@archited What- Okay, clearly we aren't seeing eye-to-eye on this, so I'll just address your points to mine. Also
@Foolworm don't worry this is the last post I'm going to make on this subject here.
First of all, I didn't mention distance once when talking about LAX and EIA, as that wasn't the point of the comparison. What I meant by "city mass" was that LAX is surrounded by highly developed land packed with existing infrastructure, so building a heavy rail connection from the downtown to the airport there would be extremely expensive and impractical, whereas the LRT connection makes more logical sense as it’ll better integrate with the urbanized environment and be
significantly less expensive. EIA, on the other hand, is surrounded by almost nothing but open land to easily build a heavy station and alignment on, and the big fat cherry on top is that there is already a direct rail corridor leading all the way into the city. Couple that with my other reasons and only having to make a couple stops along the way as opposed to
fourteen and the benefit starts to become clearer. One minor point I’ll concede to is the ventilation. I can see how that one aspect actually isn’t much of a concern. Also, when did I ever say that “Nobody in Edmonton wants to travel to the Airport”? This option is more convenient from both ends of the line buddy.
Moving on to my hypothetical transit hub, “lugging baggage” isn’t going to be much of an issue, as there will be an indoor accessible pedway to reach the underground Festival and Energy Lines (which also directly connect to downtown mind you) directly from the terminal, and the ERRS and Gondola are
literally right across the street. Oh, and taking the LRT wouldn’t be ironic because it’s doing what it’s supposed to do, connect the
inner city ?
Finally, sorry but I’m not going to even indulge the idea of a Hyperloop. That system isn’t economically practical for inter-city travel much less a 27km jaunt (
watch out for my post in the Hyperloop thread in the near future…).
In the end, I guess have one thing left to say: When looking at both sides, it’s important to realize a balance between the benefits and costs in not just the overall project, but in the
minute details as well. Yes, extending the LRT to the airport will have less upfront cost and people would not have to make a transfer to reach the downtown area
specifically, but at what indirect cost? A slow, meandering ride which will honestly require a large portion of people to make at least one transfer anyway (not everyone wants to go downtown, you know). On the other hand, yes, people will most likely have to make at least one transfer in my system and it will be more expensive upfront,
but that’s the point! Once at the terminal, travellers have all possible transit options at their fingertips, including three that take them directly into the city centre. I just can’t see how that isn’t the closest to perfect that things can possibly get.
And that’s what I want to end this on. All of us here want Edmonton’s transit to be as close to perfect as possible, and I think that’s a great thing. Ted, you and me may differ on this one idea, but I know we’re more similar than anything in our core beliefs and ideals when it comes to Urban Planning and Architecture. The only difference is that you’ve had a lifetime of experience and I’m just starting mine, and I hope I get the chance to speak to you in person one day.
Have a goodnight! ?
