Streetcar dream tough for Katz to put on track

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2010 (5687 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Have you ever been struck by a really a good idea, but at the wrong time?

Welcome to Mayor Sam Katz’s world.

The mayor’s latest good idea is that he wants streetcars — not buses — to form the backbone of Winnipeg’s as-yet unrealized rapid transit system.

Not Light Rapid Transit (LRT) per se, but electric-powered (he hopes) streetcars running on tracks at grade on both city streets and the BRT system now under construction.

Katz says he has had a long-term love affair with LRT in general, and streetcars in particular. The problem is, he didn’t tell anyone about it.

In fact, a spokesman for Premier Greg Selinger said the word ‘streetcar’ had not been uttered by Katz until Saturday, when he and the mayor talked about it. That conversation took place after weeks of angry and public disagreement about Katz’s demands to abandon BRT and pursue LRT.

And now, with $130 million on the table from the province and Ottawa to complete a BRT route from downtown to the University of Manitoba, and both levels of government facing enormous deficits, he’s hoping against hope he can get the other levels of government to abandon buses and pay more to help him embrace streetcars.

On the very face of it, there is a lot to like about streetcars. Winnipeg used to have streetcars until someone who probably shouldn’t have been working in and around city hall got rid of them.

Toronto still relies on an extensive streetcar network. Native Torontonians (including the author) fondly recall the soothing hum of an accelerating streetcar and the rhythmic clacking when they cross intersections.

Katz hopes to prove later this summer with a hastily designed study that in addition to all this romantic stuff, streetcars can be quite cost effective.

In short, Katz believes streetcars will draw more riders, use less fossil fuel, and be cheaper to run and maintain. And the best part — according to the mayor —- it would cost only 30 per cent more than clunky old BRT.

That figure has yet to be verified but there are reasons to believe he’s right. Streetcars do not require special rail beds; they can operate on existing city streets and even the soon-to-be-completed phase one BRT right of way could be converted for streetcars.

The only major flaw in Katz’s plan is that it’s about two years too late.

If Katz had lobbied for LRT back in 2008 when the three levels of government were conspiring on a BRT funding deal, his might have been a winning argument. But he signed on for BRT and did no advance work to prepare the other levels of government.

Even worse, the mayor is going around talking openly about finding another, as-yet-unidentified pot of money to pay for LRT so that he isn’t forced to steal from existing federal-provincial infrastructure funds. Time to water those money trees.

With Katz, it’s a good idea to never say never but saying that this is an uphill battle doesn’t completely capture the enormity of the challenge.

The province has repeatedly told Katz to take the money and get on with BRT. As for the feds, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, Manitoba’s senior government minister, has not said much about Katz’s streetcar dream. You can never tell exactly what Toews is thinking, but neither he nor his government have signalled a desire to change modes of transport now.

There was, no doubt, a flicker of hope on Tuesday when the federal government announced it was giving the City of Ottawa $600 million for an LRT/subway system.

Federal money? LRT? Could it be?

Unfortunately what is happening in Ottawa has no bearing on the debate in Winnipeg. First and foremost, Ottawa already has arguably the best BRT system in Canada. So successful it actually pays for itself.

More importantly, Greater Ottawa has more than one million people, making it much more eligible for LRT. The city already has an LRT route running from just north of the airport to an area just west of downtown.

An expanded O-Train system been enormously controversial issue that will be in play this fall during civic elections. Mayor Larry O’Brien’s chief opponent, Jim Wilson, is opposed to the multibillion-dollar train/subway project and there has been speculation he might stop some or all of the plan.

(You’re probably asking yourself, ‘what are the chances a new mayor would completely shelve a rapid transit plan forged by his predecessor? Especially when that plan is already funded by the province and federal government.’ Actually, that’s just what happened in Winnipeg when Katz was elected in 2004. But I digress.)

For now Katz will continue looking for money and support to fulfill his desire named streetcar. However, he may find that this is a good idea that is simply too little, too late.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca