Now You See It, Now You Don’t – The Olympic Line Opens Today
If one wants to ride a modern tram, then one should get to the Olympic Line as quick as possible and take a ride, before the Flexity cars are returned to Brussels after the 2010 Olympics. Zweisystem would be more excited if this was a start of a program of LRT/streetcar construction, but it’s not. In fact, there is little evidence that the City of Vancouver’s Engineering and Planning departments really understand the importance of LRT/streetcar in the 21st Century and how to plan for a successful downtown streetcar line. The Olympic line is built to such a standard that Roberts Bank Coal trains could use the line. We must ensure to get the ‘light’ back in ‘Light‘ Rail.
The Bombardier built Flexity family of trams are wonderfully built and make the SkyTrain Mk.1 car seem like 49′ Ford in comparison. The modular design means that several variants of the Flexity cars can be delivered, to suit the needs of the customer without incremental costs in the price. Cars can be made to lengths as long as 55 metres; have saloon sections (no doors) for longer journeys, and even a ‘Bistro’ section if need be. There is also a TramTrain variant and I would wager Bombardier would be willing to lend a few for a Vancouver to Chilliwack interurban service, if asked.
There are many motor packages available to the Flexity trams, with 100 kph operation possible.
So ride the Olympic Line tram and salivate at 21st century public transportation, that our European cousins across the pond take for granted every day.
From CKWX News 1130 Radio:
Olympic Line streetcars set to open
Two state of the art trains are on loan from Belgium
Britt Carlsen Jan 21, 2010
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Streetcar service is making a resurgence in Vancouver and the city hopes it is something that will continue. The Olympic Line project is a partnership between the city of Vancouver and Bombardier Transportation, who brought in the two Flexity cars from Belgium. From Thursday January 21st starting at 9:30 a.m., the free service will run between Granville Island, 2nd Avenue and Cambie daily from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. through March 21st.
Bernie Edie, one of 23 locomotive engineers who will be operating the trains, had much to say on the history of streetcars in Vancouver. Streetcars arrived in the city in June of 1980, “they were green then and they didn’t even know it. The streetcars served Vancouver very well for 65 years.”
Edie adds the relationship between the Olympic Line streetcars and those of Vancouver’s past are closely linked, the last train ran in April of 1955, “that was on Hastings street. The reason they left the streetcars on that line for as long as they did is because of the Commonwealth Empire Games, they thought it would add more capacity. Well guess what? Here we are 55 years later with a car that has more capacity.”
As for the new trains, Edie is impressed. “They’re not only quiet but they have what you call regenerative braking, so when you are in a breaking mode power goes back up the lines, its total acclimatized. It’s a very high tech machine, Bombardier did a marvelous job.”
The City of Vancouver has a vision for streetcars in the future and feels they are a clean and sustainable option for public transit in our city. The Olympic Line project has already won the Sustainability Star Award, which recognizes a service or initiative that presents a solution to a local or global sustainability challenge.
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/19138–olympic-line-streetcars-set-to-open
Battle looming between Vancouver and other regions over priority of rapid transit – From News 1130 Radio
Ai??
As expected, the Broadway UBC rapid transit project has gained prominence in the past few weeks and the SkyTrain lobby has taken to the blogosphere to spread “SkyTrain Speak.” SkyTrain Speak, is the myth and propaganda created by the SkyTrain lobby to further the causeAi??Ai?? promoting further construction of the obsolete proprietary light metro.
The Broadway UBC rapid transit or subway project, isAi??Ai??being promotedAi??Ai??by Vancouver politico’s, who realize that the City of Surrey’s population will soon surpass that of Vancouver and that Vancouver’s monopoly of scarce transit funds will soon go South of the Fraser. Vancouver’s politicians suffer a rather malignant form of ‘civic penis envy’, where they firmlyAi??Ai??believe that to makeAi??Ai??Vancouver a ‘world class’ city,Ai??Ai??they mustAi??Ai??have subways, because subways willAi??Ai??Vancouver ‘world class’.Ai??Ai??Political prestigeAi??Ai??was the main reason for building the $2.5+ billion RAV/Canada Line subway in Vancouver.
One also must wonder if Bombardier has been given a (secret?) promise by TransLink and/or the province to have one more kick at the can, so to speak, by extending the the SkyTrainAi??Ai??Millennium Line West to UBC or the Evergreen Line North to Port Coquitlam. The weak ridership figures for the Evergreen Line means that a SkyTrain subway would have a far better chance to showcase SkyTrain for overseas sales.
Zweisystem predicts if the Broadway transit project doesn’t use SkyTrain, Bombardier will announce the retirement of the SkyTrain light metro system and will only produce vehicles for existing systems.
Surrey politicians and taxpayers have also woken up to the fact that they will again be subsidizing Vancouver’s expensive rapid transit dreams and may rebel, forcing Victoria to create a South Fraser Transit Authority. This could have ominous consequences for taxpayers living in the TransLink or SkyTrain region, where their taxpayers must then fund the full cost ofAi??Ai??Victoria’s and TransLink’s grand metro schemes. The real cost of metro construction will come home to roost with a big financialAi??Ai??bang!
Has TransLink already made the decision to build with SkyTrain?
By using the term ‘rapid transit’ TransLink has already made the choice toAi??Ai??build metro, for I have not seen any definition of ‘rapid transit’ that include LRT, streetcar, or trams. By extending the Millennium Line, means SkyTrain will be used and there will be no need of any pesky P-3 or systems tender, that caused much rancor with the public in the past.
Finally, TransLink is broke and the regions transit deficit is great, but with todays precarious economy, there will be little or no money for expensive metros, unless Premier Campbell again promises to completely fund Vancouver’s UBC SkyTrain subway and call it the Legacy Line.
Sad to say, the gift of SkyTrain has not reduced auto congestion, but it has certainly driven up property taxes, some legacy!
The cost of Broadway/UBC subway, about $3 billion to $4 billion.
The cost of a deluxe Vancouver to Chilliwack TramTrain, about $1 billion.
The cost of a BCIT to UBC to Stanley Park LRT, aboutAi??Ai??$1 billion.
Cost of a Surrey LRT/streetcar, King George Hwy./Scott Road/Guilford Loop, about $1 billion.
Cost of a Langley 200th St. LRT, about $500 million.
Cost of a Abbotsford LRT, about $500 million.
The firing shots of TransLink’s UBC ‘rapid transit’ line may start a battle that will rip TransLink and the regions politics asunder, with many unintended consequences.
Battle looming between Vancouver and other regions over priority of rapid transit
Vancouver wants line along Broadway to UBC
Jill DrewsAi??Ai?? Jan 19, 2010
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The City of Vancouver is making plans to ensure a rapid transit line along Broadway to UBC is given top priority–ahead of other regional transit improvements.Ai??Ai?? But not everyone thinks Vancouver’s plan should be at the top of the transit list.
Vancouver Councillor Geoff Meggs says the density surrounding the Broadway corridor would more than pay for itself.Ai??Ai?? “There already are more people riding on buses, jammed on buses, hanging on straps on buses, watching buses drive by them, than we need to justify the line.”
But Ray Hudson with the Surrey Board of Trade says the Evergreen Line and more service south of the Fraser used to be a priority and should still be a priority.Ai??Ai?? “Soon, we will rival and even pass the population of Vancouver, and yet we are certainly the very poor ‘country cousins’ with respect to these kinds of services.”
Hudson says some business owners he’s heard from are wondering if separating from the Metro Vancouver regional district might be the way to go to finally see some transit improvements.
For further information on LRT on Broadway:
The end for the Brussels PCCs – From the LRTA
What makes this story interesting is that some of Brussels PCC cars are still operational after 58 years of revenue service.
I will wager that very few, if any of these cars will be scrapped as there will be plenty of buyers from museums, smaller tram companies, and private, who will purchase these cars and further their operational careers.
How many buses last in revenue operation for 58 years?
The end for the Brussels PCCs :
It has been announced that the last day of operation of the 7000-series single PCC cars in Brussels will be Friday 12 February 2010. All the remaining serviceable cars will be in all-day service from Woluwe depot on routes 39 and 44. During the evening the service will be operated entirely by PCCs until the last departure (actually 01.06 on Saturday morning) from Ban Eik. As the PCCs come out of service they will be driven to Haren depot for storage and disposal.
It is possible that these depot runs will be open to the public, in which case the last arrival at Haren is expected to be at about 02.30 on the Saturday morning.
The first PCC entered service in Brussels in November 1951, and some of the 1952 delivery have survived to the end, 58 years of service.
19 January 2010
A Brussels PCC next to a Bombardier Flexity tram (now used in Vancouver BC)
Will legal woes derail TransLink?
The merchants along Cambie Street were treated extremely badly by everyone involved with the RAV/Canada metro line subway construction project. Now, with Ms. Heyes winning a $600,000.00 lawsuit against TransLink, the legalAi??Ai??floodgates have been opened for other merchants negatively affected by the RAV/Canada Line cut and cover subway construction to sue TransLink. The sad part of the whole affair is that no one gave a damn about their plight,Ai??Ai??but withAi??Ai??a valiant Ms. Heyes taking on the RAV/TransLink Goliath and winning, has changed the game, so to speak.
Now Ms. Heyes award is under appeal, which is a crap-shoot for TransLink because the appeal could go against TransLink and the courts increasing the award! Here lies the conundrum for the cash strapped TransLink; either pay the award to Ms. Heyes and then fight every other lawsuit brought against TransLink re: subway construction or shake the dice and hope for “snake eyes“?
TransLink is broke and the impending deluge of lawsuits may just thrust the wooden stake of bankruptcy further into the TransLink corpse. From Zweisystem’s perspective, I hope it does! It is time to start over, from scratch.
From BCTVBC……….
The fight is coming just months after a court victory by small business owner Susan Heyes, who won $600000 in damages in a similar suit. …
More merchants suing Canada Line construction
Updated: Sat Jan. 16 2010 18:38:01
ctvbc.ca
The list of Cambie Street merchants who are filing suit after being left in the lurch by the Canada Line construction is growing.
Roughly 40 businesses along the Canada Line are looking for millions in compensation after losing customers who couldn’t brave the construction zone to get to their stores.
“It was very depressing for a busy store where people are coming in and out all the time to where almost nobody was walking in the store at all,” said pharmacist Marvin Nider, one of the plaintiffs.
Nider says his store, Mark’s Plaza Pharmacy, lost about a million dollars over the course of the construction.
The suit, filed Friday, is on top of the class action lawsuit that has already been filed, involving 250 businesses in the Cambie Village alone.
In both suits the plaintiffs claim they were devastated by the cut and cover construction method. They argue that if the Canada Line had been built with a tunnel boring machine as originally planned, the businesses would not have lost as much.
Several plaintiffs in this week’s suit were businesses that failed during construction, such as Arroy-D Thai Restaurant, Don Don Noodle CafA?Ai??, and Hugo Restaurant.
Translink won’t comment on the lawsuit. But the stores are optimistic about a big payout. The fight is coming just months after a court victory by small business owner Susan Heyes, who won $600,000 in damages in a similar suit.
“The whole thing was opened up by Hazel and Company,” said Nider. “She put her neck on the line and we owe her a debt of gratitude.”
In the meantime business owners are waiting for the increased traffic from the Canada Line to bring revenues up to where they used to be.
Update, Monday @ 8:35 AM – from CKNW Radio………..
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)
1/18/2010
A second group of Cambie Street businesses is seeking compensation for the impact caused by building the Canada Line with a cut-and-cover tunnel instead of a bored tunnel.Over 40 merchants have filed a writ in BC Supreme Court saying the decision to change the method of tunnel construction “significantly impaired” access to their businesses.
Some were forced to close or relocate because of the giant trench in front of their stores, which was left open for at least 11 months.
The group says the nuisance could have been avoided by sticking with a bored tunnel and that the change constituted “unreasonable interference”.
A separate class action suit involving another 250 businesses has also been launched.
Maternity clothing store owner Susan Heyes was awarded $600-thousand in her own lawsuit last May. An appeal of that decision is ongoing.
Another Gadgetbahnen Bites the Dust – Las Vegas Monorail Files for Bankruptcy
This news is not surprising and well illustrates the nonsense pandered by the light-metro lobby that grade separated, automatic transit systems themselves attract ridership. Monorails are in fact proprietary light-metros and once one invest with monorail, it is stuck with both monorail and the supplier, which is very bad for future transit planning, with Vancouver well illustrating the many problems that come with our SkyTrain gadgetbahnen.
Despite the hype and hoopla with the 6.3 kmAi??Ai??Las Vegas monorail, it just did not meet its promoters expectations andAi??Ai??with itsAi??Ai??expensive construction costs and lack of customer popularity, thereAi??Ai??will be little appetite toAi??Ai??fund aAi??Ai??much needed $500 million, 5.6 kmAi??Ai?? extension to McCarran International Airport, despite the positive spin in the news item.
The Las Vegas monorail could very well be the harbinger of things to come for the proposed Honolulu elevated light metro!
From Mass Transit website:
Las Vegas Monorail Files for Bankruptcy
Adrienne PackerLas Vegas Review-Journal (NevadaNEVADA – The Las Vegas Monorail Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, one month after representatives of the rail system announced such a move could allow a future $500 million expansion to McCarran International Airport.
Monorail officials said last month that they had three options: negotiate an agreement with bondholders without filing for bankruptcy; file for bankruptcy with the bondholders’ blessing; or file without a new agreement in place.
In 2000, the state’s Department of Business and Industry awarded the company the tax-exempt bonds in a three-tier structure with the company promising revenue after the monorail met the start-up costs.
Monorail representatives told the state it anticipated about 20 million passengers a year who would pay a fee of $2.50 per trip. Its Web site says it has carried 27 million passengers in five years.
Last year, the train carried 6 million passengers and brought in $27 million in fare box and advertising revenues. In prior years, ridership figures hovered between 7 million and 8 million. Company officials blame the sluggish economy for the drop. Las Vegas hosts fewer conventions and attendance has decreased at events in town.
The company was forced to dip into its reserve funds in 2008 in an effort to meet more than $19 million in principal and interest due for the bonds issued by the Business and Industry division. At that time, Fitch Ratings, a New York City-based credit rating firm, estimated the company had $69 million in reserves on hand, down $20 million from 2006.
Curtis Myles, chief executive officers of the company, would not elaborate on a deal forged with bondholders.
“We have been in discussions with bondholders. We have some agreements with some of them; some are pretty confidential,” he said. “They are definitely aware we are filing.”
Chapter 11 bankruptcy means reorganizing the financial structure; a plan developed throughout court proceedings is ultimately approved by a judge or a vote of the creditors. The company’s intent is to lower its payments to bondholders.
Myles said the filing will not effect monorail services.
“We’ll open tomorrow,” Myles said.
Ridership has never met expectations since 2004, when the elevated train began providing service between the Las Vegas Convention Center and Strip hotels. Because the train’s popularity was underestimated, the company has failed to pay off the $650 million in construction and start-up costs.
Trouble in Paradise – Honolulu’s Troubled Mini-Metro Project
There has been much comment on Honolulu’s elevated rapid transit project and now, asAi??Ai??expected (as with Seattle’s stillborn monorail project)Ai??Ai??financial problems are rearingAi??Ai??their ugly heads. What I find astounding that the estimated cost of the elevated metro is now pegged atAi??Ai??USD $5.3 billion andAi??Ai??is to carry a paltry 100,000 daily passengers by 2030. Shades ofAi??Ai?? Seattle’s hybrid metro/light rail fiasco!
100,000 passengers a day is no problem for much cheaper light rail andAi??Ai??with the benefit of LRT’s cheaper costAi??Ai??for future expansion, gives a more likelihood of new lines built. It seems the Honolulu metro lobby, like Vancouver’s SkyTrain/metro lobby, don’t care about higher taxes and transit fares to fund “Pixie Dust” transit planning, because the taxpayer always has deep pockets for politically prestigious light metro!
From the Transport Politic
Metro Project Still in Planning, Ambitious Honolulu Rail Transit Project May be in Financial Trouble
Tax revenues fall short in paying for 20-mile system, connecting downtown with Kapolei.
Yesterday, the Honolulu Advertiser revealed that in May the city had reviewed the costs of its planned transit system and realized that revenues over a 13-year period would be short $500 million compared to previous estimates. The news came as a bombshell for proponents of the rail line, who have worked hard in recent months to defend the credibility of the project. It gives additional ammunition to opponents who still hope to prevent the projectA?ai??i??ai???s construction, and were able to harp on the cityA?ai??i??ai???s secrecy as evidence of corruption. HonoluluA?ai??i??ai???s experience, however, is little different from that in most other American cities today suffering from the consequences of the recession.
HonoluluA?ai??i??ai???s rail transit line, which was approved by voters last November, will connect East Kapolei with the airport and downtown on a 20-mile elevated route that will take 40 minutes to traverse. Serving the majority of the cityA?ai??i??ai???s major job and residential centers, the line will attract almost 100,000 daily passengers by 2030 and cost $5.3 billion to build; it will fully open in 2019. Around 30% of the projectA?ai??i??ai???s costs are expected to be covered by the Federal Transit Administration through the New Starts program, with the rest being paid for by a local 1/2Ai??A? sales tax that was introduced in January 2007.
ItA?ai??i??ai???s on the revenue from that tax that the cityA?ai??i??ai???s transit troubles lie………
And this from Wikipedia:
Delays
During a “State of the Rail” address on October 29, 2009, Mayor Hannemann told the audience that he is willing to delay the start of construction of the line from December 2009 to January 2010. In the speech he gave to invited guests in at The Mission Memorial Auditorium, Hannemann told the audience “I’m announcing today that I’m willing to push back our groundbreaking schedule for at least another month to allow the appropriate federal, state and community organizations to cross the t’s and dot the i’s.” Prior to making the speech, there was opening of a video of Hannemann riding a virtual representation of a train. “This is not a virtual dream folks,” Hannemann said. “This is our reality.” In the speech, Hannemann also said, “I have said the longer we delay, the more we’re going to pay. But I believe we must be prudent at this critical juncture because thorough preparation will contribute to our ultimate success.” The speech was taped and aired on three local television stations at a cost of $10,000.
As of January 2010, the timeline as to when — and if — the project will be built has started to run into more roadblocks. At issue is Governor Lingle’s plan to conduct a thorough review of the project before deciding if she will accept the environmental impact statement (which is key to the project going forward), and a holdup on a intergovernmental agreement on how to mitigate the rail project’s impact on historical sites. Another factor is when construction will actually start, which had already missed its December 2009 target and is likely to miss the January 2010 goal, with City officials looking towards February 2010 as a startup even though others are beginning to worry that this project might be delayed even further.
To make more matters even more complicated, The state of Hawaii is expected to hold public hearings on the environmental impacts of Honolulu’s planned rail project, which would give the public an opportunity to testify on whether the city’s plans to mitigate the environmental impacts of the project are adequate and likely to provide a platform for those opposed to the train as well as groups advocating alternatives such as street-level rail or elevated, managed highway lanes. The decision to hold public hearings could further delay the project, and even City Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka is disappointed, saying that such hearings were unnecessary because the city held public hearings after it released the project’s draft environmental impact statement in 2009.
On January 8, 2010, Governor Lingle suggested that Honolulu should consider adjustments to its planned $5.3 billion elevated commuter rail line A?ai??i??ai??? including building a portion of it at street level A?ai??i??ai??? to save money and avoid putting more burden on taxpayers in a down economy, saying that “If a project like this fails financially, and 80 percent of the people are here on O’ahu, the state is going to be impacted, and the state is going to have to step in at that point to protect the credit rating of the state and of the city. Because otherwise it would be very difficult for anyone from Hawai’i to be selling bonds.” Lingle has also set up a public forum in which The Hawai’i chapter of the American Institute of Architects will provide a presentation on alternative rail plans on January 18, 2010 in the state Capitol auditorium. Lingle notes that giving the AIA a chance to offer their suggestions on building a rail line that would save $2 billion by building 10 of the 20 miles of the line at street level would save taxpayer dollars. This move has sparked criticism from Hannemann, who responded in a written statement, “It’s amazing that, in the absence of any state project that would create the thousands of jobs that the rail transit project will, that the governor of this state continues to throw up roadblocks, especially since she championed elevated rail during her first year in office.”Ai??Ai?? Unfortunately, there are several companies that will be involved with the project who do not support the AIA’s recommondations, saying that the elevated plan is way better and any changes would derail the project altogether.
There was also a attempt by Stop Rail Now to get a anti-rail ordinance measure on the ballot again after appealing a Circuit Court’s 2008 decision that prevented the nonprofit group from placing the ordinance on the November 2008 general election ballot, which would have added to more delays. But on December 30, 2009, The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals sided with the Circuit Court, thus upholding the latter’s ruling and allowing the project to proceed………….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honolulu_High-Capacity_Transit_Corridor_Project
Elevated light metro in Honolulu
Phoenix: Light rail boosts uptown’s economic revival
From the Light Rail Now folks.
There has been a lot of nay-saying about the new Phoenix LRT andAi??Ai??unlike our transit planning here, there was a long and full public debate about the project culminating in a winning public vote to proceed. Unlike SkyTrain, the Phoenix LRT, like so many other American LRT lines are funded by long term bonds, thus the full cost of the LRT project is known, while here only the direct costs are published and the debt servicing charges (which are well known in the USA) are almost a state secret in BC. SkyTrain is presently subsidized by at least $230 million annually and now including the RAV/Canada Line light-metro, the public has invested over $8 billion in metro and that number will increase by at least $250 million annually!
What this article illustrates that where LRT is built, investment follows and LRT is not just seen as a “people mover”, but a tool for economic revival of city centres.
Phoenix: Light rail boosts uptown’s economic revival
Phoenix “Light rail contributes to Phoenix area’s revival” is the headline of a June 8th Arizona Republic article describing what the paper calls a “renaissance” attributed at least in part to the urban area’s new Metro light rail transit (LRT) line (connecting central-city Phoenix with two major suburbs, Tempe and Mesa)
As the paper reports:
“Uptown Phoenix, once home to dilapidated strip malls and run-down lots, is enjoying a revival of sorts. With lightAi??Ai?? rail cutting straight through the central Phoenix district, more than a dozen new businesses have sprouted in the neighborhood near Camelback Road and Central Avenue from coffee shops and restaurants to anorganic pet store.”
The Republic quotes City Councilman Tom Simplot, speaking during a recent ceremony celebrating the spate of mom-and-pop businesses that have recently opened.
“As we hear about all the businesses closing in the malls and other parts of the city, this is proof we are really sizzling in this part of Phoenix” Simplot told the audience. “The investment [in light rail] is paying off.”
As an example, the article focuses on Hula’s Modern Tiki, an “Hawaiian-inspired eatery” owned by Dana Mule and his two California business partners. Having taken over a “funky” old building along the Central Avenue segment of the Metro LRT line, Hula’s owners have implemented what the paper describes as “a massive $1 million remodel, nearly doubling the size of the building to 2,900 square feet.” As a result, “The expansion and renovation will allow seating for up to 125, including an indoor bar and outdoor patio area.”
“We looked at 50 locations in Phoenix before we found a place we really loved” Mule toward the Republic reporter. “This has the soul and character and community-based support that we were looking for.”
The future Hula’s is located “At the heart of the renaissance” notes the Republic, described as “the unassuming Xavier Square retail center at 4700 N. Central Ave.”
Among a diversity of “trendy” retail establishments blossoming at this center is an “eco-friendly pet store”, relocated to the Central Avenue site from elsewhere in Phoenix. The owner, Christopher Pulvermacher, emphasized that, in contrast with his previous location, his new location on the LRT line is more in synch with his target market.
“People downtown are more savvy about health and about what is important” he told the Republic reporter. “Most of our customers come here because of what we carry.”
As for Hula’s, the Republic article recounts that the restaurant “will join a small cluster of trendy restaurants along Central.”
One of these is Maizie’s Cafe and Bistro, whose owner, Joel Miller, told the reporter that his restaurant was received well by the community it first opened a year previously. However, noted the article, “since light-rail trains began rolling in December, there is a new energy in the neighborhood that has boosted business.”
“Uptown was nothing” Miller emphasized. “It was dead. You only went to uptown if you needed a bicycle fixed or wanted to go to AJ’s [Fine Foods]. Now, people are saying, ‘Let’s go to the north-central area,’ and they are not being disappointed.”
From the Georgia Straight – Transportation activists mobilize to thwart South Fraser Perimeter Road and Broadway SkyTrain
Athens tram - note simple on-street construction
Charlie Smith has another good article in the Georgia Straight about transit and transportation in the region and of course the comments are well worth a read.
Please attend the meetings.
The January 16 meeting will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Sundance Banquet Hall (6574 Ladner Trunk Road). It’s served by the C76 and C87 buses.
January 18, TransLink is hosting a stakeholder meeting from 6 to 9 p.m. on a proposed rapid-transit line to UBC. It will take placeAi??Ai??at the Plaza 500 Hotel at 500 West 12th Avenue.
Reno planning to convert new "BRT" line to streetcar system
The following is from the Light Rail Now folks.
Reno Nevada, the “World’s Smallest City”, is embarking to convert its recently built Bus Rapid Transit Line to light rail. It seems there are a lot more benefits that spin off a light rail project than BRT and Reno politicos want to see the billions of dollars of investment cash that follow LRT development, invested in Reno’s in the rejuvenation of the downtown core.
AAi??Ai??question for those promoting BRT in the METRO region; “If Reno’s BRTAi??Ai??is so good, why then are city planners wanting to replace it with LRT in just a few months after opening?
Reno planning to convert new “BRT” line to streetcar system
Reno, Nevada Ai??ai??i?? “BRT”, we hardly knew ye?
It’s only been in service less than a month, but already the city’s new Virgina Street “bus rapid transit” (“BRT”) line is being slated for conversion to streetcar-type light rail transit (LRT) technology.
On October 11th, financed in part by $7.4 million in federal funding, Reno opened a so-called “BRT” operation running articulated buses along a 14-stop route in the Virginia Street corridor, a service already credited with generating a roughly 10% increase in ridership.
However, even before the “BRT” line opened, city officials were already planning to convert the “rapid bus” line to streetcar operation and eventually faster, higher-capacity light rail for economic development reasons, citing the experience of Portland, Oregon as an example.
According to a report in the April 30th Reno Gazette-Journal, John Hester, the city’s economic development director, “says rail systems make private investment happen.”
Citing Hester for its source, Gazette-Journal went on to report that:
Ai??Ai??”The Reno City Council approved a plan to convert to street cars and light-rail, making Virginia Street wide enough for bus, street cars, eventually trains and other motor vehicles…. New lots would be required to replace the lost parking.” Street cars, fueled by an overhead electric cable, would travel from central downtown to the university and would be the next phase after buses. The council also wants a new Virginia Street bridge strong enough for rail cars. Eventually, a light rail line would run from the University of Nevada campus to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center….”
Six months later, the streetcar project took a dramatic step forward, according to a Nov. 13th Gazette-Journal report:“Aiming to kick-start a streetcar/light rail project along Virginia Street and rebuild central Reno, local transportation officials Thursday approved spending $200,000 for planning. The Regional Transportation Commission ordered staff update studies needed to get federal money for the $151 million line….
“The $200,000 apparently was redirected into the rail project from funds left over from the “rapid bus” project. The study would Include examining alternatives to the rail project and implementing a new “rapid bus” service on Fourth Street between Reno and the suburb of Sparks “to provide more passengers for the Virginia Street rail line.”
The streetcar project would be implemented in two phases:
Phase 1 – line construction from California Avenue to the University of Nevada, Reno campus, projected to cost $67 million …
Phase 2 –Ai??Ai??construction from downtown to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, projected to cost $84 million…In terms of funding ongoing operating costs, the paper notes:
“Fares would be structured to cover a portion of operating and maintenance costs. For the downtown-university link, annual operating costs were estimated at $1.3 million and $3 million for the entire line.”
As the Gazette-Journal reiterates, “The rail system eventually would replace the rapid bus system on Virginia Street…” with several objectives in view, including “to provide a better transit service, reduce traffic congestion and sprawl and encourage a higher density of development down Reno’s main corridor….”
Urban revitalization seems to be a major focus of the interest in LRT- streetcar development. John Hester, identified in the article as Community Development Director, emphasized that the new rail system would “enable urban renewal to take root in rundown sections along Virginia Street.”Hester again cited the experience of Portland, Oregon’s 2.4-mile streetcar line, which is credited with attracting about 10,000 dwelling units built within two blocks of the line and total new investment exceeding $3.5 billion.
“Those are the kinds of things we hope to see happen in our transit corridor” Hester told the newspaper.
Hester said that planning for the streetcar would include extending the rail transit line to Meadowood Mall. Tracks in Virginia Street would be laid within existing right-of-way, with parking removed from some sections of the route, resulting in in real estate cost savings estimated at $100 million.
Apparently, implementation of the Virgina Street “BRT” is being designed for either joint use with the streetcar system, or easy conversion. As the paper notes, citing Hester, “For the rapid bus system, 11 stations are planned to be built starting a year from now and would accommodate the rail system….”
According to Lee Gibson, executive director of the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), . local officials hope to obtain some federal funding for the project, but at least half the project costs would need to be covered locally. Federal funding could be available in the next federal transportation bill, but that’s not expected to be considered by Congress until after the 2010 election.For the streetcar line, the local share could include a city property tax increase of 3.3 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation, Hester said. Extending the system to the convention center would require another 9.2 cents in city property taxes. If all the funding pieces came together quickly, Hester said, the first steel for the tracks could be laid in 2012.
Reno’s City Council is now faced with the challenge of deciding if it wants “to ask voters next November for authority from the Nevada Legislature to raise the limit on property taxes to provide money for the rail project” reports the Gazette-Journal.
This could be the scene in Reno in just a few years time.
France programs CAD $31.5 billion for urban electric rail transit development
Modern LRT operating on a lawned R-O-W. 21 century light rail!
Interesting news from France, where the government is investing at least CAD $31.15 billion in urban transit projects. What should be of interest to Rail for The Valley is that France is also investing TramTrain, which “operation is currently adamantly prohibited in the USA by the Federal Railroad Administration, but it has become widespread in Europe, where it’s been operating safely and efficiently for nearly two decades“. TramTrain, the ability to operate trams safely on mainline railways is key for affordable public transit, where the transit customer comes first, not politicians and bureaucrats.
Also of note, is the cost of the proposedAi??Ai??and ambitious 130km ‘Arc Express’ automatic metro being planned for Paris. The cost estimate of ofAi??Ai??A?ai??sAi?? 15 billionAi??Ai??toAi??Ai??A?ai??sAi?? 20 billion (CAD $22.3 billion to CAD $30 billion) should give one pause to reflect on the per km cost of CAD $171.5 million/km to CAD $230 million/ kmAi??Ai??as a good indication of the cost of a proposed SkyTrain subway under Broadway. Not overlooking the fact is that subways tend to cost more to build than originally budgeted for, such as the RAV/Canada line, whereAi??Ai?? the scope of the project was reduced to fit the original budget. Even after $2.5 billion+ was spent on the RAV metro, it is still a ‘bargain basement’ job and will take another $1 billionAi??Ai??to $1.5 billion to bring it up to the performance of a regular subway!
France, which as lead Ai??Ai??the way with the light rail Renaissance, again is investing in six, ‘new starts’ tram systems on top of six other new tramways under construction, which will bring the total of 30 cities in France operating with LRT or trams.
It seems that the French government is very concerned with ‘Global Warming’ and greenhouse gas, unlike our politicians in BC and Canada, who like to ‘talk the talk’, but in no way ‘walk the walk’. Instead of a program to bring at least 300 km. of ‘rail’ transit to the region to provide an affordable alternative to the car, government is still funding politically prestigious subways, building new highways and investing as little as possible into real transit solutions.
From the Light Rail Now folks:
France programs massive investment of as much asAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??A?ai??sAi?? 21 billion (US $29 billion) for urban electric rail transit development.
The government of France has announced plans to award major capital grants to help fund investment in new public transport systems, according to a recent report in Tramways & Urban Transit (TAUT, June 2009), the authoritative international magazine about light rail and urban rail transit developments published by the British Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA). “It gives the reasons as both to improve the environment and support the national economic recovery” says the magazine’s report “adding that this new spurt of urban electric rail investment is the first stage of an announced 1500km [930 miles] of new tramway covering just provincial cities across the country.”
In what’s described as the “first stage” of a massive investment in new tramway (light rail/streetcar) development, the French government has committed funding within a “financial envelope” of A?ai??sAi??1 billion (about US $1.4 billion) to support a list of 57 tramway projects. In addition, the government also announced a commitment ofAi??Ai??A?ai??sAi?? 15 toAi??Ai??A?ai??sAi?? 20 billion (about $21 to $28 billion) for capital funding to help finance “a state-of-the-art 130km [81-mile] automated metro for the capital of Paris, which will have a total of 60 stations and be known as Arc Express.” This “ambitious project” could be completed by 2020, says the TAUT report.
France’s commitment to urban rail transit eclipses by far the USA’s rail transit funding gestures, which seem puny by comparison. Even with the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus package, America, with about 5 times France’s population, has committed only about $8 billion and that’s for both high-speed intercity rail passenger projects and “inner-city rail”. In other words, with about 5 times France’s population, the USA has committed less than one-third as much central government spending for this crucial public transport program “despite all the “yak” about a “green economy”, reducing carbon emissions, addressing the “peak oil” crisis by reducing dependency on petroleum, and the need to shape more efficient urban development and transport patterns and reduce the ongoing costs of mobility.
In contrast, the magnitude of France’s current urban rail development program already under way is staggering:
Ai??ai??? Electric trolleybus projects in 5 cities…
Ai??ai??? Metro expansion in 2 cities (in addition to Paris)…
Ai??ai??? Electric tramway (light rail streetcar) development in 30 cities…France has been encouraging urban rail transit development, especially light rail tramways, by leaps and bounds. Over the past couple of decades, “new start” tramways have been installed and “legacy” tramway systems upgraded in more than a dozen French cities. (See, for example, our collection of articles at France Rail Transit, Light Rail, Tramway, and Public Transport Developments.)
Currently, according to the LRTA’s summary A world of trams and urban transit . A complete listing of Light Rail, Light Railway, Tramway & Metro systems throughout the World, totally new tramway projects (i.e., “new starts”) are under construction in six more French cities:
Ai??ai??? Angers Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled for 2010…
Ai??ai??? Brest Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled for 2012…
Ai??ai??? Le Havre Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled for 2011…
Ai??ai??? Reims Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled for 2011…
Ai??ai??? Toulouse Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled for 2010…
Ai??ai??? Tours Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled for 2013…France has also been aggressively developing tram-train operations light rail services that run as trams (streetcars or more advanced LRT systems) on urban streets and reservations, then share “heavy rail” railway lines with intercity rail passenger trains. This type of operation is currently adamantly prohibited in the USA by the Federal Railroad Administration, but it has become widespread in Europe, where it’s been operating safely and efficiently for nearly two decades.
Currently, in addition to those operating and planned, new tram-train systems are under construction in two French cities that already operate brand-new urban tramway systems:
Ai??ai??? Mulhouse Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled for 2011..
Ai??ai??? Nantes Ai??ai??i?? completion scheduled (in stages) for 2010-2013…And, in addition to its existing new tramway system, Lyon has a more advanced, high-performance LRT system also under construction, due for completion in 2010.
Bottom line: While the United States excels among the world’s advanced countries in procrastinating, dreaming, and dithering in terms of urban rail transit development, France is moving rapidly and aggressively to actually put in place a comprehensive, efficient, cost-effective, and highly “green” network of urban electric metros, trolleybus lines, and tramways that will provide lower-cost public transport, ensure quality urban mobility, dramatically minimize petroleum dependency, and help reduce carbon emissions for generations to come.
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