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  #1101  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:05 PM
technomad technomad is offline
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Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker View Post
Not if one wants to build 40+km at once!
no, definitely not!

but I think it'd still be better to limit initial scope of green line and get full separation, than have the full line open a once. aurora park to quarry park is only ~20 km, and still a great start to the line

beyond ops savings from automation, being able to offer 90 second frequencies is well worth the cost of separation alone IMO

besides, all the other lines have opened in stages.. does green line have to be any different?
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  #1102  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:09 PM
MalcolmTucker MalcolmTucker is offline
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^ If we are paying for it over 20-30 years, we should go as far as possible to start with, as with a P3 much harder to phase.
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  #1103  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:13 PM
Corndogger Corndogger is offline
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Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker View Post
^ If we are paying for it over 20-30 years, we should go as far as possible to start with, as with a P3 much harder to phase.
Has there ever been any estimates done on how much it would cost to make our system fully automated and what the resultant savings would be? Is it the cost of getting rid of all of the at grade intersections or is there more to it?
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  #1104  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:17 PM
technomad technomad is offline
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Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker View Post
^ If we are paying for it over 20-30 years, we should go as far as possible to start with, as with a P3 much harder to phase.
would it? if the ring road P3 contracts can have lane expansion built in, don't see why an LRT P3 couldn't do the same with extensions of the line?

I suppose it'll come down to the spec set by the city.. but here's hoping someone submits an aLRT bid
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  #1105  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:19 PM
technomad technomad is offline
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Has there ever been any estimates done on how much it would cost to make our system fully automated and what the resultant savings would be? Is it the cost of getting rid of all of the at grade intersections or is there more to it?
I'd imagine the signaling and train control systems would have to be upgraded too, but so long as they don't use the same contractor as Edmonton's metro line, it shouldn't cost more than the separated intersections
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  #1106  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:22 PM
MalcolmTucker MalcolmTucker is offline
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Originally Posted by technomad View Post
would it? if the ring road P3 contacts can have lane expansion built in, don't see why an LRT P3 couldn't do the same with extensions of the line?

I suppose it'll come down to the spec set by the city.. but here's hoping someone submits an aLRT bid
You don't have integrated operations, potentials for economy of scale. If the second phase is a different company, do you build a second maintenance facility and have half the operators work for a different company? Have incentives for the different companies to only follow low maintenance operations procedures only in their sectors?

It is possible, to be sure, it is just annoying and hard to administer, which is what you are trying to avoid in the first place. A fair amount of the profit comes from operational efficiency enable by better initial design. How do you design that in where the initial company would be the beneficiary, not the second phase company.

Otherwise you are just in a plain jane P3, dbfm. From that point may as well do the pretty traditional for Alberta design build, since the spread for profit isn't huge when the cities can borrow on the province's credit card.
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  #1107  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:28 PM
technomad technomad is offline
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oh yeah, not suggesting separating the north and SE legs into different contracts or anything, was thinking more a phased opening of the full line. core first, extension every few years after

if P3 doesn't offer any financial advantages for that, then sure, do it with the same funding methods as the other lines
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  #1108  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2016, 11:30 PM
milomilo milomilo is offline
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Re the bolded part above:

People who care about safety and making sure all forms of transportation can move efficiently. I'm sure CP loves hearing such comments because it gives them justification for never working with the city, etc. to get rid of level crossings in areas where they should not be.

As for which city has the most grade separated track you're reading too much into one comment. The vast majority of people don't care as they know there are lots of other places that have systems with way longer stretches. What we should be caring about is a properly designed system which unfortunately we'll never get with the people running the city now.
I agree that there are good reasons not to have many grade crossings and I've been fairly vocal about my opinions on that. But being annoyed by a single crossing just because it will nullify an obscure stat of our system vs Ottawa's is not a good reason! I have however become more open to grade crossings when considering cost, in places where there is minimal impact.

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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Has there ever been any estimates done on how much it would cost to make our system fully automated and what the resultant savings would be? Is it the cost of getting rid of all of the at grade intersections or is there more to it?
As far as I can tell, all the technology is there now to have automated LRTs, even with uncontrolled road and pedestrian crossings. A driverless train is a far easier thing to make than a driverless car, just put some cameras and obstacle detection software in - what more do you need? Hopefully we just need one system to be the guinea pig and then the cost savings of not having to pay expensive, less competent (than machine) drivers will be obvious. The biggest obstacle will be unions.
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  #1109  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2016, 12:00 AM
CrossedTheTracks CrossedTheTracks is offline
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Originally Posted by technomad View Post
besides, all the other lines have opened in stages.. does green line have to be any different?
Mmm, yes & no. When the South and NE lines were opened, they were pretty close to their respective edges of city. They were expanded as the city expanded.

More true for the NW line, it was definitely much shorter than the NW edge of the city in 1987.

(Edit: yes I know that Midnapore was there in 1980 and quite far away from Anderson... but it was pretty lonely out there...)
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Last edited by CrossedTheTracks; Nov 11, 2016 at 1:54 AM.
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  #1110  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2016, 2:08 AM
technomad technomad is offline
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fair points, but I still think the best long term value will be going for quality of line vs. quantity/length

that said, if as Milo suggests aLRT can now be done with some low use grade crossings, then lets go for it

not sure if we could still get those awesome 90 second skytrain frequencies in that aLRT scenario though..

unions would likely present a roadblock to automation at first, but I look at is this way.. less drivers needed for trains, more drivers available to improve bus service
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  #1111  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2016, 2:20 AM
milomilo milomilo is offline
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Originally Posted by technomad View Post
fair points, but I still think the best long term value will be going for quality of line vs. quantity/length

that said, if as Milo suggests aLRT can now be done with some low use grade crossings, then lets go for it

not sure if we could still get those awesome 90 second skytrain frequencies in that aLRT scenario though..

unions would likely present a roadblock to automation at first, but I look at is this way.. less drivers needed for trains, more drivers available to improve bus service
To be clear; I think the technology is there in different forms but it hasn't been tried in practice in an LRT (or maybe it has?) yet. The only additional feature needed above other automated transit systems is simply a way of detecting an obstacle in front of the train, especially a person, and if it sees, that, apply the brakes. Teslas etc can do this in a much more unpredictable environment, so a vehicle on rails should be easy.
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  #1112  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2016, 3:55 AM
Corndogger Corndogger is offline
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Originally Posted by technomad View Post
fair points, but I still think the best long term value will be going for quality of line vs. quantity/length

that said, if as Milo suggests aLRT can now be done with some low use grade crossings, then lets go for it

not sure if we could still get those awesome 90 second skytrain frequencies in that aLRT scenario though..

unions would likely present a roadblock to automation at first, but I look at is this way.. less drivers needed for trains, more drivers available to improve bus service
I totally agree that we should be going for a quality line over one that is long just for the sake of being long. When the masses wake up and realize what is proposed in the north they will be pissed. I'm hoping the NDP restricts or delays enough of the funding needed for this project until saner and smarter people take over the decision making.
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  #1113  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2016, 11:55 PM
ClaytonA ClaytonA is offline
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Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker View Post
You don't have integrated operations, potentials for economy of scale. If the second phase is a different company, do you build a second maintenance facility and have half the operators work for a different company? Have incentives for the different companies to only follow low maintenance operations procedures only in their sectors?

It is possible, to be sure, it is just annoying and hard to administer, which is what you are trying to avoid in the first place. A fair amount of the profit comes from operational efficiency enable by better initial design. How do you design that in where the initial company would be the beneficiary, not the second phase company.

Otherwise you are just in a plain jane P3, dbfm. From that point may as well do the pretty traditional for Alberta design build, since the spread for profit isn't huge when the cities can borrow on the province's credit card.
What's the advantage of having the builder own the assets? Couldn't the City write a concessionaire type contract for the O part, and pay the contractor to meet service quality, maintenance, etc. standards? New phases' operation, even if constructed by others, could just be added to the concessionaire agreement. The builder still has the maintenance, construction quality incentive since they'd be maintaining what they build whether they own it or not.

If the city owns the assets, then for the new phases they'd just purchase the new LRVs themselves to match existing, and add them to the builder's fleet under the concessionaire contract. You could even have a clause where the builder accepts as a third party another builder's work in a new phase if their paying to maintain it etc.
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  #1114  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2016, 2:59 AM
MalcolmTucker MalcolmTucker is offline
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oh yeah you can. But the whole objective is to simplify to reduce costs. And except for in Montreal there hasn't been any proposals for companies to retain ownership since the Nova Scotia school deal years ago (the province rightly thought they wouldn't need the schools after a certain number of years iirc).
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  #1115  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2016, 2:22 PM
milomilo milomilo is offline
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If what you say is true about the inflexibility of P3s, then I can't say I'm a fan of the idea. Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather the future choices we make on the building of new transit infrastructure be based on the needs of the city, rather than a contract we signed with a private company. There's been chatter about a future hypothetical 17th Ave SE LRT linking to the Green Line - would that be feasible with a P3 setup?
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  #1116  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2016, 6:17 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
I totally agree that we should be going for a quality line over one that is long just for the sake of being long. When the masses wake up and realize what is proposed in the north they will be pissed. I'm hoping the NDP restricts or delays enough of the funding needed for this project until saner and smarter people take over the decision making.
What exactly is wrong with what is being proposed?
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  #1117  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2016, 9:54 PM
Corndogger Corndogger is offline
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What exactly is wrong with what is being proposed?
The section that they want to run down the middle of center street will cause traffic gridlock, be unsafe for pedestrians, bad for business and it will hurt any redevelopment plans proposed for the area.
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  #1118  
Old Posted Nov 13, 2016, 4:28 AM
suburbia suburbia is offline
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The section that they want to run down the middle of center street will cause traffic gridlock, be unsafe for pedestrians, bad for business and it will hurt any redevelopment plans proposed for the area.
How exactly is LRT on Centre street bad for business on Centre street???
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  #1119  
Old Posted Nov 13, 2016, 4:31 AM
Corndogger Corndogger is offline
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How exactly is LRT on Centre street bad for business on Centre street???
If people find it a major hassle to reach those businesses they'll go elsewhere.
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  #1120  
Old Posted Nov 13, 2016, 10:05 PM
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The section that they want to run down the middle of center street will cause traffic gridlock, be unsafe for pedestrians, bad for business and it will hurt any redevelopment plans proposed for the area.
About one of those 4 points has any basis in fact, and although it may be so, the current situation is very likely worse for pedestrians. For the most part, the opposite is the true on all fronts.

I think we've had enough boisterously stated visceral conjecture the last little while the world over, so unless you can somehow demonstrate that anything you've said here is even remotely defensible, maybe tone down the rhetoric.
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