04-15-2024, 09:02 PM
(04-15-2024, 07:46 PM)ac3r Wrote: And that's rather true. The Ottawa Transitway is a good example of this. While their light-metro/LRT lines don't follow the exact route of the Transitway, they still connect similar areas. It kind of acts as a cheap way to get the ball rolling on transit oriented development. Once you develop nodes and demand increases thanks to a BRT line, you can then invest in LRT.
I've considered that instead of the 4.5 billion at minimum we are going to have to spend on the Cambridge LRT line here, we could instead save the money and use BRT for now. The planned LRT line essentially follows existing arterial roads already, so the infrastructure is mostly there. We're basically paying billions of dollars for bridges that cost hundreds of millions...and then plonking some tracks down on existing roads. We are getting ripped off by consultants and contractors. We could send BRT buses down the same route for significantly less money for the time being. Considering Cambridge is carbrained and doesn't even want the LRT we're basically forcing upon them anyway, it might be easier to "sell" BRT to the voters. With some creativity modifying roads and traffic signals, we could probably ensure buses have priority over other traffic (it's not like the LRT we have is fast...it literally stops at red lights like cars, lmao) to keep a useful headway. BRT could be a useful tool to connect Cambridge with the rest of the region for much cheaper whilst also catalyzing development and more transit demand, which in the future could justify the LRT (right now it isn't even worth the energy your neurons require to think about whether it's worth it).
This is what I certainly hope comes out of the LRT to Cambridge discussions, there is no way we're going to get full funding from the province/feds like the Region wants so instead if we were to start making incremental infrastructure changes, they're already widening King in Sportsworld in a way that the median can handle an LRT so if we were to install platforms and make that a dedicated BRT space you could then get proper MTSA rules and spur that development which can later justify the LRT once the demand is there.
Then if the Region keeps on doing these incremental changes as roads come up for reconstruction you would effectively have an entire BRT route which could easily be upgraded to LRT once the demand is there which would allow for a better business case for funding from the feds/province. Hespeler is going to eventually come up for reconstruction so if they build it like King you'd have your BRT route in place, you'd have to force Cambridge to properly approve projects in the MTSAs but at least the infrastructure is there at a far cheaper cost, so you can start building that demand.
Obviously you'd need proper TSP which I doubt would happen but by incorporating those incremental infrastructure changes you're allowing for a BRT system to be built on a future LRT ROW which is really a win win as you're allowing for some form of higher order transit to be built without waiting years and years for proper funding to be approved.