Is Rapid Transit Viable in Winnipeg?

Last week I had a spirited debate with a couple other posters on a CBC Winnipeg blog. It had been implied I was not in favour of rapid transit. One even suggested I was happy living in a sleepy backwater. This is an edited version of my reply post.

I have never suggested we don’t need rapid transit. In fact, I said I’d love it and I would like to see a plan to built it. I merely posed a question asking if we NEED rapid transit TODAY. Some think we do. I simply don’t know, I’m just not sure.

I suggested that perhaps we don’t have the traffic density of larger cities and regions for comparison purposes. Many in Winnipeg suggest that if other cities can do it we can do it. I personally believe comparing Winnipeg to European or even North Dakota centres is a fruitless exercise. Saying so should not imply I believe Winnipeg is a sleepy back-water. Quite the contrary.

The real issue with traffic movement in Winnipeg is that Winnipeg planners must believe the solution to all traffic problems is to put up yet another set of traffic lights. Kenaston near the power centres is a perfect example of poor planning and short-sighted thinking. FYI, ALL the monies collected via gasoline taxes should be given to the municipalities to fix their roads and bridges.

Winnipeg IS a small city, comparatively speaking, though I do wish we’d think more progressively. I’ve railed for years about the lack of forethought by city planners and their seeming avoidance of a system of freeways and express routes here. I think I read last year that the city abandoned any plans for such a network. That can’t be good!

More on traffic planning in another post.

The US cities of Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota do a great job on their infrastructure. My understanding is the US Federal Government and the States provide substantially greater infrastructure capital to municipalities then do the Federal and Provincial Governments in Canada. Couple thoughts for your consideration: 1) public transit is significantly subsidized by Uncle Sam (the Feds). Not so in Canada. And b) regarding domed stadia in those centres, they were paid by the taxpayer but they raised the capital via a specific tax levy voted on by a specific plebiscite. Something our politicos seem reluctant to do.

Now on the subject of urban density, North Dakota has a total mass of 186,272 square kilometres and has a population roughly half that of Manitoba, representing a density of 3.592/km². Manitoba has more than 3.5 times the mass and a density of almost one half. (1)

1) Figures gleaned from Wikipedia.