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Updated: February 26, 2010 |
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Latest Blog entries:
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Site purpose: To provide information to the GTHA public on what LRT (Light Rail Transit) is all about and to promote the idea of LRT as a preferred rapid transit option, where appropriate, in many GTHA situations. Toronto's public transit system has stagnated over the years as the expense of Subway expansion has severly limited additions. These additions have been added piecemeal in ways that benefit a small number of commuters and leave the overall system falling way behind its ability to offer a viable alternative to the automobile. There are two myths that persist about transit throughout the GTHA. The first myth has resulted in very little consideration being given to alternatives to Subway expansion... |
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| LRT
in Other Cities in North America |
MYTH #1: RAPID TRANSIT CAN ONLY BE SUBWAY | ||||||||||
Full Subway (also known as HRT, or metro) construction is far more expensive than LRT construction (click here for a comparison) and few, if any, corridors exist within the GTHA that require the increased load capacities that Subway provide. Extending existing Subway lines is overkill as that same crush load capacity will never be used by the extensions, for it would render the rest of the line unusable with no capacity. New Subway construction can be valuable to the transit network as a whole, when ridership is warranted AND when it enhances the overall network. A network enhancing subway is one that connects to the current subway network in multiple locations. Further extending existing lines do not do this. Plans for a Downtown Relief Line would do this and would warrant ridership. |
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In early 2008, the TTC released a plan called Transit City that ignores that first myth. Unfortunately, the public tends to hold on to the first myth and the Transit City plan has its detractors who bring up a second myth... |
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| MYTH #2: "LRT" IS JUST STREETCARS | |||||||||||
LRT is occasionally similar to what we know in Toronto as streetcars. In fact, the next generation of TTC streetcars will be visually similar to the vehicles planned to be used for Transit City LRT operations. LRT has other similarities to streetcar operations:
These similarities demonstrate the flexibility of LRT. |
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| LRT in Overseas Cities | How is LRT Different From Streetcars? | ||||||||||
There are some significant differences that are difficult to picture in the GTHA as we have little to compare. In many cases:
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| What Will Toronto's Light Rail Vehicles Be Like? | |||||||||||
| Links of Transit and Urban Interest: |
It is expected that the next generation of TTC streetcars will be uni-directional with doors on the right side only and receive their electrical power by trolley pole, just as the current streetcars do. |
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| Toronto LRT Blog | It is very likely that the same make and model of cars will be purchased for Transit City LRT operations, but these models will have doors on both sides and will receive their electrical power by pantograph. |
![]() Rendering of what a TTC LRT might look like. |
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| Steve Munro's Website | |||||||||||
| Transit Toronto | |||||||||||
| Light Rail Now | |||||||||||
| Spacing's Wire | |||||||||||
| The GTA Patriot | |||||||||||
| Hamilton Light Rail | |||||||||||
| Metronauts | |||||||||||
| TransitCity | |||||||||||
| VIVA next | |||||||||||
| Rail for the Valley | |||||||||||
| citytransport.info | |||||||||||
While Harbourfront, Spadina, and the new St. Clair lines are often looked at as LRT, about the only operation in Toronto that is closest to be accurately called "LRT" is the streetcar operation on the Queensway. |
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| Where Can You See What LRT Looks Like? | |||||||||||
One can imagine what LRT might look like in the GTHA. We have a rendering of a possible TTC LRV above thanks to Matthew Blackett of Spacing. |
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Site Copyright Notice This site is authored and maintained by Calvin Henry-Cotnam. Most photos and image scans appearing on this site were taken by the author, though some were taken by others. Photo and image credit is provided in the tooltext that appears when your cursor is held over an image. Permission is granted to use any image identified as being by the author to be used for your own non-profit and non-commercial purposes. Permission is also granted to any transit agency or for the purpose of urban planning to use images identified as being by the author. Credit for such use is appreciated but not necesary. |
To the right is a rendering of a possible YRT/VIVA LRV. Another rendering of what this might look like on Yonge Street just south of Major Mac appears higher up on this page. The best way to learn what LRT can be, one need only look at what other cities have LRT operations. Check out the links under LRT in Other Cities above to see this. |
![]() Rendering of what a YRT/VIVA LRT might look like. |
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In addition to looking at the vehicles used and what routes they operate on, these pages will take a look at how it is physically situated with regards to other traffic and communities, and will also look at how fare collection and enforcement is done. |
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| What Did Toronto Almost Have? | |||||||||||
Email here for permission to use content for any profit/commerical use. |
The original plans for the Scarborough RT would have been a true LRT implementation (see this page on Steve Munro's website for information on the original plans). However, the change to ICTS technology put it in a category with the Subway lines as it must operate in a totally isolated ROW. This means that there are no automobile or pedestrian grade crossings, and stations must be closed off with gated access. Though less costly than a full Subway, the SRT is significantly more costly than a true LRT system. |
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| This site is
intended to be a place to share information on LRT
implementations, and other transit issues. The page author has had the opportunity to visit some other cities and try their LRT system, but that experience is limited. Contributions are always welcome and will be credited. Send your comments and contributions to lrt@daxack.ca |
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