Gravy Train: Used to refer to a situation in which someone can make a lot of money for very little effort.
Mr. Cow’s comment in the previous post, deserves a post of its own, because it could be a game changer in regional transit planning.
Criticizing regional transit planning has been somewhat taboo with the mainstream media, thus the public know very little of the ingredients needed to plan for an affordable and user friendly transit route, let alone a transit system or network.
Currently, major transit planning decisions, comes from the Premier’s Office, through the Ministry of Transportation, to TransLink, which was, since inception, designed to keep regional mayors on base with the Premier’s wishes. Everything else is window-dressing.
The switch from LRT to light metro, thus using the Movia Automatic Light Metro (MALM) system, was well orchestrated by the now deposed Mayor of Surrey, Doug McCallum. With a litany of half baked “facts” and questionable motives, the Premier’s office got what it wanted and cemented the deal by making it a Premier John Horgan politcal promise.
Did Horgan want a Expo line extension to Langley?
Probably, because the NDP have had an ongoing relationship with Bombardier Inc. and SNC Lavalin (who owned the patents for the proprietary railway), since the NDP flip flop from LRT to ART (an earlier name of MALM) with the Broadway-Lougheed R/T project, later known as the millennium Line. The old faces responsible for this bit of politcal intrigue are once again working for the provincial NDP and to build a stand alone LRT system, would be embarrassing for the government.
Alstom now owns the proprietary railway and owns, Bombardier’s patents (and by all accounts wants to ditch this lemon as fast as they can) and what was once cozy deals between Bombardier and SNC Lavalin with the provincial government are no more.
The the SLS Extension Project (Surrey to Langley SkyTrain Extension Project) will be the first project affected by Ottawa’s funding cuts for rapid transit projects and if the project goes over the now $4.6 billion budget, the province will have to pick up the extra cost.
Gerald Fox, predicted this, back in 2008, with his critique of the Evergreen line:
But, eventually, Vancouver will need to adopt lower-cost LRT in its lesser corridors, or else limit the extent of its rail system. And that seems to make some TransLink people very nervous.
I would say today, those same “some” at TransLink are again, very nervous indeed!
Well the news broke last night and it hit Ottawa like a bomb. Federal funding is going to be cut to reign in our yearly budget deficit. The expected effect on infrastructure funding is a drop in new federal infrastructure funding by 25% -50% per year. Existing agreements will be honoured.
However, that means no increase in federal funding for the SLS Extension Project (Surrey to Langley SkyTrain Extension Project) regardless of the expected increases in capital (construction) costs. The province of B.C. will have to cover 100% of all future cost increases for the SLS project. Remember, you guys haven’t tendered the project yet to outside bidders or given the cost of O.M.C. #5 which will add its costs (the last estimate was $530 million) to the existing $4.01 Billion budget of the project.
For the period of 1997-2028, the federal government has provided / will provide, an average of $113.2 million to build 742 metres of Skytrain/Canada Line per year. The federal percentage of total project funding has been at an average of 31.3%. Unfortunately, the actual total federal financial coverage of major rapid transit projects, for each project, has been steadily dropping from 33% for the first stage of the Millennium Line, to 28.8% for the SLS extension. Since 1997 the inflation rate that the federal government has been covering is an average of 8% (7.98%) per year. This will not continue indefinitely.
So the amount of federal funding is going to drop for rapid transit projects nationally, believed to be 25% – 50%, that means, unless your cities and provinces are going to pick up the slack, the building rate of multi-billion rapid transit projects is going to slow down dramatically. Therefore lower cost projects are going to replace the extreme higher cost ones. Fewer subways/heavy rail metro and light metro projects (like Skytrain) more simpler, cheaper BRT and LRT projects. Projects that will most likely be almost completely on surface routes, mainly due to cost. For example, BRT and LRT projects like the Pie IX BRT Extension in Montreal/Laval or Finch Avenue West, Eglinton Crosstown East extension and the Eastern Waterfront LRT projects in Toronto.
Starting November 7, Montreal’s new BRT service will run between Saint-Martin boulevard in Laval and Pierre-De Coubertin in Montreal.
The 13-km BRT line will serve eastern Laval and cross through four Montreal boroughs, offering transfers to the Green metro line (Pie-IX station), STL services in Laval and the exo5 commuter train line to Mascouche (St-Michel-Montréal-Nord station).
Since these buses will be using exclusive reserved lanes, they will not be slowed by vehicle traffic and will be given priority by traffic lights throughout the route.
What?
In Vancouver the City of Vancouver and TransLink say that LRT on Broadway would cause massive traffic disruptions and congestion!
At the time of commissioning, 28 BRT shelters will be available (there will eventually be 38) and will be accessible to those with functional limitations. New traffic infrastructure, including pedestrian crossing lights with digital and audio countdown will allow pedestrians to cross to shelters safely. Laval users will get a 750-space parking lot encouraging them to leave their cars behind. An immediate improvement in user comfort comes thanks to bus shelters that can accommodate 100 people simultaneously, simplifying ascent and descent.
The $390 million project will get riders from Laval to the Olympic Stadium in record time and will relieve of the pressure on north-south traffic, the city counting on 70,000 people using it daily (pre-pandemic data) with metro rush hour frequency. Over time, the STM will adjust the BRT rollout according to the change in post-pandemic ridership, active STM-led worksites as well as those under the responsibility of the MTQ at the Pie-IX Bridge and de la Concorde.
This busway will move more people upon opening per day (70,000 per day), than $4.5 Billion Surrey to Langley Skytrain extension or the Broadway B-Line express bus.
Cheaper (officially $390 million, includes a new bridge to Laval) than the Skytrain, moves more people and as a light to medium capacity busway can handle up to 150,000 per day. Convert it to a full capability surface LRT line you get even more passenger capacity as well as the lower operating costs of rail.
Toronto’s MetroLinx 50 year cost per km. comparison of BRT and LRT
The full graphic.
This begs the question: Why build with BRT, when for just a few dollars more, one can build with LRT and have all the benefits that come with light rail?
The picture of Pie IX Blvd. shows how easily a busway or a surface LRT line would fit on a 6 lane road like Broadway.
Montreal’s Pie-IX BRT service to begin Nov. 7
Oct. 17, 2022
The first portion of the bus rapid transit line will open in early November as part of a gradual commissioning of the line.
The Pie-IX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line will begin service on Nov. 7 as part of a gradual opening of the full line. Buses will operation between Saint-Martin in Laval and Pierre-De Coubertin Avenue in Montréal. The exceptions to this service will be in the Jean-Talon area where a pedestrian tunnel to the future Blue Line remains under construction and the Pie-IX bridge where renovations will be completed in 2023.
Société de transport de Montréal
A map of the Pie-IX BRT with the green sections representing what will open for service on Nov. 7, 2022.
The 13-kilometer (eight-mile) Pie-IX BRT project is a joint effort between the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), the City of Montréal, the Ministère des Transports (MTQ), the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), and their partners, the City of Laval, the Société de transport de Laval (STL), exo, the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) and the boroughs served by the projects.The line features traffic signal priority and reserved lanes to speed STM, STL and exo buses; accessible bus shelters with pedestrian safety enhancements and a new fare structure between zones. At the opening of the line, it will have 28 stops, but eventually include 38 stops.
The BRT will also offer transfers to the métro Green line (Pie-IX station), STL services in Laval and the exo5 commuter train line to Mascouche (St-Michel-Montréal-Nord station).
This is a must read as maintenance is one of the least understood functions of operating a transit system. It is often ignored by politicians because most politicians do not understand it nor want to due to unpleasant tax implications that tend to be embarrassing at election time. The Ottawa LRT/Light-Metro is a very good example of politcal ignorance of maintenance.
I doubt any politician running in the upcoming civic elections has an understanding of the maintenance required for the light metro system and especially for a subway.
How many political candidates running in Metro Vancouver understand that the 21.7 km expansion of the SkyTrain light metro system will add more than $70 million annually to the operating costs of the light-metro system. And that is from TransLink’s own numbers, which numbers tend to be very forgiving of the system.
The current mayor wants a SkyTrain subway (a true oxymoron) , not only to UBC, but a new 19 km route to Metrotown!
What are the long term maintenance costs for this?
In Vancouver, it is all the more important subject because our fully automated SkyTrain light metro system is also a driverless system, which means maintenance must be done with regularity and often.
A fully automatic and driverless system must be at 100%, if not, it cannot operate as the safety systems will prevent it.
This is why when a light-metro train fails on the track (and I have been told this happens more often these days) an attendant must walk out onto the guideway and drive the train manually to the next station, then drive it to the next siding. This greatly slows the service.
That’s the difference between maintenance and repair. Repair is when you fix something that’s already broken. Maintenance is about making something last.
The following graph, again illustrates the much higher operating (including maintenance) and rehab (again more maintenance) costs on subway and elevated transit, when compared to at-grade transit.
The noble but undervalued craft of maintenance could help preserve modernity’s finest achievements, from public transit systems to power grids, and serve as a useful framework for addressing climate change and other pressing planetary constraints.
The R32 trains, nicknamed the Brightliners for their shiny unpainted exteriors, were built to last 35 years. (Imagine that: Your lifespan stamped into metal, your death prefigured.) When they were finally retired from service in January, they had been riding the rails of New York City for no less than 58 years and were, by most accounts, the oldest operating subway cars in the world. That’s 23 unplanned years of hauling people across New York. A whole generation got to see those stainless-steel beauties creaking down the tunnel to the platform, with their crinkle-ridged exteriors and back-lit advertisements.
In a way, it was a small miracle that they lasted so long, an “anomaly,” as one mechanic told me. Except it wasn’t really. It took a lot of work from a lot of people, day after day, year after year.
I recently went to talk to some of those responsible for that work at the MTA maintenance facility in Corona, Queens. There are 13 of these massive workshops across the city, scattered from Coney Island to the banks of Westchester Creek in the Bronx. This one is in a remote pocket of the city, an area given over mostly to massive buildings and spaces: Citi Field, Flushing Meadows Park, the sprawling train yard. It’s like a hospital but an industrial one, scaled up to care for its multi-ton patients.
Standing around the break room with their arms crossed and ID badges dangling, heads full of train-talk, several maintenance workers took turns explaining the process: Railcars roll off the main tracks into a long rectangular building. The cars are lifted to eye level, inspected and repaired if needed. Most of them get to leave that day — back to work, like the rest of us. But some are moved over to a special track for trickier jobs.
We went for a walk along the service tracks in a big group, everyone chiming in, pointing to the parts that needed repairs or replacing: the truck, the brakes, the AC units. They told me the fleet is split into two camps, one called “legacy,” the other “millennial.” The former were built before 2000, the latter after. The millennial fleet is tougher to repair in some ways because there are more electronics in the cars. Maybe you’ve heard your grandfather complain about this, how engines are too damn complicated these days. Siu Ling Ko, a chief mechanical officer for the train cars, told me the shells may last 40 years. The electronics, though, not so much.
The legacy fleet has its own problems, of course, and is more prone to failures overall. Replacement parts are harder to find; the firms that made them — the Budd Company, Pullman-Standard and Westinghouse — are long gone. Many components are well past their design life, and mechanics have to pluck similar parts from retired vehicles or engineer substitutes. It’s a very ad-hoc, improvisational process that relies on the know-how that long-time employees build up over years.
But there’s a method to the madness, and a hard-earned one. Back in the 1980s, when the crumbling, graffiti-covered subway was the stuff of reactionary urban nightmares, MTA president David L. Gunn kicked off an ambitious overhaul of the system, including capital improvements, the famous graffiti removal program and more routine repairs. In 1990, this approach solidified as the scheduled maintenance system. Now, every two to three months, more than 7,000 railcars are taken in for inspection with the goal of catching problems before they happen.
“Maintenance has to be valued outside of austerity, and right now it’s unclear if our current economic system is capable of that.”
Again, old Zwie, the Curmudgeon Laurette of transit, is delighted that Vancouver T.E.A.M. mayoralty candidate Colleen Hardwick is talking LRT while those running against her are still talking dated light-metro.
So, let us have a look at costs of the three proposals.
T.E.A.M’s Hardwick’s 58 km of LRT
The Aprox. 7 km Millennium Line subway extension from Arbutus to UBC, not including cars, is estimated cost between $5 billion to $6 billion.
The 18 km Hurontarion LRT now under construction, including cars, is costing $1.4 billion or about $78 million/km.
Using the Hurontario LRT as an example the cost of T.E.A.M’s 58 km LRT proposal is $4.5 billion.
This is far cheaper than 7 km subway.
Forward Together’s Kennedy Stewart 18 km Loopie Line
As stated in a previous post, the cost of the Loop line based on the current per km cost of the Broadway subway at $526 billion/km, would be around $10 billion!
ABC’s Ken Sim’s approx. 18 km Hastings Street, 2nd Narrows Crossing,North Shore Line
Again, based on the cost of the current Broadway subway is estimated to cost a little due to the fact of major engineering needed to cross Burrard Inlet, would be well over $10 billion.
Put another way, T.E.A.M.’s $4.5 billion, 58 km, provides 22 km more LRT, at a quarter of the cost of the combined Forward/ABC’s $20 billion, 36 km of SkyTrain!
Final Notes:
LRT will offer a higher Capacity than the SkyTrain proposals.
Alstom, which now owns the proprietary Movia Automatic Light Metro (MALM) system, erroneously called SkyTrain (which is the name of the regional light metro system) has indicated it will cease production of then proprietary railway when the last paid orders are completed in 2025.
Only seven of the often renamed MALM systems have been built since the late 1970’s
Being a generic transit mode, there will always be suppliers for light rail, unlike the proprietary MALM system.
T.E.A.M’s LRT offering much more LRT at a far cheaper cost.
With less than two weeks left until Vancouver’s municipal election, mayoral candidates are hoping to move voters to the polls with their plans for public transit.
In a plan presented on Wednesday, councillor and mayoral candidate Colleen Hardwick pitched her idea of getting rid of the Broadway Subway extension and developing four light rail lines across Vancouver.
Hardwick says creating the 58 kilometres of light rail can be done for the same price as the University of British Columbia (UBC) SkyTrain extension.
Incumbent mayor Kennedy Stewart recently announced the “Vancouver Loop,” his plan to connect UBC to the Expo Line via the new Broadway Subway extension, and back around to Metrotown via 41st and 49th Avenue.
The extension along Broadway to UBC has been approved and is already well underway. As for the rest of the “loop” to Metrotown, there is currently no approvals or funding in place.
On Tuesday, candidate Ken Sim held an event with the mayors of North Vancouver, Maple Ridge, and Coquitlam to pitch a SkyTrain line to the North Shore along Hastings Street.
The line to the PNE would connect to North Vancouver and to the West Coast Express.
“To tackle the big transportation challenges facing our region, we need to work collaboratively with other municipalities and senior levels of government,” Sim said in a tweet.
Sim and the mayors say that presenting a “united voice” for transit needs in Metro Vancouver will help with funding, and getting new projects built.
Derailment: the action of a train or tram leaving its tracks accidentally.
When TransLink invents new terms for a train derailment, you know they are trying to hide something.
Two bolts sheared on a turnout or switch is not a coincidence, rather it points to a lack of maintenance on the system.
That TransLink is hiding the derailment as a dislodgment, is just a continuation of TransLink’s campaign of misinformation, fake news and alternative facts.
That the NDP did not compel TransLink to tell the truth, is another indication that they do not care about safety on public transit.
And where is Transport Canada?
Ontario had a public inquiry with their new transit system, due to faulty maintenance, as well as other issues, yet with the SkyTrain light-metro system, safety issues are swept under the carpet, out of sight, out of mind!
The Expo and millennium Lines use movable frog switches, which gives a good ride for cars traversing the switch. This Marx O-Gauge switch is a good illustration of a a movable frog switch.
A SkyTrain derailed near Scott Road station last May because of what TransLink has called “almost simultaneous failure of two bolts” at one of the mainline’s 124 turnout switches.
On May 30 at 7:40 p.m., two cars of a four-car Mark 11 train derailed: both trucks of the third car and the rear truck of the fourth car went off the rail, disrupting rapid transit service to and from Surrey for 24 hours.
TransLink originally downplayed the severity, calling it a “track issue” and “stalled train” before saying the train had been “partially dislodged.” No injuries were reported, though passengers stuck on the train for a half-hour needed attendants to walk them back to the station.
Email released under freedom of information indicates that the switch, which enables a train to move from one set of tracks to another, should have received a thorough annual inspection earlier in May, but received a bi-weekly inspection on the morning of May 29. A bi-weekly inspection generally involves a track-level visual and condition assessment and lubrication of movable components. A work order log shows that technicians dealt with faults at the same turnout switch, known as DC47, from early 2021 all the way to April of this year.
Guideway supervisor Nick Micelotta’s May 31 handover report said that two “K-plate bolts sheared at the head.” The switch was not movable and that a burning smell was coming from the train. Micelotta’s report said the derailment caused extensive damage.
“LIM [linear induction motor] cap was scraped for about two track sections, concrete wall was hit by collector shoe assembly that was ripped off the train, handrail right above it was hit by the train and walkway cover inserts/bolts were torn off on one side,” Micelotta wrote.
TransLink’s rail division, B.C. Rapid Transit Co., waited for Technical Safety BC’s approval for rerail and repair. Revenue service resumed after 7:47 p.m. on May 31.
“We have never had this incident or similar incident occur before,” TransLink spokesperson Tina Lovegreen said by email.
Lovegreen said the impact of trains on rail causes wear and tear and loosening of components over time.
“Immediately after this incident, we inspected all frogs [common crossings] and bolts across the system, none showed the same problem as DC47,” Lovegreen said.
A report to the Sept. 28 TransLink board meeting said the incident was a major reason why Expo and Millennium lines did not meet service delivery and on-time performance targets in the second quarter.
Operations vice-president Mike Richard said SkyTrain was 95.7% on-time, below the 96.5% target. There were 12 delays over 30 minutes, including the derailment, three switch issues, two power issues, two extended medical emergencies, two objects falling into the track, one extended trespasser in the track area and one train door problem.
TransLink has six levels of switch inspection, ranging from a daily visual inspection using a sweep train to the hands-on yearly inspection, which includes lubrication of movable components, a complete hardware condition assessment and cleaning of all components throughout the switch.
The completed inspections log for DC47 showed there had been 11 biweekly switch inspections in 2022 before the derailment, plus a hands-on quarterly in February. The work order for a May 18 annual inspection was not completed.
Three work orders in 2021 focused on problems with the fastening systems.
“Both heads on the K-plate bolts sheared off. Bolts were stuck inside the plate,” said the entry for Jan. 9, 2021.
The “K-plate bolt [was] found with its head sheared off and the bolt shank drifting out of the hole,” on July 7, 2021.
The K-plate bolt appeared to be loose during Oct. 18, 2021 work, “So I went to tightened it and it was snapped already. There is history on this frog (Siemens) for adapter plate and K-plate & bolts snapping.”
Lovegreen said the bolts used were recommended and authorized by the original equipment manufacturer and there was no indication that bolt failures were specific to Siemens machines. She also said there was no “go slow zone” in place at the time of the incident at the DC47 switch.
While the incident was called a derailment by SkyTrain managers throughout the email disclosed, TransLink’s communications department refers to the incident as a “dislodgement.” Richard repeated the same word during his Sept. 28 presentation to the TransLink board.
“Given only one part of the train was dislodged from the track, it was more appropriate to refer to the incident as a partial dislodgment,” Lovegreen said.
At least some politicians get it, some politicians actually read this blog, obviously Vancouver’s current mayor Kennedy Stewart does not read this blog and more pity to him.!
In a re-election bid, Mayor Kennedy Stewart has promised to build a SkyTrain loop in central Vancouver.
Really?
What will be the cost of this SkyTrain subway loop Mr. Mayor?
Brief recap of SkyTrain light metro costs:
Millennium Line extension to Arbutus – Cost: Over $3 billion (without cars).
Expo Line Extension to Langley, Project 1 – Guideway cost: $4 billion. (cars not included)
Expo Line Extension to Langley, Project 2 – Operations & Maintenance Centre #5 cost: $500 mil. to $1 bil.
(The two projects must be completed before operation can start.)
Expo and Millennium Line Mid life Rehab: Over $3 billion ($1.47 billion re-signalling contract now let)
All of the above must be completed before trains can operate on any of the extensions
So let us look at proposed SkyTrain extensions.
Arbutus to UBC subway – Now estimated at $6 billion (not including cars)
North Shore Rapid Transit – Now estimated to cost in excess of $5 billion. (Realistically, it will be over $10 billion!)
Kennedy Stewart’s 19 km SkyTrain loop – cost unknown.
My estimate, based on the current per km cost of the Broadway subway at $526 billion/km – $10 billion!
I would think regional mayors would have something to say about this, but this is the silly season and politicians will tell all sorts of porkies to win elections. This one, by Kennedy Stewart is in the realm of sparkle ponies and pixie dust.
Postscript:
1) Alstom, which now owns the proprietary Movia Automatic Light metro (MALM) system (SkyTrain is the name of the regional light metro system and not the trains that operate on them) and as the system is deemed unsalable by Alstom due to large operational and maintenance costs and corporation has two “in house” light metro systems, has indicated that production will cease in 2025 after the last orders for MALM cars is complete. Only seven such systems have been sold since 1980, leaving Vancouver the sole customer for the proprietary railway.
With the American government refusing to subsidize any SkytTrain project in the US and two ongoing criminal cases in Korea and Malaysia, involving both Bombardier and SNC Lavalin over the sale of MALM, Alstom is not actively marketing the system.
2) Werner Antweiler, a professor of Economics in UBC’s Sauder School of Business hasn’t a clue about public transit or rail transit and demonstrates this point with his comments. Really, why continue building with the classic “Edsel’ of transit systems, that cost a lot more to build, operate and maintain than its competitors., especially on transit routes lacking the ridership to sustain a subway.
Question: Why does anyone bother to listen to economists anymore? The profession has become an embarrassment, and the most respected economists have shown themselves to have as much predictive power as a deck of tarot cards. Stephen Moore
3) In 2018, the now discredited Mayor of Surrey’s flip-flop from LRT to SkyTrain, took a $1.63 billion light nail project and turned into a $4.5 billion to $5 billion light-metro project!
4) Construction is now proceeding with the 18 km Honontario LRT, which total cost, including cars, is $1.4 billion.
Kennedy Stewart says if re-elected as mayor, he would accelerate plans for the “Vancouver Loop” – a new SkyTrain line that would connect Metrotown to UBC.
Stewart and his team announced he would make the business case for the project and ask that the line be prioritized. It’s already part of TransLink’s 2050 vision.
“With having 44,000 people a day moving along this corridor, it is really, really busy,” Stewart told reporters.
He added that with densification and population growth, the region will only get busier. The project is part of his Forward Together party’s attempt to alleviate pressure on busy transit corridors and address climate change.
The proposed Vancouver Loop would connect with the Broadway SkyTrain extension and link UBC to Metrotown along 41st and 49th Avenues.
Werner Antweiler, a professor of Economics in UBC’s Sauder School of Business, said the project is something that would be needed in the long-term.
“There is, of course, a significant demand from UBC students,” he explained in an interview with CTV News. “But there’s also going to be more development all along that line, especially in the Jericho Lands that will be developed by a group of Indigenous communities in in Vancouver – so we need to look at the future.”
Vancouver can’t go it alone. Although there’s no pricetag and no timeline, what we do know is the multi-billion dollar project will need help from the province and the federal government to be completed.
Stewart acknowledged that challenge.
“What I have to do, what I’ve done before is to go off and get funding and continuing to convince folks this is a worthwhile investment,” Stewart added.
Lisa Dominato, who is running for re-election as a city councillor with the ABC Party, said part of the issue is there’s currently no funding for a line to UBC. She told CTV News Stewart just re-announced priorities already set.
“Perhaps the mayor is trying to deflect from the fact that he’s supported roe pricing and transport pricing in the city,” Dominato said. “Perhaps that’s a deflection on his part.”
ABC and Forward Together have exchanged harsh words around the issue of road pricing with Stewart accusing his opponents of misrepresenting his views.
Opposition parties say the biggest concern they hear is affordability. Colleen Hardwick, a city Councillor who is now running for mayor with the TEAM slate, said she didn’t think the project was needed now, and maybe not even in the future.
“I think that we can achieve much more in terms of distributed surface rail than spending all of this money on SkyTrain, but I just don’t think it’s in the cards … as we are staring down a potential recession,” she told CTV News.
One challenge for Stewart is that other mayors have also made promises to deliver on projects from TransLink’s long-term plan.
“I wish the mayor luck in getting this project prioritized,” said Antweiler. “But the overall the TransLink plan actually is very sensible, because it also looks at rapid bus transit in many places where we wouldn’t be looking at a subway system.”
In 2018, Surrey’s Doug McCallum won the hotly contested mayoral race after promising to scrap light rail and instead replace it with SkyTrain.
“It’s silly season, isn’t it? And this is the kind of big announcement that’s quite common when you get into election season. But to me, it’s sparkle ponies and pixie dust,” said Hardwick.
Municipal elections take place across the province Oct. 15.
Civic election time in the Lower mainland is often called the “silly season”, by pundits because of the “silly” promises made by politicians.
Present Mayor Kennedy Stewart has promised to build a SkyTrain loop in central Vancouver,
Really?
What will be the cost of this SkyTrain subway loop Mr. Mayor?
Brief recap:
Millennium Line extension to Arbutus – Cost: Over $3 billion (without cars).
Expo Line Extension to Langley, Project 1 – Guideway cost: $4 billion. (cars not included)
Expo Line Extension to Langley, Project 2 – Operations & Maintenance Centre #5 cost: $500 mil. to $1 bil.
Expo and Millennium Line Mid life Rehab: Over $3 billion ($1.47 billion re-signalling contract now let)
All of the above must be completed before trains can operate.
So let us look at proposed SkyTrain extensions.
Arbutus to UBC subway – Now estimated at $6 billion (not including cars)
North Shore rapid Transit – Now estimated to cost in excess of $5 billion.
Kennedy Stewart’s 19 km SkyTrain loop – cost unkown.
Zwei’s estimate, based on the current per km cost of the Broadway subway at $526 billion/km – $10 billion!
I would think regional mayors would have something to say about this, but this is the silly season and politicians will tell all sorts of porkies to win elections. This one, by Kennedy Stewart is in the realm of sparkle ponies and pixie dust.
As Zwei has said over and over, “SkyTrain planning is for strictly politcal reasons and nothing more”.
Incumbent Vancouver mayor announces SkyTrain loop expansion
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart has announced plans to expand the SkyTrain within the city, and connect major centres in a “loop” if he and his party are re-elected in October’s civic election.
In a release Monday from Stewart’s Forward Together party, the plan brings together the already in service Expo Line, the under-construction Broadway Subway, the city-approved extension to the University of British Columbia, with a new line in South Vancouver to create a loop across the city.
The new line would run along 41st and 49th Avenue, connecting UBC to Metrotown in Burnaby, and serve major attractions such as Langara College and Oakridge Centre.
“Completing the Vancouver Loop will help us meet our livability and climate emergency goals,” the incumbent mayor said. “I fought hard at TransLink Mayors’ Council to extend the Broadway Subway to UBC and secured millions of dollars from partners to fund it. If re-elected, I will fight just as hard to build the Vancouver Loop extension and expand rapid transit in South Vancouver.”
Forward Together says the new loop would link 18 neighbourhoods across the region, some of which do not have close SkyTrain access currently.
“We are in a climate emergency, which is why expanding rapid transit is so important. It will get people out of cars, alleviate congestion, lower emissions, improve our health, save time and money, and accelerate our push to become a 15-minute city,” Forward Together council candidate Tesicca Truong said. “Investing in rapid transit, especially in South Vancouver, will improve residents’ access to services, education and employment. I’m proud to be part of the team that will deliver this vision.”
The Broadway Subway between VCC-Clark and Arbutus is scheduled to open in 2025. The extension to UBC has been approved with stations confirmed and planning underway, however, full funding has not yet been secured for the extension.
Vancouver council prides itself on being Green. Vancouver Council, especially the Green members and the pretend Green mayor want a subway. Their problem is, a subway consumes a lot of cement, which in turn creates a lot of pollution in the form of CO2 emissions.
Here we have a conundrum, in order to continue the masquerade of being Green by building a subway, you will produce a lot more pollution than if a subway was not built.
The most astonishing thing about cement is how much air pollution it produces.
Manufacturing the stone-like building material is responsible for 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, more than what comes from all the trucks in the world. And with that in mind, it’s surprising that leading cement makers from LafargeHolcim Ltd. in Switzerland to Votorantim Cimentos SA in Brazil are finding customers slow to embrace a greener alternative.
Their story highlights the difficulties of taking greenhouse gases out of buildings, roads and bridges. After wresting deep cuts from the energy industry, policymakers looking to extend the fight against global warming are increasingly focusing on construction materials and practices as a place to make further reductions. The companies are working on solutions, but buyers are reluctant to pay more.
“There is so far too little demand for sustainable materials,” said Jens Diebold, head of sustainability at LafargeHolcim. “I would love to see more demand from customers for it. There is limited sensitivity for carbon emissions in the construction of a building.”
Significant Share
The cement industry’s CO2 emissions were more than all the trucks on the road in 2017
While architects and developers concentrate on the energy used by their buildings, it’s actually the materials supporting the structure that embody the biggest share of its lifetime carbon footprint. Cement’s contribution to emissions is especially immense because of the chemical process required to make it.
About two-thirds of the polluting gases that come from cement production stem from burning limestone. Kilns are heated to more than 1,400 degrees Celsius (2,600 Fahrenheit), about four times hotter than a home oven set to the self-clean cycle. Inside the kiln, carbon trapped in the limestone combines with oxygen and is released as CO2, the most abundant greenhouse gas.
A ton of cement yields at least half a ton of CO2, according to the European Cement Association. That’s more than the average car would produce on a drive from New York to Miami. And a single mixer truck can carry about 13 tons. Hundreds or even thousands of tons go into ordinary office buildings.
It is an interesting comparison that in Vancouver, 5.7 km of SkyTrain light-metro subway will cost over $3 billion and 16km of new SkyTrain light metro in Surrey and Langley will cost around $5 billion (both projects will actually cost over $11 billion for 21.7 km of new line, including the much needed rehab), while in Ontario 18 km of the Hurontario LRT will cost only $1.4 billion.
In Metro Vancouver, 21.7 km light-metro expansion will cost close to $507 million/km, while in Ontario 18 km of LRT will cost around $78 million/km.
Put another way, one could build 6.5 times more per km building with LRT than with light metro. Instead of 21.7 km of SkyTrain, one would get 141 km or more of new line, for $11 billion, building with LRT!
Starting this Sunday (Aug. 28), drivers on Hurontario St. in Mississauga and Brampton will be faced with a series of rolling partial intersection closures as the first tracks on the main section of a $1.4-billion light rail transit (LRT) route will be laid.
The tracks “will be laid along the centre of Hurontario St., where construction will occur at every other intersection to allow for detours,” officials with Metrolinx, the provincial agency overseeing the huge Hazel McCallion LRT project, said in a news release today (Aug. 25). “This is a key sign of progress for the 18-kilometre rapid transit line.”
Project leaders note that while the first tracks were actually laid earlier this year at the route’s Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility on the Mississauga-Brampton border, “…this is the first track installation along the LRT guideway where the light rail vehicles will run on Hurontario St.”
The ongoing partial intersection closures will restrict drivers from turning left in both directions while driving along Hurontario St.
“With this approach, the track installations can occur quickly and more efficiently with less impact overall,” Metrolinx officials say. “Once the track is laid, the intersections will reopen with no more than two consecutive intersections being closed at the same time.”
(Image: Metrolinx)
Work begins on Aug. 28 at the intersection of Hurontario St. and Milverton Dr./Watline Ave. (just north of Matheson Blvd.) and will continue until Sept. 16.
Additionally, project leaders say, the Hurontario St. and Sandstone Dr./Brunel Rd. intersection (just south of Britannia Rd.) will be partially closed from Sept. 6 until Sept. 28.
Metrolinx says work at both intersections is expected to be completed by October.
Track installation will also be ongoing on Hurontario St. at Aldridge St./Traders Blvd. and Matheson Blvd.
Port Credit GO is the starting point of the LRT route, which when up and running will make 19 stops between south Mississauga and Brampton. It will connect to major transit systems including GO Transit (Milton and Lakeshore West Lines), the Mississauga Transitway, Brampton Transit, ZUM and MiWay.
Meanwhile, City of Mississauga officials are still aggressively pushing for reinstatement of initial plans to create an “LRT loop” that would more directly and conveniently serve condo residents and office workers in the city’s downtown core around Square One.
Rail for the Valley is not in the habit of printing obituaries, but Adam Fitch was a good friend to Rail for the Valley and this blog.
Zwei received the following email from the daughter of Adam Fitch:
This is Emily Fitch, Adam’s elder daughter. If you can, please join me on Monday, September 19th to attend Adam’s funeral and burial. Adam died yesterday evening at St. Paul’s hospital, surrounded by family. He had been battling a blood infection for the previous three weeks.
Funeral Details:
Monday September 19, 2:30-4:00pm
Schara Tzedeck Cemetery
2345 Marine Drive, New Westminster. 5 mins’ walk west of 22nd Street skytrain station.
I only met Adam Fitch twice, but we constantly sent emails to each other for about a decade about transit and transit planning. He was one of the professional planners who advised me on the subject of transit and transportation in the modern urban setting. He was a fountain of information and I had my knuckles rapped a few times about mistakes made in regional planning and transportation.
Adam was also one of the few planners in BC who actually understood transit mode, bus, tram (LRT) light metro and subway, a rarity in BC.
He will be deeply missed.
Again, I offer my condolences from Rail for the Valley to his family.
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