[1ajs]

when do you guys think it will happen?

[jimj_wpg]

when do you guys think it will happen?

When we boot Doer out of the Premier's chair and get the BRT Hippies and automobile industry people off of City Council.

[Brokenhead]

I choose 2020, just because I like the sound of this year 20-20.

[vid]

Groundbreaking at 11am on May 14th, 2017. Be there or be square.

[Calgarian]

2030 if you are lucky, what is rush hour traffic like there?

[1ajs]

depends witch street and what season.........

Pembina highway in the morning going north is grid lock and in the evening its the same going south.

disreali get to be grid lock at times
Nairn is well narin
main street going across the main st brige bah thats a nightmare

main street going to the north end depends........

McPhillips can get crawling at times but it depends

portage ave is not bad aslong as they're not riping it apart like last summer

its nothing like calgary

[bomberguy]

I choose 2020, just because I like the sound of this year 20-20.

lmao, same here.

Seriously though.. 2020 seems like the year it will be built.

[Boreal]

*edit* ...Never mind... it was a worthless comment.

[1ajs]

BTW i chose 2015

[1ajs]

Pembina...Nairn...McPhillips ...Adrian.

txs lol

[vid]

Every little bit helps. :)

[Boreal]

Adrian, the *edit* was in reference to my comment being worhtless, not yours. On second thought, I figured it not worthwhile to make any attempt to correct your spelling.

...but you are more than welcome.

[biguc]

You forgot to put 'never' as an option.

[harls]

that's quite the list of choices.

[Archiseek]

where's the "never" option?

[rgalston]

In the year 2525, if man is still alive, a new study will be released saying that LRT might be a good idea

In the year 3535, if man is still alive, the City will start buying land along the hydro corridor going to the suburb of Winkler Park Meadows

In the year 4545, if man is still alive, a new study backed by Newflyer Industries will be released suggesting that maybe buses might be a better option than rail

In the year 5555, if man is still alive, Council votes down the first phase of the Waverly West - Emerson LRT Corridor, and instead uses the money to repair potholes on Portage Avenue from Moray to 18th Street (Brandon)

[jimj_wpg]

I choose 2020, just because I like the sound of this year 20-20.

... because it reminds you of the ABC News program.

I like 2014/2015... if we start now we could have it by then.

[jimj_wpg]

lmao, same here.

Seriously though.. 2020 seems like the year it will be built.

Back in the early 80s I thought that we'd have LRT in the Southwest by 1985/86 That would have been so cool to be able to travel from River Heights to downtown, or to zoom to Fort Garry and Fort Richmond if I wanted or needed to. Back then I was only 15/16, I was so optimistic, I'd look out my bedroom window and could just see the Calgary C-Train-like LRT almost there. Also back then I didn't have the Internet for insight (through these online discussions) on why rapid transit (so far) hasn't been constructed.

Now that I'm 40 I have a whole bunch of insight to why things haven't moved much in the past 25 years....



Pseudo-environmentalist BRT Hippies on City Council
Pro-highway white suburban rural Conservative types on Council


The thing is that while it's quite easy to figure out the pro-highway people, it's not so when figuring out the environmentalists....

The highway people say that we need to "fix our infrastructure" and expand/widen major thoroughfares. They say that the buses can use the same roadways, so to them it's a good choice (cost effective, efficient, etc...). They don't care about global warming and in fact deny that it is the reason why temperatures are getting warmer. They say, "good, I like this warmer weather", and hate the cold.

The environmentalists on the other hand are harder to spot because we both want the same thing: increased transit ridership, faster service, a revitalized downtown with "funky little shops", and we both want to reduce CO2 emissions.

The Hippies of old, with their platform shoes and bell bottom pants are gone, while the ones of today tend to blend in with the rest of us in terms of fashion. I consider Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, former Coun. Donald Benham, and former MP and current U of W Pres. to be Hippies. There may be others. The men wear suits, the women wear nice office-type outfits. They don't have flower power stickers from the 60s. So in a way it can be deceiving on the surface.

They say "we can't afford LRT, that's too expensive". They associate transit with the old VW hippie bus from the 60s. Environmentalists refer to their ideology as "progressive", yet some of what they believe surely has an "anti-progressive" way to it. "Keep things small", "don't build over that river", "use hydrogen (which isn't ready for prime time) instead of cheap hydro electricity because you'll hurt the natural environment or hurt the Native's hunting and fishing land". Eeek! I think it's also connected to being of a certain ethnic nationality, which I won't mention here for fear of being called a racist. You know who you are.

Yet I don't drive a car. I don't want to. I cycle in the Summer and bus it in the Winter. I care about future of the very same planet. I don't want the icebergs in the arctic to melt, and I try and recycle as best as I can.

But for some reason Hippies like (love) buses and don't like trains... I haven't connected the dots on that one, but I'm close. I know now that convincing Gerbasi in favour of LRT or subway would be as successful as convincing Lloyd of the same thing. The BRT Hippies are stubborn people and most likely won't change their ideology.

What we need are good Councillors and MLAs who will, from the outset, already know that LRT and subway is the only viable option for a city the size of Winnipeg. They don't need to be "convinced". I wish Hugh McFadyen, who says he's lived in the big cities of Toronto and London England, would just say this already. What is he waiting for?

Last January I created a web poll on NewWinnipeg.com (http://www.newwinnipeg.com/community/discussion/609/what-form-of-rapid-transit-should-winnipeg-implement/)and asked the members there "What form of Rapid Transit should Winnipeg implement?" Well, I found that about 56% want LRT or subway, the BRT crowd is small, only 11%. However, the pro-BRT tend to be better organized (they have the backing of big labour) and are into things like "street theatre" to make their point. The pro-rail people of Winnipeg could learn a few things from them.

[jimj_wpg]

In the year 2525, if man is still alive, a new study will be released saying that LRT might be a good idea

In the year 3535, if man is still alive, the City will start buying land along the hydro corridor going to the suburb of Winkler Park Meadows

In the year 4545, if man is still alive, a new study backed by Newflyer Industries will be released suggesting that maybe buses might be a better option than rail

In the year 5555, if man is still alive, Council votes down the first phase of the Waverly West - Emerson LRT Corridor, and instead uses the money to repair potholes on Portage Avenue from Moray to 18th Street (Brandon)

LOL. How true.

[drew]

They say "we can't afford LRT, that's too expensive".

I know now that convincing Gerbasi in favour of LRT or subway would be as successful as convincing Lloyd of the same thing. The BRT Hippies are stubborn people and most likely won't change their ideology.

What we need are good Councillors and MLAs who will, from the outset, already know that LRT and subway is the only viable option for a city the size of Winnipeg. They don't need to be convinced. I wish Hugh McFadyen, who says he's lived in the big cities of Toronto and London England, would just say this already. What is he waiting for?


You answered your own question in the first line I quoted above. LRT for councillors in coupon clipping, Sunday night cruising, pothole fixing ol' Winnipeg is equivalent to political suicide.

The only way LRT/Streetcars/etc. will ever see the light of day here is if there is some monumental shift in the general public's opinion of where public money is spent - or if somehow you could do it without including politics or requiring the public's support and money period.

Otherwise...

[Brokenhead]

... because it reminds you of the ABC News program.

I like 2014/2015... if we start now we could have it by then.


Exactly ... but you never know :P


It could also be your eye vision.

[newflyer]

In the year 5555, if man is still alive, Council votes down the first phase of the Waverly West - Emerson LRT Corridor, and instead uses the money to repair potholes on Portage Avenue from Moray to 18th Street (Brandon)

Resurfacing the streets every 3500 years .. yeah that sounds about right. :yes:

[Pegger5]

where's the "never" option?

Exactly, I wish I was wrong though..

[Only The Lonely..]

. . .

The only way LRT/Streetcars/etc. will ever see the light of day here is if there is some monumental shift in the general public's opinion of where public money is spent - or if somehow you could do it without including politics or requiring the public's support and money period.

Otherwise...

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9862/rapidtransitlt8.jpg

[youngregina]

I picked 2010. But now that I look back on it, it will probably aroung 2012 or 2013 before anything happens. Remember it is only 2007 so in another 5 or 6 years.

[jimj_wpg]

...

[jimj_wpg]

You answered your own question in the first line I quoted above. LRT for councillors in coupon clipping, Sunday night cruising, pothole fixing ol' Winnipeg is equivalent to political suicide.

The only way LRT/Streetcars/etc. will ever see the light of day here is if there is some monumental shift in the general public's opinion of where public money is spent - or if somehow you could do it without including politics or requiring the public's support and money period.

Otherwise...


Or a country heading into a recession/depression...

20-20 hindsight from 18 months later.

[h0twired]

Sometime well after 2025.

Consider for a moment that we are close to 2010 and that most LRT systems have 10+ years of development, planning and land procurement prior to even getting a shovel in the ground.

Winnipeg has yet to even start a serious planning phase.

[drew]

Or a country heading into a recession/depression...

20-20 hindsight from 18 months later.

That's very true...