General STO News and Rapibus System

[Horus]

This came out (quietly?) a couple of weeks ago. Rapibus expansion eastward in Gatineau. From STO's website:

Canada and Quebec support improved transit services in the Outaouais
Published : 08-29-2017

The governments of Canada and Quebec recognize that investing in public transit infrastructure is crucial to economic growth, reducing air pollution and creating inclusive communities where everyone has access to public services and job opportunities.

Greg Fergus, Member of Parliament for Hull/Aylmer, Steven MacKinnon, Member of Parliament for Gatineau, Stéphanie Vallée, Minister of Justice, Minister Responsible for the Outaouais Region and Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for Gatineau, and members of the regional caucus, Maryse Gaudreault, MNA for Hull, Marc Carrière, MNA for Chapleau, and Alexandre Iracà, MNA for Papineau, today announced an investment of over $31.6 million for seven Société de transport de l'Outaouais projects under the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund. The Government of Canada will provide more than $17.5 million for these projects and the Government of Quebec will contribute more than $14 million. The Société de transport de l'Outaouais will provide the remaining funding.

The projects made possible through this contribution include the purchase of 21 hybrid buses, an extension of the Rapibus line between Labrosse and Lorrain boulevards, measures to improve passenger information and data collection, and studies for the next phases of extending the Rapibus line.

Once completed, these projects will improve the performance, efficiency and reliability of Outaouais' transit system, make it more inclusive, and meet the community's immediate needs while preparing for anticipated increases in future ridership.

http://www.sto.ca/index.php?id=87&L=...d6901e972b37ac

[Horus]

Also, I saw an announcement for a public forum update on the Aylmer LRT file. It will take place on Sept 28 at 7pm, at UQO on Taché, hosted by Hull-Aylmer MP Greg Fergus.
http://gfergus.liberal.ca/events/#69454

[J.OT13]

The Rapibus funding was well covered in the French media. No mention of it in the English media as far as I could tell.

Pretty ridiculous that they announced funding for the new station but not the transitway extension to get to it.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The Rapibus funding was well covered in the French media. No mention of it in the English media as far as I could tell.

Pretty ridiculous that they announced funding for the new station but not the transitway extension to get to it.

(Shhhh, no one tell J.OT13 about Baseline station)

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

(Shhhh, no one tell J.OT13 about Baseline station)

Not the same thing, and you know it.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The Rapibus funding was well covered in the French media. No mention of it in the English media as far as I could tell.
.

Yeah, I was aware of this news the day of.

[J.OT13]

Light Rail, not BRT, but worth posting. Greg Furgus' route proposal.



In my opinion, the Downtown Hull portion might have to be underground to integrate station entrances inside the Federal Office buildings. No sense in making everyone cross the street from the south side of Laurier. It would then surface and cross the Alexandra Bridge, which would be converted to rapid transit and keep the cycling/pedestrian boardwalk: no cars or buses allowed. Turning towards the Château Laurier, it would use the old CPR route and terminate under the Plaza bridge, as did the Hull Electric Streetcar back in the day. A pedestrian tunnel could be built connecting the new station with Ottawa's Rideau subway station.

Thanks for bringing this up gjhall.

Originally Posted by gjhall

To me, what's most important is giving the expansion a public face on the park and canal walkway - total rebuild of the garage is an opportunity to change the whole site circulation and layout potentially. Bars/small shops along the canal, a restaurant, cafe or ballroom terrace at least, off the north/park side.

Thought should also be given to a potential station for Greg Fergus' idea of an LRT coming in on the Alexandra Bridge from Gatineau side. https://twitter.com/GodefroyChabi/st...78752797528064

[Horus]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Light Rail, not BRT, but worth posting. Greg Furgus' route proposal.

Notice the implied Trillium Line extension to Chaudière

[J.OT13]

Makes sense. We can extend Trillium with little capital cost by keeping diesel trains and have electric lrt from Aylmer to Rideau.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Makes sense. We can extend Trillium with little capital cost by keeping diesel trains and have electric lrt from Aylmer to Rideau.

There are even already rails that extend practically all the way to Terrasses de la Chaudière.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Light Rail, not BRT, but worth posting. Greg Furgus' route proposal.



].

That big gap between Plateau and the yellow line is actually where the bulk of the population is in the area west of Ch. Vanier.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

There are even already rails that extend practically all the way to Terrasses de la Chaudière.

Good Day...

...which has been one of my points for a long time, that service could be put in there easily (and WestSideAction also suggested as easy-to-do (2016 April 30, http://www.westsideaction.com/watson...ip-his-tongue/), with the RoW already extant, the railbed extant (the rails would have to be replaced) and most of all... the almost-heritage terminus building ready to be restored/refurbished/reused at the corner of Tache and Eddy. The choice of above ground or trenched down into the building (with proper landscaping to retain the 'natural' river outlet) remains. That could now be determined in coordinaton with a Gatineau LRT system.

And - bonus - it would help to service the Zibi development.

Any way you cut it - Here's Hoping !?!

[Acajack]

Report just released an hour ago by STO regarding future plans for rapid transit in the west of the city (Aylmer, Plateau, Val-Tétreau).

Recommendation for short to medium term is BRT. No specific decision yet on corridor (north via Allumettières or south via Aylmer-Taché?). Keeping options option for tramway or light rail a few decades down the road.

Polling of residents also supports BRT which quite surprised me as there is a kind of a "free beer" element to asking people if they prefer rail (tramway-LRT) based transit vs. stinky old buses.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Report just released an hour ago by STO regarding future plans for rapid transit in the west of the city (Aylmer, Plateau, Val-Tétreau).

Recommendation for short to medium term is BRT. No specific decision yet on corridor (north via Allumettières or south via Aylmer-Taché?). Keeping options option for tramway or light rail a few decades down the road.

Polling of residents also supports BRT which quite surprised me as there is a kind of a "free beer" element to asking people if they prefer rail (tramway-LRT) based transit vs. stinky old buses.

Good Day.

Surprising maybe to a certain extent, but practical.
BRT properly proposed, evaluated, built, and (esp.) operated, without major/consistent/constant/ever-annoying chokepoints and tie-ups, is a viable and practical choice.
If the report is fact- and evidenced- based, then kudos for a proper study.

EnJoy!

[Uhuniau]

Linkadoodledoo:

Étude des besoins et des solutions pour un système de transport collectif structurant dans la partie ouest de la Ville de Gatineau

First blush? Meh. B1 is maybe the best of a bunch of uninspired options. And why does STO make it so hard to get to and from Old Aylmer?

[lrt's friend]

As long as the only way to bring rail from Gatineau into Ottawa is via a single track Prince of Wales bridge and a transfer at Bayview, Gatineau will continue to only seriously consider BRT that dumps all its buses onto downtown Ottawa streets. It only makes sense.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

As long as the only way to bring rail from Gatineau into Ottawa is via a single track Prince of Wales bridge and a transfer at Bayview, Gatineau will continue to only seriously consider BRT that dumps all its buses onto downtown Ottawa streets. It only makes sense.

That bridge could be designed for the new Trillium line trains and be double tracked. I have seen a few of these options.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

That bridge could be designed for the new Trillium line trains and be double tracked. I have seen a few of these options.

Good Day.

yep. In our modern-day terms, the bridge support piers and foundations are massively overstructured so as to carry 1890's 4-6-4 steam trains, or larger. The Wakefield tourist train was a lightweight for it. For LRT (and ped and cycle track wings), no problem.
This is very similar in basic outline requirement to what is being designed for the bridge replacement over the Rideau River at Carleton. For the piers and foundations, no problem.

EnJoy!

[J.OT13]

History repeating itself. Waste hundreds of millions for a BRT that will be overcapacity in 15 years just to shut it down for 5 years to convert to LRT for billions (likely 4-5 times what it would cost to build LRT in the first place). 5 years when buses will be back on the street in even worse conditions than what we are currently experiencing.

Does this study have any proposals to deal with congestion in downtown Hull? I'm guessing no?

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

History repeating itself. Waste hundreds of millions for a BRT that will be overcapacity in 15 years just to shut it down for 5 years to convert to LRT for billions (likely 4-5 times what it would cost to build LRT in the first place). 5 years when buses will be back on the street in even worse conditions than what we are currently experiencing.

Does this study have any proposals to deal with congestion in downtown Hull? I'm guessing no?

Totally agree! BRT should only be used if it offers a long-term solution, not as a stop-gap measure for 10 or 20 years. The conversion costs and disruption are not worth it.