Light Rail Transit – The safest way to go.
From the Light Rail Now folks in the USA, some interesting figures on transportation safety.
Fatality Rates per 100 Million Passenger-Miles (1997)
| Motor VehiclesAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? – 0.93 | |
| Rail Rapid TransitAi??Ai??Ai??Ai?? – 0.55 | |
| Commuter RailAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? – 0.05 | |
| BusAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? – 0.10 | |
| Light RailAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? – 0.00 |
[Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics/National Transportation Statistics 1999 and FTA/National Transit Statistics and Trends 1998; average motor vehicle occupancy rate of 1.5 calculated from 1998 FHWA data]
And now, here is the real story ~ Lies, damned lies and statistics!
For a long time now, TransLink’s spin doctors have been crying a woeful story that SkyTrain is “jammed packed” and needs more cars. With ridership numbers increasing at a fantastic rate on the metro, Gordon Campbell’s cronies on theAi??Ai??TransLink Board approved the purchase of more SkyTrain cars. As well, TransLink and ‘Metro’ region are trying to build the Evergreen SkyTrain Line and a 10 km. extension in Surrey, to cater to burgeoning ridership. But is the ridership on SkyTrain as high as reported? Has TransLink contrived to make the metro look more crowed than it really is?
With the Patullo Bridge fiasco, TransLink predicted a mass of new ridership on transit and particularly on the metro. It didn’t materialize.
He had been expecting a crush as commuters, unable to use the Patullo Bridge following a weekend fire that damaged part of its wooden structure, flocked to SkyTrain.
Ridership was 22 per cent heavier than normal but was handled without any problems to the system, he said.
That was due to the fact SkyTrain ran 59 trains Tuesday and had 200 of its 210 cars in service A?ai??i??ai??? the highest proportion of in-service vehicles in the transit companyA?ai??i??ai???s history, Hardie said.
A?ai??i??Ai??WeA?ai??i??ai???ve never had that many in service before. On a normal day weA?ai??i??ai???d have … 160 to 170 cars operating.A?ai??i??A?
Some problems with the previous statement.
TransLink loves to use percentages, but is reluctant to use real numbers. If weekday ridership is as high as 250,000 passengers a day, as previously claimed by TransLink, a 22% increase would equate to an additional 55,000 riders a day, pushing daily ridership over 305,000 a day.Ai??Ai?? Easy to claim when there is no wayAi??Ai??to accurately count (no turnstiles at stations, unlike SeaBus)Ai??Ai??daily ridership on the metro system. Today’s news reports say that transit and SkyTrain’s usage has not increase significantly. Something doesn’t add up.
What is most interesting is the number of cars,Ai??Ai?? on average “160 to 170 cars operatingA?ai??i??A? during peak hours; put another way, 20% to 25% of available cars do not operate during peak hours! Certainly this shows that ridership on SkyTrain is not what has beenAi??Ai??advertised and that TransLink’s published ridership numbers are ‘stuff and nonsense’.
SkyTrain is not at capacity, during peak hours and the overcrowding on the metro has been contrived by reducing capacity to give the impression of high ridership and the resulting overcrowding. Until TransLink is forced to give independently audited ridership numbers on an annual basis, it will be very hard for advocates for the interurban to enter into any honest debate with TransLink, the Minister and Ministry of Transportation, and regional municipalities, trying to reestablish the interurban. TransLink must be compelled by legislation, under penalty of stiffAi??Ai??fines or even jail timeAi??Ai??for the TransLink Board,Ai??Ai??to provide honest and accurate transit system statistics.
Only with accurate transit and transportation statistics can we plan for an affordable and user-friendly public transitAi??Ai??for the future.
Skytrain has run its course; LRT is the way to go.
Langara debate Wednesday: Skytrain has run its course; LRT is the way to go.
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 7:30 A?ai??i??ai??? 9:00pm
(Doors open at 7:15pm, seating for the first 300 only)
The Alice Mackay Room, Lower level
Vancouver Public Library, Downtown, Homer & Robson
Arguing the AFFIRMATIVE:
PATRICK CONDON, Senior Researcher, UBC Design Centre for Sustainability
Arguing the NEGATIVE:
MIKE HARCOURT, Former Premier of British Columbia
Click here for detailed information
Obviously, this issue has huge implications for light rail for the Valley. If you’re attending, feel free to let everyone know how the debate went in the comments area.
Pattullo Bridge will be closed for at least one month! Bring on the Interurban!
If there was a compelling argument for the proposed interurban service to connect to downtown Vancouver, here it is. Those who want the interurban service to deadhead into Scott Road Station are extremely short sighted and certainly fail to understand the driving mechanisms in attracting ridership – the seamless or no transfer journey. For the next four weeks, the Pattullo Bridge will be closed to all traffic after a fire has badly damaged a wooden section of the bridge. This just leaves a SkyTrain connection to Vancouver. Already SkyTrain is crowded, leaving Surrey and not able to offerAi??Ai??much inAi??Ai??relief to the commuter. But on the other side of the Pattullo Bridge is the Fraser River Rail Bridge and would not TransLink look good offering quick journeys to Vancouver via the interurban from Langley and Surrey. As one sits in ones carAi??Ai??idling in gridlock for hours, waiting to cross the Fraser, remember the interurban!
Commuters will be faced with extra congestion Monday morning and in the weeks to come as the bridge linking Surrey to New Westminster is repaired following an early morning fire.
A suspicious fire struck wooden trestles supporting the south end of the Pattullo Bridge, a crossing that connects New Westminster and Surrey, just before 3 a.m. Sunday.
By 11 a.m. Sunday, Surrey firefighters were tending to the hot spots on the trestles, which were still emitting smoke eight hours after it was still reported.
TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said the bridge will be closed to all traffic A?ai??i??ai??? including pedestrians and cyclists A?ai??i??ai??? for four to six weeks while repairs are done on the bridge.
The average traffic volume reaches Port Mann bridge is 127,000 cars a day, while the Alex Fraser bridge sees 98,000 vehicles daily, according to Dave Crebo, spokesman for the B.C. ministry of transportation and infrastructure.
Rail for the Valley petition
Hi everyone,
If you want interurban light rail for the Fraser Valley, an online petition you can sign……
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/rail-for-the-valley
The comments people are leaving are great to read as well.
🙂 pass this on to others who might be interested 🙂
LRT – safer than buses and cars.
From the Light Rail Now Project Team Ai??Ai?? September 2007
US injuries + Fatalities per Passenger-Mile
(2002-2004)
Motor VehiclesAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??LRTAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? Bus
2002 647.4Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??390.0Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 552.8
2003 697.2Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??376.7Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??544.6
2004 597.1Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 415.6Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 560.2
Sources:
National Safety Council, Report on injuries in America, Selected Measures of Unintentional injuries, U.S., 2001-2005
http://www.nsc.org/library/report_table_2.htm
US Federal Transit Administration, Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis, Annual Report (Formerly SAMIS), injuries by Mode and Year
http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/Data/samis/default.asp?ReportID=3
US Federal Transit Administration, Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis, Annual Report (Formerly SAMIS), Fatalities by Mode and Year
http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/Data/samis/default.asp?ReportID=2
American Public Transportation Association, Public Transportation Fact Book, 58th Edition, May 2007
Friends of Rail For The Valley – gathering in Chilliwack: Jan. 22
ANNOUNCING
To all friends Of Rail For The Valley: gathering in Chilliwack
Time: Thursday, January 22, 7:00pm
Place: Lions Club Hall, 45580 Spadina Avenue, just Nort of Evergreen Hall, in Chilliwack
We will form a Society and plan the next stages of our campaign. Everyone is welcome!
The movement has come an incredibly long way in the last couple years. Let’s make this happen.:-)
This movement is about building a comprehensive rail and transit network for the entire Fraser Valley.
This Thursday is a great opportunity to get more involved.
LIGHT RAIL – DIESELS FILLING A VACUUM – A fact sheet from the Light Rail Transit Association.
With the case for Diesel light rail for the Valley Interurban ramping up, this fact sheet from the LRTA may prove useful.
INTRODUCTION
In the past, many rail-based assets could not always be fully utilised because certain technical difficulties were preventing full integration. The transport world was somewhat astounded when German ingenuity developed the dual-voltage light rail vehicle and following up by taking a tram service to where it had never gone before. Public response to this was immediate and spectacular. Another integration achievement appears to be on the verge of impressing the world by proving a success of diesel and electric technology when working together and allowing a network to expand without a financial penalty.
A FIRST FOR USA
New Jersey Transit is now well-known for its newly-opened Hudson-Bergen light rail line and also for its upgrade of the Newark City Subway. It is now in the “spotlight” for the confidence it has shown in going ahead with the 58km Camden-Trenton diesel light rail project over a lightly- used railway freight line. To resolve some of the problems regarding safety whilst sharing the line with freight trains, an agreement was negotiated to arrange different operating times – freight trains at night, after passenger services had ceased. A DBOM contract was then awarded to the winning consortium, Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation, a group that includes ADtranz who will be supplying the low-floor light rail vehicles (1).
BETTER VALUE WITH SCARCE FUNDING
The Ottawa Regional Government’s Transportation Committee (Ottawa Regional Council) has unanimously backed proposals to develop an initial light rail network using 8km of Canadian Pacific Railway alignment. This was considered as lower in cost than expanding the existing busway, especially as the proposed service will pass some potentially important passenger generators, Carlton University Campus for example (2). This initial line, the first diesel-powered light rail line in Canada, will need three vehicles (3).
DIESEL TRAM – NOT A NEW CONCEPT
Although new to both New Jersey and Ottawa, the practice of using diesel trams as an extension to an electric tram network is far from new. Sapporo in Japan received notice in the 60’s by providing a diesel tram service over non-electrified tram tracks. The trams were converted to electric operation when passenger traffic built up and the line justified electrification.
SOME EXAMPLES FROM GERMANY
A change of operator (12/August/1999) from DB to Dortmund MA?Ai??rkische Eisenbahn brought with it a change in operating practice. Marketed as Volmetalbahn, this 57km line from Dortmund to LA?A?denscheid via Hagen was re-equipped with new low-floor Talent rolling stock (4). Although it is intended to operate the diesel cars in the Stadtbahn tunnels to give better access to the city centre (a first for Germany), a technical problem, low floor vehicles and fairly high platforms, will first need to be resolved.
The streets of Schwerin may soon be seeing diesel LRVs accessing a tram depot for maintenance purposes although the actual routes themselves are self- contained with just a short joint section with DB through the Hauptbahnhof (5).
An unusual arrangement, with the purpose of good passenger access as well as integration, was recently opened in Zwickau where a standard gauge diesel train and metre gauge tram actually share three-rail street tracks. Although the streets of this historic town are very narrow, it was decided that to keep the service on the surface would maintain a passenger-friendly operation (6).
A third rail is being added to Braunschweig’s 1100mm tram tracks to permit a future integration with main line railway services. A decision has yet to be finally made on vehicle types, but as some lines are not electrified, a hybrid electro-diesel is anticipated (7).
A similar expansion of Stadtbahn services onto non-electrified tracks is also anticipated in Bonn with experiments now planned to insert a diesel component in a new centre section which would be added to a Stadtbahn “B” tram (8).
When SaarbrA?A?cken was developing its plans for dual voltage operation, not unlike the type of service already perfected in Karlsruhe, the timing unfortunately coincided with the recession and German unification, events that had already emptied the coffers of the Government. This in effect meant that the plan to introduce electric trams had to be put on hold. This was indeed a serious blow because the existing but badly co-ordinated heavy rail services were unattractive and certainly below the justification level for an expensive electrification scheme. At this point a low-floor diesel-powered LRV was designed by Duewag (9) as a stopgap. Fortunately, the necessary funding was eventually found which allowed the dual-voltage tram scheme to proceed, and with a public response that more than justified it.
THE DIESEL RAIL CONCEPT SPREADS TO BRITAIN
A proposal is currently being considered to create a hybrid diesel/electric tram to operate on railway tracks around Manchester as well as on Metrolink itself. The service may be operated by First North Western from Wigan to Victoria via Atherton. Although this is the initial proposal, plans are being developed to extend it further eastward to Bury and possibly Rawtenstall (10).
CONCLUSION
The recent surge in light rail development in different parts of the world has probably played a major part in its obvious popularity with the travelling public. Although operators of some road based transit modes have fought hard to keep light rail expansion at bay, some now appear to be responding to that well known slogan : “If you can’t beat A?ai??i??ai???em, join A?ai??i??ai???em”.
REFERENCES
- 20 low-floor railcars, a diesel-electric version of the GTW2/6. design, will be supplied by ADtranz for a 2002 opening – RAILWAY GAZETTE INTERNATIONAL – July 1999.
- “Trams could be running in the Canadian Capital before the Millennium if a fast track plan goes ahead” – RAILWAY GAZETTE INTERNATIONAL – March 1998.
- The three Talent BR643 DMUs built by Bombardier will be double- articulated vehicles, 157 feet long, seat 135 and stand 150 – MASS TRANSIT – 11-12/2000.
- A Bombardier Talent diesel – TRAMWAYS & URBAN TRANSIT – September -1999 (page 336).
- Six – two car CORADIA LINT 41 diesel units, 41.8m long, 2.75m wide and a 600mm low-floor over about 50% of the vehicle – TRAMWAYS & URBAN TRANSIT – June 2000.
- The tram stops are shared – TRAMWAYS & URBAN TRANSIT – February 2000.
- A feasibility study has found that LRVs on DB tracks will be more cost effective than converting DB local services to Regional control – RAILWAY GAZETTE INTERNATIONAL – February 1999.
- TRAMWAYS & URBAN TRANSIT – October 2000.
- A Duewag-designed diesel-powered LRV to provide a low-cost service with a 530mm high low-floor over 70% of its length and a maximum speed of 100km/h – LIGHT RAIL REVIEW No 5 – November 1993.
- TRAMWAYS & URBAN TRANSIT – July and December 2000.
Federal infrastructure spending: speak out
The Black Press newspaper chain is asking the question,
“What is the number one project in your community that you feel would be most effective in helping improve local economic and social conditions?”
Respond in 75 words or less, by either leaving a comment on one of their websites, or writing a Letter to the Editor of your local paper.
With the federal budget now less than 2 weeks away (Jan. 27), it’s crucial that we push as hard as we can for re-establishing Interurban rail service as part of the big infrastructure spending stimulus the government is planning. Remember that upgrading the Interurban track so that passenger rail can run on it is a “shovel ready project.”
This is something we can all do right now.
I suspect Black Press is doing this to try to somehow get people to use their online “comments” section (that these days remains completely blank for most articles) Anyway, no matter, we can take advantage of this and get the word out some more.
If you live around Chilliwack, click here
If you live around Abbotsford, click here
If you live around Aldergrove, click here
If you live around Langley, click here
If you live around Surrey, click here
🙂
If you want to write a Letter to the Editor instead, click here.
*****IMPORTANT***** Also send the message to your mayor and local representatives: Click here for politician email addresses.
U-Tube – a tool, transit advocates must make good use of – seeing, is believing.
In the 1980’s, the SkyTrain lobby made all sorts of pronouncements about transit and ALRT, that were not true. It took transit advocates over a month to write to experts and wait for their replies. By the time the facts were available, the media moved on and most of the hoopla from BC Transit became facts in the mind of the public. BC Transit and the SkyTrain lobby made good use of this to spread the SkyTrain myth.
In the 1990’s the fax gave transit advocates a wonderful tool in getting correct data from transit experts around the world, but it was still time consuming, with replies coming in days, rather than weeks. Still, in the age of ‘electronic media’, a few days still meant an eternity as comments or news stories became cold after 24 to 48 hours.
In the 21st century, email has become a wonderful tool for transit advocates, where inquiries are sent and answers come within hours and the facts quickly posted to the media. If it wasn’t for email, Rail for the valley and its kindred would not have gotten so far for their quest for the return of the interurban.
The following is just a few U-Tube postings that may prove very helpful in the upcoming transit debates.
U-Tube is a wonderful tool for transit advocates to trump TransLink’s litanies of invention and those championing the return of the interurban should make good use of this wonderful resource.
Trams climbing grades –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWMaCGnLKCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YiHO5jZYY4
Diesel LRT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TizfWStIy-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWATecifoFQ
Karlsruhe’s TramTrains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXsIRUEeZts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsdJPaih0Fw
Lawned rights-of-ways
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6ucG-9fGU4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgzuarkGTYA
Tram/streetcars – on-street operation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gckN2ANG_zc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuN82cHpMA
LRT in the snow
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