Dead passenger found riding subway

Dead passenger found riding Berlin subway
By Reuters
BERLIN – A 65-year-old man thought to be sleeping while sitting upright on a Berlin underground train as it crisscrossed the German capital was actually dead, police said on Sunday.

“It’s tragic,” a Berlin police spokeswoman said. “We don’t know how long he was sitting dead on the train nor do we know the exact cause of death yet. There are no indications of foul play. He seems to have died of natural causes.”

The man was found in the U-8 underground train line that runs all night at the Weinmeisterstrasse station at 5:45 a.m. when a rail worker tried wake the man up by gently shaking him. Medics were called in but could only pronounce the man dead.

A preliminary investigation showed no indications of the man being murdered. A more detailed autopsy is planned for Monday.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/23/16105169-dead-passenger-found-riding-berlin-subway?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=7

Tragic the news is, especially at this time of the year;Ai??the Cardinal hopes that Translink will not dismiss the human element of subterranean human transit, in their ambition Ai??for a fully automatic metro.

Translink plays dead at the first lick of snow, but all over the world street level Light Rail & Tramways take the weather in their stride

In other words a few inches of snow doesn’t stop @ grade LRT/street level Tramways; a foot and so long as the snow sweaping is effective the LRV/Trams keep on operating.

Croydon Tramlink

TransLinkai??i??s bus company is expensive, inefficient and dysfunctional in inclement weather; US & European Tramways operate without a doubt in snow conditions.

Spotlight on trams: Helsinki

Is the Mainstream Media “Getting It”?

It seems Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s disastrous showing of its public transit service is beginning to raise eyebrows within the TransLink friendly mainstream media.

SkyTrain did work, my god it should, there was hardly any snowAi??to speak of to impede service, but it was the failure of the buses that was embarrassing. TransLink’s entire transit philosophy is to force feed the SkyTrain light-metro with tens of thousands of commuters and if the buses fail to do their job, then the transit system collapses and collapse it did.

Unlike other cities transit systems like Seattle and Portland, TransLink does not have a snow plan, except forAi??management toAi??run in circles exclaiming; “shock and disbelief”.

Buses servicing SFU, which is located on top of a mountain, are not chained; there is no coordination with city engineering departments to ensure cleared snow routes for buses; abysmal management abounds! Where is the TransLink board? Nothing but silence from the so called Board of Experts.

TransLink is an embarrassment and it is time that the province fix it or get rid of it!

Barbara Yaffe: No other transit system in Canada plays dead at the first lick of snow

TransLink’s bus company is expensive, inefficient and dysfunctional in inclement weather

VANCOUVER ai??i?? Take a public transit system that delivers mediocre service at the best of times, sprinkle some snow and a dash of wind and what you get is a recipe for chaos.

Thatai??i??s exactly what got served up Wednesday to bus riders in Metro Vancouver who, in too many cases, were left to fend for themselves.

The simple truth is, Coast Mountain Bus service let its customers down in meteorological circumstances that would be considered no big deal in Montreal or Toronto.

Transit spokesman Derek Zabel blamed accidents, road and intersection closures, fallen trees and branches, one fire and two bridge closures. He might have added poor snow-clearing operations.

Zabel added that the staff ai???is focused on delivering service for our valued customers as best we can in the conditions we face.ai???

I waited one hour for a No. 41 bus Wednesday, even as non-bus vehicles whizzed past on a road which, at that point, had turned slushy.

A friend taking the same bus two hours later wound up walking an hour to get home, witnessing not one passing bus during her ordeal.

This, despite the fact TransLink has a ai???Snow Planai??? it implements at the first sign of the stuff.

When things get slippery, particular problem areas for the company include the North Shore, Coquitlam, Simon Fraser University and Victoria Drive.

Chains arenai??i??t used on bus tires because they are inappropriate on bare roads, says a company statement that warns: ai???Customers themselves need to be prepared for any eventuality, including longer than usual waits for buses or SkyTrain and the possibility of having to walk if a bus is … rerouted.

ai???One should dress appropriately for the elements and wear proper footwear.ai???

But surely, when weather turns harsh, thatai??i??s when citizens most need transit. It might be reasonable to argue that services might falter in a hurricane or blizzard, but Wednesdayai??i??s fluffy snowfall?

Metro Vancouver should be able to keep its $1.28-billion transit company functioning when some snow falls ai??i?? as it does most every year; this is Canada.

The situation grew more absurd Wednesday afternoon when a spanking new $3.3-billion Port Mann Bridge started raining down ice chunks on cars, forcing its closure.

Both taxpayers and transit users, who incidentally are facing a Jan. 1 hike in transit fares, have reason to feel thoroughly fed up. Half of Coast Mountainai??i??s budget comes from citizensai??i?? taxes; another 35.6 per cent is derived from fares.

The truth is, in both bad weather and good, Coast Mountain ai??i?? when set against counterparts in Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto ai??i?? scores poorly on a host of measures.

A March 2012 report on Coast Mountainai??i??s operations by Shirocca Consulting revealed: ai???compared to Canadian peers, the bus division exhibits an abundance of equipment and staffing levels that help to explain its generally higher costs and lower cost efficiency and effectiveness than most of the peers, even after taking into account its large service areas.ai???

The report noted ai???two disturbing trends [in] the rising cost per passenger carried and decline in the number of passengers carried per hour.ai???

It further reported outsized administrative costs as well as the highest fares when multi-zone pricing is factored in.

Shirocca Consulting called on Coast Mountain to improve ai???productivity in both bus service delivery and maintenance.ai???

While the transit company bears blame, governments need to own some of the mess on display Wednesday.

In an October 2011 report, A Blueprint for a National Transit Framework, the Mowat Centre pointed out that efficient transit is crucial to the success of ai???large city regionsai???.

Canadaai??i??s cities lack resources to expand and maintain their transit systems, and ai???there has historically been insufficient financial support from other levels of government, particularly the federal government.ai???

Canada is the only G7 economy failing to provide predictable, dedicated funding for transit systems.

That said, itai??i??s hard to believe transit systems elsewhere in Canada would collapse under the weight of a few centimetres of snow as Coast Mountain did this week.

byaffe@vancouversun.com

Ai?? Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Challenge Richard

SkyTrainai??i??s Expo Line was built in 1985 and opened in time for Expo 86 with 20 stations connecting Waterfront Station in Vancouver and King George Station in Surrey.

Between 1985 & 2012; One Hundred & Fifty One full service tramways have been built & opened worldwide, with another 56 under construction or approval.

The full report is in the Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), International Light Rail magazine Tramways & Urban Transit (TAUT)Ai??for January 2013.

The Cardinal challenges Richard to explain why in the 28 years since 1985, only half a dozen Skytrain systems have been built worldwide.

Quoting Voony

ai???Integrating transit into pedestrian oriented streets, is also the only way to have an extensive and still successful pedestrian friendly streets networkai???

ThreeAi??of the latest street level Light Rail/Tramway/LRT systems, opened in 2012 areAi??not suprisingly,Ai??in France – Ai??Brest, Dijon & Le Harve

Dijon tram route T2 entered service on December 8 2012.

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/t2-completes-dijon-tram-network/archiv/2012/dezember.html

FRANCE: Dijon’s second tram route entered service on December 8, running for 11Ai??5 km (7.1 miles) from Valmy in the northern suburbs to ChenA?ve Centre in the south and serving a total of 21 stops.

Three stops in the city centre are shared with the 8Ai??5 km (5.3 mile) line T1 from the SNCF station to Quetigny Centre which opened on September 1

Operated by Keolis as part of the Divia network, T1 has carried an average of 36 000 passengers a day during its first two months in service, 6 000 more than the highest forecasts according to the Greater Dijon Authority. Two extra cars are to be deployed to reduce peak headways from 6 m to 5 min on T1, while T2 services now also serve the busiest section between Gare and RAi??publique.

‘The tram has changed the city – for the better – it has transformed our lives’, said FranAi??ois Rebsamen, President of the Greater Dijon Authority, who saw the new network as a tool for the development of Dijon as capital of the Bourgogne region.

Comparative examination of New Start light rail transit, light railway, and bus rapid transit services opened from 2000

From our friends Lyndon Henry and David Dobbs at Light Rail Now.

A useful document comparing busAi??rapid transit schemes with light rail.

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conferences/2012/LRT/LHenry.pdf

The Broadway Follies: Sorry, but Surrey is next in line

And the transit debate keeps going!

Vancouver, which always acts as the proverbial spoiled child, wants a multi billion dollar subway under Broadway and is setting the stage with scare tacticsAi??withAi??a Goebbelesque flavour of lies deceit and deception. The SkyTrain lobby, always adding their own special brand of nonsense, further muddies the debate.

Surrey, with a population approaching that of Vancouver, has only the mostAi??basic of transit services, demands they are next in line for scarce transit dollars, to fund light rail in their city. It is time to invest in better transit South of the Fraser and if Vancouver jumps the queue with another hugely expensive subway, then don’t expect the South Fraser municipalities and cities to stick around. The chances are very good that if the next major transit investment does not take place in Surrey, TransLink will split, with the Fraser River as a divide, leaving Richmond, Burnaby, Vancouver and the Tri-Cities taxpayers alone to pay for massively expensive SkyTrain subways.

EDITORIAL: Sorry, but Surrey is next in line

By Staff Writer – Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: December 10, 2012

Thereai??i??s a transit tussle brewing between Metroai??i??s biggest cities.

On one side ai??i?? Vancouver, with Mayor Gregor Robertson and his ambitious pitch for a nearly $3-billion SkyTrain system to the University of B.C.

On the other ai??i?? Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and her long-standing battle cry for better transit options for her burgeoning city.

At issue is the next TransLink mega-project to go ahead (provided the regional mayorai??i??s council can reach a deal with the province for more funding options).

Surrey is calling for three light rail lines ai??i?? along 104 Avenue to Guildford, down King George Bouelvard toward White Rock, and southeast along Fraser Highway towards Langley, at a cost of about $2 billion ai??i?? far less than it would be if more expensive SkyTrain was used.

Watts is not impressed with Vancouverai??i??s ai???grandioseai??? subway scheme.

ai???I would suggest that the multi-billion-dollar project that theyai??i??re proposing is not going to fly with residents in Surrey…ai???

Thatai??i??s putting it mildly.

Stinging from the news that a Highway 1 express bus over the new Port Mann Bridge wonai??i??t stop in Surrey, and still smarting from years of substandard transit service south of the Fraser, Surrey residents ai??i?? who receive about 90 to 95 cents worth of service from every dollar they contribute to TransLink through gas tax, property tax, and transit fares ai??i?? wonai??i??t move to the back of the bus on this one.

Especially when there are more logical solutions.

Wattsai??i?? idea to open satellite UBC sites rather than carve out a $3-billion SkyTrain to the main campus at the farthest western edge of Vancouver is bang on.

SFUai??i??s Surrey location (the main campus is in Burnaby) ai??i?? with its innovative programs and savvy spot downtown (right next to SkyTrain) ai??i?? is a lesson in success. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Central City site has reached its capacity of serving 7,000 students and is looking to expand.

Within the next few decades, Surrey will be the largest city on this side of the country ai??i?? and the growth is not going to stop. Sinking $3 billion into a SkyTrain system in a city that is built out and already well served by transit is myopic and unaffordable.

If Vancouver insists on Cadillac transit, then it must wait in line until after Surrey gets its essential system.

Vancouver Take Note – Trams In, Cars Out In Sydney, Australia Transport Planning!

Here isAi??a news itemAi??that should give the City of Vancouver planners and engineers something to think about, make cars defer to trams.

In Vancouver, the hierarchy for transportation is bicycles first, cars second and public transit third. It’s OK to close a city street for cyclists, but its not OK to close a city street for light rail.

In Sydney Australia with a population of 4.5 million, they are providing car drivers with a viable light rail alternative, that links major transit destinations including the central business district, while in Vancouver, providing an affordable transit alternative to major destinations is seen as heresy as transit is built solely to promote high density construction.

This gets Zwei wondering; “Who owns the properties adjacent to proposed SkyTrain subway stations?”

Could it be friends of government and TransLink?

From ABC News – Australia.

Trams in, cars out in Sydney CBD transport plan

The New South Wales Government has unveiled its final transport master plan, which confirms it will build a light rail line through Sydney’s central business district and ban cars from much of George Street.

A 12 kilometre tram line will link Circular Quay and Central Railway Station to the Sydney Cricket Ground, Randwick Racecourse and the University of New South Wales.

Private cars will be banned from about 40 per cent of George Street, between Bathurst Street and Hunter Street.

The CBD’s bus network will also be redesigned to reduce congestion.

The light rail plan is at odds with the 20-year vision for the state outlined in a report from Infrastructure NSW that was released in October.

The advisory body recommended against reintroducing trams to inner Sydney, instead suggesting bus tunnels beneath George Street to serve the CBD.

The Government says it will support 59 of the 70 recommendations included in the Infrastructure NSW report.

Of the 11 recommendations that are being ignored is advice to preserve land around Badgerys Creek to build a second Sydney airport, and to put off building a second harbour rail crossing.

Premier Barry O’Farrell says the Government expects to invest $300 billion into infrastructure over the next two decades, but some Commonwealth funding will also be needed.

Glenn Byres from the Property Council of Australia says owners of commercial, residential and retail buildings in central Sydney are happy with the light rail plan.

“We think it’s got a great opportunity to overhaul the amenity and urban domain of George Street,” he said.

“Of course the disruption that will be caused during construction will have to be managed sensibly and sensitively, but we think on balance this is a good long-term decision for the future of the city.”

But Opposition Leader John Robertson says it is another plan with no details on how it will be funded.

“New South Wales taxpayers have a right to know how each of these projects is going to be paid for,” Mr Robertson said.

“Are we going to see increased fares for commuters travelling from western Sydney or the central coast to pay for a light rail project in the eastern suburbs?”

Broadway Follies – An Alternative Plan

First off, I just do not agree with Mr. Fitch nor do I think his plan is not well thought out.

One of the main reasons for building LRT on heavily used transit routes, is the economy gained from using ‘trams‘ instead of buses. As light rail runs on a dedicated rights-of-way with priority signaling at intersections, it is not hampered by traffic and able to travel faster along the street and by doing so becomes far more efficient than buses. One ‘tram‘ (1 tram driver) is as efficient as six buses (6 bus drivers) and as fewer trams are needed, the scale of economy looks like an inverted pyramid. As fewer trams and drivers are needed to provide a comparable service, also there are fewer mechanics and technicians needed to maintain a ‘tram’ fleet. ‘Trams’ operating on Broadway, replacing the current bus services,Ai??would be much cheaper to operate than buses, with today’s current passenger flows.

Mr. Fitch is also not up to date on modern ‘tram’ track construction, especially pre-fab track, which can be laid very fast on Broadway, as the street was already graded for the earlier streetcar operation. Building LRT on Broadway would be merely reinstating streetcars with a modern, more efficient version.

Building LRT on Broadway does come with its unique problems, but if the goal of transit is to move people and provide an economic alternative to the car, then modern LRT fits the bill, far more so than a subway.

What I do agree with Mr. Fitch is that for the cost of a Broadway subway, we can build LRT both down Broadway and in Surrey!

Forget about a Broadway subway, think LRT along West 16th

Opinion: Spread transit facilities along two parallel corridors and there willAi?? be more benefits for more people

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Forget+about+Broadway+subway+think+along+West+16th/7678648/story.html#ixzz2Ewhy6BFg

The City of Vancouver is wrong, at this time, to advocate for an underground LRT line along West Broadway to the University of British Columbia. Stop calling it the ai???Broadway line,ai??? and start calling it the ai???UBC line,ai??? and you will see my point.

The cityai??i??s report compares a Broadway subway with a Broadway street-level LRT. Of course, a streetcar or street-level light rail along Broadway is going to compare badly with a subway in terms of capacity and speed. West Broadway is already severely congested.

Trying to force the most complex and expensive, highest capacity transit line in Vancouver through one of the most congested arterials in Vancouver is pure folly. It would be easier to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle. It can be done, but at what cost?

The most appropriate solution, with due consideration for costs, regional transit priorities (i.e. Surrey, etc.) and time frame (10 years from now to build the subway at a minimum) is to build a mainly street-level light rail along the CPR corridor, the Arbutus corridor, and West 16th Avenue to UBC. Compare this route with a Broadway subway on cost, construction time and capacity, and it prevails.

Certainly, this would upset those who live along 16th, and they will oppose it, but letai??i??s be realistic. If a subway is constructed along Broadway and 10th, there would be a massive increase in traffic disruption for several years during construction, and a consequent transfer of traffic to 16th Ave.

Recall the effect on Granville, Main and Oak streets, to name a few, when Cambie Street was closed. Some of those who switch to 16th during construction will never go back to Broadway/10th Ave. afterwards.

A streetcar or LRT along West 16th could dip into short cut-and-cover tunnels at major intersections, as does the SkyTrain between Victoria Drive and Rupert, and as do portions of the Calgary and Edmonton LRTs.

Such a route/technology option would be far less expensive to build than a subway LRT (SkyTrain), and could be built within a much shorter time frame.

If anyone thinks that a Broadway subway can be built for $3 billion, they are dreaming. Look at the cost and disruption of the Canada Line construction. The only extremely congested part of that line (in Vancouver) was the northernmost portion, from King Edward to Downtown ai??i?? a few kilometres.

By comparison, the congested and difficult part of the Broadway line will be practically the whole thing ai??i?? many kilometres ai??i?? from VCC to the UBC Gates.

Vancouver says that if a Broadway subway is constructed with a tunnel boring machine, it will have little disruption on Broadway during construction. This is misleading. Tunnelled subways require massive surface excavations for stations, electrical substations, track switches, ventilation systems, emergency exits, equipment and dirt removal, and so on. If a subway is built along Broadway, even using a TBM, the street will be significantly disrupted (read: closed) for several years, at least.

I fully realize that the City of Vancouverai??i??s position is a negotiating tactic ai??i?? ask for the moon, in hopes of getting something less ai??i?? but can we not be more mature than that?

For goodness sake, TransLink and the province are crying so poor right now that they cannot even afford to finish off a bus rapid transit facility that is partly finished (the 156th Street transit exchange in Surrey), and I am sure the same applies to numerous other projects, programs and initiatives.

So why ask for a $3-billion project (likely to be closer to $5 billion) when there is no chance of it happening in the near future?

Meanwhile, Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts proposes three street-level LRT lines for her city at less cost than the Broadway subway line.

Who looks more reasonable? Chop the Broadway project in half, as Vancouver suggests, and what would we have? Certainly not a UBC line. That would simply move the transfer bottleneck from Commercial to Arbutus. Not worth $1.5 billion. Chop Wattsai??i?? proposal in half, and what would we get? At least one new rapid transit line for Surrey.

If transit facilities are spread along two parallel corridors, rather than squeezed into one, it will provide more benefits to more people. And it will open up new areas for development that may help fund the transit line and other amenities, following the ai???Hong Kong modelai??? of transit finance.

If Vancouver thinks that it can get the province to tunnel the Broadway line, as it did the Canada Line under Cambie, it is living in the past. That was a different era. Lots of provincial money, and lots of hype for the Olympics. When the cupboards are bare, you donai??i??t ask Santa for a gold-plated train set.

Finally, Vancouver quotes Alan Jacobs in its recent presentation: ai???Going underground is the only way to deliver Broadway as a Great Street.ai??? This is surely a misappropriation of Jacobsai??i?? ideas. West Broadway is already a great street. Disrupt it with several years of major construction, and its greatness will be destroyed. Put rapid transit on another street, reduce the number of express buses and traffic congestion on Broadway and 10th, and these streets can become even better.

Adam Fitch is a planning technician for the Thompson Nicola Regional District and lives in Kamloops

 

Light Rail Fits In

This is a re-post of useful links for those advocating for LRT. In Vancouver, there is a concerted effort to once again force a SkyTrain subway as a transit solution on Broadway, if this is successful there will be no light rail in Surrey, no Rail for the Valley Interurban forAi??at leastAi??30 years!

Zweisystem send a a hearty thank you!

http://www.eukn.org/eukn/themes/Urban_Policy/Economy_knowledge_and_employment/Urban_economy/Specific_sectors/Distribution/citycargo-freight-tram_1007.html

http://citytransport.info/Street.htm

http://citytransport.info/Zones.htm

http://www.citymayors.com/transport/trams-europe.html

http://www.etcproceedings.org/paper/trams-and-bikes-towards-good-practice-in-light-rail-planning

http://www.isocarp.net/Data/case_studies/1592.pdf

http://www.metrocouncil.org/media/CCLRTstreetscapeFeb09.pdf

http://www.vmwp.com/projects/leland-avenue-streetscape.php

http://www.pdc.us/ura/interstate/kenton.asp

http://lightrailjacksonville.webs.com/whylrti.htm

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Attachments/Internet/Transport/Walking_and_cycling/Cycling_around_Edinburgh/Cycling_and_trams_leaflet.pdf

http://www.totallyriviera.com/nice/content/113

http://www.globalmasstransit.net/archive.php?id=1293

http://www.bringingbackbroadway.com/stellent/groups/electedofficials/@cd14_contributor/documents/classmaterials/lacity_007110.pdf

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/planning/environmental-review/eirs/documents/Appendix_B.pdf

http://www.metro.net/news/simple_pr/metro-hold-streetscape-design-workshop-crenshawlax/

The Broadway Follies – The Smear Campaign Begins!

On radio station CKNW, the opening salvos from the SkyTrain Lobby were fired at the public, in the was of getting public opinion to support a $2 billion plus SkyTrain subway under Broadway. The BS meter was running full throttle, when the usual suspects, Frances (BS) Bula, from the Globe and mail; Michael Geller, President, The Geller Group and Adjunct Professor, SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development (a Gordon Price advocate); Lesli Bolt, President, BoltAi??Communications (a public relations firm who seems to do a lot of work for developers) were oohing and awing about a SkyTrain subway under Broadway.

Have a listen, just cue up to Tuesday, Dec. 11, 9:05 AM.

http://www.cknw.com/news/audiovault/index.aspx

What we had was a complete misrepresentation about LRT SkyTrain and subways. Now, we have the defining of the sales campaign for the Broadway SkyTrain subway; we (Vancouver) has the density for a subway and they (Surrey) have yet to justify any “rapid transit” investment.

It is very sad to see players in the mainstream media resort to the Goebbels Gambit, where by ai???If you tell a SkyTrain lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe the SkyTrain lie. The SkyTrain lie can be maintained only for such time as theAi??Province, the city of VancouverAi??and TransLinkAi??can shield the people from the political, economic and/orAi??long termAi??consequences of the SkyTrainAi??lie. It thus becomes vitally important for theAi??Province, the City of VancouverAi??and TransLinkAi??to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the SkyTrain lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the Province, the City of Vancouver and TransLinkai???.