Umm...Rapid Transit (Would it be a Winnipeg forum without this thread?)

which is just stupid as anyting... hello!!! go for the non hybrid bus of the samre ariculatedness. Running one bus that carryies more people at a time is far more effecient then smaller buses more often.
Sure hybrid tech would be nice, but is not the be all and end all.

AGEsAces wrote:http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/04/horsecar.shtml

It is my understanding rosen was the first wagon driver and J2F hired him.

it was my understanding that they actually started when they used boats pushed with long polls to cross lake Aggasiz

wooeee... 1894 and gets $175K for a business....thats some sweet money.

Deank wrote:it was my understanding that they actually started when they used boats pushed with long Poles to cross lake Agassiz

Heh, you remember seeing them too, huh?

I would love to see at least 2 LRT lines built in Winnipeg. If we can get the funding needed to do this by the 3 levels of Government is another story though. I would favor an LRT that possibly links the Airport to Transcona, and another that would link the U of M with Downtown, possibly even eventually be expanded to run to RRC. I know there was talk of relocating the rail yards that border the North End with Weston, and dissect Point Douglas, but this idea seems to have fizzled as far as I know..

grumpy old man wrote:I saw that thing this week also. I assumed it was Flyer giving her a test run. I also assumed the trailer was a generator used to power the bus as it was an electric trolley.

Only in Winnipeg.

BTW, Edmonton is getting rid of their trolleybuses.

What is "only in Winnipeg"? A bus manufacturer testing their buses on city streets in harsh winter conditions? Quite possibly. There are not many bus manufacturers in Canada so it is possible you will see that only in Winnipeg.

jimj_wpg wrote:.
BTW, Edmonton is getting rid of their trolleybuses.

Yes. The city voted to remove all trolleybuses and their associated infrastructure by sometime in 2010. However, trolleybuses only consist of a bus and electric pole. They essentially are only buses and nothing more.

...

Professor Leo has just raised some valid issues regarding the proposed Morley Station:

http://blog.uwinnipeg.ca/ChristopherLeo/archives/2009/02/whats_your_pref.html#more

Can't speak for Florida planners but Winnipeg planners and traffic managers are magicians. They never make mistakes. Not sure how one disastrous rapid transit disaster in one jurisdiction applies in Winnipeg...

For my 1st post on this useless, money wasting plan!
Winnipeg does not need this ! What is the plan costing to run from the Bay to the U of manitoba? $57,000,000? or $185,000,000? And that would save 5 minutes? 10 minutes? Bull sh1t I say! And how many people use that route every day? I did not catch the number? It would be cheaper, and more comfortable to send those people in taxis!
If you caught the CBC's documentary called "living city", there was one person who has lived in Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary Toronto , Montreal, and Winnipeg, and that person rates Montreal and Winnipeg as having the best bus system! So we are the best, and therefore do not need to spend 2 trillion dollars on those that take the bus.
No one takes the bus, except those that cannot afford parking costs, and those that have a lot of common sense!

rosencrentz wrote:For my 1st post on this useless, money wasting plan!
Winnipeg does not need this ! What is the plan costing to run from the Bay to the U of manitoba? $57,000,000? or $185,000,000? And that would save 5 minutes? 10 minutes? Bull sh1t I say! And how many people use that route every day? I did not catch the number? It would be cheaper, and more comfortable to send those people in taxis!
If you caught the CBC's documentary called "living city", there was one person who has lived in Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary Toronto , Montreal, and Winnipeg, and that person rates Montreal and Winnipeg as having the best bus system! So we are the best, and therefore do not need to spend 2 trillion dollars on those that take the bus.
No one takes the bus, except those that cannot afford parking costs, and those that have a lot of common sense!

Thank goodness the younger generation doesn't think this old fashioned

BRT is no good.

But my question is if rapid transit options like LRT are so horrible and a waste of money, then why are such a large amount of cities implementing these systems, or have already implemented them? And then why are smaller cities like Victoria, Spokane and Kitchener-Waterloo planning to add them to their cities?

Something doesn't jive with the whole "LRT is evil and a waste of money" bs statements that are thrown at Winnipeggers. It sounds like a typical nay-saying Winnipeg scare tactic to discourage change and improvement for the long-term future.

Well young fella', it has been reported what the costs will run; where the line would go; and how much time would be saved.

That few minutes saved by so few people will cost too much money for what it's worth....at least that's what some old folks think.

JTF wrote:Well young fella', it has been reported what the costs will run; where the line would go; and how much time would be saved.

That few minutes saved by so few people will cost too much money for what it's worth....at least that's what some old folks think.

I think these studies are a complete crock of sh1t, because said studies would have found very similar results for Victoria, Spokane and Kitchener-Waterloo, much smaller cities than Winnipeg, and obviously they didn't as an LRT system was found to be economically feasible and plans to proceed with the project are being created. How can this be so much more of a waste in a larger city than in these smaller cities.

Again, something doesn't jive.

Ahhh. The times would not be the same in other cities kid. That's the big dif.

In rush hour here, you can get across town in 45 minutes at worst!. In some places, you can't get out of the downtown in that time.

JTF wrote:Ahhh. The times would not be the same in other cities kid. That's the big dif.

In rush hour here, you can get across town in 45 minutes at worst!. In some places, you can't get out of the downtown in that time.

No, I've been to Victoria and Spokane, and sorry to say, their rush hours are no different, and actually I would say even less congested, than Winnipeg. Never been to K-W, so I can't comment there.

No, it has to do with being cheap and an improper planning strategy for transit for the LONG TERM. That, my dear WS counterpart JTF, is the real deal issue.

Naw. It's that they don't have a clue and we do. We do slurpees here and not kool-aid.

I still say, fit a LRT system into the existing rail lines. The commuters will adjust to the new routes and will cost alot less than starting from scratch and zig-zagging through trafficked streets...

Electrician wrote:I still say, fit a LRT system into the existing rail lines. The commuters will adjust to the new routes and will cost alot less than starting from scratch and zig-zagging through trafficked streets...

Don't believe those garbage studies; they are biased and only say what politicians want the general public to hear. LRT is a viable transit option and can be done. This isn't Dauphin. Winnipeg is a major city, and needs to start acting like one. And implementing a proper rapid transit system is a good place to start.

JTF wrote:Naw. It's that they don't have a clue and we do. We do slurpees here and not kool-aid.

Why does it have to be that way? We need to put aside the self-depreciating mocking attitude we have towards Winnipeg, start getting some true pride in our city, and moving forward into the future.

Difficult to compare other cities as other factors come into play. Surrounding municipalities for example may lead some to believe the city is smaller. Southern Ontario and West Ontario are hugely congested areas.

The Waterloo region (Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge) is about 500k As is metro Spokane.

Progressive cities will have a greater vision and better planning. That planning should include rapid transit. Smarter folk would have put such a plan in place in earlier times and would well have driven development much differently than Winnipeg has been.

But Winnipeg will continue to grow. If ever we get a smart provincial and municipal plan it could still help future generations. If the "old folk" 20 and 40 years ago could not grasp the notion of future planning maybe us current generation old folks better.

Maybe an RT will only save 5 minutes today. What might the presence of such a system do for our young folk today, tomorrow and years down the line?

I think I know now why nothing ever gets done. We won't think about the future.

JTF wrote:Naw. It's that they don't have a clue and we do. We do slurpees here and not kool-aid.

You're dead wrong. We have not one fricken clue. Trouble is jimmy maybe we've been drinking YOUR cool-aid far too long.