Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenC12
I'm a huge fan of the streetcar as laid out so far. You would think Granville Island-OV Station-OV Itself-Main St/Science World would be a no brainer as a tourist line.
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I think the very concept of a tourist line should require some 'brain', especially when it will cost multi-million dollar investments to get back through the Olympic Village
Let's lay out the oft-cited advantages of a streetcar
- Capacity
- Rail Bias
- Tourist-attraction
- Development
- Energy Efficiency
Well, Capacity isn't an issue on the False Creek corridor. The 50 is not a full bus.
Do we really have a drought of tourists or development-attractiveness in this city that we need to goose either by subsidizing a streetcar line?
Trolley buses are already energy efficient, and streetcars only become more efficiency at comparable occupancy rates. Since this is not a crowded corridor I doubt that's the case.
So really, the only good reason to put in a false creek streetcar is that more people would ride it than the 50. This seems somewhat unsatisfying. Transit access is somewhat unsatisfactory to the Island, I'll agree, but I don't see how a streetcar line is a cost efficient solution to that problem.
Frankly, I would not be averse to tearing out the line, developing the right of way, and extending the street-grid north to Lamey's Mill/Charleson/Moberly. The present configuration creates a barrier that isolates south false creek and Fairview from eachother, and doesn't really have all that much transportation benefit.