London is moving away from light rail and instead opting for a full bus rapid transit system.
City staff unveiled their recommendation Friday for a $500-million bus-only transit system. It is in stark contrast to the $880-million light rail/bus hybrid city council endorsed late last year.
The city has committed $125-million for rapid transit, primarily funded through development charges. London is looking toward federal and provincial governments for the remaining funds needed.
Director of Roads and Transportation Edward Soldo says the switch is about having the right solution at the right time.
"At the current time, bus rapid transit provides greatest value as it meets the needs that we have today as well as into the immediate future. It also provides significant benefits from an economic growth, social, environmental, and city building prospective," says Soldo. "It's going to help modernize our transit system and make it a more reliable, attractive, and convenient mode of travel."
Full bus rapid transit (BRT) will run a 24 km stretch from White Oaks mall in the south to Masonville Mall in the north and from Fanshawe College in the east to Wonderland Rd. and Oxford St. in the west. It will feature dedicated bus lanes and stations as well as a rapid transit tunnel, which could also be used for emergency vehicles, under the CP rail tracks at Richmond St. and Oxford St.
"It's going to be a bus but it's not going to be the type of bus you see on the street today," says Kelly Paleczny, general manager of London Transit. "It's going to be new and different. It will incorporate amenities that will make it an attractive service to the choice rider."
Some of the possible amenities include enhanced stops and stations, more seating, and heated shelters.
City staff estimate wait times for riders will range between five and ten minutes.
"It's a significant enhancement to the 15 minute frequency, in some cases 30-60 minute frequency, that we've got on corridors right now," says Paleczny. "When we say a bus will be there every ten minutes, a bus is going to be there every ten minutes. It will be because they are going to be operating in dedicated lanes and we're not going to have to worry about congestion and other issues impeding our progress."
Light rail transit (LRT) isn't completely out of the picture. If ridership demand increases enough over the next 25 years, Soldo says the BRT will be transitioned to LRT.
"As part of this process we are going to protect and design for that future transition through the design of the actual corridors that we are implementing," says Soldo. "The corridors for a rapid bus system look exactly the same as they would for a light rail system... Except for the vehicle itself those corridors will look exactly the same."
The city projects the BRT system would produce more than $1.3-billion in transportation, environmental and economic benefits over the next 20 years. It would also create thousands of jobs.
Soldo warns the switch to rapid transit won't happen overnight.
"Communities implement these type of initiatives over a time span of five to ten years," says Soldo. "What we will see is a quick start program that will has some dedicated transit, more frequent service along a few of these corridors to start building up the ridership. Then we are probably looking at construction in 2019 or later on the actual widening associated with rapid transit."
The new rapid transit plan will be up for debate at city hall next Thursday at a special meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee.