Ottawa Confederation Line LRT (City of Ottawa, U/C)

[CDL.TO]

Good news for Ottawa! The will provide a high-capacity, high-quality backbone for any future extensions.

Transit City is fairly unique in how it has been designed to only follow existing road corridors from one end to the other (reflecting the existing transit network in the city). Ottawa's plan reflects what has been done in many other cities that have developed modern LRT networks (and also don't have as rigid a grid system as Toronto)... building a good backbone with branches fanning out from the ends. With conversion of the rest of the Transitway network to LRT (as deemed necessary) and converting the existing O-Train to be compatible with the new line (and feeding into it, so there's no need for a transfer) they will already have a good network going.

Plus, since ridership is already high we know that frequencies should be high right-off-the-bat. It's always sad to see these shiny new LRT lines in the US that only run once every 20 minutes in the off-peak.

 

[Filip]

I am a strong supporter of Ottawa LRT plan, and especially the downtown tunnel. I've been living in this city on and off for 3 years (getting into my fourth) and as incredible as Ottawa BRT system is, there needs to be some rail. The O train is great at what it does, but the peak 15 min frequencies (limited by the one track) really ruins it for many people.

See what I did there? I fully support LRT where it belongs... In smaller cities. Many of you quote European towns like Zagreb, Valencia, etc at how successful their LRT is, some of you even go as far as mentioning Madrid, Paris and London are building them.. Here's the catch, they have a massive subway system, the LRT is to complement it without going into the costs associated with a subway. Toronto is now trying to build a network out of LRT... It's like building a ribcage without the spine.. A folly we will be regretting if Transit City is built. Hopefully, I do see Hudek winning the next provincial election, so this folly can finally be euthanized.

 

[ReThink]

I am a strong supporter of Ottawa LRT plan, and especially the downtown tunnel. I've been living in this city on and off for 3 years (getting into my fourth) and as incredible as Ottawa BRT system is, there needs to be some rail. The O train is great at what it does, but the peak 15 min frequencies (limited by the one track) really ruins it for many people.

See what I did there? I fully support LRT where it belongs... In smaller cities. Many of you quote European towns like Zagreb, Valencia, etc at how successful their LRT is, some of you even go as far as mentioning Madrid, Paris and London are building them.. Here's the catch, they have a massive subway system, the LRT is to complement it without going into the costs associated with a subway. Toronto is now trying to build a network out of LRT... It's like building a ribcage without the spine.. A folly we will be regretting if Transit City is built. Hopefully, I do see Hudek winning the next provincial election, so this folly can finally be euthanized.

And you think that Hudak will be a proponent of subway expansion?

 

[rbt]

And you think that Hudak will be a proponent of subway expansion?

Why start digging Eglinton LRT now when we could start digging Eglinton Subway in 2030?


Hudak kinda supports Ford (personally, not as official opposition) who wishes to keep Eglinton to surface express buses. Would be humorous to see a repeat of 1995 for Eglinton; though I will be moving if it happens (London is getting cheaper).

 

[ReThink]

Why start digging Eglinton LRT now when we could start digging Eglinton Subway in 2030?


Hudak kinda supports Ford (personally, not as official opposition) who wishes to keep Eglinton to surface express buses. Would be humorous to see a repeat of 1995 for Eglinton; though I will be moving if it happens (London is getting cheaper).

Indeed.

It appears as though when it comes to transit in the GTA, you have to take what you can get. Transit City, while imperfect, represents a planned and funded (kind of) vision that is already under construction. Clearly it is a better alternative than, well, nothing at all.

I will also state that I don't think the Cons will come to power in Ontario. I don't believe that the second coming of Mike Harris will be all that appealing to voters.

 

[Filip]

And you think that Hudak will be a proponent of subway expansion?

Whatever he may be, as long as he kills a multi-billion dollar waste of resources, he's the guy I'm voting for.

If we have to wait another 10 years for real transit, I don't mind waiting... Unlike some of you methuzelas on this forum, I have another 60-70 years left in me. By the way, for liberal, democratic, leftists; some of you get severely irked if your views aren't shared by the entire board. I suggest you cool it, as the majority of the city you live in does not support your views, by a long shot (hence the coming of Mr. Ford, the mayor).

 

[ReThink]

By the way, for liberal, democratic, leftists; some of you get severely irked if your views aren't shared by the entire board. I suggest you cool it, as the majority of the city you live in does not support your views, by a long shot (hence the coming of Mr. Ford, the mayor).

Still plenty of time for Rob Ford to fall back to Earth.

As per age, I tend to think that a fair percentage of the posters in this forum are, like me, recent graduates/young professionals.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Why start digging Eglinton LRT now when we could start digging Eglinton Subway in 2030?


Hudak kinda supports Ford (personally, not as official opposition) who wishes to keep Eglinton to surface express buses. Would be humorous to see a repeat of 1995 for Eglinton; though I will be moving if it happens (London is getting cheaper).

No digging would happen. The tunnels being dug would handle both light rail and heavy rail. The stations are roughed in for heavy rail stations in length, like the Sheppard subway. You haven't read the EA, I guess.

 

[rbt]

No digging would happen. The tunnels being dug would handle both light rail and heavy rail. The stations are roughed in for heavy rail stations in length, like the Sheppard subway. You haven't read the EA, I guess.

I am very familiar with the EA. I am also familiar with Rob Ford campaign which proposes Express Buses on Eglinton instead of LRT. There is no mention of digging the tunnel anyway and running Toronto Rockets within it so I assume he means the entire length of Eglinton would receive express buses.

 

[EnviroTO]

If we have to wait another 10 years for real transit, I don't mind waiting.

You will have to wait longer than that. Mayor Ford will leave the city in financial crisis because everyone will have tax cuts, higher policing costs, higher TTC employee costs, higher energy costs, etc. He will have cut perks to city councillors like the zoo pass which costs the city zero dollars.

Why not wait for everything? You know the computers in the year 2060 will be way better than anything you can buy now... so why not wait? Don't waste your money getting clothing for $10... go naked and save up until you can have an entire wardrobe of Armani (don't piecemeal buy... get it all at once).

The whole "don't mind waiting" thing is a joke. It is an admission that you don't actually plan on using transit any time soon and that you just want Toronto to be up to your definition of "world class" before you die. Transit doesn't exist for the purpose of bragging rights. It exists for the purpose of transporting people and either you see transporting a greater number of people by transit vs car a priority or you don't.

 

[Calrissian]

Whatever he may be, as long as he kills a multi-billion dollar waste of resources, he's the guy I'm voting for.

If we have to wait another 10 years for real transit, I don't mind waiting... Unlike some of you methuzelas on this forum, I have another 60-70 years left in me. By the way, for liberal, democratic, leftists; some of you get severely irked if your views aren't shared by the entire board. I suggest you cool it, as the majority of the city you live in does not support your views, by a long shot (hence the coming of Mr. Ford, the mayor).

Ah, this explains a lot. Now adding "Filip" to list of 'don't bother reading posts, when scanning for new *relevant* updates.' He truly does not have a basic understanding of how things work yet, maybe in 10 - 20 years, his views will have a better more substantial basis.

 

[Filip]

Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend the Star Wars nerd?

Toronto is not a left leaning city, by a longshot. Stop thinking the entire city should bow down to your European LRT fetishes, because most people in this city have made it clear, they don't want it. How do things work? Let's take a look at how Transit City was proposed. Nobody was consulted, suddenly the city releases a comprehensive mega-streetcar plan, throwing out decades of previous transit planning because of lack of funds.. Coincidentally, the province decides it will fund transit expansion and releases funds for this project... Had subways been proposed I see no reason why they wouldn't be funded either. Funding was never an issue, it was basically a pet project by Miller and his leftists to create Queen Sts out of suburban arterials. He actually said that LRT on Finch will encourage midrises down the avenue.. LOL and apparently subways kill streetlife... Somebody remind Yonge and Bloor because I don't think they got the message.

It's not a surprise at all that Miller and his current government are staunchly anti-subway. They throw away decades of future subway planning, threaten to close the Sheppard line, castrate the Sheppard subway halfway from its logical terminus to build an LRT to the zoo and purposely delay the DRL until Transit City is complete. He has said numerous times that subways are bad and will not be built in the city because they are too expensive (yet 10 billion for LRT is not expensive, at all).. The only reason we're getting a Spadina extension (as useless as it is) is because the province put its foot down.

Now who doesn't understand here? You, who is completely blinded in your Euro-LRT fetishes, or me who looks at the logical course of transit planning for the city in the last 30 years thrown out the window for a pet project?

 

[Calrissian]

Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend the Star Wars nerd?

Toronto is not a left leaning city, by a longshot. Stop thinking the entire city should bow down to your European LRT fetishes, because most people in this city have made it clear, they don't want it. How do things work? Let's take a look at how Transit City was proposed. Nobody was consulted, suddenly the city releases a comprehensive mega-streetcar plan, throwing out decades of previous transit planning because of lack of funds.. Coincidentally, the province decides it will fund transit expansion and releases funds for this project... Had subways been proposed I see no reason why they wouldn't be funded either. Funding was never an issue, it was basically a pet project by Miller and his leftists to create Queen Sts out of suburban arterials. He actually said that LRT on Finch will encourage midrises down the avenue.. LOL and apparently subways kill streetlife... Somebody remind Yonge and Bloor because I don't think they got the message.

It's not a surprise at all that Miller and his current government are staunchly anti-subway. They throw away decades of future subway planning, threaten to close the Sheppard line, castrate the Sheppard subway halfway from its logical terminus to build an LRT to the zoo and purposely delay the DRL until Transit City is complete. He has said numerous times that subways are bad and will not be built in the city because they are too expensive (yet 10 billion for LRT is not expensive, at all).. The only reason we're getting a Spadina extension (as useless as it is) is because the province put its foot down.

Now who doesn't understand here? You, who is completely blinded in your Euro-LRT fetishes, or me who looks at the logical course of transit planning for the city in the last 30 years thrown out the window for a pet project?

No, its still you. (I'll let others pick apart why your points above are off - but its off topic) Your passion for this stuff if commendable, however, your understanding and comprehension of past events and present course of action, are just naiive, anectodal and wrong. Also, the whole "left/right/center" swaying accusations really illustrates this, because, its irrelevant - what matters is who really wants the best for the city & their people, no matter from what political spectrum its being proposed. Nothing against you, you pobably just haven't experienced enough yet to know any better.

 

[EnviroTO]

because most people in this city have made it clear, they don't want it.

What is the source of this information?

Let's take a look at how Transit City was proposed. Nobody was consulted, suddenly the city releases a comprehensive mega-streetcar plan, throwing out decades of previous transit planning because of lack of funds..

There has been more consulting with the public on transit city than those decades of previous transit planning. Those decades of previous transit planning weren't worth the paper they were printed on because until someone takes the plan and implements it there is no value in it. How many different mayors and premiers have come and gone since the Network 2011 plan came out. What is their excuse?

Coincidentally, the province decides it will fund transit expansion and releases funds for this project.

Not co-incidentally. It was with great pressure from Miller that funding was given and Miller didn't get half of his plan funded and then less than a year later half the committed funding was pulled away. If you believe there is no funding issue then why isn't Miller's plan fully funded?

Funding was never an issue, it was basically a pet project by Miller and his leftists to create Queen Sts out of suburban arterials. He actually said that LRT on Finch will encourage midrises down the avenue.. LOL and apparently subways kill streetlife... Somebody remind Yonge and Bloor because I don't think they got the message.

Nonsense. Transit City does not involve a plan to reduce the lanes on Sheppard or anywhere else to four lanes, two of which allow parking at certain times, and two shared with a streetcar. You need to re-read the plan because it doesn't plan anything remotely similar to Queen St. Also, what document suggests subways kill street life? Never have I seen the reason for building LRT being that subways kill street life.

It's not a surprise at all that Miller and his current government are staunchly anti-subway.

Source please. Last time I checked this government has started a subway line, is upgrading many stations, has focused on station cleanliness, and has bought a new subway fleet.

He has said numerous times that subways are bad

Source please.

me who looks at the logical course of transit planning for the city in the last 30 years thrown out the window for a pet project?

What logical course of transit planning for the last 30 years? It is 2010, since 1980 they have build the Scarborough RT which is orphaned technology, made a one station extension of the Spadina line, and built a four stop subway in North York right next to the 401 to a mall which they knew wasn't that important because they have the only 4 car subway trains in the network. If this is the type of genius planning you want for the next 30 years I will take a pass on that.

 

[nfitz]

It's not a surprise at all that Miller and his current government are staunchly anti-subway.

Why are saying something that is so clearly not true? Miller has always supported the Spadina extension, and they have moved forward on the that extension, which when it opens will be the biggest subway extension in over a quarter-century.

Miller has been instrumental in the construction of the new subway under Eglinton.

Miller has also been pushing the Downtown Relief Line in the last couple of years, which the TTC is now studying and preparing to do an Environmental Assessment.

Miller has also been supportative of the proposed Yonge Extension ... and while it doesn't have that much impact to the city, they have been trying to enable it; rather than stop it.

Sure, he's made a preference to LRT where subway isn't necessary, but to call him staunchly anti-subway simply demonstrates that you'd sooner spin a yarn, than tell the truth.

Who are you shilling for?