Calgary Public Transit - Discussion

[GirlySports]

another mess

I'm stuck trying to get on the blue line now.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1093923664205045760

[Lubicon]

You have to try really hard to get hit by the train there. Flashing lights, bells, crossing arm, good visibility of the incoming train and a very low speed limit and this person still managed to do it. Impressive.

[Fuzz]

Ya, but when you drive a Mercedes, you think all those flashing lights are so the train can stop for you.

[Cuz]

As far as CTrain collisions go, that is pretty minor. It probably won't take long for it to be cleared (if it hasn't been cleared already as I write this)

[para transit fellow]

Nevermind ( wrong thread)

[Table 5]

Funnily enough, that intersection is the only place where I almost became one of these people we all laugh at.

To the right of the gates in the picture, the road goes up a hill, which in the winter can get quite iced up and slippery. I went to school at ACAD, and one day I remember clearing the gates and driving up the hill just as flashing lights started dinging. Except it was one of those very slippery days, and my crappy beater had no winter tires (because college budget), so very little traction. So I started sliding backwards down the hill back towards the gates. Luckily enough I was able to get traction just before I backed into the gate. That would've been a crappy way to go.

[woob]

Calgary's Green Line storage barn will be so big it may need federal environmental assessment

Calgary already has several storage facilities for its light rail cars, but the soon-to-be-built Green Line maintenance and storage yard is the first to draw federal interest.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is taking comments from the public and Indigenous groups to decide whether or not an environmental assessment is required for the facility.

It's weighing an assessment because of the proposed facility's size — 17.5 kilometres of track for heavy and light duty maintenance bays. It will cover a 226,700-square-metre area, approximately double the size of Southcentre Mall.

[Nufy]

Am I the only one thinking its wrong to use rail cars that aren't compatible with the rest of the LRT ?

[Fuzz]

No, not alone. I mean, they have reasons, I'm just not sure they outweigh the benefits.


It all goes back to Druh wanting this to be an integrated streetcar like line that was not obtrusive. They wanted low stations that wouldn't be as large an impact, as it was going to run at street level for the most part. But then scope creep hit, it went underground, grade separated for 95% of it, and no one thought to re-examine whether the low floor plan still made sense. At least that's how I see it.


I also dislike them because instead of one flat level floor, you have more impediments.

Spoiler!

[Nufy]

Street level...so they can stop anywhere ??

[Fuzz]

No, they still need a station, they are just lower:

[81MC]

Whoever engineered 9th ave for the new BRT line has very clearly never ever ever driven that section of road. Ever.
Added a light. Reduced to formally one through lane under the CP bridge. Right lanes must turn right, onto almost unused routes. And no advanced arrows.
Well done. Such a wonderful transit development has managed to make traffic flow worse, all the way through forest lawn and into Main Street Inglewood. So impressed.

[bizaro86]

But hey, at least they aren't interoperable then.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by Nufy

Am I the only one thinking its wrong to use rail cars that aren't compatible with the rest of the LRT ?

Originally Posted by Fuzz

No, not alone. I mean, they have reasons, I'm just not sure they outweigh the benefits.


It all goes back to Druh wanting this to be an integrated streetcar like line that was not obtrusive. They wanted low stations that wouldn't be as large an impact, as it was going to run at street level for the most part. But then scope creep hit, it went underground, grade separated for 95% of it, and no one thought to re-examine whether the low floor plan still made sense. At least that's how I see it.

Adapted from my post from a couple years ago:

New high-floor LRT lines just aren't being built anymore, and really haven't been since the mid-eighties. Since Calgary, Edmonton and a couple other cities were very early adopters, they have lines that were high floor from the outset, and thus every time they are extended (i.e. Crowfoot, Saddleridge, even the WestLRT was an operational extension of the NE line), they have had to build new high-floor platforms and buy high-floor trains.

The Green Line being low floor doesn't have much to do with what Coun. Farrell wants necessarily, although she may champion the idea. It's just what's being built by just about everybody now and has been for a long time. It was always going to be low floor design regardless of whether or not it was buried in central areas.

The Green Line will be operationally separate from the rest of the system, and thus is not mandated to built as high-floor. It will not share cars nor maintenance facilities with the rest of the system, nor will it likely be physically connected with it (as in the ability to shuttle cars throughout all lines on the system via track connections). Perhaps train parts and components could be shared though.

The scale of the current fleet and the scale of the new fleet that will be needed for the Green Line are large enough that they shouldn't see too many negative effects of not being able to share cars. Besides, as things are now, Calgary Transit currently operates 4 different types of cars that cannot be matched together to form consists.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Nufy

Am I the only one thinking its wrong to use rail cars that aren't compatible with the rest of the LRT ?

No, but my reasoning is that I would rather see the ends of the lines loop together, rather than extend forever outwards, or at least have branches that do connect.

[Wormius]

Is there a rule on February bus pas validity into March? I used a ticket today, but the bus driver said you can the Feb pass for a few more days. She knows me, so I don’t know if being nice or if this is policy because of the shorter month?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

Adapted from my post from a couple years ago:

New high-floor LRT lines just aren't being built anymore, and really haven't been since the mid-eighties. Since Calgary, Edmonton and a couple other cities were very early adopters, they have lines that were high floor from the outset, and thus every time they are extended (i.e. Crowfoot, Saddleridge, even the WestLRT was an operational extension of the NE line), they have had to build new high-floor platforms and buy high-floor trains.

The Green Line being low floor doesn't have much to do with what Coun. Farrell wants necessarily, although she may champion the idea. It's just what's being built by just about everybody now and has been for a long time. It was always going to be low floor design regardless of whether or not it was buried in central areas.

Many new high floor projects are still happening. In Canada, Ottawa's new system is high floor and I believe the new line in Toronto, Cross town or whatever it is called, is high floor. The new project in Montreal that is going to the airport is high floor.

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Is there a rule on February bus pas validity into March? I used a ticket today, but the bus driver said you can the Feb pass for a few more days. She knows me, so I don’t know if being nice or if this is policy because of the shorter month?

Would it matter? Wouldn't you be buying the March pass anyway?

I just got mine yesterday haha.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Many new high floor projects are still happening. In Canada, Ottawa's new system is high floor and I believe the new line in Toronto, Cross town or whatever it is called, is high floor. The new project in Montreal that is going to the airport is high floor.

Ottawa's Confederation Line is low floor. Trillium line is high floor, but that was started quite a few years ago, using an already built rolling stock that was intended for another system.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by SebC

No, but my reasoning is that I would rather see the ends of the lines loop together, rather than extend forever outwards, or at least have branches that do connect.

This probably better served by the MAX type bus routes than dedicated track. Demand for the circle route just isn’t there.