Transit News From Eastern Canada
An Artist’s rendering of the Laval aerial tramway
Well, TransLink isn’t the only transit authority toying with the idea of an aerial tramway….
http://lavalnews.ca/article/Laval-PSC-leader-calls-aerial-tram-gimmick-192307
…….and I do believe an aerial tramway is a gimmick. Aerial tramways may prove to provide a transportationAi??solution for a unique transit problem, but they may cause more problems than they solve and areAi??no substitute for modern light rail.
BRT gridlock in Ottawa today
Ottawa transit planners are beginning to learn that if one dumps all their transit money into a politically prestigious subway, that does little to enhance the transit experience, it comes at the expense of a larger user-friendly light rail network. Ottawa has already learned that BRT didn’t really work (that’s why they planned for LRT)Ai??but when precious construction money is spent on needless subways, BRT becomes the only affordable solution for a larger transit network.
http://www.cfra.com/?cat=1&nid=83160
It seems transit planners must relearn the lesson that BRT has not proven to attract new customers, especially the all important motorist from the car.
Proposed monorail for Montreal
The silly season has arrived in Montreal, where the monorail lobby are spinning their tales of cheap transit to any and all who will listen.
Ha, ha, ha!
Just where has this particular monorailAi??been used?
Don’t know?
Well transit planners had better ask some very pointed questions, soon, lest politicians jump on the monorail bandwagon and compel transit planners to plan for gadgetbahnen type transit that may cost the taxpayer a whole lot more than advertised, just like the Vancouver SkyTrain mini-metro.
Believe this and I have some Bre-X shares to sell you!
Le coAi??t du monorail inversAi?? par kilomA?tre
CaractAi??ristiques du projet de monorail
The Scarborough ICTS/ALRT
Meanwhile in Toronto, Mayor Ford has turned into a transitAi??Edsel, with his extremely expensive and half bakedAi??subway onlyAi??plans.
Instead of LRT being built in time for the the phase out of the Scarborough SkyTrain ICTS/ALRT line, transit customers may face four years or longer for a transit replacement for the aging mini-metro.
I did not bother reading the specifics of the Laval Aerial Tramway, but there are many (mainly in South America) highly successful systems in operation. Seems to me it would be best to acknowledge good ideas where they are found.
Where?
It is easy to say that there are good examples in South America, but where? Please give me specific examples.
The only aerial tramway’s I can locate are near the city and travel up mountains and are mainly tourist oriented, not transit oriented.