Editor:
Re: LRT isn't always superior, letter to the editor, April 19
Ryan Campbell's letter continues the misinformation campaign about LRT that has found a special place in Metro Vancouver.
Light rail's definition includes "the ability to operate in mixed traffic" which our light-metro lines, being driverless, cannot do, thus they are not light rail. Only uninformed academics and journalists would call SkyTrain light-rail.
What makes a simple tram or streetcar light-rail is that it operates on a dedicated or reserved rights-of-way and by doing so, enables the light rail line to obtain commercial speeds of that a metro. LRT can and does operate in mixed traffic when it is deemed to give the transit customer a user-friendly service, such as city centres and/or pedestrianized streets.
Light rail also has a higher capacity than our SkyTrain lines, as the Expo and Millennium/Evergreen lines are limited in capacity by their current station size, electrical supply and dated signalling. The operating ticket for SkyTrain, from Transport Canada, will not allow capacities over 15,000 pphpd, unless very expensive ($2 billion to $3 billion) refurbishing takes place. Modern LRT can carry more than 20,000 pphpd and does in many cities around the world.
Campbell has it wrong, LRT is the higher capacity transit system.
Bus rapid transit is just a fancy name for "express buses" and buses tend to become expensive to operate as ridership increases.
The Canada Line with puny 40-metre long station platforms has effectively just over half the capacity of the E&M/E lines. The cost to increase capacity to match the rest of the light-metro system is now about $1.5 billion.
What we call SkyTrain is a proprietary transit system which name has changed at least four times and only seven systems in total have been built in almost 40 years. During the same period, more than 200 LRT lines have been built or are under construction.
Internationally, the Canada Line, which is a heavy-rail metro, is seen as an aberration or white elephant, which huge costs do not justify its extremely limited capacity. No city has copied the Canada Line.
I have never claimed that LRT is a panacea, but when it comes to urban transit, modern LRT has made SkyTrain the "Edsel" of the transit world.
Malcolm Johnston
