Vic Roads has produced the following video about sharing the roads with trams in Melbourne. This sort of video could be very useful here in Toronto, though the Province of Ontario could learn a few things from the State of Victoria where it comes to rules for traffic with streetcars and LRVs.
The video outlines the fines for not obeying the rules, and near the end it has a demonstration on how hook turns are performed.
Special thanks to Joshua Odell for bringing this to my attention.
My apologies to those who check back here regularly looking for new information, since few new additions have been made recently. That will change over the next few weeks.
One change will be a significant update to the York Region Options page. The Spadina Subway extension is underway, so there is no point in in dwelling on what could have been done with the funds. Since there has been no commitment in the funding of a Yonge Subway extension to Richmond Hill, and since its cost is somewhat more than I had anticipated in my analysis of what could be done with that money, a new look at this is in order.
I also expect to have another city added to this site after next week. I won’t yet say which city, but suffice it to say it is a good example of LRT that operates in both its own right of way and in full mixed traffic. Oh, and it provides airport access as well!
Sure, the headline is a rather broad statement, but it pretty much sums up most candidates in the municipal election, both mayoral and council. Now, I also understand the inflammatory nature of the word ‘Liar’, as I am taking some liberties in its use. I know of people who believe a lie to be any untruth, regardless of whether or not the person stating it is aware of its truthfulness or not. However, given that many of the candidates have either been involved in the operation of the city in one way or another for sometime, they should have a good idea of just how things work and don’t work, or at least they should. Read the rest of this entry »
With the funding deferment pushing back the conversion of the SRT until after 2015, the plan includes buying some used ICTS Mark-I cars from Vancouver.
Want a look at what is in store for us, take a look at this article which details a recent derailment in Surrey. Of course, with drivers on the SRT, the result would not be the same, but we are still talking about purchasing used equipment that has things like brake calipers falling off of it.
I have been on the fence about concrete medians. Cited as being necessary for emergency vehicle use as well as possible replacement bus service, I more or less accepted them even though they typically drive the cost per kilometre of light rail construction from about $30 million to $50 million. My main issue was that the TTC was not considering the use of side-of-the-road running where it was practical, such as Brentcliffe to Don Mills and the Richview Expressway lands on Eglinton.
Now, I have seen an alternative that turns this around…
This is in Essen and it strikes me that it would be less expensive than total concrete encasement, both for initial construction as well as later maintenance. If anyone has cost details on this, let me know.
