West LRT | 7 Stations | 8.0 KM | In Service

[Cage]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

This city loves to approve car dealerships in close proximity to LRT stations and I hope that this will change in the future. The area immediately around Crowfoot Station is a prime example of wasted land use.

The car dealerships at crowfoot predate the LRT station by a wide margin. Aslo atleast two of them have moved to the new auto-row section at Royal Vista. redevelopment is not far away considering the land and buildings are ready for development.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Cage

The car dealerships at crowfoot predate the LRT station by a wide margin. Aslo atleast two of them have moved to the new auto-row section at Royal Vista. redevelopment is not far away considering the land and buildings are ready for development.

Yeah, at first I really questioned their presence by the LRT, but to be honest I think it's smart in hindsight. Makes for a very easily re-developed large plot of land once TOD kicks in.

[RyLucky]

Kw- good point about the feeling of safety along a major road... I had never really thought of that as I typically associate major roads with the ruination of my pedestrian experience. I think the key is to balance connecting places without destroying them. 39th ave hardly counts as what I mean by a "place", but it has several factors that could one day make it suitable for redevelopment. While the SELRT travels through a lot of wasteland, it also will provide a huge shortcut between places that roads will never be able to compete with. That's part of why it is so expensive... But Stampede Eau Claire, downtown, stampede park, ingle wood, Ogden, QP, Mackenzie towne, and Seton are indeed already "places", and poorly-connected ones at that.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Agreed. Although I'm not sure it totally works, having the NWLRT in between Crowchild is nice for the exposure if nothing else. The bad part is that it's still pretty isolated from the surrounding community in some respects.

Unfortunately for the full effect we'd have to have a situation like 36th St, which brings its own problems. Not sure where the right balance is.

For me the 'right balance' would be Crowchild style, with enclosed walkways to multi story development on either side of the station adjacent to both sides of Crowchild. Or at least one side of the station to start.

[DizzyEdge]

One thing that 39th ave has going for it, is although it's in an industrial park, it's next to a rare thing in most industrial park: small blocks and small buildings. The blocks between 34th and 39th aves and MacLeod Tr and Blackburn Rd could easily go from lots of small industrial to retail/commercial/entertainment, there's already a restaurant in there. Those industrial buildings aren't really any uglier than buildings like the Amsterdam Rhino or Broken City are in, and about the same size.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=51.02054...21136&t=h&z=16

[kw5150]

True, and people sometimes draw parallels between that area and an upcoming area in Portland, Oregon. I think there is HUGE potential in that area, it just hasn't happened yet. One thing I hope they never get rid of is the inner city impound lot......so convenient to take the train there to pick up your impounded car....... Only happend once when I was towed but was thankful for the LRT station nearby.....

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

One thing that 39th ave has going for it, is although it's in an industrial park, it's next to a rare thing in most industrial park: small blocks and small buildings. The blocks between 34th and 39th aves and MacLeod Tr and Blackburn Rd could easily go from lots of small industrial to retail/commercial/entertainment, there's already a restaurant in there. Those industrial buildings aren't really any uglier than buildings like the Amsterdam Rhino or Broken City are in, and about the same size.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=51.02054...21136&t=h&z=16

[Ramsayfarian]

Here's a couple of shots I took of the WLRT.

Photon Canon by D-2-C, on Flickr


Peace Train by D-2-C, on Flickr

[RyLucky]

Nice shots!

[MasterG]

Originally Posted by RyLucky

Nice shots!

Yes I am inclined to agree. Peace Bridge & Sunalta station are my two favourite pieces of new infrastructure. Man.. this city is awesome.

[Chadillaccc]

Sunalta Station:


100_2516 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2517 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2518 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2522 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2515 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2514 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2513 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2512 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2510 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2509 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr



Shaganappi Point Station:


100_2506 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2484 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr



Westbrook Station:


100_2537 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2535 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2533 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2531 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2526 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2479 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2476 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2475 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2474 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2471 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr


Westbrook TOD:


100_2470 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2539 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2541 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2542 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr



45th Street Station:


100_2501 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2483 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2543 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr



Sirroco Station:


100_2500 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2544 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2546 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr



69th Street Station:


100_2497 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2498 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2492 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2490 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2489 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2486 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

100_2485 by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

[Mazrim]

Thanks for posting these. Great shots!

[Calgarian]

So what kind of ridership is the WLRT getting now that its been open for a couple months?

[Wooster]

Great photo set. Really captures the look and feel of the line.

I heard ridership is right about on projection - floating around 28,000-30,000 trips per weekday in the first couple months.

[fusili]

Just trying to bump us to the next page because of the photos.

Chadillac, can you try and do the "spoiler" thing? It really helps with page loads. Awesome pics by the way.

[Northski]

Originally Posted by Wooster

Great photo set. Really captures the look and feel of the line.

I heard ridership is right about on projection - floating around 28,000-30,000 trips per weekday in the first couple months.

The piece indicates that west LRT had 25% more than they expected.

http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/video...126558#stories

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by Wooster

Great photo set. Really captures the look and feel of the line.

I heard ridership is right about on projection - floating around 28,000-30,000 trips per weekday in the first couple months.

Do we know if there has been a corresponding jump in ridership on other lines from the network effect or would capacity constraints on the existing lines generally inhibit that (at least until four car trains exist)?

[fusili]

Originally Posted by Bassic Lab

Do we know if there has been a corresponding jump in ridership on other lines from the network effect or would capacity constraints on the existing lines generally inhibit that (at least until four car trains exist)?

Without tap cards, we have absolutely on way of knowing what the network effects are. To get a good picture of where people are travelling from and to, we need tap cards that require both tap in and tap out access.

[MalcolmTucker]

Even just with tap in, will be able to assemble data on round trips. Likely a good enough data set to avoid the extra expense and inconvenience. Wouldn't be perfect, but I doubt you wouldn't get a high enough tap out rate without financial incentive anyways.

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by fusili

Without tap cards, we have absolutely on way of knowing what the network effects are. To get a good picture of where people are travelling from and to, we need tap cards that require both tap in and tap out access.

Well, if ridership growth on the other lines corresponds with the opening of the WLRT, then it would be safe to attribute that growth to the network effect. Of course if capacity constraints limit growth until four car trains exist, then we'll have no way of knowing if that growth can be attributed to the network effect of opening the WLRT or if it is simply latent demand that existed prior to the WLRT.

Personally, I'd expect to see a more obvious change in reverse flow and off peak numbers on the other lines since they would not be constrained at all. That might only really apply to the NW line though as the closure of Chinook will presumably screw with 2013 Q1 numbers.

I'm just hoping that the WLRT will push us over the 300 000 weekday riders mark on a monthly basis. It seems pretty safe to say that it will push us over it during the seasonal peak. Given what we've heard so far.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Even just with tap in, will be able to assemble data on round trips. Likely a good enough data set to avoid the extra expense and inconvenience. Wouldn't be perfect, but I doubt you wouldn't get a high enough tap out rate without financial incentive anyways.

Yeah, it really is both. You do miss one way trips and other oddities with tap in only, but you can match the trips by each card.

Why not plan for the potential for tap in/tap out, so that zone-based fares (if we ever use them) can be implemented easily?