweisystem replies: Spaeth fails to take into account that there were 26 stations/stops between Broadway and New Westminster on the old Central Park Interurban Line, versus only 9 stations on the SkyTrain Expo Line. That the Edwardian era Interurban only took a few minutes longer for the same journey, while servicing 17 more stations is a remarkable feat and had little to do with road crossings!)

The Canada Line started a transition away from expensive, 25-year old SkyTrain technology that has not been widely adopted elsewhere. It uses widely available off-the-shelf equipment, rather than the customized technology that locks Metro into a single supplier. Particularly in Surrey and other suburban areas we need to learn from other cities and build inexpensive lines with conventional technology, at-grade tracks, overhead power, traffic priority and other features characteristic of the 20 to 30 systems built or upgraded recently in North America.

(Zweisystem replies: The Canada Line is nothing more than ALRT/ART SkyTrain in drag. Spaeth doesn’t acknowledge that it is light-metro and the light-metro philosophy of operation that has made mini-metro very expensive. It costs almost the same to build and operate a heavy-rail metro, than a light-metro, and of course modern LRT has made light metro like Skytrain and the Canada Line obsolete. Spaeth is out of his depth here.)

Bus operations

Although less obvious, much of TransLinkai??i??s costs go to day-to-day bus operations and there are clearly savings to be had by tightening up this part of its business.

The big potential savings can be achieved by moving buses more smoothly and quickly in traffic with even more bus-only lanes, as well as procedures and equipment to get people on and off the bus faster, investment in off-street ai???mini-lotsai??? to get parked cars off of busy bus routes, enforcement of ai???yield for busesai??? in traffic, and advanced traffic signal technology that always gives buses a green light at intersection. Some of these measures to tighten up bus schedules are being implemented by TransLink acting alone, but the real challenge is for municipalities, Metro and the B.C. Ministry of Transportation to join to make bus priority on Metroai??i??s roads a top job.

(Zweisystem replies: if one wants to increase capacity at no cost, operate the bus system to a European standard with bust stops every 350m to 400m apart. This would effectively remove about 40% of the bus stops in the region, reducing journey times and increasing bus efficiencies.)

Ridership

TransLink can increase ridership on bus routes and at times of day when there are empty seats by learning from transportation providers that are more consumer oriented.

Take the airlines industry for example. Frequent Flyer programs offer privileged membership and demographically targeted benefits as an encouragement to travel on their under-capacity routes. St. Johnai??i??s Metrobus picked up on this idea and claims it is the first transit authority anywhere in the world to partner with AirMiles and reward its passengers with consumer loyalty points for every bus ride. We should be actively attracting riders to fill empty bus seats, particularly police and fire workers who contribute to the safety on the bus.

The broader challenge is for TransLink to move forward from the era of billboard and paint-the-bus advertising to take aggressive advantage of multimedia and social network technology. Online pass purchase, more real-time bus arrival/departure information, better technology for trip planning, targeted advertising via SMS text messaging from shops near a riders stop ai??i?? these are just a few of the ideas that other North American transit authorities are pursuing.

Both public transit and roads are heavily influenced by what kind of urban development occurs in Metro Vancouver. The last article addresses how we can encourage the right kind of development for more affordable transportation.

(Zweisystem replies: To improve transit, TransLink must make the public transit user friendly, which today, with forced transfers and shoddy service it is definitely not. In the 21st century, public transit is seen as a product and if the product is good, people will use it, if not, they will take the car instead.)

Doug Spaeth is the former Transportation and Regional Town Centres Program Manager for the GVRD Livable Region Plan, and subsequently owned an information technology company supplying information systems to public transit authorities in North America and overseas.

Ai?? Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

A very merry Christmas

Christmas tram in Budapest

A very merry Christmas from Rail for the Valley

 

Death By Toll

Is anyone surprised by this?

If you are, you are either residing outside Metro Vancouver or you are living in a bubble, because the taxpayer is maxed out.

The BC Liberal regime of Gordon Campbell has off-loaded so many user fees, taxes and other costs on to the backs of taxpayers that he has all but paupered the average family and tolls on bridges is seen as nothing more than double taxation.

Of course the transit funding referendum is doomed; it was doomed from the start because the Liberal government wants it to failAi?? for their own political reasons, but something more is happening.

The public hate tolls, which translates into “the public hates the government“. A seething hatred of tolls spells big trouble ahead for present government, with grandiose highway and bridge plans, such as the uneeded multi billion dollar Massey tunnel replacement, all planned to be paid for by tolls or road pricing.

As for regional transit, forget it, not going to happen because the ALRT/ART SkyTrain lines needs major refurbishments, costing well in excess of a billion dollars and with the government unwilling to look at much cheaper light rail, the current metropolitan rail network will stagnate because it is much too expensive to build.

The lesson is very clear; Metro Vancouver and TransLink will not be able to afford new transit lines in the near future and it is time the South Fraser Cities and Municipalities realistically at succession from TransLink and go their own merry transit way, using much cheaper, yet just as effective modern LRT. The question is; “Will South Fraser politicians heed the warnings?”

Mayors argue funding referendum is doomed to fail By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver SunDecember 14, 2013

As opposition to the Port Mann Bridge toll intensifies, a referendum to work out payment options for long term transit funding will likely be a hard sell to voters.

New poll results show that opposition to the toll is so great that many people avoid the bridge and use it less now than when it first opened.

Metro Vancouver mayors have long lobbied the provincial government to allow more stable transportation funding options such as a vehicle levy, a regional carbon tax or mobility pricing ai??i?? such as charging drivers per kilometre driven. The money would be used to pay for transportation infrastructure such as rapid transit lines in Surrey and Vancouver and a new or refurbished Pattullo Bridge.

The province has rejected most of their suggestions, with Premier Christy Clark announcing a referendum to gauge public support, slated for the ballot during the Nov. 15, 2014 municipal elections.

But Metro mayors argue the referendum is doomed to fail, noting other successful referendums have involved a broad coalition of all levels of government, as well as years of public education.

Los Angeles, for instance, spent 32 months preparing for its referendum on transportation funding, which was passed at 67 per cent, said Richard Walton, chairman of the TransLink mayorsai??i?? council on regional transportation. Yet the B.C. government hasnai??i??t even come out with a ballot question, with the premier suggesting it will be multiple choice and Transportation Minister Todd Stone insisting it should be a clear and concise yes or no question.

ai???You have to educate the entire region,ai??? Walton said. ai???There has to be something identifiable in each community thatai??i??s going to improve their quality of life. Itai??i??s doable but itai??i??s a complex task that has to be done properly. Thereai??i??s no room for error. If people see it as a tax grab, theyai??i??ll vote against it.ai???

The Insights West survey, released Friday, shows more than half of Metro Vancouver residents are opposed to a $3 toll to cross the Port Mann Bridge next year, while 31 per cent are against paying anything at all.

ai???Despite one year of satisfactory usage of the Port Mann Bridge, the issue of tolling remains contentious and opposition to the tolls has intensified,ai??? Mario Canseco, vice-president of public affairs at Insights West, said.

The online survey of 690 Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley residents suggests one in four residents are driving over the bridge less often than they did a year ago when the $3.3-billion crossing opened, while almost half of those surveyed still continue to use and pay the toll.

About 31 per cent of those surveyed say they will actively seek new routes in 2014.

About 37 per cent are in favour of the Port Mann Bridge toll rising to $3 from $1.50 per crossing ai??i?? a 14-point drop since a similar Insights West poll conducted in December 2012. At the same time, opposition to the toll has increased to 56 per cent from 45 per cent last year.

Those living south of the Fraser are most unhappy, with 72 per cent of those who use the bridge at least once a week opposed to the toll, along with 57 per cent who rely on the bridge one to three times a month.

ai???Thatai??i??s fairly predictable for anywhere in the world,ai??? Walton said. ai???Itai??i??s an unfair imposition on them. They donai??i??t see fairness in the system … some people can travel a long distance in Metro Vancouver without ever having to cross a bridge. Others drive a shorter distance but have to cross a bridge. There shouldnai??i??t be unreasonable penalties for people.ai???

Many mayors had opposed the idea of a referendum next year, saying it separates transit funding from overall infrastructure for roads and bridges and would further delay priority projects if it fails. They also wanted the referendum to be held before the municipal elections to prevent the issue from becoming a campaign issue.

Walton noted that while TransLink has a strong reputation abroad, some of its decisions have rankled residents and municipal officials. ai???Thereai??i??s no question many will be looking to the election to express their views on TransLink,ai??? he said.

But Stone maintains an election is the best time to hold a referendum because it allows the public to be involved in the debate.

He noted a positive referendum result is crucial in moving both goods and people efficiently, especially as Metro prepares to welcome another one million people in 30 years. He maintains he is working closely with the mayors and the province to ai???define a vision for transit and transportation expansionai??? and, while the details still have to be worked out, he is committed to having a successful referendum.

ai???I completely appreciate that some of the mayors are frustrated by the lack of progress. I count myself in that group,ai??? Stone said. ai???We have a lot riding on this as a province.

ai???We need to make sure the referendum question is a made-in-B.C. model and reflects the different choices. Thereai??i??s a lot of discussion that still needs to take place at the cabinet table. The issue for me is to make sure we assess every funding lever and come together with the mayors on this.ai???

NDP TransLink critic George Heyman said Clark should let Stone do his job, pointing out he is the third minister to be appointed since the province signed a memorandum of understanding on transportation funding with the mayors three years ago.

Canseco noted there may be a way to make the referendum palatable but maintains the issue has similarities to the HST: ai???Youai??i??re reminded youai??i??re paying for the bridge every time your cross,ai??? he said.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

ksinoski@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Drivers+hate+Port+Mann+toll+more+than+ever+poll/9285808/story.html#ixzz2nT75pKU6

Why we build with light rail

The following was Zweisystem’s first offering on the Rail for the Valley blog, posted on December 12, 2008.

Five years and some 1,359 posts later, the message has stayed essentially the same; why does the provincial government and TransLink still pursue light metro instead of LRT, especially when light metro has proven inferior in service and for our needs in the Fraser Valley.

TramTrain in Europe

 

What is Light Rail Transit, more commonly known as LRT?

According to the Light Rail Transit Association (www.lrta.org) Light rail is a mode that can deal economically with traffic flows of between 2,000 and 20,000 passengers per hour per direction, thus effectively bridging the gap between the maximum flow that can be dealt with using buses and the minimum that justifies a metro.

But there is more. By track-sharing with existing railways on their rights-of-ways, means that LRT can effectively and affordably service less populated areas, with public transport. Streetcars are also light rail, but operate on-street, in mixed traffic, with little or no signal priority at intersections. The main difference between LRT and a streetcar is the quality of rights-of-way, where a streetcar operates on-street, LRT operates on a reserved rights-of-way or a route that is reserved for the sole purpose of the light rail vehicle. A reserved rights-of-way can be as simple as a HOV lane with rails, to a lawned park like route with trees, hedges and flowerbeds. LRT, in it’s various forms is used in over 600 cities around the world and is the first choice of transit planners for affordable, customer friendly public transport.

The German city of Karlsruhe (City population 275,285) has taken light rail to a new standard, by track sharing with mainline railways and operating, what is called tramtrains. In Karlsruhe, one can board a tram, on-street, on the pavement and alight, on-street in Ohringen some 210km (130 mile) later, with the tram acting as a streetcar, light rail vehicle and a passenger train! Karlsruhe’s light rail network now extends over 400 km. (250+ mile) of route, servicing scores of small towns and villages with high quality public transit at very little cost simply because the tram can use existing railway tracks.

In British Columbia, tramtrain can be a useful tool for implementing a high quality ‘rail’ transit service, not only in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, but in Victoria (E & N Railway) and the Kelowna/Vernon rail corridor as well.

The question is: Why does TransLink and the BC government reject modern LRT out of hand and continue to build with dated SkyTrain light metro?

Addendum

 

Table of Ridership of the Karlsruhe-Bretton Zweisystem (TramTrain), with operation on the mainline DB

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Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? Before LRTAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? After introductionAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? %

Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? Commuter train tram transferAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? ofAi?? TramTrainAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? increase

Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? (September 1992)Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? (March 1993)

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WeekdaysAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 488,400Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 2,064,378Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 423%

SaturdaysAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 39,000Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 263,120Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 675%

SundaysAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 6,200Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 227,478Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 3,669%

TotalAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 533,600Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 2,554,976Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 479%

_______________________________________________________________________________________

(Albtal-Verkehgesellschaft Karlsruhe & ABB Henchel)

Light Rail News from around the World

Hong Kong

Tram operator proposes $2.8b Kai Tak line

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=140343&sid=41066028&con_type=1&d_str=20131206&fc=8

Hong Kong Tramways has proposed building a HK$2.8 billion tram system for the Kai Tak site.

Under the tram operator’s proposal, there will be 23 stations in the system, which will link Kai Tak pier, Ngau Tau Kok and Kowloon Bay MTR stations in 2018. The fare is expected to be HK$3 a trip.

The tram will be barrier free and able to shuttle along roads, said a spokesman, adding the “modern tramway” is the most efficient road space user.

TURKEY

CNR Tangshan streetcars for Samsun

Samsun tram flown from China to Turkey

The first of five trams which Samsun Metropolitan Municipality ordered from CNR Tangshan Railway Vehicles has been delivered from China to Turkey onboard the world’s largest heavy freight aircraft.

The ai??i??7Ai??5m contract signed on December 17 2012 required the first tram to be delivered by December this year, with the last due by February 2014.

The trams were due to be shipped by sea, however Typhoon Haiyan would have caused the deadline to be missed and so CNR Tangshan selected the faster but more expensive option of flying the initial vehicle from Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport to Samsun-Ai??arsamba airport onboard the Antonov Airlines An-225 Mriya, which was originally developed to transport the USSR’s Buran spacecraft.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/an-225-flies-samsun-tram-from-china-to-turkey.html

Edinburgh

Edinburgh trams: first Princes Street night test complete

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-25228776

One of Edinburgh’s new trams has completed the first test run along the city’s most famous shopping street.

Tram 264 made the journey on Princes Street late on Wednesday night, flanked by teams of engineers.

It travelled from the tram depot at Gogar on Edinburgh’s western outskirts to York Place in the city’s east end.

The tram crew and engineers completed the necessary track tests ahead of schedule, returning to the depot in the early hours of the morning.

It was the first time since 1956 that a tram has run on Princes Street.

TransLink Spends on Station Renovations

TransLink is renovating several stations on the Expo Line and as always, the real news is what one reads between the lines.

The Expo Line is near its life expiratory date and no, the Expo Line will not disappear in a cacophony of dust and debris, but extensive and expensive renovations and renewals must be made. One of the factors leading the TTC to replace the Scarborough ICTS Line, was that it is getting close to its life expiratory date and it would be cheaper to replace the ICTS line with LRT in the long term. Recent decision to replace the Scarborough ICTS with a subway was crack smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s driven decision.

 

The claim that the renovation is a; “bid to ease platform overcrowding and accommodate an increase in passengers expected when the new Evergreen Line starts rolling in 2016“, is somewhat over stated as the Evergreen Line will not generate the ridership increase that would warrant such an expense. If TransLink really was sincere in increasing capacity, they will have to lengthen the 80 metre station platforms at all SkyTrain stations and that will be a considerable cost.

The claim that peak hour capacity of the Expo Line is 14,000 persons per hour per direction is debatable, butAi?? the contracted capacity of the Expo Line was 15,000 pphpd. The often quoted 30,000 pphpd capacity of the Expo Line was based on rakes of 8-car trains of MK 1 stock, operating with stations having platforms 110 metres long. The maximum theoretical capacity of the Millennium ART Line was claimed to be 26,000 pphpd, by Bombardier literature of the time of construction.

The claim that the Broadway/Commercial stations sees; “150,000 bus and SkyTrain passengers daily“, again is debatable.Ai?? What TransLink should say is that there are 150,000 boardings, which translates to 75,000 actual bus AND SkyTrain passengers a day. TransLink likes to double count SkyTrain customers transferring to buses to give the impression that more people are using SkyTrain and the Broadway B-Line than there really are.

The real story is that TransLink is spending large sums of money to renovate older metro stations, not to increase capacity or customer comfort, but because they have to and with a TransLink referendum coming soon, TransLink is trying to impress the taxpayer, with questionable statics and manipulated figures.

The preceding chart shows the ridership of all bus services going to UBC.Ai?? Note Broadways bus ridership (highlighted).

“

As TransLink builds for a busier future, Main Street station access will be temporarily limited

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/TransLink+builds+busier+future+Main+Street+station+access+will+temporarily+limited/9257840/story.html#ixzz2mnsZgqKQ

Starting early next year, Main Street-Science World will be served only by shuttle trains

TransLink is asking SkyTrain passengers to be patient as it upgrades seven Expo Line stations in a bid to ease platform overcrowding and accommodate an increase in passengers expected when the new Evergreen Line starts rolling in 2016.

The upgrades are to cost $164 million and the first big change for passengers will happen early next year at Main Street-Science World station.

During construction, which is expected to wrap up next summer, regular trains will no longer stop at Main Street. Passengers going to and from the station will instead have to catch two-car shuttle trains, which will run every 10 minutes, to Waterfront or Commercial-Broadway, where they will can transfer to another train.

ai???As with any construction project, weai??i??re asking for the publicai??i??s patience,ai??? said Jeff Busby, manager of TransLinkai??i??s infrastructure and planning.

Other stations scheduled for upgrades are Commercial-Broadway, Metrotown, Joyce-Collingwood, Scott Road, Surrey Central and New Westminster.

The improvements are expected to be completed at all stations by the end of 2016, which coincides with the opening of the Evergreen Line and an anticipated rise in passengers, particularly at Commercial-Broadway, the systemai??i??s busiest hub.

About 14,000 people an hour an direction board the Expo Line during the busiest times of days ai??i?? usually in the morning and afternoon rush hours ai??i?? and this number is expected to jump to 25,000 people an hour by 2043, Busby said. If the transit system were a freeway, he added, it would need 12 lanes in each direction to accommodate those passenger loads over the next 30 years.

Busby said the Expo Line, which opened in 1986, is cramped and often overcrowded. Generally, the station are changing to make them more accessible, with new elevators and escalators, wider platforms and passenger passageways.

ai???Weai??i??re experiencing crowding at stations with rush hour a key choke point,ai??? Busby said. ai???That will increase with the opening of the Evergreen Line. In some cases, trains arrive and they so full people are unable to board.ai???

Busby noted that since 2008, TransLink has increased the capacity of the system by 30 per cent by adding new SkyTrain cars. The upgrades will allow SkyTrain to one day run five-car trains; the longest now are four cars.

The plan also calls for secure bike rooms to encourage more passengers to cycle to transit stations.

Commercial-Broadway, one of the biggest stations with 150,000 bus and SkyTrain passengers daily, is considered one of the biggest projects. It is slated to get a new east platform serving westbound Expo Line trains and a doubling of the existing pedestrian passageway over Broadway to connect with the Millennium line platforms and westbound 99 B-Line bus stop.

Busby said that construction on all the stations except Main Street-Science World will be kept away from passengers so that service isnai??i??t severely affected. But he notes that passengers will likely be directed around the construction on designated pathways.

ai???What weai??i??re hoping to do is put the overall project in perspective,ai??? he said. ai???People have to keep the end in mind; weai??i??re going to see a system that is much better.ai???

ksinoski@vancouversun.com

______________

Station by station

Main Street-Science World

Completion: fall 2014

Upgrades:

ai??? expanded east station house with a new entrance;

ai??? new west entrance

ai??? new escalator, stairs and elevator

ai??? open station design with better lighting and visibility

ai??? New secure parking area for bicycles

Commercial-Broadway

Passengers served: 150,000 per day (bus/train)

Completion: Summer 2016

Upgrades:

ai??? new east platform serving westbound Expo trains

ai??? new pedestrian passageway over Broadway, connecting with Millennium Line platform and 99 B-Line bus stop

ai??? widening the walkway to Platforms 1 and 2

ai??? new elevators and escalators to increase capacity and accessibility

ai??? new secure parking area for bicycles

Metrotown

Completion: fall of 2016

Upgrades:

ai??? rebuilt east entrance and add new west station house

ai??? new stairs and escalators

ai??? replacement of the original elevator with two new elevators

ai??? a relocated bus exchange

ai??? new secure parking area for bicycles

Joyce-Collingwood

Completion: end of 2016

ai??? new elevator and two escalators in the east station house

ai??? upgrades to elevator and escalator at west entrance

ai??? better lighting and visibility

ai??? new secure parking area for bicycles

Scott Road

Completion: winter 2013/14

Upgrades:

ai??? a new elevator at the west entrance

ai??? enhanced stairs, ramps and curb ramps to improve accessibility

ai??? a redesigned bus loop

ai??? upgraded parking lot with new shelters and pedestrian walkways

Surrey Central

Completion: end of 2016

Still in the design stage. TransLink is working with the city of Surrey to identify upgrades to the bus exchange and SkyTrain station.

New Westminster:

Completion: fall of 2015

Upgrades:

ai??? improvements to existing escalators and stairs

ai??? replacement of the south elevator

ai??? improved station design with better lighting and visibility

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