You could waste away waiting for guided bus

cambridge-news.co.uk

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/You-could-waste-away-waiting-for-guided-bus.htm

Let's make no bones about it – we’re all getting on a bit while we wait for the guided bus to arrive.

But two “passengers” at the busway stop in Swavesey really have reached the end of the line.

A pair of skeletons have been spotted close to the track, appropriately appearing on April Fool’s Day.

One bore a sign saying: “How long do you have to wait for a bus round here?”

The other placard said: “There’s been no buses, only a white elephant – April Fool.”

Thankfully, the skeletons were only cardboard cut-outs left near the bus stop. It is not known who put them there.

The busway is more than two years behind schedule, and the authority in charge of it, Cambridgeshire County Council, has accused contractor BAM Nuttall of dragging its feet.

But local residents reckoned the skeleton skulduggery was bona fide – and very humerus.

They gave council bosses and BAM Nuttall a right ribbing.

Richard Monk, general manager of the nearby MG Owners’ Club, said: “I saw the skeletons from my office window, and even though they’re not doing a lot, neither is anyone else.

“In the past few days, the only action we’ve seen on the busway is the odd yellow-jacketed workman sweeping the track with a broom.”

April Martin, from Swavesey, who has previously criticised the cost of the busway as well as the delay in opening it, said: “It being April 1, maybe the skeletons foolishly hoped to catch a bus.”

Over resident John Lewis said: “It’s a very funny joke, but the serious side of it is that the buses still aren’t running.

“The whole thing is terrible, and I blame the council, not the contractors.”

Let this be a warning to TransLink, misguided busways – you're having a laugh!

Light Rail news from around Europe

HK order low-floor trams from Transtech

Rail.co April 1 2011

http://www.rail.co/2011/04/01/hkl-orders-low-floor-trams-from-transtech/

Helsinki City Transport (HKL) and the Finnish Rail rolling stock manufacturer Transtech signed an agreement to purchase 40 new trams on 24 March.

The contract comprises of 40 trams and a possible further 90, if the tram extensions of Helsinki go to plan. The value of the contract for the first 40 trams ai??i??113 million.

TranstechAi??specialises in building railway vehicles for extreme climatic conditions, such as those encountered in Finland. HKLai??i??s Board of Directors voted Transtech as their new supplier last December due to the ai???affordability and qualityai??i?? of the rail cars.

Following the signing of the contract, a life size model of the new tram was being planned to ensure the design and engineering of the model would be suitable.

HKL want the ai???future usability of the wagon to be the best possible fit and the appearance of the vehicle needs to fit in with the existing tram fleet. ai???

The new trams are full length, low-floor, 27.3 m long and equipped with 73 fixed seats. The trailer also has space for four wheelchairs or pushchairs.

The acquisition of the first two cars will be seen in Helsinki in 2013 for trial purposes, with the rest of the fleet beginning production in 2014 and entering service in Helskini in 2015.

---

Surplus Edinburgh trams set to run in London

RAILNEWS.co.uk

http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/metro/2011/03/24-surplus-edinburgh-trams-set-to.html

TEN trams which have been acquired by the City of Edinburgh may run in south London instead, because the project to develop a tram system in the Scottish capital has fallen so far behind schedule.

The council-owned tram development company TIE confirmed today that it has been shortlisted by Transport for London as one of three potential suppliers of additional trams for the lines which link Wimbledon with Croydon and other local destinations.

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Paris Tramway Line T6

Railway Technology.com

http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/paris-line-t6/

The T6 is a new tramline that is being constructed in the suburbs of Paris in the General Council regions of Hauts-de-Seine and Yvelines. It will be owned by the General Councils of Hauts-de-Seine and Yvelines and the operator RAi??gie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP).

It will provide improved transportation facilities between the two suburban Councils while integrating with Underground Line 13, RAi??seau Express RAi??gional (RER) Line C and lines of Transilien, the French National Railway Company.

Preconstruction works commenced in 2007 and construction works started in 2010. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015.

RATP currently operates four tramlines (T1, T2, T3 and T4) in Paris, while four more lines (T5, T6, T7 and T8) are planned to be opened by 2014.

Line routes

The 14km-long route will be between Chatillion and Viroflay, and will pass through the municipalities of Clamart, Fontenay-aux-Roses, Meudon and Velizy-Villacoublay.

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In the past three months Fang has reported Light Rail & Tramway news from around Europe & the World.

From Birmingham to Berne, Detroit to Dublin, Minneapolis to Melaka and Nottingham to New Orleans

Angers, Bordeaux, Blackpool, Copenhagen, Grenoble, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Lyon, Manchester, Mulhouse, Milan, Reims, Sydney, Tours, Tel Aviv, Washington & Valenciennes.

from Canada – nothing, only bad newsAi??emanating fromAi??Toronto & Vancouver.

April Fool from Rob Ford

Rob Ford’s Designs on Metrolinx (Update 2)

http://stevemunro.ca/?p=5061

Pushing a wooden stake through the heart of darkness

 I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky–seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness."
– Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

 

 It has not been a very good week for British Columbian or indeed Canadian public transit. Following the two articles published over the weekend of 25/26th March in the Vancouver Globe & Mail,

Transit a hit-and-miss affair in B.C.’s Lower Mainland

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/transit-a-hit-and-miss-affair-in-bcs-lower-mainland/article1957867/page2/

Transit problems across Canada prompt calls for politicians to address issue

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/transit-problems-across-canada-prompt-calls-for-politicians-to-address-issue/article1957897/page2/

The storm clouds from the Fraser Valley & Lower Mainland city's of Delta, Langley & Surrey determination to check-out of TransLink are gathering:-

Delta threatens to leave TransLink

http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/115218169.html

Delta is now talking about leaving TransLink unless better transit service is provided South of the Fraser.

The move comes as Surrey continues to voice its dissatisfaction with transit service here.

While it’s unclear whether either cities could actually cut ties with TransLink, it’s hoped the threat of the possibility will cause the province to review the situation.

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said Tuesday the municipality gives $12 million annually in taxes to TransLink, and she believes that money could be better spent elsewhere.

“It’s not the TransLink board that has to go to the polls and answer to everybody,” Jackson said. “It’s the local council and mayors.”

Delta is considering supporting a South-of-Fraser transit option.

Metro Vancouver Mayors divided on how to pay for transportation projects

http://www.vancouver-bc.co/News/?NID=17

Vancouver mayors once again grapple with ways to pay for transportation projects, the wide transit disparities across the region are threatening to stand in the way of a consensus.

Talks have just begun, but mayors are already divided on potential options to fund projects such as the Evergreen Line and extra buses, ranging from road tolls to gas taxes, congestion charges and vehicle levies.

"There's more appetite in Vancouver to look at gas taxes and bridge tolls," said North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton, chairman of the mayors' council on regional transportation. "But up the valley, they feel they're terribly underserved [for transit] and distance-related levies or taxes are not palatable.

"We have to see what the possibilities are on the various sources; it's not an easy task. There's going to have to be a lot of concessions made between people."

The mayors agree on one thing, though: They don't want to raise property taxes for transit expansion.

None of this is new. Ten years after TransLink was formed to bring more stability to the region, mayors are still struggling over how best to raise the money for transit. In the late 1990s, there was a huge public outcry against a $75-a-year levy on automobiles. In 2006, TransLink imposed a parking-area tax to raise more revenue.

"The various types of funding aren't any different from what we've been talking about over the last decade," Walton said. "Who, ultimately, wants to pay any more taxes to anyone? No one."

TransLink's financial woes are coming to a head this year as the transportation authority's reserve funds dry up and it must find an additional $150 million a year just to maintain basic services.

The financial situation has led Delta to consider leaving TransLink altogether. "Our community doesn't feel they're getting their fair share for the $12 million in taxes every year that goes to TransLink," Mayor Lois Jackson said.

The statistics tell their own story: On the north side of the river, residents get two-and-a-half hours of transit service per person. On the south, it's half an hour, she said.

Langley Township Mayor Rick Green agrees. He, along with representatives of Delta and Surrey, is pushing for the province to use the old interurban line to connect those communities south of the Fraser, noting the infrastructure would cost around $500 million compared with $2.5 billion for a SkyTrain.

"Until Langley sees improvement to transit services, we're going to be hard-pressed to support much," Green said, adding 10,000 employees travel to Gloucester Industrial Park each day, yet there are no buses to take them. "If we're going to talk about a mileage issue, absolutely not. Out our way, it's not a matter of needing a vehicle; most families have two, three, four vehicles because there are no other options. Why should we be penalized?"

Transportation minister Shirley Bond, who last year agreed to give TransLink and the mayors' council an extension until the end of this month to come up with its $400-million share of the Evergreen Line, could not be reached by press time.

But Walton said the mayors' council is moving forward. He plans to meet with both mayors and councillors to identify the regional differences and perceptions.

A long-term transit plan should be ready by April. "It's going to be more of a basket of options than coming up with one funding source," Walton said. "Every time we have an expansion to the transit system we don't want to have to go through a cathartic experience."

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie, whose staff has been researching various funding options used across North America, noted the disparities show that "depending on where you are, you will look at the world differently."

Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender said there is some consensus: Many mayors support using revenue from the carbon tax for transit because it's seen as more equitable across the province. However, for this plan to happen the province would have to approve it.

Unlike Green, Fassbender isn't convinced it's such a bad idea if the Lions Gate and Ironworkers' Memorial bridges are tolled. "We need to look at all these things," he said. "We're looking also at trying to change behaviours."

But he adds: "The challenge for us south of the Fraser is we probably pay a higher share, per capita, of that because we don't have the transportation options, yet the vehicle levy penalizes us. Somebody living in an apartment in downtown Vancouver with a bus outside their door … [who doesn't] need a car, they don't care about a vehicle levy."

But Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs said tolls, such as the ones on the Golden Ears Bridge, aren't contributing to transit projects. "That's going to be a tough one for some people because the existing bridges across the Burrard Inlet are not tolled," he said.

He also argues it isn't fair to say Vancouver apartment-dwellers aren't feeling the pinch.

"Vancouver residents contribute every way to transit investment," he said, noting parking sales on downtown garages stuff the transit coffers with millions of dollars every year, while half of transit users are Vancouver residents who also pay taxes. "It's not just Vancouver residents who are riding transit in Vancouver, it's virtually every resident; as long as everyone is using the roads."

The Good & Bad; News from Toronto

Firstly the good news;

Toronto's transit system will receive 39 kilometres of new subway and light rail track in a $12-billion expansion package announced by the province and city on Thursday.

Ontario invests billions in Toronto transit 'spine'

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110331/toronto-transit-announcement-110331/

ctvtoronto.ca

Thu. Mar. 31 2011 1:01 PM ET

Sydney- light rail to be built into Central Business District

All change for light rail 

Broadway Transit Follies – TransLink Does The Gong Show – Part 2

Want to know how TransLink spends taxpayer’s hard earned money? It is easy, TransLink studies transit options for Broadway. TransLink’s Broadway “Rapid Transit” (which means metro) study for Broadway is dated and extremely misleading, but what else would one expect from an organization that has done little, but to waste time, justifying their existence. TransLink’s seven options are studies in mediocrity, nothing more. It is time TransLink get out of the planning business and let real transportation experts have go at it, at least we would get something resembling a 21st century public transit.

Memo to South Fraser Politicians: Dump this turkey called TransLink and form a new South Fraser Transportation Authority,Ai??asAi??TransLinkAi??couldn’t even plan for an outhouse, let alone understand its function.

The following are the seven transit options offered by TransLink with Zweisystem’s comments added.

 

Ai??Option Ai??1: Street level Bus Rapid Transit – cost $350 million to $450 million

The problem with Bus Rapid Transit or BRT, is that to be truly rapid, it must operate on either a guideway or a dedicated bus way. If the proposed BRT is to be BRT, it will cost almost the same for a simple streetcar or tramway to install. As there is much more benefits that come with a streetcar/tramway than BRT, it is natural to spend a little more and get a far greater bang for your buck.

Here lies the Achilles heel of BRT.

Option 2: Street level LRT- Cost $1.1 billion

Here we see TransLink at its finest, loading cost onto LRT to make it more expensive than it should be, but then by not doing so, it would make the SkyTrain and Canada line metros (they are two completely different metro systems) look like bad bargains. modern LRT, either as a basic streetcar/tramway or light rail can handle capacities exceeding 20,000 persons per hour per direction, with just a basic there and back track design. The real costs for a light rail option:

1. Streetcar/tramwayAi??(not including vehicles and using existingAi??electrical overhead): – $6 mil/km to $10 mil/km.
2. LRTAi??(not including vehicles and using existingAi??electrical overhead) with 60% reserved rights-of-ways and priority signaling at intersections: $15 mil/km to $20 mil/km.
3. Light Rail Vehicles: Used staring under $1 million to new (depending on size) $3 million to $6 million each.

Option 3:Ai?? LRT #2 – Cost $1.3 to $1.4 billion

This LRT variant is just puzzling and one must ask the question why? Why go via the Great Northern Way? It seems TransLink is just up to its puerile games, not knowing what to do and hoping someone will come along and fund a SkyTrain subway under Broadway.

Option 4: Bored tunnel Rail Rapid Transit – Cost $2.9 to $$3.2 billion

Here is the meat of the matter; here is what TransLink really wants to build – a SkyTrain subway to UBC. The real cost for a bored SkyTrain subway to UBC is nearer to $4 billion and there isn’t the ridership today or in the future that would justify such an expenditure. To reduce costs, revisiting cut and cover construction would be a real option, but will the memory of the ruined Cambie Street merchants, still linger when the final decision is made?

Option 5: Street level LRT – bored tunnel RRT – elevated RRT – Cost $2.4 billion

Here we have a plan to keep the LRT and SkyTrain types happy, silly and unprofessional, but then I would expect nothing lessAi??from TransLink. A planned forced transfer for UBC bound passengers at ArbutusAi??defies modern public transit philosophy of providing a seamless or no transfer journey.

Option 6: Street level BRT/Tunnel Elevated RRTAi??- CostAi??$1.9 billion

Here we have real silliness by TransLink, a plan to keep the bus boys and SkyTrain types happy. It’s not quite April Fools Day, but TransLink’s bizarre BRT planning could fund over 60 km of streetcar/LRT for the city of Vancouver.

Option 7: Best bus – Cost $325 million

Here we come to the transit plan that will probably be implemented, the Best Bus option – it is what TransLink can afford.

 

I try not to be tooAi??hard with my comments about TransLink, but really, when such rubbish is presented at public meetings it is hard to contain ones self. Not one of the plans addresses real transit problems, rather they seem to be a continuation of the Expo Line in one form or another and those bureaucrats in those ivory hall on Kingsway should hang their heads in shame. Not one plan will offer an attractive alternative to the car. Buses, in their various guises, have singularly failed to attract the motorist from the car and haphazard and meandering light rail lines will do likewise. forced transfers are well know to deter ridership and in Europe transit is so designed to minimize or eliminateAi??transfers altogether.

Why doesn’t TransLink use the simple term metro or subway, instead of using Rail Rapid Transit or RRT. Could it be that TransLink wants to play the old SkyTrain shell game once again by claiming that RRT is faster and carries more customers than LRT? Sad to say, TransLink played this game with the Evergreen Line, until US transit expert Gerald fox caught them out!

In 2008, noted AmericanAi??transit expert Gerald Fox, statedAi??in a letter to a Victoria transportation group,Ai??shredded TransLink’sAi??Evergreen Line business case, stating; “I found several instances where the analysis had made assumptions that were inaccurate, or had been manipulated to make the case for SkyTrain. If the underlying assumptions are inaccurate, the conclusions may be so too.”Ai??

FoxAi??later said; It is interesting how TransLink has used this cunning method of manipulating analysis to justify SkyTrain in corridor after corridor, and has thus succeeded in keeping its proprietary rail system expanding. In the US, all new transit projects that seek federal support are now subjected to scrutiny by a panel of transit peers, selected and monitored by the federal government, to ensure that projects are analyzed honestly, and the taxpayersai??i?? interests are protected. No SkyTrain project has ever passed this scrutiny in the US.”Ai??

Over 15 years ago, during the Millennium Line fiasco, Zweisystem had a long chat with a transit professional from Asea Brown Boveri, regarding the application of a successful light rail line on Broadway. His comments still ring true and show how dated TransLink’s present day efforts are.

Ai??He stated Ai??that a BCIT to UBC line with a second line from Main Street, through Vancouver’s downtown to Stanley park, would more than double present bus ridership on the two routes in two to three years, creating the ridershipAi??which fares would not only pay for the operational costs, but the capital costs of the new LRT. With such revenue, we could find an operator that would design, build and operate the new transit line at no cost to the taxpayer.

Maybe this is why TransLink has done so poorly in planning for transit, they are afraid that the private sector would show what TransLink really is, a ponderous bureaucracy whose only efforts is to create jobs for itself to pretend that it is actually accomplishing something. But then, there is no money for any of this, except for the last Best Bus option and what is planned for today, will be stale-dated by future events, when what ever option is implemented.

It is time that civic and provincial politicians put this expensive gong show out of its misery.

Ai??

Ai??

1st Alstom Citadis LRV’s for UK

Tramlink Nottingham

http://www.tramlinknottingham.co.uk/index.phpAi??

NET Phase Two Preferred Bidder Named

Nottingham City Council has selected Tramlink Nottingham as its preferred bidder to build two new tram lines to Clifton and Chilwell (NET Phase Two) and operate the extended tram network.

http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/netphase2/index.aspx?articleid=7522

One of the proposed routes will see a line from Nottingham City Centre to Toton Lane Park and Ride, running past the Medical School at QMC Campus, into University Park Campus along Science Road (passing the Faculty of Engineering), behind Lakeside Arts and following the perimeter of Highfields Park towards Beeston, with an additional stop on University Boulevard.

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/shared/shared_trams/documents/Beeston_low_quality_bw_colour_email.pdf

The other route connects Nottingham City and Clifton.

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/shared/shared_trams/documents/Clifton_low_qualitybw_colour_email.pdf

Tramlink Nottingham selected as preferred bidder for city tram extension

http://www.alstom.com/uk/press-releases/Nottingham-tram-290311/

Work began today on a five- month programme to finalise details of the high-profile contract to deliver a major extension to Nottinghamai??i??s tram system.

Nottingham City Council has announced that the Tramlink Nottingham consortium has been chosen as the preferred bidder for the NET Phase Two project which will provide two new lines and expand the existing network by 17.5 km.

Alstom will draw on its expertise in infrastructure and turnkey projects for the construction of the new track, power, signalling and the supply and maintenance of 22 Citadis trams as well as the maintenance of the existing 15 Phase One trams.

http://www.alstom.com/transport/products-and-services/rolling-stock/citadis-tramways/

Consortium Members

Alstom

Keolis

trent barton

VINCI Construction UK

OFI Infravia

Meridiam Infrastructure.

http://www.tramlinknottingham.co.uk/whoweare.php

The Broadway Transit Debate Continues. Has The Decision To Build A SkyTrain Subway Been Already Made For 2030?

Well, it seems TransLink is again having more public consultations for the proposed Broadway Rapid Transit project, but has the decision to build a subway been already made? Just the name, "Rapid Transit", means a metro and any reference to a light rail option is equated to a slow streetcar. TransLink hasn't a clue about modern light rail, nor its application or operating parameters, which  is lost on Vancouver politicians, who want another politically prestigious, yet extremely expensive subway.

Will the spectre of the Cambie St. cut-and-cover subway debacle loom over Broadway merchants?

Bored tunnel, with costs exceeding $250 million/km. to build, coupled with tight funding, means that a cut-and-cover subway option will raise its ugly head again. With the debacle on Cambie St. Canada Line cut-and-cover subway fresh in their minds, merchants and other businesses along Broadway must have more than that 'uneasy' feeling every time they hear the phrase, "Broadway Rapid Transit Project." Cut and cover construction along Broadway is a real threat because it is much cheaper than a bored tunnel and TransLink is unique in the world, by not paying compensation to those whose businesses which are destroyed by cut and cover subway construction.

A simple reserved R-o-W on a raised median, accessible by emergency vehicles. in Portland Ore.

 What of course TransLink doesn't tell the public is that a light rail line, operating on a reserved rights-of-way (reserved for the exclusive use of LRT), will carry as many passengers or more (surface transit tends to attract more ridership) as a SkyTrain light-metro, at a commercial speed comparable to SkyTrain at a cost up to one tenth less of that of SkyTrain!

The following document for the proposed Copenhagen LRT……..

http://www.letbaner.dk/docs/Radiallinie-folder3.3-uk.pdf

……..shows that for the cost of one metro (subway) line, one could build up to six light rail lines! Both metro and LRT has about the same capacity, with LRT being 30% faster than the bus and a metro a mere 2% faster than light rail! What is more interesting is that the proposed LRT for Copenhagen would reduce auto traffic by 20% to 25%, while a metro would would reduce auto traffic barely 1%!

A surface light rail line along Broadway would reduce auto congestion, greatly increase the capacity

of the street while keeping all important vehicular access to merchants along Broadway.

Sadly, TransLink is out of its depth when it comes to light rail, or modern public transit philosophy and still believes that a SkyTrain subway is the only way to go. Sad that, as a Broadway SkyTrain subway maybe the straw that breaks the camels back, leading South Fraser municipalities to reject TransLink and secede from organization.

What is more important, there is no money for any 'rail' transit expansion in the region, which begs the question; "Why is TransLink wasting money for transit planning that will not happen for decades?" Could it be that this so called public consultation process nothing more than a make work project for under employees TransLink employees?

Bridge tolls are inequitable – From the North Shore news