[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

I think the People Mover technology/system is great.

It's completely grade separated, meaning it can go faster, safer, and without interfering with traffic.


Because it's completely grade separated it can be driverless, dramatically reducing operating costs. Advertisements and fares actually MORE than cover the Vancouver SkyTrain's operating costs. This way money can be concentrated on capital costs, which can be heavily subsidized by the federal government.


Because it's driverless you can run the trains every 5-10 minutes (!!!) all day long without stacking up labor costs. With other systems you usually don't even get to that frequency during peak hours, and the rest of the time it comes significantly less frequently (45 minutes, and hour...).

To me, a transit based lifestyle requires that you can walk out your door and walk to a station without having to look up a schedule. And ideally routes should be clear and logical enough that you shouldn't even have to look those up.


The problem with the People Mover is that it's a little more expensive upfront. The bigger problem is that there's stigma associated with it.

First, assume that the original light rail project was going to be on budget. 500 million for 9 miles is 55 million per mile for light rail. Then let's just say that a People Mover would cost 75 million per mile, which is more than 33% more.

110 miles x 75 million per mile is a total cost of 8.25 billion. A regional income tax of 0.5% would get you .525 billion a year. If you borrowed against that money for 16 years you would have enough to build the entire proposed BRT system as a People Mover, instantly.

Even if my cost for the People Mover was half as much as it should have been, you could borrow against 30 years, which is normal, and you could still build it instantly.

75 million is actually spot on. Though costs could go up dramatically depending on future accommodation for longer trains. A seamless system would require demolition of a couple existing stations for longer stations...except for the newer General Motors stop which has longer platforms and an unused transfer platform