Light rail advertisement

In March 1995 a Transport Action BC member came up with an idea for an advertisement which compares the two development paths that can be taken to deal with traffic problems - improved public transport or a massive investment in roads and parkades. Light rail transit is one major public transport improvement which Transport Action strongly supports, and which recently released rapid transit reports did not seem to deal with knowledgeably. The ad was approved at a meeting and appeared on page 27 of the April 7-14, 1995 edition of the Georgia Straight, a local newspaper with a circulation of approximately half a million.

A paper was written justifying the statements made in the advertisement. Respondents to the advertisement received a copy of the ad, the justification, information on Transport Action B.C., and recent copies of the Transit Update.

The ad (viewable as a 68K GIF file) was somewhat successful in attracting attention and new members.

Ad description

Headline: "Which would you prefer? The choice is yours!"

One row of four photographs:

• A light rail vehicle (tram) in Nantes, France. This vehicle is very streamlined (rounded ends, fairings so that the wheels are barely visible) and has large windows and many doors, demonstrating that LRVs can be quite attractive and airy, and can be boarded quickly at stops. The LRVs in Nantes were originally built as single articulated vehicles before the recent popularity of low floor LRVs, but have since had a centre low-floor section added which solves both the capacity problems (the system in Nantes has attracted a lot of riders) and the access problems. There are many more modern designs which have a larger low floor area (anywhere from 65% to 100% of the total floor area).
• A woman stepping through the door into the centre section of a Nantes tram. This picture is intended to demonstrate the ease of boarding a low floor tram - the doors open wide and there is a ramp which extends automatically to the curb at each stop, allowing strollers or wheelchairs to roll on with minimal effort. Any local readers who have tried boarding a BC Transit bus during rush hour will appreciate the advantage of quick boarding through many wide doors!
• A ten storey parking garage in Seattle. Actually, a particularly ugly ten storey parking garage in Seattle which is surrounded by a surface parking lot and street parking.
• A particularly land intensive highway interchange.

The two photographs on the left are grouped together, with the following text below:

A modern double articulated light rail vehicle with low floor
Line capacity: 20 000 people per hour per direction
Speed: 90 km/h max, 30 - 45 km/h including stops (depends on line)
Cost: $15 million/km average (SkyTrain $45 million/km)

The two photographs on the right are grouped together, with the following text below:

The alternative to good transit is more and larger roads and parkades
Capacity: 2 600 people per hour per lane (1.43 people/vehicle)
Speed: 100 km/h max, typically 20 - 45 km/h including stops
Cost: from $15 million/km to $118 million/km (Cassiar connector)

Below the two sets of photographs and text is a long explanatory text:

Photographs on left are of LRT system in Nantes, France. There are more than 340 cities in the world with light rail systems, many with populations less than that of the city of Vancouver. Light rail systems are cost effective when carrying as few as 2000 people per hour per direction. Light rail vehicles last 30 years or more, can be purchased from many manufacturers, carry 160 - 250 people but cost about the same as a SkyTrain car which carries 75. Light rail systems can use existing track and do not require grade separation. Local politicians are being told that LRT is expensive - it need not be! If you care about liveable neighbourhoods, saving money and energy, reducing noise, pollution, injuries and deaths, write to your MLA and councillor; tell them the Lower Mainland needs an affordable network of light rail lines. (The original ad provided addresses for contacting Transport Action B.C. to obtain an information packet. This has been superseded by the web pages.)