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Greater Victoria taxpayers needn't be gouged. Armed with the facts, we can restore a more balanced transportation system for a reasonable cost, with a professional construction timetable. Cities in the US, France, Spain, Norway and Italy have done this. |
The problem of spiralling costs for some North American transit projects is well dealt with at thetransportpolitic.com
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Above left, the small Spanish city of Vitoria-Gasteiz built its tram lines for less than $23 million/km. So why do BC Transit and consultants SNC/Lavalin and HDR tell us $62 million/km is reasonable? (This Basque city was named European Green Capital for 2012. A very interesting short video on youtube describes some of its many environmental accomplishments.) Right, Norfolk VA's light rail line, which opened in Aug. 2011, cost cost US$28.6 million/km.
Costs of At-Grade Tramways |
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| City | Completion Year | Cost $million/km | Engineer |
|---|---|---|---|
Angers, France |
2010 |
$27.7 |
Tractabel, Antwerp |
Bergen,Norway |
2010 |
$37.5 |
Nordic, Stockholm |
Besancon, France |
2015 |
$22.4 |
|
Brest, France |
2011 |
$35 |
Systra, Paris |
Charlotte, NC |
2007 |
US$$30 |
S&ME, Raleigh |
Dallas TX |
2010 |
US$40.2 |
STV consortium |
Denver CO West Corr. |
2013 |
US$36.3 |
Balfour Beatty |
Dijon, France |
2013 |
$26.8 |
GDF Suez, Paris |
Florence, Italy |
2010 |
$30.7 |
Hydea, Florence |
Minneapolis |
2004 |
$US37.3 |
LTK, Philadelphia |
Mulhouse, Fr. |
2006 |
$28.2 |
Systra |
Norfolk, VA |
2011 |
$US28.6 |
PB, New York |
Phoenix |
2008 |
$US43.5 |
HDR, Omaha |
Portland |
2009 |
$US43.35 |
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Salt Lake Mid-Jordan |
2011 |
$US31.4 |
PGH Wong, SF |
Salt Lake West Valley |
2011 |
$US45.03 |
PGH Wong, SF |
Tenerife, Spain |
2007 |
$34.8 |
AEC, Bilbao |
Tours, France |
2013 |
$29.7 |
Systra |
VICTORIA |
$62...??? |
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Vitoria, Spain |
2008 |
$22.4 |
AEC |
Zaragoza, Spain |
2011 |
$43.5 |
Traza |
A Little Context
The CRD Business and Residential Taxpayers Association likes to present itself as the public-minded champion of the "little guy". Many of its members are car dealers and other related businesses. Victorians funnel at least a BILLION dollars each year into these firms' pockets, and they don't want that to change.
Investing, say, $600 million in a James Bay/Western Communities tramway would be, at most, 60% of what we spend each year on cars and trucks. Unreasonable?
Operating Costs
Because Calgary's tram network has achieved very high ridership, per-passenger LRT operating costs are extremely low compared to bus. Ottawa's BRT system has not achieved operating efficiencies one might expect:
Calgary & Ottawa Per-passenger Operating Costs, 2005
Calgary LRT 27¢
Calgary bus $1.50
Ottawa bus $2.54
Note: Ottawa figure includes the short O-Train diesel rail line, but this is a very small portion of overall patronage.
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Calgary's C-Train (right) has been far more successful at both attracting passengers and reducing operating costs than Ottawa's Transitway bus rapid transit (BRT) system.
Besançon: Build it Right, Build it at a Fair Price
This French community isn't very big, much smaller than Victoria, in fact (metro pop. appr. 220,000). The nearest big city to Besançon is Geneva, Switzerland. But they're building a 14.5 km tramway (almost as long as a James Bay/Western Communities tramway) for €228 million (that's about $310 million Canadian).
How do they do that, SNC/Lavalin??? Why is $62 million/km a reasonable figure for Victoria, when this dinky French city can get it done for just over one-third as much, per km???
Above left is an artist's conception of Besançon's tramway, scheduled to open in 2015.Right is one of the trams, made by the Spanish firm CAF. The French city took bids from six manufacturers to get the best possible price, and used standardized instead of customized finishings.