Comment 118812

By mdrejhon (registered) - website | Posted May 26, 2016 at 11:44:51 in reply to Comment 118810

Developer debate aside (my response above)...

"No different from the trolleys of years past"

Not really. A modern, properly-designed street-grade LRT still feels more like a mini-subway than yesterday's streetcars.

  • The perfectly level accessible boarding (no folding ramps, tiny gap)
  • combined with all doors simultaneously opening (all doors instantly wheel-on-able, like a subway)
  • combined with ability to do train-consist operation (Hamilton is being designed to be compatible with 2-LRV 'trains')
  • combined with subway-style stop spacing (keeps average speeds higher)
  • combined with dedicted curb-protected lanes (discourages cars from driving into LRT lanes)
  • combined with modern transit priority signalling to quickly zoom through green lights means the LRT will usually not stop except at LRT stops. (more info) ....

What Hamilton LRT is getting is more similiar to ION LRT rather than the Spadina TTC route, or the poorly-designed St. Clair TTC streetcar route. Also Hamilton LRT's pantograph is slip-proof and far more bad-weather resistant, unlike streetcar trolleypoles. Also, it is a lot less boring and stressfull as a standee on rails than on a bus, since the acceleration/deceleration is so predictable as a standee, you can literally much more comfortably stand (merrily using your smartphone or newspaper) without needing to grab a pole often. Something that's much harder to do with a bus. Historically, elsewhere, the retired dread peak-hour buses more than subway/LRTs, lest they fail to sit down before the bus starts moving unpredictably.

Also, letting the old streetcar go derelict (and needing removal) was a mistake, but, finally we're getting something far better back, that actually increases transit ridership.

Comment edited by mdrejhon on 2016-05-26 11:59:51

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