Some nuggets about the Calgary LRT (dubbed the CTrain) from this report, which was released on March 30, 2011:
- The conservative estimate herein puts the cost per paying rider at roughly $2.88
- [There is an assumption] that the CTrain is actually getting people out of their cars — it is not. Despite the City’s Draconian efforts to curb downtown parking, more people drive downtown than in any other Canadian city.
- Calgarians travel further to work than do residents of any Canadian city with a population over one million, save Edmonton.
- the CTrain has actually helped drive urban sprawl
- The independent U.S. Government Accountbility Office recognizes BRT as a superior alternative to LRT.
- It is slow and expensive and at best has a moderately positive impact on traffic. At worst, it has a moderately negative impact.
2 comments:
Wow, a likely oil-funded, climate-change-denying think tank advocating against rail. Who knew?
Anyway, of course the C-Train has led to sprawl: it went from a single-use Central Business District (CBD) to suburbs, and built huge park-and-ride lots. It's little different in effect than building a freeway to the suburbs, except that the CBD you get is more compact due to not having as many cars and highways in it.
Newsflash: Neoliberal think tank disagrees with investment in public transit!
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