London, ON Plans LRT and BRT system

[Innsertnamehere]

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/11/04/ne...stem-in-london

A light rail transit system can make sense in cities London’s size for economic development reasons that have nothing to do with transportation, a U.S.-based transit expert says.

As city hall’s rapid transit proposal came into sharper focus Wednesday — light rail is proposed for a main corridor through north and east London — an immediate lightning rod is the construction cost: at least $850 million.

But Jarrett Walker, a transit consultant based in Oregon, says projects like this, particularly in cities like London, are never just about moving commuters more quickly.

“If you wanted to just optimize people’s ability to get there (faster), you’d use bus rapid transit,” he said of the option that costs about one-third as much as light rail.

Light rail projects, he added, “often don’t make sense on purely transportation grounds.”

“But they have benefits in the areas of emissions and civic emotional response, and they can be a strong signal to the real estate market, which can alter how a city develops,” Walker said.

“It’s common for a city your size for (light rail) to be justified on a range of benefits. Those certainly include economics and real-estate outcomes.”

Walker’s view echoes the staff report that was published Wednesday and will go to council’s strategic priorities and policy committee next week.

In it, four “guiding principles” for the transit-system overhaul are listed, and two go far beyond transportation: community building/revitalization and economic development/city building.

The report spells out four options for rapid transit, the cheapest of which, using just buses, would cost roughly $260 million. The third-costliest, the bus-light rail hybrid that staff is proposing, is at least $850 ­million.

[Innsertnamehere]

I believe London would overtake Kitchener Waterloo (barely) to take the title as the smallest city in North America with a Light Rail system, if this goes through.

Interestingly, this would make London the 5th Ontario city with a mass transit urban rail network. Currently, there is only Toronto, Waterloo and Ottawa have their systems under construction, Hamilton has funding and is in final design work, and now London.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

I believe London would overtake Kitchener Waterloo (barely) to take the title as the smallest city in North America with a Light Rail system, if this goes through.

Interestingly, this would make London the 5th Ontario city with a mass transit urban rail network. Currently, there is only Toronto, Waterloo and Ottawa have their systems under construction, Hamilton has funding and is in final design work, and now London.

I think you can add Mississauga as well. Although a Toronto suburb, it is an independent city and their LRT plan is directed to local service and not simply an extension of Toronto lines.

Hopefully the day will come when all of the more urbanized portions of southern and eastern Ontario will be connected with good local, Go RER or VIA rail service so you can leave your car at home.

[MolsonExport]

game changer for this city if built. if not, mediocrity will persist.

[ssiguy]

It will definitely get built and will have very good ridership.

Even though London has just 390,00 and no further suburban routes into the 100,000 that surround the city, it enjoys ridership levels FAR higher than ANY comparable size US city and higher than many US cities that are several times larger.

London Transit carries more passengers per year than the systems in Columbus and Cincinnati Ohio, Indianapolis, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Birmingham, Providence, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Jacksonville to name just a few.

This is due to London's solid built urban form, no city freeways, a large university and college. and a strong downtown.