Ottawa LRT

[Coke6pk]

Wayfinding, uOttawa tunnel:
   

Wayfinding, looking inside the uOttawa Station:
   

uOttawa station from Campus:
   

Coke

[Coke6pk]

Station Identification:
   

Looking towards Tremblay Station (From VIA Parking Lot):
   

Looking towards Tremblay Station (From VIA Station):
   

Coke

[Spokes]

Thanks for the pictures!
I really, really like what they've done with their stations. I wonder if any of ours will ever turn into something like that? Phase 2? 3? 4?

[ijmorlan]

Thanks for the pictures!
I really, really like what they've done with their stations.  I wonder if any of ours will ever turn into something like that?  Phase 2?  3?  4?

We seem to be allergic to allowing people to get on and off transit without getting rained on. I don’t believe there is a single place in the entire city, including the new LRT stations, where you can get on/off a GRT vehicle under cover. The LRT stations are better than any bus stop of which I am aware, but still don’t actually protect the boarding itself.

So probably not, even though there are several LRT stops where that should be the long-term plan:

- Conestoga Mall
- UW
- Uptown (Waterloo Town Square)
- Transit terminal
- Fairway

[KevinL]

 The LRT stations are better than any bus stop of which I am aware, but still don’t actually protect the boarding itself.

So probably not, even though there are several LRT stops where that should be the long-term plan:

- Conestoga Mall
- UW
- Uptown (Waterloo Town Square)
- Transit terminal
- Fairway

Certainly doable; most of these are away from a road, as well, which would make that easier structurally.

[darts]

Some of the new shelters that they have been putting up look pretty shitty where it is one wall and a bit of an overhang so angled rain from can get in half the time.

[Spokes]

Ya the term shelter is used pretty loosely

[Canard]

Calling Ottawa's system an LRT and comparing it with ours is a bit unfair - theirs is an "LRT" only in that it happens to use more-or-less off-the-shelf vehicles which are synonymous with a tramway than they are other modes. Their system is essentially a full blown light automated metro - and it's the nations' capital, so of course it's going to have massive and grandiose stations.

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.

[Spokes]

What's the difference between a LRT and a light automated metro

[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.

[tomh009]

Those buildings don't exist now, though. It would be fairly easy/inexpensive to move the stations (to the King St underpass, for example) once they do.

[Canard]

What's the difference between a LRT and a light automated metro

Light Automated Metro = VAL (Lille, Toulouse, etc.), Copenhagen Minimetro, etc. - smaller than "heavy" subway vehicles, typically operating in smaller consists at shorter headways.

LRT = tramway (streetcar) often on dedicated tracks

[ijmorlan]

Those buildings don't exist now, though. It would be fairly easy/inexpensive to move the stations (to the King St underpass, for example) once they do.

All the concept drawings for the transit terminal show the existing LRT station continuing to exist as it is outside of the actual transit terminal building itself. There is no plan to truly integrate the stations as one might expect when both are planned together. Of course we already expect this lack of coordination from the fiasco of the traction power substation occupying the space that should have been used for the Waterloo St. pedestrian tunnel.

At the malls I agree that bringing the LRT in so that the station adjoins the mall building is harder than it looks, especially with the mall owners being so stupid as to think that LRT won’t be bringing in a substantial portion of their clientele. But realistically I’m not expecting those stations to be integrated in the foreseeable future. It’s just not the way we do things in this city.

[tomh009]

Those buildings don't exist now, though. It would be fairly easy/inexpensive to move the stations (to the King St underpass, for example) once they do.

All the concept drawings for the transit terminal show the existing LRT station continuing to exist as it is outside of the actual transit terminal building itself. There is no plan to truly integrate the stations as one might expect when both are planned together. Of course we already expect this lack of coordination from the fiasco of the traction power substation occupying the space that should have been used for the Waterloo St. pedestrian tunnel.

At the malls I agree that bringing the LRT in so that the station adjoins the mall building is harder than it looks, especially with the mall owners being so stupid as to think that LRT won’t be bringing in a substantial portion of their clientele. But realistically I’m not expecting those stations to be integrated in the foreseeable future. It’s just not the way we do things in this city.

They are just concepts as the actual plans will be done by whoever is selected to develop the central station complex.

That said, you are free to choose pessimism and I can choose optimism, on this and other topics.

[plam]

All the concept drawings for the transit terminal show the existing LRT station continuing to exist as it is outside of the actual transit terminal building itself. There is no plan to truly integrate the stations as one might expect when both are planned together. Of course we already expect this lack of coordination from the fiasco of the traction power substation occupying the space that should have been used for the Waterloo St. pedestrian tunnel.

Montréal's buildings attached to Metro entrances weren't quite coordinated, I believe, except in the loosest sense: the city gave companies "emphyteutic" leases which allowed the companies to improve the entrance but reverted ownership to the city after the lease term. So there's more private sector than we would think for Montreal.

ijmorlan, you might enjoy this article on how Montreal got all these covered stations:

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8267/23...9b25d3.pdf