Vancouver Downtown Streetcar | Proposed

[deasine]

Originally Posted by djh

They could have still built the line and just run the trains to Cambie/2nd during the Olympics.

They are running it to Cambie St. from Granville Island.

[agrant]

Seems like a lot of negativity here. I didn't even think it would start till after the games, so this is great. They will need to double track it, otherwise there's no point.

[raggedy13]

Sounds like great news. I wasn't expecting them to have something in time for the Olympics so I'm glad to hear there will be some action on this soon.

In terms of success and whether this will be worth the cost, I think it'll be hugely popular, and not just with tourists. I don't know where anybody would get the idea that only tourists would want to ride it. I'd ride it at every opportunity. I could've used it last night in fact. People love streetcars. My grandma always said how great the old streetcars were and what a shame it was when they got rid of them.

And assuming that all the anticipated extensions are eventually built, this route will be running through some of the most densely populated areas in the city/metro/province/country/continent. There is no reason these will not attract significant ridership and be well worth the investment in the long term.

[djh]

Originally Posted by deasine

They are running it to Cambie St. from Granville Island.

Er, I know.

What I mean was that the Phase 0 plan was to go from Granville Island to Science World. It appears that due to the Olympic Village, Phase 0 has been scaled back, potentially for security reasons around the village during the Olympics. My suggestion was that they could have still continued with the original plan to build Phase 0 all the way to Science World, BUT just over ther Olympic period they could have only run the system from Granville Island to Cambie Street. Hope that's clear now.

[deasine]

Much clearer. Second Avenue according to previous city documents is designed for streetcar expansion/extension with ample room for them to lay their tracks when they feel there is a need.

[AKA-007]

My biggest thought it why we haven't built something like this sooner if it is so cheep to impliment by comparison to other forms of rail?

[SFUVancouver]

It is actually 1st avenue that the streetcar will run on through the Olympic Village and larger Southeast False Creek precinct.

I'm thrilled this will be off the ground in 2 years.

Granville Island is a huge destination and it is woefully undeserved by transit. I think people will be shocked how busy this line is once it opens.

CMHC is also behind the line. Their recent Island Insights planning exercise found that the vast majority of respondents wanted the streetcar to be a top transportation priority. I'll see if I can dig up the report.

[deasine]

I stand to be corrected sorry.

It's nice to see that the city has carried out their promises. Remember last year I think during November there was a topic about improving Granville Island? This is the first step to it =D

[cornholio]

The stretch from Main st to Granville Island will actually get alot of use. It will become by far the fastest and most comfortable route to connect the Expo line and the Canada line. It will aslo be the best connection from the Expo line to Granville island and anything along the waterfront and 2nd avenue, on top of this the area is exploding in growth right now. Once the Millenium line extension is built the street car line will loose some ridership but all in all I think it will be a success. However the planned extensions I think will be less successful. What I would like to see personally would be a Davie, Dennman, Robson, Beati(sp?) circle route. I would make all those streets only one way traffic for cars and have a dedicated street car route through them to properly connect the west end and Yaletown etc. to the rest of the city and the skytrain network. If this were done then te car would no longer be the fastest and easiest mode of transit on the downtown peninsula and the West end would be much better connected to the skytrain network and the rest of the city.

[clooless]

Wow, this is great news. A streetcar from Science World, or really a line that rings False Creek proper, to Granville Island and perhaps west would be fantastic. I know a lot of people get lost trying to find the place, even with good directions.

Isn't it incredible that we are rebuilding a system that we destroyed in 1955?

[officedweller]

It's good that they are focussing on Granville Island as a key destination - they need to focus it on destinations not already served by the Expo Line and Canada Line (i.e. Granville Island, east Gastown, Chinatown, Stanley Park, Vanier Park). The circuitious route will see a lot of people prefer the Expo Line and Canada Line, esp. since Main Street Station and Olympic Village Station are easily within / overlap with the walking catchment area of the streetcar.

[agrant]

Originally Posted by AKA-007

My biggest thought it why we haven't built something like this sooner if it is so cheep to impliment by comparison to other forms of rail?

I think it's a long story. We had a streetcar system, but then decided to go with the trolley bus...

[deasine]

One more picture of another personal favourite (can't believe I forgot about this one)


Porto Metro by Bombardier - Source: Paulo2004 on SCC/Flickr

[mattropolis]

This is great news!
Maybe this should be called Phase -1 though. They keep cutting it back!

[deasine]

I was bored so I decided to answer the question of whether it's really necessary for double tracking. I came up with two conclusions.

Should frequency of the Streetcar between Granville Island to Olympic Village Station is 6 minutes or less, two streetcars would be required with the need of double tracking or a station at Lameys Mill Road & Charleston that has two platforms.

Should the Streetcar have a frequency of 6-10 minutes between Granville Island to Olympic Village, we would only require 1 streetcar.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by deasine

I'm sure SFUVancouver has a few pictures of the MAX system (you're the one that went to Portland a few months ago if I'm not wrong)

Good memory deasine. I do have a few shots, though the streetcar and aerial tram caught my attention more.

Portland Streetcar

My photo, taken June 20th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.

MAX LRT

My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.


My photo, taken June 19th, 2007.

In case you cannot read the headline, it says "Bill protecting cyclists passes". That's a nice way to end.

[agrant]

Originally Posted by deasine

I was bored so I decided to answer the question of whether it's really necessary for double tracking. I came up with two conclusions.

Should frequency of the Streetcar between Granville Island to Olympic Village Station is 6 minutes or less, two streetcars would be required with the need of double tracking or a station at Lameys Mill Road & Charleston that has two platforms.

Should the Streetcar have a frequency of 6-10 minutes between Granville Island to Olympic Village, we would only require 1 streetcar.

Should they decide to go with a single track, I think they should at least allow for space to install a second track in the future.

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by agrant

I think it's a long story. We had a streetcar system, but then decided to go with the trolley bus...

Speaking of which, I was always fascinated about the streetcar tracks that remained on Quebec Street (one block west of Main St.) just south of 12th Avenue.

I believe that little bit of history was finally removed about a decade ago and I've never seen such streetcar tracks embedded in the road anywhere else in Vancouver. It was kinda cool.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by agrant

Should they decide to go with a single track, I think they should at least allow for space to install a second track in the future.

Actually, they will! In the last City of Vancouver report on the streetcars, they even allowed a storage third track.


Appendix B Downtown Streetcar Alignment ~ Source: City of Vancouver


Appendix B Downtown Streetcar Alignment ~ Source: City of Vancouver


Appendix B Downtown Streetcar Alignment ~ Source: City of Vancouver

SFUVancouver: great shots! (correction: deasine not mr.x2 ). I'm going down to Portland this spring break and hopefully, I will get a chance to experience it's MAX Light rail and streetcar system.

[SpongeG]

the streetcar hasd been running to granville island for a few years now in the summer - been stuck a few tinmes waiting for it to chug across the intersection

always seemed to have good ridership