Favourite and least favourite transit systems/stations

[J.OT13]

A thread to show our love for the country's great (and not so great) transit systems, stations and rolling stock. All transit systems accepted (rapid or not). Specific transit lines can also be nominated. The systems/stations can be existing, proposed and under construction. BTW, I don't expect anyone to vote for the O-Train.

My favourite rapid transit system is the Montreal Metro as it does the best job at covering the central urban area of the city it serves. My favourite stations are Bonaventure (first pic from Wikipedia) and Square Victoria (second pic from Wikipedia). I also like Ottawa's St-Laurent station (third pic from ottawalrt website, post lrt conversion of course, but still very similar to today). Why? I guess I like brick.

[ue]

Montreal Metro (classic and decent coverage)
Vancouver Skytrain (unique to Canada and covers a good amount of the metro)
Toronto Subway (needs the DRL desperately)
Edmonton LRT (underground stations FTW)
Calgary C-Train (extensive but ugly downtown interface)
Ottawa O-Train (obvious, but could easily be bumped up with the new expansion)

[Calgarian]

Gotta vote for Van City, and mostly because of the connection to the airport!

[PhilippeMtl]

I think Montreal metro is overrated. It needs major renovations and extensions. Also, STM have probably the worst employees in this country.


I prefer Toronto subway. Better frequency, larger wagons, cleaner, more investments..

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Gotta vote for Van City, and mostly because of the connection to the airport!

Airport connection is a huge advantage! I'm surprised no other Canadian city has a rapid transit connection to the airport (with TO's opening in 2015).

Originally Posted by PhilippeMtl

I think Montreal metro is overrated. It needs major renovations and extensions. Also, STM have probably the worst employees in this country.


I prefer Toronto subway. Better frequency, larger wagons, more investments..

Montreal loses a lot of points due to it's lack of accessibility and apparent climate problems (from what I have heard). I agree Toronto has invested much more into upgrading the current system.

[Acajack]

Ottawa's St Laurent Station is nowhere near as nice as that image looks.

[Acajack]

It may get passed one day but warts and all Montreal's is still the handsomest system in the country.

[vanatox]

The exact same thread has been done a few months ago and it has been locked...surprise, surprise...

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=208101

[Innsertnamehere]

The new subway trains have made a world of difference in the experience of Toronto's system IMO. For the first time all trains are actually air conditioned! The streetcar network is invaluable as well. The system is way too small for the city however, and many parts of it can appear dirty and rundown. This is changing luckily, with station renovations, new trains, and major system expansion.

Montreal has beautiful stations, but when it comes down to it the system has to be functional, which having never really used the system, I can't comment on.

Ottawas system seems vastly inferior. I have only used the system once for a relatively short trip, going from the VIA station to downtown. It is a distance of only 5km, but it took me almost 30 minutes. I sat waiting for a bus for 5-10 minutes (on a friday at 8pm as well, not exactly off peak), rode it one stop, and had to make a transfer. It took way too long for what should be a short 5-10 minute minute trip. The LRT will fix this, as come 2018 it will actually be a 5 minute trip rather than a 30 minute one.

Vancouvers system, while extensive, seems to shortchange large portions of the inner city in exchange for serving large portions of the suburbs. This has improved with the Canada line, and will improve even further with the UBC line. (if it ever gets built)

Calgaries system is surprisingly extensive, though the in median inner city portion is a weak point.

Edmonton is lucky that it has the underground portion of the line, though the system seems small.

My favourite stop in Toronto has to either be Dupont or Downsview. Come 2016 I feel it will be Highway 407.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Ottawas system seems vastly inferior. I have only used the system once for a relatively short trip, going from the VIA station to downtown. It is a distance of only 5km, but it took me almost 30 minutes. I sat waiting for a bus for 5-10 minutes (on a friday at 8pm as well, not exactly off peak), .

Friday night at 8 pm *is* off-peak in Ottawa!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

The new subway trains have made a world of difference in the experience of Toronto's system IMO. For the first time all trains are actually air conditioned! The streetcar network is invaluable as well. The system is way too small for the city however, and many parts of it can appear dirty and rundown. This is changing luckily, with station renovations, new trains, and major system expansion.

Montreal has beautiful stations, but when it comes down to it the system has to be functional, which having never really used the system, I can't comment on.

I'd say both Toronto and Montreal have shortcomings in their systems but when you add everything up they are roughly equivalent.

I know they've done a lot of work but those stations in Toronto that have 1960s bathroom tile on the walls really depress me. What can I say.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Friday night at 8 pm *is* off-peak in Ottawa!

my point is that you shouldn't have 10 minute frequencies for any bus on a central portion of the system at that time. Once a bus came, I had to go another stop just to transfer to one that went downtown. (which was another 5-10 minute transfer in itself)

The map was super confusing as well and I had trouble determining what bus I needed to take.

lets just say I wasn't impressed with OC-Transpo for the small trip I made on it. they had newer PRESTO machines than Toronto though so that was neat.

as I said, the LRT will fix almost all of Ottawas problems.

[Blader]

I'm fond of above ground systems. I like to gaze.

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by PhilippeMtl

I think Montreal metro is overrated. It needs major renovations and extensions. Also, STM have probably the worst employees in this country.


I prefer Toronto subway. Better frequency, larger wagons, cleaner, more investments..

extensions are underway (blue line, and Yellow line in 2020), new metro trains within a year and a half, and the Laval extension was a complete success.

[middeljohn]

I was legitimately impressed with MTL metro when I used it. Toronto's overall system (subway, trams, buses) is still more expansive and frequent though.

From what I've read about Vancouber, the skytrain is a notch above what we have in the east.

[Innsertnamehere]

Laval was 7 years ago now though. Montreal is starting to go Toronto-like time periods between extensions.

I think Toronto has most of the major networks beat in terms of extensions though, We will go 14 years without a major expansion before the Spadina extension opens.

[Chadillaccc]

My favorite system is Skytrain, C-Train is a close second, followed by TTC.


My favorite stations are...

Brentwood - Skytrain

http://mic-ro.com/metro/metrocity.ht...couver&print=1


Sunalta - Ctrain

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/W...algary_Alberta


Museum - TTC

http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/02/w...tation_refits/

[vid]

Originally Posted by Blader

I'm fond of above ground systems. I like to gaze.

The view from the stretch running along Schara Tzedeck cemetery just before 22nd street is awesome. The Skytrain covers a lot of ground but outside of Vancouver proper (and away from the Skytrain and B-lines) the transit system in Vancouver isn't much better than what you find in other cities, aside from the fact that its so well integrated. To cover the same ground in Toronto you'd have to transfer from one transit company to another several times. The stations on the Expo line are hideous compared to the other lines but the ability to take Skytrain from the airport to almost any major node in Metro Vancouver makes up for that. In terms of people flow, the stations seem to work quite well.

Winnipeg's transit system is pretty decent. Buses run frequently in the central areas. The busway to the university definitely doesn't compare to an actual rail transit system but it's pretty fun and the stations are nicer then those on the Expo line. They have a much cheaper bus fare than any other large city in the country, they increased it this year to $2.55. Thunder Bay's fare is $2.65 and Vancouver's is an arm. (And a leg if you're going two zones.)

As for my hometown... Thunder Bay Transit was good 5 years ago but changing commuting patterns and increased ridership have totally broken the system. Overhauls can't come soon enough (they are planned to go into effect this year sometime). We do have indoor heated terminals, which Vancouver and Winnipeg both seem to lack. We were the first city to have GPS arrival software on all buses, and will likely be the first city to replace it with something newer. Our new transit system is being developed by the firm that helped reorganize YRT and the VIVA BRT system on the GTA, so I'm optimistic that it will get better but not very happy with it now. The current system is a very convoluted system where 17 routes are actually 4 really long routes; the new one will make less sense but work better.

[Rico Rommheim]

Without a doubt my favourite train experience was the Vancouver skytrain. Very fast, clean and efficient. I'd place it #1 if only it covered the actually city of Vancouver.

Montreal is the opposite, excellent coverage in the city, shitty coverage in the suburbs.

[casper]

Metro Vancouver has my vote. I have used the Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto system.

Selling point for Vancouver:
- Airport connection
- Open glass station
- In part responsible for the creation of regional town centres and interconnecting them effectively.
- The only automated driver less system in Canada. (Something that Toronto and Montreal should eventually move towards.