12-11-2016, 08:04 PM
(12-11-2016, 07:47 PM)Drake Wrote: Why would I believe that lanes of traffic that had been used by cars for years would be used for anything other than cars if a monorail or subway was built?
As for it not being safer, that is just ridiculous.
There you go then, if a grade separated line was built, the benefit would be that drivers keep four lanes on King St.
How is it "ridiculous" that it isn't safer? LRTs are very safe, (except in Houston apparently). And subways aren't free from accidents, nor are monorails.
So I don't see why it is "ridiculous" to suggest that it's not clearly a win in terms of safety.
@mpd618 Yes the speed limits are disappointing, as for "always green", they're green to keep the train on schedule, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. But that's a policy decision, not an inherent limitation of the LRT technology. There's no reason that a grade separated train couldn't be similarly limited. Like I said though, there might be a difference in speed.
You are right, that there is an urban planning aspect to it. Is there evidence that a subway or monorail is more effective at shaping the urban landscape? I honestly don't know. I would guess that having a four lane road instead of a two lane road might have a detrimental effect, although I have no idea how either compares with an LRT right of way.
I don't know that there is something new being discussed. But there are always new members who might be interested in discussing, or understanding why grade separated isn't always the best choice. I certainly am in that camp. For a long time I thought the only good thing about Rob Ford was that he demanded subways (I mean besides the fact I felt he would never actually pay for them), but after reading up on it more, I now feel that LRTs have their place in the right contexts.