Light Rail IS the solution

[Bsuds]

Where is everyone going to park at all the train stations?

A more viable solution might be a better, more frequent bus service.

Transit system in the Vancouver area brings riders to Skytrain stops, on the north shore to Seabus.

Yup, but our transit system sucks so not really viable the way it is now.

[CrystalCity]

Or for those that work in the various office buildings downtown Kelowna but live in Summerland/Peachland/LakeCountry. Instead of these individuals each driving their own car, they can simply hop on the train and know they will get to work on time without any vehicle traffic to contend with.

In my opinion, these are the types of traffic we can get off the road by having LRT.

Yup or even those who live in Summerland and work in Penticton. Those who need to come from the outer communities to see a specialist. The 97 Express doesn't serve those needs. Heck it doesn't even get to the Airport and riders have to transfer at UBCO.

[Nedroj]

Or for those that work in the various office buildings downtown Kelowna but live in Summerland/Peachland/LakeCountry. Instead of these individuals each driving their own car, they can simply hop on the train and know they will get to work on time without any vehicle traffic to contend with.

In my opinion, these are the types of traffic we can get off the road by having LRT.

Yup or even those who live in Summerland and work in Penticton. Those who need to come from the outer communities to see a specialist. The 97 Express doesn't serve those needs. Heck it doesn't even get to the Airport and riders have to transfer at UBCO.

Exactly, Busses while effective at transporting large amounts of people is not efficient at all nor is it desirable when a 20-minute drive takes 40 minutes on a bus and only runs from 7:30 am to 9:30, coming every 35-40 minutes and is still subject to gridlock traffic.

However, if you can make it a 5-10 minute train ride, and not worry about finding/paying for parking and they get to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, then you will get people WANTING to use the LRT. And as you said this would allow people living in other communities to leave their car at home because why drive 1hr and deal with the traffic jams when the train can get you into Kelowna from Penticton or Vernon in 30 minutes?

[cv23]

Again the current estimated cost of LTR tracks only between Vernon and Penticton is currently approx $6 Billion CDN, this does not include the actual trains or staff.
Where is the money for this pipe dream coming from and because it would be a government project where would the additional $$15-20 billion CDN in cost over runs come from to see it through to completion?

LRT in the Okanagan Valley is nothing more than a meth pipe dream.
We will have flying cars before we have an LRT in the valley.

[spooker]

Yup or even those who live in Summerland and work in Penticton. Those who need to come from the outer communities to see a specialist. The 97 Express doesn't serve those needs. Heck it doesn't even get to the Airport and riders have to transfer at UBCO.

Exactly, Busses while effective at transporting large amounts of people is not efficient at all nor is it desirable when a 20-minute drive takes 40 minutes on a bus and only runs from 7:30 am to 9:30, coming every 35-40 minutes and is still subject to gridlock traffic.

However, if you can make it a 5-10 minute train ride, and not worry about finding/paying for parking and they get to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, then you will get people WANTING to use the LRT. And as you said this would allow people living in other communities to leave their car at home because why drive 1hr and deal with the traffic jams when the train can get you into Kelowna from Penticton or Vernon in 30 minutes?

If we could reduce congestion by getting more people to ride the bus and increase the frequency of busses then we wouldn't need to shell out $6B for an LRT that isn't as flexible and doesn't work well with the amount of sprawl we have ...

[alanjh595]

Again the current estimated cost of LTR tracks only between Vernon and Penticton is currently approx $6 Billion CDN, this does not include the actual trains or staff.
Where is the money for this pipe dream coming from and because it would be a government project where would the additional $$15-20 billion CDN in cost over runs come from to see it through to completion?

LRT in the Okanagan Valley is nothing more than a meth pipe dream.
We will have flying cars before we we a LRT in the valley.

[Ken7]

Where is everyone going to park at all the train stations?

A more viable solution might be a better, more frequent bus service.

Light rail or bus, not everyone in this City can utilize it. Not sure how many times that has to be expressed. The seniors which consume a large portion of this City won't use it, for a number of reasons biggest safety!

The majority of others are blue color workers who need a vehicle to do their jobs. A railway would be great as I say if it took you from winery to winery. Now think about it, much like a expansive and expensive bike trail, who are you truly catering to?

If only 5% of Kelowna used the bus currently, I'm saying that would be a very high percentage. Why would you spend a pile of money to give weekend rides to tourists?

[Mazdatruck]

*removed*

[Mazdatruck]

*removed*

[CrystalCity]

The Route 70 bus service between Penticton and Kelowna only runs on weekdays and not very frequently. Also where are the cost estimates of $60 billion coming from? Skytrain? This will not involve the same Infrastructure.

[GordonH]

The Route 70 bus service between Penticton and Kelowna only runs on weekdays and not very frequently. Also where are the cost estimates of $60 billion coming from? Skytrain? This will not involve the same Infrastructure.

Which side of Okanagan lake would you plan on placing this roughly 120Kms of light rail.

[Nedroj]

Exactly, Busses while effective at transporting large amounts of people is not efficient at all nor is it desirable when a 20-minute drive takes 40 minutes on a bus and only runs from 7:30 am to 9:30, coming every 35-40 minutes and is still subject to gridlock traffic.

However, if you can make it a 5-10 minute train ride, and not worry about finding/paying for parking and they get to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, then you will get people WANTING to use the LRT. And as you said this would allow people living in other communities to leave their car at home because why drive 1hr and deal with the traffic jams when the train can get you into Kelowna from Penticton or Vernon in 30 minutes?

If we could reduce congestion by getting more people to ride the bus and increase the frequency of busses then we wouldn't need to shell out $6B for an LRT that isn't as flexible and doesn't work well with the amount of sprawl we have ...

Any and all solutions will cost billions of dollars, though the cost of doing absolutely nothing will be far higher.


Again, Busses are still subject to all forms of traffic disruptions. So not only do they not run frequently enough but they are slower than any other means of transportation short of riding a bike/walking. Again if you live in downtown Kelowna and are heading to mission market, then walking or riding a bike is probably the best way to get around as long as you're not carrying a big load. However many of us live in the hills and surrounding communities and cannot afford to spend an hour sitting on a bus heading to work when it takes 30 minutes in our cars/trucks.

I also may remind you that someone was literally killed on one of our city buses and the overall violence, harassment, and overall undesirability of riding public transit really hasn't got any better in the years after.

[polelady]

WOW "someone was literally killed on one of our city buses" if we had rapid transit like Toronto this would have not happened is how I see it... ho hum... go for it.... find the land and lets do it... !

[CrystalCity]

The Route 70 bus service between Penticton and Kelowna only runs on weekdays and not very frequently. Also where are the cost estimates of $60 billion coming from? Skytrain? This will not involve the same Infrastructure.

Which side of Okanagan lake would you plan on placing this roughly 120Kms of light rail.

Both sides. Penticton to Vernon. The line itself is comparable to BART in San Francisco (however that line us heavy rail). The costs the of replacing BART is estimated at $3.5 billion for a similar total amount of track. That's about $5 billion Canadian not $60 billion. Light rail at street level likely being less costly. So again, how is the $60 billion estimate arrived at?

[MAPearce]

Until Vernon ,Penticton and Kelowna reach a population base of 150K each , light rail is a pope dream .


Simple really