Ottawa LRT

[ijmorlan]

We'll never see something so elaborate, here - there is no need.  Our system has been built to maximize coverage for a fixed cost - and as such, our stations are spartan.  I really like our stations, though - don't get me wrong.  The anchor walls were such a good example of using a local supplier (KW Glass, right next to the maintenance facility!) to come up with a totally unique and creative solution that looks like a million bucks, but didn't cost it.

Ottawa's system is half the size of ours and cost more than twice as much - hence the pretty stations.

How much of the additional cost is the downtown tunnel?

I think our stations are essentially fine, for the most part. I just think that at the malls and the transit terminal the trains should be integrated into other buildings, at least eventually if not immediately. At the transit terminal, in particular, if the trains just stopped under the bridge then the stops would be completely covered. It’s weird to build a huge transit station and development, complete with a roofed-over bus terminal and train station, and not build enough additional roof to allow transferring to/from LRT without getting rained on. Similarly, at UW, we should have a plan to eventually have a building right above the station, covering it over and providing a weather-protected link between our academic buildings and the transit platform.

As I said, we seem to be “allergic” to allowing people to board transit without getting rained on. I don’t mean that every bus stop should be a large structure that connects every building within 100m to a covered terminal. But in some places, it would be really easy to make it happen with a bit of careful planning.