En Route Part Deux
I have found power. Boingo is a rip off. YVR has free wifi – as do most coffee places. I think the margins at airports are better than on coffee. There is just less competition. But airports need to build goodwill especially as other modes for medium distance trips are going to look increasingly attractive. Pearson will be competing with Union Station which not so long ago would have raised a big laugh. Not when oil is north of $120.
People always talk about the New York Subway, but pay less attention to suburban rail. Since the end of the 19th century this has been the way that people from its hinterland get to the urban core. And the positions taken by the big railroads -in the middle of Manhattan – are a demonstration of the wealth and power they wielded. As are the stations. Grand Central has been saved and restored and is still the finest. All I saw of Penn Central was the rabbit warren of tunnels connecting the subway to Amtrak, LIRR and NJTransit. This is a massive state wide operating entity – with mainline electric and diesel locomotives pushing and pulling long commuter trains that operate all day (and late into the night) 7 days a week in both directions as well as conventional electric multiple unit local trains and light rail. None of this is done on the cheap. The equipment and track are well maintained and up to date. Stations are clean and often nicely restored heritage structures. Trains have quite large staffs of conductors selling and checking tickets, and providing assistance and information to passengers.
This extensive network has not however solved traffic congestion any more than it has done in London or Paris, but it does provide a realistic choice for people who prefer not to fight traffic. I do not advocate transit as a way to cure congestion, because the only way I know that can do that is road user pricing. But even that depends on the availability of choice. I think many more people in this region now understand that. (And, by the way NJ Transit is also serious about Transit Oriented Development)
Rising gas prices, as Margaret Wente points out in today’s Globe is good for us. It is making people recognise what has always been true but now is much more sharply pointed. Cheap gas has made us fat and lazy, destroyed our health and our communities. We never needed SUVs really. But at present in our car oriented suburbs we still need some motorised personal device, as there is no really adequate public alternative. What is truly shameful is Kevin Falcon going on the radio to defend his stupid highway expansions. The rest of the region seems to have realised the world has changed since these plans were set. It is time the Minister of Transport did too.
Great post!
Kevin said something else stupid recently about SkyTrain vs. LRT that was completely false, and seems to think capacity is the most important thing — attraction and population be damned. One of these days I hope we will have a Minister of Transportation who actually knows what he’s doing, is up on (relevant) current technology and is NOT interested in paying off his buddies before helping the people.
I’m enjoying working near the old train station, the WCE/freight tracks, Vancouver Trolley Co. trolleys (if one can call them that these days), and Vancouver’s history. I hear “ding ding”s from the trolleys frequently, and the Steam Clock just faintly behind other bustling noises. Waterfront Station is nothing compared to the old train stations I have and haven’t been to, but it sure is gorgeous.
Erika Rathje
May 9, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Something interesting I came across -again- about SkyTrain’s capacity from a 1983 edition of Modern Tramway and Light Rail Transit. The article is ‘The direction of TTC Planning in the 1980’s’, by Phillip Webb and contains some curious and interesting comments about ICTS (name changed to ALRT for sale to Vancouver) or SkyTrain.
The TTC assessed ICTS, LRT and heavy rail metro for a segment of line along Sheppard East route. The best capacity for ICTS was 15,000 pphpd, crush loading. “Using the TTC’s figure of 60 for the working maximum capacity/vehicle for buses – which have the same size as ICTS cars – the working capacity reduces to 10,800, less than the 12,000 which used to be carries at times on the Bloor-Danforth by old pairs of coupled PCC cars, with no transit priority of any time (this figure comes from the IBI study). Thus ICTS (SkyTrain) costs up to ten times as much as a conventional light rail line to install for about the same capacity; or put another way, ICTS costs more than a heavy-rail subway with four times its capacity.”
Malcolm J.
May 10, 2008 at 11:15 am
Did you get a chance to ride on the NE Corridor line? NJ Transit recently purchased new rolling stock – Bombardier multilevel cars pulled by ALP-46 electric locomotives – very nice equipment indeed! The line itself however, is operated by Amtrak, and has seen a number of issues in its recent history due to the depression era electrical system, and a general lack of infrastructure investment on the part of the federal government; despite the massive number of passengers who use the line daily. For instance, the very successful Acela “high speed” train from Washington D.C. to Boston is not really that fast, as the maximum operating speed must be limited due to the relatively low tension overhead catenaries – at high speed a standing wave is induced in the wire, causing a loss of contact with the collector. It is really a shame – if as much money was invested in the rail infrastructure as is spent on airports or the interstate highway system in this area, we would have a rail network (and ridership) rivaling european nations.
Lindsey P.
May 10, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I saw some of the equipment you mention, but I did not have a chance to ride any of it.
The treatment of passenger railways in North America has been generally shameful. Sadly there are far too many lobbyists and special interests who distort policy making in Washington.
Stephen Rees
May 10, 2008 at 7:11 pm