City puts focus on streetcars

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Bombardier-produced streetcars in action in Vancouver. (CP)

Winnipeggers confused about the future of rapid transit may be pleased to learn streetcars are what Mayor Sam Katz desires.

The City of Winnipeg's investigation of new light-rail technology involves a flexible streetcar that can negotiate downtown streets and also travel up to 80 kilometres per hour on dedicated transitways, Katz and Winnipeg public works director Brad Sacher said Friday.

The vehicles, which resemble both buses and trains, can run on tracks embedded on streets as well as on transitways such as the first phase of the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor, which is already under construction, Sacher said.

Variations of the electric-powered streetcars are made by Montreal manufacturer Bombardier, Siemens in Mississauga and Inekon in Czech Republic. They're already in use in Vancouver, Portland and Seattle and are heading to Toronto, which awarded Bombardier a contract to supply 204 of them for $1.2 billion in 2009.

Winnipeg is in the midst of completing the $138-million first phase of the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor, which runs from The Forks to Jubilee Avenue, as a busway. In February, Katz announced his intention to place Phase Two, a $210-million extension that would continue to the University of Manitoba, on hold until the city investigates light rail.

Council's decision to spend $100,000 studying new light-rail technologies this spring angered bus rapid transit proponents on council and confused the Selinger government, which wants to see the city commit to completing Phase Two as a busway.

But Katz said the city received new information about light-rail technology whose infrastructure only costs $50 million per kilometre, which would be far cheaper than previous estimates -- and only 32 per cent more expensive than bus rapid transit.

"We're looking at LRT-lite, which is a wonderful, futuristic-looking train," Katz said Friday in an interview, adding consulting firms the city has hired -- Dillon and HDR -- have confirmed streetcar infrastructure would only cost $50 million per kilometre.

"This shows all three levels of government we can do something (other than bus rapid transit) with the money we've been talking about."

The mayor said the Selinger government -- not Ottawa -- has resisted upgrading bus rapid transit to light rail. Katz said he hopes he can convince the province new streetcar technology is viable, once city staff complete a report about the streetcars.

The flexible streetcar has a smaller turning radius than a conventional train, allowing it to operate in mixed traffic, Sacher said. Aside from the installation of tracks, additional costs associated with the technology include a storage and maintenance space for the vehicles as well as overhead lines to power them.

Streetcars ran on rails in Winnipeg until 1955, while electric buses connected to overhead wires were phased out during the 1960s. Winnipeg Transit rejected a push by Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt to bring back trolley buses in 2010.

Katz said the new vehicles are nothing like old streetcars. "I got excited when I saw them, and I don't get excited that easily," he said.

Converting busways to light-rail transit is possible in Winnipeg, provided busway design takes into account factors such as the height of station platforms and turning radii, Dillon Consulting concluded in a 2008 report made public on Wednesday.

In a separate 2009 report, also released on Wednesday, consulting firm HDR concluded both bus rapid transit and light-rail transit offer Winnipeg clear financial benefits. HDR's cost-benefit analysis concluded BRT is a safer financial bet, but LRT would spark more transit-oriented development.

"The actual benefits of both are positive, there's no two ways about it," Sacher said. "At the end of the day, we have to decide what we're looking for."

The HDR report also rejected "automated people-mover" technology, briefly considered by the city in 2009, as unproven.

Winnipeg's indecision on rapid transit has been pilloried by the mayor's opponents, who note the city has spent millions studying transit since Katz was elected in 2004.

Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray, who visited city hall Friday, said Winnipeg would already have five transit corridors in place had the city followed through on the bus rapid transit plan Katz cancelled after taking office.

"We're the only city of over half a million in North America that doesn't have a well-developed plan," said Murray, the Ontario MPP for Toronto Centre, referring to Winnipeg.

The first public draft of Our Winnipeg, the city's long-term planning blueprint, calls for new rapid-transit corridors to connect downtown with Transcona and Richardson International Airport.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 5, 2010 B1