SFU/Burnaby Mtn Gondola | Proposed

[officedweller]

Hopefully a bunch are from actual gondola/tram manufacturers such as Doppelmayer, and not just "expert" consulting firms.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by Waders

7 replies! Looks like a lot of companies are interested in doing the business case study.


Source: http://www.theprovince.com/TransLink...#ixzz12DMeUmYv

Probably because if built properly, with the right revenue sharing, it could be decently profitable. You have thousands of students who need to use it every day. Even if you just get a piece of the U-Pass (say SFU students pay an extra $5/month onto their Upass for the Gondola that goes right to finance the operations) I can smell the dollar signs from here. Plus $70 million seems kind of high for a project like this. I bet some firms think they can get in a good system under that. No better way to secure a contract than go "you want it for $70 million? I'll do it for $60 million".

[flight_from_kamakura]

i'm still extremely skeptical, but man, oh man, would i love to be proved wrong.

[SFUVancouver]

The thing about the project is that from an operational perspective Translink is crazy to keep running buses if there is a viable cheaper alternative that provides the same level of service or better, which the gondola rapid transit (my term, by the way) project would. If a consortium were to make a pitch to Translink with the promise to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the SFU gondola with a monthly price tag that is lower than what they already spend on buses then Translink has a pretty compelling case to make to Burnaby, the University, and the BC Environmental Assessment folks. It is a pretty simple P3 too, way less complicated than the Canada Line, and with numbers in the $70 million range prospective project bidders would not have much difficulty finding funding for the thing either and I would expect that Translink would not have to put up a dime of capital to make the project happen.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

The thing about the project is that from an operational perspective Translink is crazy to keep running buses if there is a viable cheaper alternative that provides the same level of service or better, which the gondola rapid transit (my term, by the way) project would.

An interesting factoid from the Translink annual report is that the aggregate cost of running a bus is over $110/hour.

From page 5 of: http://www.translink.ca/~/media/docu...%20report.ashx

[DKaz]

$110/hour for standard buses. It's probably a bit more for articulated buses due to slightly higher fuel consumption and additional wear and tear parts.

[officedweller]

If a P3 partner can pony up the cash - and $70 million probably isn't much - hopefully they'll go for it.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by DKaz

$110/hour for standard buses. It's probably a bit more for articulated buses due to slightly higher fuel consumption and additional wear and tear parts.

And likely higher maintenance costs for the SFU buses because they are up & down the mountain all day. No doubt the brake pads get replaced more often than on typical buses.

[SFUVancouver]

Plus the buses burn stunning quantities of fuel lumbering up the mountain while they are at, or exceeding, the manufacturer's "crush load" capacity scenario.

Basically they're burning diesel like it's cool.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

And likely higher maintenance costs for the SFU buses because they are up & down the mountain all day. No doubt the brake pads get replaced more often than on typical buses.

Not to nitpick. But they are known as "brake shoes" and not "brake pads" Pads are used on rotors. Shoes are used on drums. Any air brake system will use drums and not rotors. Thus why they are known as brake shoes on the transit buses.

As for having more brake wear compared to buses are flat routes. You are correct in that regard. Although transmission are much better designed now at helping to slow it down. But it still depends on the type of driver. A lead foot bus driver will of course go through brake shoes much faster.

[ryanmaccdn]

Originally Posted by cabotp

Not to nitpick. But they are known as "brake shoes" and not "brake pads" Pads are used on rotors. Shoes are used on drums. Any air brake system will use drums and not rotors. Thus why they are known as brake shoes on the transit buses.

As for having more brake wear compared to buses are flat routes. You are correct in that regard. Although transmission are much better designed now at helping to slow it down. But it still depends on the type of driver. A lead foot bus driver will of course go through brake shoes much faster.

Standard Human knowledge

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by ryanmaccdn

Standard Human knowledge

Tell that to the people with lead feet

[Northski]

My friend thought up a good name for the gondola.

Geek 2 peak

[punface]

Some good news: http://www.vancouversun.com/Burnaby+...480/story.html

The gondola line on Burnaby Mountain is one step closer to being a reality after TransLink awarded the business case study to CH2M Hill.

Dhaliwal told council at Monday night's meeting that he understood time was tight, as the business case is scheduled for completion this spring, but said he wanted additional time to make sure he had read the documentation.

[Millennium2002]

I posted this in the Transit Fantasies thread but since this got reactivated I'll put it here too for any possible opinions:

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

It's been a few months since I did the last proposal, so I'm proposing a new one [for the Burnaby Mountain Gondola]. This is a bit more detailed than before, and the route got changed by popular opinion, but the concept remains the same.

http://img602.imageshack.us/img602/1...ingondolae.png

Note that it's not possible to do a straight line between Lougheed Station and SFU without demolishing the high-rise apartment blocks down at Lougheed Town Centre or moving the lower station outside a convenient transfer walking distance range (then again most SFU students will have to walk long distances anyway to get to the gondola, so that might be a moot point).... and I will severely criticize any plan considering having the gondola end up at Production Way Stn (even if it's cheaper and it's a straight line) because I notice that a lot of people at the moment do have to like take an extra one-station hop from Lougheed towards Production Way simply because there's no SFU buses from Lougheed itself. The situation may "ease" once Millennium converts to Evergreen, but then Surrey students going to Burnaby campus and vice versa will have to do something similar. Both situations ruin the whole point of convenient transfers that's supposed to make transit viable, and it should be avoided and replaced with something like or similar to the plan above.

I also plan to write a letter or two soon to TransLink and Burnaby pushing for this project to go ahead. Not sure how much that will influence the two though because of the early stage of the project; however during consultations I'll surely try to drive home the point that a station at Lougheed Town Centre is the best way forward from a long-term perspective rather than doing a shortcut at Production Way.

As for branding... let's see. There are already two other prominent brands in the system: SeaBus and SkyTrain. (West Coast Express is also one but let's just consider short names first.) A list of possibilities:
- SkyShuttle
- AirShuttle
- AirTram (favoured atm)
- BMT or BMG (Burnaby Mountain Tram / Gondola)
- BMAT or BMAG (Burnaby Mountain Aerial Tram / Gondola)

Any other suggestions? Of course this is all hypothetical pending the outcome of the business case and consultations.

[PaperTiger]

SkyTram it ties in nicely with SkyTrain.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by PaperTiger

SkyTram it ties in nicely with SkyTrain.

Nice!

[BCPhil]

In honor of Expo 86's gondola: SkyRide.

[idunno]

Nope, that's the one up Grouse!

[juniorpnm]

Geek2Peak??