What would you call our new LRT system?

[S-Man]

LERT?
LURT?

A word version of the acronym 'LRT'?

Anyway - if you want to see small scale and glacial pace, check the news for Winnipeg's new 'Rapid Transit System'. It's 3.6km of BRT on one route. That took about a decade to build. Phase 2 is nowhere near being launched.

Reading about that made Ottawa's rapid-transit improvements seem positively...rapid!

[migo]

'Expensive!'

[Ottawan]

Originally Posted by Admiral Nelson

I don't think you can trademark a word like Metro, it predates the grocery chain.



It could also jolt Ottawa out of its small-town mindset.

It is my understanding that trademarks only have to do with similar products that could be confused. Therefore, if Gatineau called their Rapibus "Metrobus", there might be a trademark issue. If we had aisles of foodstuffs on our LRT cars or in our stations, there might be an issue. As I highly doubt that is the case, no issue.

[Ottawan]

BTW, I really like MetrO.

Capitalizing the O makes it just kitchy enough that the yokel segment of the Ottawa population could go for it, and could assuage the segment of the population sure to argue that LRT does not qualify as a 'metro' (even though that word is actually slang and so does not have to exclusively refer to underground heavy rail).

[Luker]

Originally Posted by admiral nelson

it could also jolt ottawa out of its small-town mindset.

this.

[J.OT13]

By McC

MetrO is good but would scare the no-tax crowd that elects mayors in this town, and is more ambitious than what we're building anyway.

As much as I like MetrO because it might "jolt Ottawa out of its small-town mindset" as Admiral Nelson put it, the Ken Grays of this city would flip out because it sounds ambitious or whatever. Case in point was when the city was considering light-metro (like Vancouver) technology; NYMBYs freaked out.

Name aside, our MetrO beats out Vancouver's Skytrain in capacity anyway.

Ottawa; 120 meter platforms outside the subway (expandable to 150) and 24,000+ phpd
Vancouver; 70 meter platforms and 20,000 phpd

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by kitchissippi

now all we can hope for is for some green to sprout out of larry o'brien's head.

coffee and cats warning plz!

[KHOOLE]

For those who may be interested, the word Metro for a subway ("tube" in London) goes back to the Paris World's Fair of 1900, when the subway then built was called "Compagnie de chemin de fer metropolitain de Paris". The name was shortened to "metropolitain" and then to "metro".
When Montreal built its subway in 1966, they picked up on that nickname and called it "Metro de Montreal".
I have used the Paris Metro and it's very functional. Just as in Barcelona, you can go anywhere in town quickly and cheaply. It is mostly underground, has over 200 kms of lines and more than 300 stops. Some stations are also very artistic.
I think that MetrO is a good name for Ottawa's LRT although I favour TranspO because it would be less of a copycat name.

[migo]

How about the 'Red Line' like Los Angeles Metro the 'Gold Line'?

[KHOOLE]

Paris has 14 lines and they are all colour-coded.

Ottawa is having such much trouble just getting one line in (read Sutcliffe today in the Citizen's Business section) that I doubt that another line could ever be built this century!

[Kitchissippi]

They'll probably end up sticking with O-Train for both lines and assigning them numbers or colours.

[McC]

Originally Posted by KHOOLE

Paris has 14 lines and they are all colour-coded.

Ottawa is having such much trouble just getting one line in (read Sutcliffe today in the Citizen's Business section) that I doubt that another line could ever be built this century!

Paris has 16 Lines (although its easy to forget le 3bis and 7bis) and they are numbered, the colours on the map are informal and have changed many times over the years. I've never met a Parisian who refers to them by their colours, only their numbers, ditto for the RERs A to E. Montreal's were numbered as well, but people got so comfortable with the colour names, that they've stuck for all but the most formal uses, where you'll see Line-1 (Green) or Line-5 (Blue)*

*they skipped number 3

[J.OT13]

Originally posted by McC
*they skipped number 3

For those who don't know, line number 3, or the red line, was an above ground metro that was canceled for 2 reasons;
1-Montreal chose a rubber tired metro (like Paris) witch would not be ideal for Canadian outdoor conditions
2-Montreal was awarded the 1967 Expo, therefor the yellow line (line 4) was more of a priority.

Note that the "Agence métropolitaine de transport" commuter rail now uses the tracks and tunnel (existing at the time for CN) that were to be used by the red line #3.

[MountainView]

I agree they will probably just stick with O-train and when multiple lines are built (or if you count the current N-S line) just name them to their destination. Since the Bayview-Greenboro is completely different I don't think people will be confused. Similar to the C-train in Calgary that is called the C-train but splits into 2.

[OttawaSteve]

+1 for MetrO

No need to worry about stealing the name. It's the generic name for subways in Europe and elsewhere.

Originally Posted by KHOOLE

For those who may be interested, the word Metro for a subway ("tube" in London) goes back to the Paris World's Fair of 1900, when the subway then built was called "Compagnie de chemin de fer metropolitain de Paris". The name was shortened to "metropolitain" and then to "metro".

I recall reading that this name was itself inspired by London's Metropolitan Railway, opened in 1863. (I don't have a definitive source confirming this, but p. 115-117 of this dissertation comes close.)

[OttawaJL]

I'm not crazy about TranspO, I really like MetrO though! Although it is a common name for transit around the world, I think the simple fact that the O is capitalized makes it original!

[Uhuniau]

How about the Just Build the MF Thing Already? JBMFTA for short. [Insert suitable translation here.]

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

How about the Just Build the MF Thing Already? JBMFTA for short. [Insert suitable translation here.]

[Construis don la saint-sacrament d'affaire au plus câlice CDLSSAPC]

We can swear in French on an English forum right?

[lrt's friend]

The burr-O because it is such a short tunnel.

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The burr-O because it is such a short tunnel.

Before I read the short tunnel part I thought you were going to suggest 'burr-O' because this town is both filled with bureaucrats & it's cold outside for half the year!