Regional Transportation Conundrum – We Need A Royal Commission On Regional Transportation
The following article demonstrates our current problem in metro Vancouver, a complete and utter lack of understanding public transit and the role of public transit. Again, for public transit to be successful, it must be user friendly, if not, people will avoid it and they do in droves in Metro Vancouver. Buses are a hard [...]
Rail for the Valley: A Letter to Premier Horgan
Dear Premier Horgan, Congratulations on your recent electoral success and now fresh winds will sweeps across British Columbia. My name is Malcolm Johnston and I have been an advocate for better public transit in the Metro Vancouver region for over 30 years. Transit in Metro Vancouver is in a precarious position and funding is not [...]
The French Approach to LRT Versus The American (Canadian) Approach
The following is well worth read as it compares the French Approach to Modern LRT and the American and Canadian rather dated approach to the transit mode. French v US approach to light rail What we should plan for, instead of playing games with land development. MACRO (regional strategies) * (1) Ressau: (network) Design at [...]
Light Rail Denial And TransLink
There seems to be a general naivete about Light Rail or LRT in the media, due in part to TransLink’s war on LRT, with their well advertised preference for light-metro. Today, except for “niche transit” solutions, public transport is divided into three modes, bus, tram, and metro; with each mode built to economically deal with [...]
The BRT Myth Exposed!
The following is from the Urbansit from Seattle and is quite interesting. First of all, for those who care to know, Seattle’s LRT is indeed a light-metro, which ultimate capacity is over 32,000 pphpd (today, it’s 16,000″on the existing line before ventilation and emergency escape upgrades are made.”) True light rail operates mainly at-grade and [...]
The TransLink Debacle – Brought To You In Part, By Mr. Factbender
Nothing new here. TransLink was conceived by the NDP to get then GVRD Chair, George Puil on board to support the now renamed (ALRT to ART) Millennium Line. No one in the NDP at the time had any thought of making TransLink independent as control of major transit projects would remain in the Premier’s office. [...]
Why the car is winning the commuter war – Simple, it is called SkyTrain
The modern tram brings fast, reliable and user-friendly public transport to densely populated European Cities, like Amsterdam. The ability of the transit customer of having his/hers transit on the pavement and easily accessible, makes modern light-rail the first choice of transit planners around the world. Sadly, not so in Metro Vancouver. A bit of a [...]
Is gridlock the real Expo 86 legacy for Metro Vancouver?
Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight is the one reporter who has studied the transit issue and knows the issues. Despite the hype and hoopla, especially from provincial politicians (both Liberal, Socred & NDP) the SkyTrain Lobby, the many issues surrounding SkyTrain have been glossed over by the mainstream media. This is still evident today [...]
A Letter To Media and Politicians
This letter went out to all the usual suspects, MP’s, MLA’s, and Mayors and Council. There is a general naivete about Light Rail Transit or LRT in the media, due in part to TransLink’s and previously BC Transits thirty five year war on LRT, with their well advertised preference for light-metro. Today, except for [...]
The Federal Budget – LRT Mentioned, But Not A Subway
The Federal budget did not hold any transit surprises, with $370 million to be spent over five years for transit project support. Well, $370 million will buy you about one kilometre of a Broadway subway or put another way, 200 metres a year spread over five years, big deal! We could build 2 km of [...]
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