Playing Trains At TransLink

The TransLink saga carries on.

The Mayors did run TransLink once, but they ran afoul of former Premier Gordon Campbell and his desire to build the worlds only P-3 heavy rail metro which would have less capacity than a streetcar. The province, with former Liberal Cabinet Minister Kevin Falcon at the helm ensured that this white elephant was built.

The provincial Liberals, really do not care at all about regional transit and do not want to shell out any more money to TransLink, seeing that the entire organization is toxic to voters. The province also doesn’t want the regional Mayors, who are equally clueless aboutAi?? transit, to make TransLink even more unpalatable with the voters, by planning massively expensive vanity projects like the Broadway subway and the Surrey poor man’s LRT.

The chap in charge of the TransLink fiasco, Minister “Factbender” is also as thick as three sort planks about Transit and is just doing the premier’s bidding. With LNG in the tank and her own vanity projects to pay for, the Premier will opt to do nothing.

The result of course is a growing transportation debacle in the region, fed by provincial political hubris; regional political ennui; and bureaucratic incompetence.

We once had a gentleman who knew his stuff, running TransLink, a Mr. Prendergast, but he was “sent to Coventry” by the powers that be, because he actually wanted to improve transit and not design transit to ‘cut ribbons’ at election time.

Zwei has an answer for the regional politico’s, go to WalMart after Christmas and buy cheap, cheap plastic Christmas Train sets and play trains, as it would be a whole lot cheaper than playing trains at TransLink.

Metro Vancouver directors are pushing for full control of the region’s transportation policy, saying it’s the best way to “plan, fund and deliver a first-class regional transportation system” and rebuild confidence in TransLink.

Photograph by: Ric Ernst, PNG

Metro Vancouver directors are pushing for full control of the region’s transportation policy, saying it’s the best way to “plan, fund and deliver a first-class regional transportation system” and rebuild confidence in TransLink.

The move, which would develop strategies, transportation plans, investment plans, annual budgets and funding sources, was recommended in a draft position paper presented by a Metro Vancouver task force, struck to look at the issue of TransLink’s governance following a failed transportation plebiscite this past spring. The task force, which met five times between September and November, examined governance structures for the delivery of public transit as well as ways to strengthen the links between Metro’s growth strategy and TransLink planning.

ai???A change in legislation to place control for planning and policy decisions with regional elected officials on the Mayorsai??i?? Council would strengthen the linkages between regional transportation and regional land use planning considerably because these regional elected officials are accountable and already involved in regional land use planning,ai??? Metro Vancouver chairman Greg Moore said.

The directors are calling immediately to establish joint planning sessions, to be held quarterly, between the TransLink Board and the mayorsai??i?? council to discuss key strategies, plans, and policies. The Metro board is opposed to the concept of smaller joint planning advisory committees that would report to the TransLink Board, as was proposed in the Nov. 16, draft position paper developed for the task force.

Metro argues the changes would set the stage for a strong working relationships between and among the TransLink Board, Metro Vancouver, the Mayorsai??i?? Council and the provincial government and help to rebuild confidence in TransLink among the public. Metro said recent changes in 2014, which allowed two mayors to sit on the TransLink board and veto plans that don’t support the regional growth strategy, were helpful but did not allow regional officials to help develop TransLinkai??i??s key regional transportation plans or annual budgets and service plans.

ai???Successfully addressing the issues facing public transit in Metro Vancouver will only be achieved if elected officials are responsible for the governance of how the service is delivered, and if there are strong links between the regional growth strategy and transportation planning at Translink,ai??? said task force chairman and Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay.

TramTrain’s In The UK – Good News For Rail for the Valley

This news item from the UK, is good news for those who advocate for TramTrain operation in Canada.

Why?

The Sheffield TramTrains have gone through a rigorous safety program of testing overseen by the UK’s Office of Rail and Road formerly her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate, a body that is highly respected around the world.

Sheffield’s new TramTrain has now passed it’s rigorous safety case, with service stating in 2017, which will make somewhat easier for the implementation of TramTrain on our shores.

 

Friday 11 December 2015

Ai??The first tram train in the UK has been unveiled in Sheffield.

Passengers in South Yorkshire will be the first to travel on the special vehicles, which will run between Sheffield and Rotherham ai??i?? and the project is on track for early 2017.

Tram trains are trams which will also run along railway tracks. The vehicles will undergo a period of testing, before three are introduced on the Supertram network in summer 2016 to provide extra services at busy times.

Seven vehicles in total will then be put into service, linking the tram and train tracks.

Three services will run an hour, linking Sheffield, Meadowhall and Rotherham.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones, who unveiled the new tram train yesterday, said: ai???When the doors opened on the depot and this magnificent tram train emerged it was a special moment.

ai???This is a proper landmark in the project; this vehicle is here and there are a further six on the way and engineering works by Network Rail are also underway.

ai???Itai??i??s not far into the future now, but the key thing is it has been a bit of a bumpy ride but when youai??i??re doing something for the first time in the UK we have to work out how to do something.

ai???There is no manual that you can pull off the shelf.ai???

He added that the new system would benefit the region due to greater connectivity, particularly in Rotherham where there has been no link with the tram network before.

The South Yorkshie tram train pilot will run for two years.

If successful, it is hoped that they will continue to run as a local service and stimulate similar schemes across the country.

Mr Jones said: ai???Weai??i??ve never had a system before where you can take a vehicle off the light rail system onto the heavy rail system. All the tram systems run locally and itai??i??s up to local people to look at this and see whatai??i??s right for their area. But when they do that they will be supported by the Department.ai???

Read more: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/video-tram-trains-on-track-and-ready-to-go-1-7618259#ixzz3u7YoZ8J6

Begging For Cash

As the old adage says; “When beggars knock at the door, rush out the back door and check the chickens”; Premier Clark is off to Ottawa begging for some cash for her two ill-found vanity transit projects, the $3 billion Broadway subway and the $2.3 billion Surrey LRT, that local voters rejected in the past plebiscite.

The problem for the Premier and of course the taxpayer is that both vanity transit projects, especially the Broadway subway and will do little if anything to ease traffic congestion in the region.

The real story is, BC is bankrupt after a decade of ill found government and cannot afford its usual gold plated transit projects that are rolled out at election time.

If the Federal Liberals in Ottawa have any backbone at all, they will say no and tell the premier plan for what she can afford.

Ai??Premier hoping feds come through with a whole lot of transit funding

Vancouver, BC, Canada / News Talk 980 CKNW | Vancouver’s News. Vancouver’s Talk

Shane Woodford

December 10, 2015

 

While the mayors remain stuck on how to fund this regionai??i??s share of transit and transportation costs, the Premier says there may be another way.

Premier Christy Clark says they are in early discussions with the Justin Trudeau government to come in and pick all or some of the regionai??i??s tab.

ai???What weai??i??re doing now, though, is weai??i??re working with the federal government to see if there are ways that the federal government can help municipalities pay for their share of this. I think that there might be a path there where local government might have some of their burden picked up by the federal government.ai???

As for detailsai??i??

ai???You know I would if I could if I knew the answers but I donai??i??t yet. We are still in very early discission stage with them. The mayor of Vancouver has gone to Ottawa to lobby them as well. We have really been leading that conversation but I donai??i??t know what it will look like yet. This is something they are focused on though so I think we will have a better answer for you pretty quickly.ai???

Clark says her hope is the federal government would help shoulder the bill for the Broadway SkyTrain line, light rail in Surrey, and for the George Massey tunnel replacement.

She says more details will be coming, quote ai???pretty quickly.ai???

However Clark is sticking to her guns on the legislated requirement for a referendum on any new funding model for transit and transportation costs in the region.

On Translink governance she adds the province is not at the moment ai???contemplatingai??? any changes to how the transit utility is run.

The Seamless (No Transfer) Journey

From a 2010 post, edited for today.

It has been long known with transit operators that the seamless or no transfer journey is the ‘ticket’ to attract customers to public transit as it is well understood that one could lose upwards of 70% of ridership per transfer, even inter modal. On older tramways and streetcar systems, many lines offered more than one service, providing the all important seamless journey to many destinations. Cities that abandoned there streetcar/tramways in favour of subways, forced many customers to first take a bus to the metro and then for many, transfer again. Many former transit customers found that the car provided the seamless journey and with the added advantage being easier and less time consuming to use.

Though transit officials were aware of the problem of loss of ridership due to transfer, little was done to improve the situation until a very dramatic event happened in 1993, in Karlsruhe Germany. When Karlsruhe’s first two-system (Zweisystem) or tram train line opened, replacing one major transfer point at the City BanhoffAi?? where transit customers normally would transfer from commuter train to tram, ridership surged way beyond expectations! Weekday ridership on TramTrain increased 423% in just a few weeks.

Before LRT

Commuter trainAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? After LRTAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? % increase

Weekdays – 488,400Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 2,064,378 Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai??Ai?? 423%

SaturdaysAi?? – 39,000 Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? 263,120 Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai??Ai?? 675%

SundaysAi?? -Ai??Ai?? 6,200Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 227,47Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 3,669%

Total Ai?? – 533,600Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 2,554,976Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai?? 479%

(Albtal-Verkengesllschaft Karlsruhe & ABB Henchel)

Since Karlsruhe’s dramatic increase in patronage on their tram train system, European planners have put great emphases on the all important seamless (no-transfer) journey and designed new transit lines, not as feeders to subways or regional railways but as stand alone transit lines servicing major destinations, even in competition with other transit modes.

The lesson of Karlsruhe should not be lost on the advocates for the return of the Valley interurban service, who want the new service to terminate at Scott Road SkyTrain Station and compel those who want to go to Vancouver to transfer to SkyTrain. The all important seamless journey from Vancouver to Langley, Abbotsford and Chilliwack may just provide the ticketAi?? to make the new service successful!

Meanwhile, South of the Boarder…………

Seattle is building a subway system, using light rail vehicles. LRT it is not as 70% of the current hybrid rail system is grade separated, either on viaduct or in a subway, with the only at-grade portion traveling through a poorer (black) neighbourhood, and extensions being built to date are almost entirely subways.

The main reasons for building light rail as a metro; Seattle’s very expensive bus/LRT tunnel ($468 million in 1990 dollars) under the city centre and the very vocal and well financed monorail lobby, which made silly promises about the capabilities of monorail. The LRT had to be designed to counter the monorail lobby’s rhetoric and politicians demanded that the LRT use the bus subway, which had streetcar rails already laid. The rails had to be replaced for the new mini-metro.

So bad was the feelings of those supporting LRT, that they quit and ceased to support the current transit planning in the region!

With very generous subsidies from the Federal Government, Seattle’s hybrid mini-metro continues to grow, but oh my the costs.

If built, Seattle would have a subway/metro network extending 100 km from Tacoma to Everett and 60 km. from Redmond to Ballard/West Seattle costing more than $50 billion; that’s $67.5 billion CAD!!

It is clear that Seattle’s transit planners have ignored the European light rail Renaissance and continue to spend massive sums of monies on a 1950’s style transit system, where transit is submerged in tunnels, so cars have free reign of the roads. Unfortunately, history has told us, such planning will come back and haunt the good citizens with ever higher taxes and increased congestion, the same which is happening in Metro Vancouver.

Sound Transit outlines plan for major light rail expansion

By Graham Johnson

SEATTLE ai??i??

New light rail tunnels beneath downtown Seattle could be part of a big ballot measure next year.

On Friday, Sound Transit released details of how Seattle’s single light rail line could expand to be more like a big-city subway system.

“It’s necessary for a growing city like Seattle, so I’m for it,” said Chris Metcalf as he rode Sound Transit’s Link Light Rail.

Sound Transit officials say the agency is considering as many as four one-way tubes beneath Fifth and Sixth Avenues to accommodate new light rail lines.

Sound Transit released a map showing how lines might be split.

One would run between Everett and West Seattle, another between Everett, Downtown Seattle and Redmond.

A third line would expand the current Link, going between Ballard and Tacoma.

“This is beginning to look like and operate like a real metropolitan subway system,” said Ric Ilgenfritz, Sound Transit executive director for planning and project development.

New connecting tunnels could be part of the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure before voters in November 2016.

Sound Transit says the typical adult in urban areas of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties would pay $200 more per year because of higher property and sales taxes and car tag fees.

Next year, Sound Transit’s board will decide whether to ask voters to pay over 15, 20, or 25 years.

“How far out into the future the program goes determines how many projects we can do,” said Ilgenfritz.

The 25-year option would bring in $27 billion in local taxes, plus $21 billion in other revenue, for a total of $48 billion.

The Tunnel machine Bertha’s delays digging the State Route 99 tunnel could make voters hesitant to fund new tunnels.

But Seattle Mayor Ed Murray points out Sound Transit has a much better tunneling track record than the state.

“We can build tunnels in this region on time and on budget,” Murray said.

In late March, Sound Transit will release a draft of which projects make it into the ballot measure.

The list will be finalized in June before the vote in November.

More details on Sound Transitai??i??s analysis of light rail routes can be found at soundtransit3.org

If It Is Not Stock, Don’t buy It!

I found these two adds while I was looking on older Twitter feeds. These two adds are from this year’sAi??UITP Conference in Brussels back in September. The first is a add featuring one of the 220 Flexity LRV’s serving in the host city. The same class of LRV’s that ran in Vancouver in 2010 for the Olympics. Looks pretty nice in a faux cityscape doesn’t it?

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The second add is showing the numbers of currentAi??ORDERS for Bombardier Flexity LRV’s and Trams, againAi??THIS ISAi??LRV’S ORDEREDAi??NOT DELEIVEREDAi?? which by the way, is over 2000. It doesn’t even show the 220 + orders for Ontario based LRT Lines.

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The add shows a point I have tried toAi??drill into SkyTrain supporters heads untilAi??I have been blue in the face. If you want your rail public transit vehicle design to survive, these are the kind of numbers you have to produce for it to be considered successful. Bombardier’s Innovia ART 200 & 300 numbers don’t even come anywhere close to this!

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Cheers

A Letter to the Prime Minister – Transit Issues in Metro Vancouver