Ottawa Rapid Transit Network developments

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

It was just announced on CFRA that 11 city councillors and 150 citizens attended Clive Doucet's and Christine Leadman's news conference on light rail. This is an amazing turn out for a daytime event, when most people are at work. I look forward to hearing the details.

Yes, it will be interesting. I wonder if he will keep the tunnel DT. What his consultant told though, was what I had put in the Ottawa Transit section for metro on Carling, basically you keep Carling at grade, but you put stations UNDER the intersections, so no need for streetcar-speed, at a much much lower cost.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/11/17/7439166.html

OMG, that's what I wanted! LOL, O-Train set up, plus LRT elsewhere. This is a MUCH MUCH better plan. It's equalized, no BRT extensions.

[c_speed3108]

Well I don't know about Carling and what not, but does get a few things right:

Lets stop building Transitways. They make no sense if rail is our eventual goal.

I also like the conversion of the south-east transitway. There is lots of high density along there plus Billings.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

I also like the conversion of the south-east transitway. There is lots of high density along there plus Billings.

Plus higher demand, and no need to stop the O-Train.

Here is the plan:
http://www.kitchissippikitchens.com/OurPathForward/OurPathForward.pdf

[lrt's friend]

Building Transitways and then converting them involves unnecessary costs, particularly the building bus ramps. I favour investing mostly in LRT and build as quickly as possible.

Interesting possible sharing of part of the O-Train route and extension into Gatineau. Will the Gatineau section only be the government offices, or towards the Casino?

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Building Transitways and then converting them involves unnecessary costs, particularly the building bus ramps. I favour investing mostly in LRT and build as quickly as possible.

Interesting possible sharing of part of the O-Train route and extension into Gatineau. Will the Gatineau section only be the government offices, or towards the Casino?

From the look of the map, it will only head to the Government Complexes in Hull.

Either way, I like this plan; it leaves the O-Train open so no shut down for three years, AND it leaves the door open for the introduction for Commuter Rail Lines.

It should also save us some money, by not having to convert Transitways shortly after they are built.


EDIT: One problem I do have with this plan however, is how eaxactly do they plan to accommodate both the O-Train and whatever new LRT vehicle we choose for the new LRT System? Nothing in the article or the presentation answered this question...

[the capital urbanite]

...no mention of continued operating costs along the existing West Transitway which is quite significant and the main reason why a secondary (East-West) rapid transit line was not considered further by city staff and council.

This proposal will be dead once it hits the council chambers.

[lrt's friend]

...no mention of continued operating costs along the existing West Transitway which is quite significant and the main reason why a secondary (East-West) rapid transit line was not considered further by city staff and council.

This proposal will be dead once it hits the council chambers.

I don't think the report suggests 2 rapid transit corridors to the west, just that there needs to be an environmental assessment to assess each of the possible corridors.

[lrt's friend]

EDIT: One problem I do have with this plan however, is how eaxactly do they plan to accommodate both the O-Train and whatever new LRT vehicle we choose for the new LRT System? Nothing in the article or the presentation answered this question...

I suspect that the trench will have to be widened, and the two sets of track will run next to each other (not shared). At least, this is probably the easiest part of the O-Train corridor to add additional sets of tracks.

[Franky]

This looks like a better plan to me too. Why did they not use the existing VIA tracks, perhaps adding a second line in the city portion (Hurdman to Heron)? Now we would have a rail line replacing the transitway along the VIA line (along Riverside Dr.) Three sets of tracks where 2 should be plenty and no possibility to use buses on the transitway anymore (unless they plan to make the transitway portion rail/bus accessible). And Barrhaven could be served right away with single (existing) track from Heron to Fallowfield.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I suspect that the trench will have to be widened, and the two sets of track will run next to each other (not shared). At least, this is probably the easiest part of the O-Train corridor to add additional sets of tracks.

Yes, there's free room. Though new overpasses might be required. Anyways, I think there's a good chance this plan gets voted instead of the official plan. That would be a kick for the city planners. Seriously, who would not be happy about this plan? I think even LRT Friend's and I can agree that it's the best "official" plan so far.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

It was just announced on CFRA that 11 city councillors and 150 citizens attended Clive Doucet's and Christine Leadman's news conference on light rail. This is an amazing turn out for a daytime event, when most people are at work. I look forward to hearing the details.

Wow. Another alternative transit plan.

Am I the only one that feels that it seems increasingly unlikely that Ottawa is ever going to take its transit system to the next level?

I am all for democracy of course but at some point there has to be some decisiveness and someone has to say “the buck stops here”.

Too many cooks, I tell ya...

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

EDIT: One problem I do have with this plan however, is how eaxactly do they plan to accommodate both the O-Train and whatever new LRT vehicle we choose for the new LRT System? Nothing in the article or the presentation answered this question...

You could electrify the current O-Train line for 10M$. A drop in the bucket.

[lrt's friend]

Yes, there's free room. Though new overpasses might be required. Anyways, I think there's a good chance this plan gets voted instead of the official plan. That would be a kick for the city planners. Seriously, who would not be happy about this plan? I think even LRT Friend's and I can agree that it's the best "official" plan so far.

It does more faster, costs less, emphasizes rail, why not? Maybe even FOTO will agree since their beloved O-Train is preserved and extended.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

It does more faster, costs less, emphasizes rail, why not? Maybe even FOTO will agree since their beloved O-Train is preserved and extended.

I recommend people emailing their councillors. I can see Jan Harder and co. to vote for this plan, since it gets rail to their burbs. Basically even Gord Hunter will have to realize the lower cost of rail operations. For once, I'm happy that Clive pushed for an alerternative, and happier that he pushed for rapid transit, and not a streetcar alternative.

What I like about the plan is more the future potential of it. There's not short-circuiting of the existing tracks, no replication of the Transitway vs. Rail, and finally, a link to the QC side.

[lrt's friend]

Wow. Another alternative transit plan.

Am I the only one that feels that it seems increasingly unlikely that Ottawa is ever going to take its transit system to the next level?

I am all for democracy of course but at some point there has to be some decisiveness and someone has to say “the buck stops here”.

Too many cooks, I tell ya...

The key is to get Alex Cullen and Clive Doucet on the same page. This will go a long way in creating a united front on moving transit forward.

[waterloowarrior]

I agree that building all these BRT lines and just upgrading them later is kind of pointless... cut spending on roads and BRT and direct it to rail

I'd like to see what the Carling line would look like before agreeing it should be the main EW corridor though

note that the existing O-Train gets upgraded to 7.5 minute headways...

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

I agree that building all these BRT lines and just upgrading them later is kind of pointless... cut spending on roads and BRT and direct it to rail

I'd like to see what the Carling line would look like before agreeing it should be the main EW corridor though

note that the existing O-Train gets upgraded to 7.5 minute headways...

For the Carling cost involved, ~400M$, it surely is Rapid Transit, plus there was confirmation that there would be underpasses for the main arteries. Anyways, from the Citizen, it seems that residents agreed with the new plan. I'm far more excited to this one than the previous one.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=2ac0bbc6-0463-4f0b-80d3-f78a0cea1ce9

There can always be the Byron corridor built at a later stage.

[lrt's friend]

O-Train fans cheer proposal for rail on Carling

By Patrick Dare
Ottawa Citizen


Monday, November 17, 2008


OTTAWA - Two city councillors proposing an alternative public transit plan for Ottawa got an enthusiastic reception Monday.

Close to 200 people filled the Gladstone Theatre as Capital ward Councillor Clive Doucet and Kitchissippi ward Councillor Christine Leadman unveiled their plan, which would cut out the proposed expansion of Ottawa's bus system and make rail transit the immediate priority.

The councillors propose to build an east-west rail system by running electric light rail along Carling Avenue, rather than the Ottawa River Parkway, as the city has proposed. Ms. Leadman said a Carling service would build new development and generate additional revenues for the city, rather than the parkway route.

Building an LRT down Carling from Lincoln Fields to a ling with the north-south O-Train corridor would involve seven stops and cost about $378 million, according to rail consultant Morrison Renfrew. The parkway rail corridor has been estimated to cost $130 million.

Audience members cheered a proposal to extend the existing north-south diesel O-Train across the Prince of Wales Bridge to Gatineau.

Gloucester-Southgate Councillor Diane Deans said the strong public turnout for the alternative plan suggests the city-hall plan hasn't quite got it right and that people want a system that brings on more commuter rail faster.

Discussion of the city's transit plan begins formally on Wednesday with committee discussions, to be followed next week by council debate.

I have to agree with my city councillor. We have compromised so much in developing the current plan before council, that few are enthusiastic about it anymore. This new idea provides the possibility of rebuilding enthusiasm in light rail, and delivers service that people want.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I have to agree with my city councillor. We have compromised so much in developing the current plan before council, that few are enthusiastic about it anymore. This new idea provides the possibility of rebuilding enthusiasm in light rail, and delivers service that people want.

Exactly, we are even seeing concensus here that we haven't seen for months. I applaud the new plan, and hopes that it gets built.

[lrt's friend]

You could electrify the current O-Train line for 10M$. A drop in the bucket.

I am going to agree with you on this too, since this will support planned station development particularly at Carleton University.

There are further benefits from doing this. We only have to maintain one type of train, therefore reducing the impacts of one or two trains out of service. We only need one maintenance facility. Train routing becomes more flexible. As we have seen the advantages of the O-Train bypassing downtown, electrification takes this one step further, by allowing trains to be routed between the south end and the west end without travelling downtown. Special event trains to Scotiabank Place can be routed efficiently from Barrhaven, the south-east, Orleans, downtown, and maybe even eventually from Gatineau, if we use electric trains throughout.