From September 2010 – The Groundbreaking Leewood Study

On September 20, 2010, Rail for the Valley unreleased the groundbreaking Leewood Study regarding the reinstatement of a passenger service using the former BC Electric, now Southern Railway of BC route. Why Groundbreaking? The Leewood Study was the first and only independent study done on passenger rail for the Fraser Valley, without political or bureaucratic [...]

An Election Is Coming. The NDP Follows The Old Script.

As with all Metro Vancouver transit projects, they are good for three or four election cycles. The NDP are just using their tired playbook from the 90′s, nothing more and, shock and disbelief, Parliamentary Secretary for TransLink, Browinn Ma is the do nothing MLA for North Vancouver Lonsdale. Need I say more. “Our government is [...]

A Post From Mr. Haveacow – Speedy Transit

The avatar, “Haveacow” is used by a very knowledgeable Canadian transportation specialist. He knows what he is talking about and Zwei greatly respects his input. Since SkyTrain was first foisted on the taxpayer, one of the many false claims for building with it, was that it was fast. There are problems with this claim, including: [...]

The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree – From 2010

Now, a decade later, the City of Vancouver’s Engineering Department still claims that LRT is limited to a capacity of only 7,000 to 8,000 pphpd! Yet the very same CoV department has never mentioned that the Canada Line, with 40 metre long station platforms can, only allow 41 metre, 2 car trains, which limits capacity [...]

STOP PRESS – Another Transit Study For The Fraser Valley. In Time For The Next Election?

Zwei is going to reserve comment, except for the fact that Rail for the Valley’s  Leewood Study, lays the groundwork for a viable regional rail service for the Fraser Valley. The Leewood Study, please click here. Transportation planning study launches in Fraser Valley   As part of BC’s Restart Plan, the Province is examining a [...]

When Driving: Be kind, Be forgiving, Be Sane – A Note From Zwei.

  After driving in and around Metro Vancouver in the past few weeks, the standard of driving is just terrible. It seems that the Covid-19 debacle has made driving idiots out of us all. I have witnessed not fewer than 10 incidents in the past week that would have lead to tragedy, by drivers who, [...]

Tit For Tat

It has always been a wonder to me that politicians, especially mayors do not work for the public’s interest, but for their cronies. Political friend’s interests come first. The valley rail project is one project that makes sense, with a lot of people, yet regional mayor’s will not even try to help make such a [...]

Absolute Madness!

Absolute madness from the Mayor’s Council on Transit. The game has changed, the taxpayer is broke and cannot pay more. The transit customers are broke and cannot pay higher fares. Covid-19, like it or not has changed the transit game completely. Spending a budgeted $4.6 billion to extend the Movia Automatic Light Metro lines (Expo [...]

Has The Great TransLink Lollipop Ride Ended?

Fiscal reality is now hitting TransLink and the Mayor’s Council on Transit square in the face. Memo to the Mayor’s council on Transit: It is time to rethink your transit priorities, especially that $4.6 billion price tag to extend the MALM system (Expo & Millennium Lines) 12.8 km. The estimated added $40 million annual operating [...]

Rethink And Introduce TramTrain!

As Covid-19 wrecks havoc with BC’s economy, it is time to rethink the provincial policy of building more light-metro, highways and bridges and instead concentrate on “rail” transport. The Provincial Ministry of Transportation should refrain from building mega projects like subways and massive 10 lane bridges and concentrate on providing proven modes of alternative transportation. [...]