[Kosy123]

Forgot to ask, rail connection from where.

The LRT to the airport would be sweet, but doubt we have the volume to support it at rush hour frequency, and if we intend airline passengers, room will need to be set aside for luggage which negates it's passenger carrying capacity elsewhere on the city lines.

Right now the 747 at a more frequent level PLUS free/seamless interchange to other ETS modes would be a interim dream...

Probably downtown. Downtown rail line would probably be a tourism/business/conference focus while an LRT line would have a good chunk of commuting, considering EIA weirdly has a lot of employment around it.

But yeah the 747 NEEDS to be beefed up soon.

Cartmell has gone on too long about the BRT.

I’d honestly love if Cartmell had BRT obsession in the right places.

It’s still incredibly amusing to see that he’s still salty over Valley Line West, despite it probably changing the transit fabric of this city the most ever since the LRT probably first opened tbh

 

[Platinum107]

With Edmonton's ultra fast population growth, do you think the City should reopen the transit plan to accelerate expansion of the LRT and BRT networks?

Here's my predictions for the future of mass transit planning in Edmonton in the next few decades, based on what I've read in city policy + my own interpretation of things:

2020-2030:

• We will be close to finished the full currently planned LRT network, with Metro Line North probably still under construction but majorly done. Capital Line South phase 1 and VLW will be done, with South phase 2 in procurement as well. Overall, no changes to the plans this decade.
• 2) the first of three BRT lines will be in early stages of construction, most likely the Ambleside (Windermere) to University alignment as it is already partially U/C with the Terwillegar Drive expansion project. The other two lines will be in the detailed design stages, with the WEM - Bonnie Doon line up next for construction. Overall, no changes to the plans, just further development of them.

2030-2040:

• LRT network as planned is completed, including Capital phase 2. At this point, the city will most likely be doing detailed design and potentially even pre-construction works for extensions to the existing lines, such as a) Capital line north to Gorman and Horse Hill, b) Valley Line further west to Lewis Farms Rec Centre and South to Walker/Meltwater, and c) Metro Line North into St. Albert. There probably won't be any new LRT lines proposed for the city this decade, unfortunately.
• Because of the super high growth rate Edmonton will most likely experience, we'll have the full BRT network done by this time. By this point, we have a pretty solid transit network with city-wide connections and redundancies. The only major factor missing are circumferential lines.

2040-2050: (End of current City Plan timeframe)

• By the end of this decade, we may finally revisit the network and look at new LRT lines. There's two good candidates IMO:
  • A "South Crosstown" line, running from WEM-Meadows in the centre median of the Whitemud. The south side will probably warrant a connection by this point that doesn't force you to go downtown.
  • A "West Jasper" line, running down west Jasper Ave through Wihkwentowin underground, up 124th street underground, then going at grade to the Westmount Mall area and TWOSE. the west central side of Edmonton will probably be very dense and still growing even at this time, and Westmount mall is another site prime for a huge TOD, so I see this as being a warranted redundant line by this point.
• I have a feeling that transit prioritization will be much more ubiquitous and popular than now by the 2040's, so many major roads around Edmonton will probably have bus-only lanes and frequency which could be considered "BRT" by today's standards.

Beyond this, I have no idea!