The $11 billion Solution!

It seems our politicians and political wannabees are living in a financial ennui. The massive costs of our current transit planning are being ignored, with the rah, rah rant of the various rapid transit promoters glossing over the real costs of their various pet projects. Our so called experts ignore the costs and it is [...]

$580 Million Per Kilometre

Something TransLink and the Mayors Council on Transit likes to keep hidden. The cost of subway construction in Toronto is pegged at $580 million per km. By comparison, the cost for LRT (not in BC mind) is pegged at $35 million to $50 million per km. We can build 10 or more km of LRT [...]

All Quiet On The Eastern Front

  Zwei has a habit of making people mad and the list is long. So, in an effort to even more people mad, I will recall a conversation I had a week or so back with a former NDP politician. The former NDP politician wishes to remain anonymous as the person does not want to [...]

Some Smart People Out There, Not Here Apparently……

In Europe, transportation needs are designed to meet the needs of transit customers. In BC, transportation needs are designed to further political careers and money laundering. Example: The $3 billion Broadway SkyTrain subway, being built on a transit route which has peak hour traffic flows under 4,000 pphpd! Who is the subway being built for? [...]

Commuter Rail Is Passe – It Is The Age Of TramTrain!

The anti-rail brigade is hard at it on Vancouver Island and there is a good reason why. The author of the piece, consults with SNC Lavalin (a major red flag there)Ai?? and SNC Lavalin only wants high profit projects. Example 1: The Canada line faux P-3 consortium, lead by SNC Lavalin,Ai?? receives about $110 million [...]

Fake News And The SkyTrain Lobby – Who Are They Really Working For?

Really, can’t the SkyTrain Lobby do any better? The following is so silly and juvenile because it is all hearsay and opinion, not fact. But facts have never bothered the SkyTrain Lobby as they try once again try to fool the public about SkyTrain. They treat everyone like rubes at a country fair. This is [...]

A Novices Guide To Transit – Updated

ai??i??ai??i??ai??i?? or cutting through the BS about light rail, SkyTrain and BRT. The following is a guide plus definitions about ai???railai??? transit. ALM: Automatic Light metro, the fourthAi??marketing name given for the SkyTrain family of light-metros, when Lavalin briefly ownedAi??SkyTrain before going bankrupt. ALRT (1): Advanced Light Rail Transit, the secondAi??marketing name for SkyTrain. ALRT [...]

Seeing Is Believing – Why Doesn’t Translink Understand The Simple Facts Of LRT?

Courtesy of Mr. Haveacow from Ottawa. Zwei, I am sending you a very telling photograph. Its near Blair Station and the Ottawa LRV is undergoing testing. Notice the complete lack of paint effects and graphics as well as the fact that, many of its portals and access panels are in the down position, so equipment [...]

Another Crash And Fatality On Hwy. 7

Too many auto deaths in the Fraser Valley this year, but with no alternatives but to drive and ever increasing population growth, leading to more cars and more congestion, more and more accidents and fatalities will occur. I sorry, only five West Coast Express Trains in and out of Vancouver doesn’t cut it, yet our [...]

The French Approach to LRT Versus The American (Canadian) Approach

The following is well worthAi?? 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 [...]