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There are plenty of examples around the world of various types of LRT, some are fully grade separated (like Scarborough LRT would have been), most are in their own lane but go through traffic lights at some point. Sometimes they go through stop signs instead of traffic signals (N Judah in SF). Often it's a mix of various environments.

You just choose the appropriate thing for what kind of service you want to provide and the existing context.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
That is true.

The best comparison for Eglinton, Finch and Sheppard LRTs actually exists right here in Toronto. It's the Queensway LRT. The three LRTs should be very similar to Queensway.

- They all run on private ROWs
- They all have signal priority. Through Queensway's priority is apparently somewhat troublesome. I'd expect it signal priority to perform better on our modern LRT lines
- The LRT lines will have higher usage than Queensway. This will have a negative impact on dwell times (when compared to Queensway), though all door boarding will likely negate this
- Stop spacing on the Queensway is significantly tighter than on the new LRT lines. About 380 meters vs. 400 to 600 meters.
- The average speed of Queensway and the expected speeds of the LRT lines are about the same.

If you've ridden on Queensway, you know how fast it speed down the ROW. It feels like you're on a rocket. I love it
Click to expand...

Here's a better video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v7HcjtpZ0c
 
WislaHD said:
But the stop spacing on Sheppard East is almost St. Clair like at points, which is where I think most of the sentiment for widening stop spacing comes from.
Click to expand...
The 7 km St. Clair line has 27 stops, an average spacing of about 270 metres (with some stops even closer together). The 13 km Sheppard East line has only 26 stops (an average spacing of over 500 metres).

Which part of Sheppard East is the average stop distance coming anywhere close to St. Clair?
 
I guess it just looks that way on the map. Hard to wrap your head around how large Scarborough really is at times.

I hope the people who did the EA knew how to best implement stop spacing to balance speed and maximization of ridership.
 
WislaHD said:
I guess it just looks that way on the map. Hard to wrap your head around how large Scarborough really is at times.
Click to expand...
Indeed it is. If you go down Lawrence from Victoria Park, it's over 16 km to get to the other end of Scarborough. If you go down Bloor/Dundas from the eastern edge of Etobicoke, you enter Mississauga in only 7 km, and 16 km puts you past Mavis!

With the proposed Danforth subway extension to McCowan, the subway will reach about 22 km past University Avenue. If you went west from there 22 km, you get to Square One. If you went west 30 km from Oakville, you'd get to Oakville. If go east 30 km then you get to the about the eastern border of Scarborough.

I think we often forget how big Scarborough is!
 
WislaHD said:
I wonder why we build subways in Scarborough and regional rail in Mississauga and Oakville then. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

They are building regional rail in Scarborough. They're going to start adding a 2nd track to the Stouffville line soon.
 
ehlow said:
They are building regional rail in Scarborough. They're going to start adding a 2nd track to the Stouffville line soon.
Click to expand...

Granted, but nonetheless we are not building subways out to Mississauga because they are inappropriate transit choices for that kind of geographical distance. Similarly, subways are inappropriate transit choices for the similar distance to Scarborough. STC is as far away from the downtown core as Square One.

As TigerMaster loves to repeat these days though, only 30% of Scarborough's trips are to the core, the rest are to within Scarborough or outside of Scarborough/Downtown.

What Scarborough needs is a combination of local and regional transit. It needs RER to serve trips to downtown, and frequent bus (or LRT) service on its arterial routes. Subways that serve medium distance commutes are a waste of money. We should double down on both, have SmartTrack branch to Scarborough Town Center and built the Scarborough East/Malvern LRT.
 
WislaHD said:
As TigerMaster loves to repeat these days though, only 30% of Scarborough's trips are to the core, the rest are to within Scarborough or outside of Scarborough/Downtown.
Click to expand...

It's actually less than 30%. It's only 17% to downtown.

This is why the SSE is so frustrating to me. I occasionally live in Scarborough, so I understand how useless SSE will be for improving commutes for most of Scarborough. We'll still be faced with 25 to 40 minute bus commutes to McCowan and with an additional 30 min trip on the subway to downtown. This is hardly an improvement from the status quo. Unless you live in western Scarborough near Scarborough Centre, the Scarborough Subway does little to improve your commute.

This is why I've been advocating to have the Scarborough Subway replaced with the Scarborough-Malvern LRT. It will provide a faster commutes to Kennedy Station than the current plan, and critically, will provide more reliable service. It will also greatly enhance travel within Scarborough, which is a more important priority than improving travel to downtown. To be walking distance from my LRT station, providing quick, comfortable and reliable access to virtually all the major destinations in Scarborough is incredibly compelling.

And of course, once SmartTrack and RER is operational, people like me will hardly ever use it to make the trip downtown. It just doesn't make any sense to use the subway when RER will be so much faster.
 
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Joe Mihevc sent this email to his constituents today regarding the TBM move. Metrolinx is going to set up bleachers for anyone who wants to watch the TBM's being moved. The move will take place on Saturday and Sunday mornings 2am to 5 am.

Here's the email I got:

March 14, 2015

Attention: Transit and Construction Watchers (and people who don't sleep at night!)

Watch history in the making this coming weekend as the two tunnel boring machines (TBMs), Dennis and Lea, are moved from one side of the Spadina subway line to the other at the Allen Expressway.

The tunnel boring machines have done their work digging from Black Creek Drive in the west to the western side of the Allen Expressway in the east. Because it is too risky an operation to have these machines dig directly under the existing subway at the Eglinton West Subway Station, the engineers have developed a plan to lift the 400 tonne (10 metre long and 6.5 metres high) TBMs from an extraction shaft on the west side of the Allen, mount them onto a heavy duty specialized tractor trailer, cart them eastward along Eglinton, and then lower them back into a "launch shaft" on the eastern side of the Allen Expressway. The next stage of the machines' journey will thus be prepared, allowing for the continued tunnelling eastward to Yonge St.

The lifting, transporting, and lowering of "Dennis and Lea" will be quite an amazing operation. Eglinton Avenue (from Marlee to Bathurst) and the Allen Expressway will be closed. The operation will take 3 hours for each TBM, and will occur in the middle of the night when there is no subway running.

Setup before the lift.jpgNow the fun part: I have been working with Metrolinx to arrange for bleachers to be set up on the south side of Eglinton Avenue at Everden Road. Folks are invited to watch this operation. If you are a transit or construction "geek" of any sort (as I have become), or if you simply want to witness this historic moment, you will want to come to this event. Metrolinx has arranged for everyone to have coffee and hot chocolate. You can bring the popcorn or other treats.

Time: Both Saturday and Sunday (one tunnel boring machine per day) from 2am to 5am

Place: The south side of Eglinton at the Allen Expressway.

Travel suggestion: Walk or come by bike as the area will be congested and there will be no subway service in the middle of the night. If you come by car, there are Green P parking lots at: Alameda and Eglinton, Glencedar and Eglinton (approach from the south), and Hilltop and Eglinton (approach from the north).

Bring a camera. I will be there both nights (yes, my family thinks I am crazy), live tweeting and taking pictures.

If you do not wish to stay up all night to watch the move, Metrolinx staff will be available during the following times to provide detailed responses to any curiosities you might have about the project plans and engineering, or answer more general questions about the Crosstown:

Saturday, April 18 from 10am to 1pm and from 3pm to 6pm.

Looking forward to seeing you in the wee hours!

Yours in transit geek solidarity,

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=bcab1443a96b8fd7f112b651a&id=1bca802cbd&e=c6008b1ca7
 
So is anyone going to see the extraction of the boring machines? I imagine it will be quite exciting to see the boring machines extracted after more then a year.

Yay for horrible puns!
 
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