Types of Rapid Transit

Transcription

1 Types of Rapid Transit Light Rail Transit (LRT) Electric trains running along tracks in a rapidway separate from regular traffic. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Transit buses (regular and articulated) operating in a rapidway separate from regular traffic. Adapted Bus Rapid Transit (abrt) Similar to the VIVA rapid transit system in York Region and the ZÜM rapid transit system in Brampton, abrt would feature buses driving in regular traffic, but given special considerations to make them faster and more convenient. These include complete integration as part of the rapid transit system, frequent service, limited stops, preboarding fares, signal priority, queue jumping and bus by-pass shoulders (to allow buses to maintain faster, consistent travel times), bicycle and pedestrian amenities, and passenger information systems. How are LRT and BRT Similar? Both would operate in separate, protected rapidways with the same impact on traffic. Both are permanent. BRT is not easily convertible to LRT. Attempting to do so in the same rapidway would be extremely expensive and disruptive. Both are eligible for funding from other levels of government. The Government of Ontario has agreed to provide $300 million towards the capital cost of Waterloo Region s rapid transit system. The Government of Canada has agreed to fund one third of eligible project costs to a maximum of $265 million. The Region of Waterloo will be responsible for the balance. BRT rapidway LRT rapidway 4 CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATION HANDOUT MARCH 2011

2 LRT or BRT? LRT BRT More potential to attract transit passengers faster, quieter, more comfortable ride Cheaper per kilometre to install and operate Can be built in one stage Helps shape community, as a stronger catalyst for development and investment Many riders prefer trains to buses Requires significantly more vehicles to meet passenger demand Greater increase in land values Better for the environment and health More expensive; must be built in stages to be affordable The number of buses needed to meet ridership demand by 2031 would overwhelm the rapid transit system north of Fairview Park Mall Light Rail Transist (LRT) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Vehicle Capacity Up to 450 passengers per train passengers per bus System Capacity Rapid transit system will operate effectively beyond 2031 Number of buses needed to meet ridership demand by 2031 would overwhelm the rapid transit system north of Fairview Park Mall and require replacement Community Benefits 16,900 new jobs in station areas $370 million in increased land values 8,400 new jobs in station areas $75 million in increased land values Transportation Benefits (*Savings in travel time, vehicle operation costs, accident avoidance, parking costs) Projected transporation user benefits: Projected transportation user benefits: $523 million* $360 million* Environmental Benefits Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 22,300 tonnes per year by 2031 Generally preferred by riders smoother, quieter, more comfortable ride Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 12,200 tonnes per year by 2031 C O N N E C T I N G T O T H E F U T U R E I N F O R M AT I O N H ANDOUT MARCH

3 Implementation Options L1 L2 L3 L4 from Conestoga Mall to the Ainslie Street Bus Terminal Changes from LRT to abrt at: L1 Ottawa Street L2 Block Line Road L3 Fairview Park Mall L4 Sportsworld Drive Northfield Drive Challenging transfer location St. Jacobs Farmers Market Conestoga Mall WATERLOO St. Jacobs Farmers Market Low ridership potential L5 L6 L7 L8 from Northfield Drive to the Ainslie Street Bus Terminal Changes from LRT to abrt at: L5 Ottawa Street L6 Block Line Road L7 Fairview Park Mall L8 Sportsworld Drive L9 B10 Rapid transit from St Jacobs Farmers Market to the Ainslie Street Bus Terminal L9 all LRT B10 all BRT Northfield/Parkside R&T Park University of Waterloo Seagram Drive Ottawa Street Challenging transfer location Uptown Waterloo Grand River Hospital Duke/Young KITCHENER King/Victoria Downtown Kitchener Frederick/Benton Kitchener Mark Charle Courtland/B Block Line Road Opportunities for transfers between routes to/from southwest Kitchener and the central transit corridor 6 CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATION HANDOUT MARCH 2011

4 Conestoga Mall Good north-end connections to GRT buses, good location for Park n Ride facility et s/ottawa lockline Fairview Park Mall Sportsworld Preston N Hespeler/Pinebush Cambridge Centre Hespeler/Can-Amera Delta CAMBRIDGE Ainslie Street Terminal Fairview Park Mall Good south Kitchener connections to GRT buses, good location for Park n Ride facility LEGEND Rapid Transit Station Multi-Mode Station (LRT/GRT/GO/VIA) Possible LRT Start Points Possible Change From LRT to abrt Highways Light Rail Transit Bus Rapid Transit & Adapted Bus Rapid Transit Conceptual Future High Frequency Bus Connections Sportsworld Drive Provides an LRT connection into Cambridge, and provides a park n ride facility for inter-regional commuters CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATION HANDOUT MARCH

5 Which option provides the best value to our community? The next two tables provide a summary of the key information related to the rapid transit implementation options (ridership, affordability, intensification potential) that will be used by staff to identify a preliminary preferred option. The first table shows the options grouped by technology and the average annual household impact. The second table shows all the options individually, with the information related to affordability, ridership and intensification. Table 1 Options BRT Option B10 LRT Short/aBRT Long Options L1, L5, L6 LRT Medium/aBRT Medium Options L2, L3, L7 LRT Long/aBRT Short Options L4, L8 LRT Complete 1 Option L9 Business as Usual/No rapid transit 2 Option BU11 Average annual incremental household impact * $15.73 $14.63 $19.04 $20.70 $22.63 $29.53 $31.46 $62.65 $24.98 * Over six years ( ), assuming all costs are funded through property tax levy. Impacts on property taxes may be reduced through financing options. Estimates are based on an average property assessment of $225, Not considered feasible because of cost. 2 Not considered feasible because of the significant negative impacts on the quality of life in our community, and it does not align with the Council-approved Regional Official Plan and Regional Transportation Master Plan. 8 CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATION HANDOUT MARCH 2011

6 Table 2 Option Annual Rapid Transit Ridership 2031 (millions) Capital Investment (millions) Regional Share (millions) Operating and Maintenance per year/2031 (millions) Annual Incremental Household Impact* Intensification (increase over Business as Usual) L $644 $129 $8.6 $16.01 L $770 $213 $9.1 $20.98 L3 15 $818 $253 $9.1 $22.63 L $960 $395 $11.6 $31.46 L $608 $105 $8.2 $14.63 L $733 $189 $8.8 $19.04 L $773 $215 $8.7 $20.70 L8 15 $922 $357 $11.2 $29.53 L9 18 $1.5 billion $985 $15.5 $62.65 B $702 $168 $9 $15.73 Pop: 19,847 Emp: 12,733 Pop: 20,251 Emp: 12,846 Pop: 20,263 Emp: 13,115 Pop: 20,319 Emp: 13,675 Pop: 19,258 Emp: 11,618 Pop: 19,662 Emp: 11,731 Pop: 19,730 Emp:12,560 Pop: 19,730 Emp: 12,560 Pop: 22,643 Emp: 16,901 Pop: 11,501 Emp: 8,420 BU11 0 $500 $500 $1.2 $24.98 Business as Usual * Over six years ( ), assuming all costs are funded through property tax levy. Impacts on property taxes may be reduced through financing options. Estimates are based on an average property assessment of $225,000. CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATION HANDOUT MARCH

7 Franklin Blvd A complete public transportation system! Whether its BRT or LRT, Waterloo Region needs to be served by a rapid transit system. With BRT, LRT and LRT/aBRT options, rapid transit is only one component in a Region-wide transit system. The Grand River Transit bus system would be reoriented with rapid transit as the backbone of the system. The new system would include: New and expanded local bus routes in targeted areas; A system of express routes, like the ixpress, feeding in to the rapid transit system; Local service along the central transit corridor, serving additional stops in between the rapid transit stations; GO Transit and VIA Rail service connecting to the central transit corridor; Intelligent Transportation Systems improvements (including real-time scheduling of transit vehicles, transit traveller information and optimization of transit priority); and Development and implementation of smart-card fare-collection technology WOOLWICH Northfield/Parkside Northfield Dr W R&T Park University of Waterloo Bearinger Rd Seagram Drive WILMOT Parkside Dr St. Jacobs Farmers Market Station Uptown Waterloo Erb St E King St N Columbia St W Conestoga Mall Grand River Hospital University Ave E King/Victoria Downtown Kitchener Fischer-Hallman Rd WATERLOO Lexington Rd Queens Blvd Bridge St W 85 Conestoga Pkwy Bridgeport Weber St N Highland Rd W Rd E Lancaster St W Courtland Ave E Frederick/Benton Ottawa St S Block Line Rd Duke/Young Frederick St 7/8 Strasburg Rd Bleams Rd Kitchener Market Victoria St N Charles/Ottawa King St E Homer Watson Blvd Weber St E 8 Courtland/Blockline Manitou Dr Fairway Rd N Fairview Park Mall Sportsworld 2031 Moving Forward Transit Plan Legend Rapid Transit Station One Way Rapid Transit Light Rail Transit (LRT) Bus Rapid Transit & Adapted Bus Rapid Transit Railway Corridor Regional Roads Multi-Mode Station (LRT/GRT/GO/VIA) Local Bus Routes Express Bus Routes Inter-City Transit Maple Grove Rd 8 Shantz Hill Rd Fountain St N CAMBRIDGE Eagle St N 401 Pinebush Rd Hespeler/Pinebush KITCHENER Huron Rd 401 Blair Rd Preston Bishop St N Cambridge Centre Coronation Blvd Hespeler Rd Can-Amera Pky Hespeler/Can-Amera N George St N Delta NORTH DUMFRIES Dundas St N Ainslie Street Terminal Cedar St 10 CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATION HANDOUT MARCH 2011

8 Next Steps March 2011: Public Consultation Review of Rapid Transit Implementaiton Options April 12, 2011: Report to Planning and Works Committee What we heard from the public Identifying a preliminary preferred option April/June 2011: Public Consultation Preliminary Preferred Option Public Consultation Centres Malls and Market Displays Public Presentations Online Consultation online comment form, discussion boards, Twitter, Facebook Public Input Meeting(s) before Plannning and Works Committee/Council June 2011: Council consideration of preliminary preferred implementation option and preferred rapid transit system October: Subject to Council Approval, a six-month Transit Project Assessment (Province s new EA process for transit projects) will begin. CONNECTING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATION HANDOUT MARCH

9 What do YOU think? The Region would like to hear your comments on the rapid transit options. Please submit your comments before March 25, 2011 by: Filling in the Public Comment sheet and putting it in the Comment Box today Visiting the website at region.waterloo.on.ca/rapidtransit and filling in our online comment form Via at Taking the Public Comment Sheet home and mailing or faxing it to the address listed You can also participate in the ongoing rapid transit discussion through: Rapid Transit Discussion Boards at rapidtransit.region.waterloo.on.ca/community Facebook: facebook.com/rowrapidtransit Under the Municipal Act, personal information such as name, address, telephone number and property location that may be included in a submission become part of the public record. Questions regarding the collection of this information should be referred to the Rapid Transit Infoline ( , ext TTY: ) Region of Waterloo 150 Frederick Street, 6th Floor Kitchener, ON N2G 4J3 Rapid Transit Infoline: ext rtinfo@region.waterloo.on.ca Fax: region.waterloo.on.ca/rapidtransit

10 Fact Sheet

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12 The FACTS about Rapid Transit in Waterloo Region Rapid transit in Waterloo Region is generating a great deal of discussion in our community. The purpose of this document is to provide some additional information about the project based on the questions we receive from the public. Why does Waterloo Region need rapid transit? The Province of Ontario, through the Places to Grow legislation, mandated the Waterloo Region to plan for major population growth a population increase of 200,000 by Through the Regional Growth Management Strategy and the new Regional Official Plan, the Region has put policies in place to help direct up to 45% of new growth to our built up urban areas. Rapid transit is an important part of this plan, and Regional Council chose it as the most sustainable solution to move people and shape our community. Why can't more roads solve the congestion problem? Building new or bigger roads won t ease traffic congestion it just attracts more cars. With limited room to expand or build new roads in our urban areas, road expansion is not a sustainable option to manage future growth. If the Region continues with current trends of auto use, the road network will need to expand by at least 500 additional lane-kilometres of traffic by 2031, at a cost of $1.4 to $1.5 billion. Rapid transit and improved transit will not eliminate the need for road improvements. But road expansion costs would be reduced by $400 to $500 million. Why can't we just keep using ixpress? ixpress works well now, and has experienced significant ridership growth since it was introduced, but it is already experiencing traffic delays from road congestion. As ridership continues to grow, the capacity of ixpress will not be enough to meet travel demand. The Region s transportation vision for the future includes an expanded and realigned Grand River Transit system, with a series of new express routes modeled after ixpress, and expanded local service that would feed into and integrate with rapid transit. A public consultation process will be used to establish these new express routes. What's the current state of funding for rapid transit? On June 28, 2010, the Province of Ontario committed $300 million towards the capital cost of constructing a rapid transit system in Waterloo Region. On September 2, 2010, the Government of Canada committed one-third of the eligible costs, up to $265 million to support the construction of the Region's rapid transit project. The Region will be responsible for the covering the remaining construction costs, as well as the ongoing operating costs.

13 Will riders outside of rapid transit station areas have good transit service? Our proposed rapid transit system is based on rapid transit and conventional bus service working together. There will be bus stops in between and at the rapid transit stops along the Central Transit Corridor (CTC). GRT service will continue along the rapid transit route as well, to provide frequent stops at intermediate locations. New ixpress-style routes and cross-town routes will also be added, both feeding to rapid transit and serving destinations outside the rapid transit station areas. Is Waterloo Region's population big enough to support Light Rail Transit (LRT)? Yes. When Calgary first started building LRT in 1978, it had a population of 506,000. The population of Edmonton was just over 445,000 when the City started LRT construction in Currently, Waterloo Region has a population of 543,000. By 2031 and with the approved rapid transit staging option, it is expected that approximately 68,000 residents and 110,000 jobs will be concentrated within 600 meters of rapid transit stations. Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo are fortunate to have employment and population concentrated in a linear corridor connecting the three cities. This makes operation of transit more efficient with passengers located along the route in both directions. What will happen to the street events like Oktoberfest and Buskers once rapid transit is built? They will still happen! A parade can still go down King Street. Regional staff will work with organizing committees to accommodate parades along the route. During events, service can shortturn to leave the parade area clear, but still provide service to the crowds of people coming to the parade. How will the construction of the rapid transit system impact roads, traffic and access to local businesses? Construction will be completed in stages, to limit the impacts of construction on any one area to a short period of time. Every effort will be made to maintain the flow of traffic and access to businesses in construction areas. A communication plan will be put in place to inform the public, business owners, and property owners regarding timing for construction in each area, access options, alternate routes, etc. How will rapid transit be separated from traffic? Both BRT and LRT would operate primarily on a dedicated rapidway. By operating separately from traffic, rapid transit is a more efficient, reliable, comfortable, convenient, and effective way to travel. As we work on detailed design of the system, a platform or curb could be used to keep the rapid transit vehicle separate from other traffic, as has been done in Toronto along St. Clair West. Fencing will not be used.

14 Comment Sheet

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16 Provide Your Input. Join the conversation! The Region of Waterloo requests your input on the question on the attached Comment Sheet. For more information, please see the available displays and handouts. Please complete and return this Comment Sheet to the Comment Box so your views can be considered during this phase of the rapid transit project. If you wish to prepare your comments later, please submit them by mail, fax or no later than March 25, 2011 to: Region of Waterloo, Rapid Transit 150 Frederick Street, 6 th Floor Kitchener, ON N2G 4J3 Phone: Rapid Transit InfoLine: , ext Fax: rtinfo@region.waterloo.on.ca An online comment sheet is also available on our website at Thank you for your participation! All comments and information received from individuals, stakeholder groups and agencies regarding this project are being collected to assist the Region of Waterloo in making a decision. Under the Municipal Act, personal information such as name, address, telephone number, and property location that may be included in a submission becomes part of the public record. Questions regarding the collection of this information should be directed to the Rapid Transit InfoLine. Document Number: Version: 4

17 Rapid Transit Implementation Options L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 L9 B10 BU11 Rapid transit from Conestoga Mall to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Ottawa Street Rapid transit from Conestoga Mall to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Block Line Road Rapid transit from Conestoga Mall to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Fairview Park Mall Rapid transit from Conestoga Mall to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Sportsworld Drive Rapid transit from Northfield Drive to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Ottawa Street Rapid transit from Northfield Drive to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Block Line Road Rapid transit from Northfield Drive to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Fairview Park Mall Rapid transit from Northfield Drive to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, changing from LRT to abrt at Sportsworld Drive Rapid transit from St. Jacobs Farmers Market to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, LRT the entire length Rapid transit from St. Jacobs Farmers Market to Ainslie Street Bus Terminal, BRT the entire length Business as usual no rapid transit (not considered feasible, especially because of its quality of life impacts, disruptive road expansion and because it does not align with the Council-approved Regional Official Plan and Regional Transportation Master Plan) Please provide your comments on the option you feel provides best value to our community. Document Number: Version: 4

18 How did you find out about this meeting? Your name: Mailing Address: Postal Code: Phone Number: Please fill in all contact information, including , if you would like to be added to the Rapid Transit Contact List and receive notification of project updates and upcoming events and meetings. Or sign up online at Thank you for your input. Document Number: Version: 4

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