The Emperor has no Clothes and no Transit
Vancouver is at first glance a beautiful city. It is surrounded by sweeping vistas and a dramatic skyline.
The climate is moderate butAi??spend some time here and scratch the surface and it becomes far less attractive. It is a city that is divided politically; it is parochial, narrow minded and shallow. The people are characterless, flaky and disingenuous. Vancouver is the scam capital of North America, a skill set for which the local population is particularly adept.
There are times when I am certain that Vancouver is something straight out of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
It is a cold place, people in the same business do not interact of share information they do not network or help each other. There is an almost a Darwinian or Hobbesian social culture – Vancouver is an empty void.
The political environment is polarized and doctrinaire. The left adheres to ideas that are at least a generation out of date. Vancouverites think that Naomi Klein is an intellectual when in reality she is a very silly charlatan. To Vancouverites the secret is a serious work of self help. The right is equally foolish in the banality of their free market ideology.
You don’t meet people of substance here. You meet flakes. The press is dominated by yellow journalism. Rarely if ever have I read a real piece of investigative journalism. You do not meet people who form their opinions based upon facts. When you encounter Vancouverites and engage them in the discussion of social issues the argument usually become circular and they end of talking only about themselves. There is a kind of deep insecurity that comes from profound feeling of self loathing that is hard wired into the political culture here. Narcissism is the dominate religion and worshipping at the Temple of Mammon – real estate speculation isAi??the Holy Grail.
People here (generally speaking of course) are stuck up, materialistic yuppies. The downtown scene used to have decent variety, now it’s full of “cookie-cutter” clubs and bars that cater to Armani clones.
Go east of here, or especially south of here, and you’ll find friendlier people that aren’t so consumed with cliques and materialism. If one hails from Harare, Timbuktu, Tripoli, or Darfur then yes, Vancouver appears pretty good, but “the most liveable city on Earth”?
Not only is this pretentious, it’s just plain wrong.
No where is the contrast more apparent, than in Coquitlam and Port Moody; cities like Surrey, Delta and Langley, South of the Fraser River andAi??east along the Valley to Abbotsford and Chilliwack.
Politicians, planners, decision makers, wealthy Vancouver suburbanites and the `movers & shakersai??i?? contemptuously dismiss the communities beyond downtown as the boondocks; the disdain for the citizens of the Greater Vancouver Regional Districtand the Fraser Valley is illustrated in the attitude of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, BC Transit and Ai??TransLink, to public transport in these areas.
The Emperor has no Clothes and no Transit.
In December 2010;
the FRASER VALLEY TRANSIT STUDY http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/FraserValleyTransit/publications.htm
was released and condemned the communities of the Fraser Valley Regional District to a life of perpetuity with no more than a second-rate bus service as an alternative to the private car.
TheAi??Rail for the Valley movement has long campaigned against this inequity:
Whereai??i??s The Transit?
http://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/wheres-the-transit/
Transit Planning In Metro Vancouver ai??i?? Where Have We Gone Wrong?
Added costs for the Canada Line ai??i?? Has The Taxpayer Assumed Risk?
The truth is now beginning to be realised by the wider community;Ai??The Globe & Mail published the two following articles on March 25 & 26th.
Transit a hit-and-miss affair in B.C.ai??i??s Lower Mainland
Transit problems across Canada prompt calls for politicians to address issue
We can only hope that the National Election called on the 2nd May and the endAi??to the ten years of ineptitude, inequality, corruptionAi??& nepotism in Gordon Campbell’s BC Liberal administration will improve the outlook; we can but hope and wish.
One should have some basis for comparison before showering such hyperbole on the overpriced, congested, and conceited squalor that is the most liveable city in the world. If any city (or province) is presumptuous enough to put “the best place on Earth” on its license plates; it’d better well be the case, becauseAi??it’s citizens don’tAi??uphold the credibility.
Vancouver is a poor-man’s version of Seattle that, ironically, costs five times at much. Unlike Seattle, however, Vancouver has a dearth of friendly (and English-speaking) people, good music, and reasonably-priced beer. The self-satisfied smugness Vancouverites have toward their neighbour city to the south (or any metropolis, for that matter) stems from an amalgamation of an inferiority complex coupled with an identity crisis. Canada is like the U.S. in every way, except not quite as good. Nowhere is this exemplified more than in Vancouver.
Transit problems across Canada prompt calls for politicians to address issue
Time to lead
SIRI AGRELL, LES PERREAUX, WENDY STUECK AND JOSH WINGROVE
Globe and Mail Saturday, Mar. 26, 2011 1:31PM EDT
Commute times in Canadian cities are no longer just a source of rush-hour irritation, but a national liability affecting the economic performance of our urban centres and requiring immediate intervention from Ottawa.
A new ranking of international cities by the Toronto Board of Trade saw major Canadian municipalities fall dramatically behind in the realm of transportation and transit, prompting big-city mayors and transit experts to call on all federal parties to address the issue in the election, or suffer the consequences.
“We need to make this a significant election issue and it’s critical that parties develop a response,” said Michael Roschlau, president of the Canadian Urban Transit Association. “I just hope it doesn’t take a crisis to get there: that traffic congestion gets so bad, commute times get so long, that we have to react instead of being proactive.”
The rankings in the Board of Trade’s annual Scorecard on Prosperity, which measures cities on a number of economic, social and structural indicators, suggest that Canadian cities are already on the brink of crisis.
Not a single Canadian city cracked the top 10 on transportation issues, which measured such factors as commute times, transit ridership, kilometres of existing rail and vehicles per capita.
Montreal fared best, in 12th place, followed by Calgary (13), Toronto (19) and Vancouver (21), but all were outperformed by Hong Kong, Stockholm, Paris, London and New York.
And Canada’s failings in the transportation realm had a negative impact on cities’ overall rating, with Toronto dropping from fourth to eighth place due largely to its “crippling congestion.”
The report noted that Toronto’s reputation is also tarnished by its 80-minute average round-trip commute, signalling an “urgent need to invest in public transportation.”
“We would certainly hope that one of the key issues that this election is fought on is around a national transit strategy,” said Board of Trade president and CEO Carol Wilding. “There has to be a vision brought to it across all levels of government.”
Unlike other countries, Canada has never had a national transit strategy. Although Ottawa has grown increasingly involved in transit over the past 10 years, averaging investments of about $600-million a year, the funding remains ad hoc, with no predictability.
In the lead-up to this week’s federal budget, the mayors of some of Canada’s largest cities appealed to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to address transit and the $123-billion urban infrastructure deficit.
But while Mr. Flaherty promised to develop an infrastructure plan and make the transit-funding gas tax permanent through legislation, no new money was designated.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson derided the budget for being “thin on public transit” and said he looked forward to seeing the issue raised on the campaign trail.
“I hope that cities figure largely in the federal election,” he said. “There’s been years of sliding behind on economically critical steps for cities, and that trend has got to be reversed.”
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he plans to spend much of the coming campaign “pushing the parties” on the urban agenda and noted that any leader who hopes to win a majority government will have to win ground in large cities.
“You have to shift your thinking from transit as an expense to be managed, to an investment in the future of the community,” he said.
Without a fixed source of funding, cities will remain unable to keep up with their growing populations.
In Vancouver, which posted the worst showing in the Toronto Board of Trade’s transportation rankings, major new projects have been few and far between, despite the recent Olympic Games. The SkyTrain debuted for Expo 86. The proposed Evergreen Line – a $1.4-billion SkyTrain extension that would link Coquitlam to Vancouver – has been on the drawing board since the 1990s but has stalled repeatedly over money problems. South of the Fraser River, cities like Surrey, Delta and Langley are forecast to have some of the biggest population increases in the region over the next 30 years, but haven’t seen an increased share of transit cash, or service.
Last year, the mayors’ council for TransLink, the regional transit authority, turned down a plan that would have relied on property tax increases to fund several major projects, including the Evergreen Line.
Provincial and federal dollars for the project have been lined up, but TransLink still needs to come up with its $400-million share of the tab, and funding for the project has been an issue for more than a decade.
“It hasn’t gone away, it has gotten worse,” Port Moody Mayor Joe Trasolini said. “Business suffers when you don’t have efficient transportation systems and you have things left in the air without any certainty.”
Calgary, too, is having trouble keeping up. The city received a D ranking from the Board of Trade largely because 76.8 per cent of its population drive to work, the highest of any Canadian city.
Still, about 270,000 commuters pile onto Calgary’s 30-year-old C-Train light-rail system each day, and it’s at the limit.
The city is building a West LRT extension, a six-station line to be completed next year at a cost of $1-billion, adding to the two-line, 38-station system currently in place.
In Toronto, congestion has reached epic proportion and large-scale projects by the regional transit authority Metrolinx (the Big Move plan) have been thrown into jeopardy by the election of Mayor Rob Ford, who is firmly opposed to expanding light rail.
Neil McMonagle, a Washington-based transit consultant who has been working with Metrolinx, argues that a transit plan needs to exist outside the realm of politics.
“The Big Move, conceptually is a really good document, but it seems to have been knocked off course because of the politics,” he said. “You need an agency that takes a longer-term view, simply because these projects themselves are going to span multiple terms of office and multiple governments.”
Of all the Canadian cities ranked by the Board of Trade, Montreal did best when it came to transit, due mostly to more affordable fares and heavier usage of its commuter rail system.
But many Montreal commuters are more likely to point out the city is still only graded a mediocre C.
Philip Morgan, a transit commuter and self-described “transportation freak,” says Montreal’s is plagued by basic equipment problems, such as unheated switches that become jammed by ice and snow. But he said transit systems in Toronto and Montreal both lack the corporate culture he’s seen overseas where it’s unacceptable for trains and buses to run late.
And the commuter rail system – Montreal’s main supposed advantage over Toronto – has become a running joke and is even the subject of a class-action lawsuit for being late.
“It’s fine to compare to Toronto,” he said. “How about comparing to cities in Asia and Europe where transit truly works?”
Transit a hit-and-miss affair in B.C.A?ai??i??ai???s Lower Mainland
Wendy Stueck Vancouverai??i?? Globe and Mail Update Published Friday, Mar. 25, 2011 11:00PM EDT
Shuttling sleekly between Richmond and downtown Vancouver, the $2-billion Canada Line has been a hit since it opened in 2009. But while the Canada Line whisks hundreds of passengers a day to their destinations, hundreds more huddle at bus stops or fume in their cars. Transit is a hit-and-miss affair in the Lower Mainland, with some neighbourhoods well-served and others out of the loop.
The patchy coverage reflects geography, history and financial constraints. TransLink, the Lower Mainlandai??i??s regional transit authority, serves an area that covers nearly 3,000 square kilometres, has more than 2 million residents and takes in 21 municipalities, including Bowen Island. Modes of transit include buses, the SkyTrain light rapid transit system, a SeaBus that links the North Shore to downtown and the West Coast Express, a weekday commuter rail service between Vancouver and Mission. In addition, TransLink shares responsibility for major roads and bridges with local governments.
Over the past few decades, the regionai??i??s population has outpaced transit development. Major new projects have been few and far between. SkyTrain debuted for Expo 86. The proposed Evergreen Line ai??i?? a $1.4-billion SkyTrain extension that would link Coquitlam to Vancouver ai??i?? has been on the drawing board since the 1990s, but has stalled repeatedly over money problems. South of the Fraser River, cities like Surrey, Delta and Langley are forecast to have some of the biggest population increases in the region over the next 30 years but at this point argue that they havenai??i??t seen their share of transit cash, or service.
Last year, TransLinkai??i??s mayorsai??i?? council turned down a plan that would have relied on property tax increases to fund several major projects, including the Evergreen Line.
Provincial and federal dollars for the project have been lined up but TransLink still needs to come up with its $400-million share of the tab.
ai???The supplemental plan didnai??i??t go anywhere because their ai???planai??i?? was to put more of a burden on property taxes,ai??? says West Vancouver mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, who is vice-chair of the mayorsai??i?? council. ai???And we as mayors have been very clear that is not tenable.ai???
The province and mayors in 2010 signed a memorandum of understanding that both sides would look at ai???all optionsai??? for future transit funding. TransLinkai??i??s current revenue sources include property, fuel and parking taxes. The agency also has the authority to impose a vehicle levy and an ai???area benefiting taxai??? ai??i?? a levy that would be paid from property owners that stand to benefit from transit improvements.
TransLinkai??i??s funding bind has been an issue for more than a decade, says Port Moody Mayor Joe Trasolini.
ai???It hasnai??i??t gone away ai??i?? it has gotten worse. And the delegated funding sources that TransLink was given are not enough to sustain the plan,ai??? he says.
In the meantime, urban planning in Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Coquitlam has been based on the belief that ai???some day the train will comeai??? ai??i?? a belief that is at times difficult to maintain.
ai???Business wants certainty. Investment in our sector is suffering because of skepticism about rapid transit,ai??? Mr. Trasolini says. ai???Business suffers when you donai??i??t have efficient transportation systems and you have things left in the air without any certainty.ai???
Future fixes
For transportation planners, big sports or cultural events can be virtual laboratories, ripe with possibilities for experiments and innovation.
After monitoring transportation and travel patterns in Vancouver during the 2010 Olympic games, Tarek Sayed has one overriding conclusion.
ai???We can set the bar much higher than what we are doing right now,ai??? says Mr. Sayed, who oversaw a study, commissioned by the city, that dispatched squads of University of British Columbia student survey teams to monitor people coming in to or leaving downtown. ai???We can expect a larger per cent shift in sustainable modes, including transit.ai???
The study found that trips by ai???sustainableai??? modes ai??i?? transit, walk or bike ai??i?? more than doubled during the games and accounted for 79.5 per cent of spectator travel to event venues.
Faced with the closure of major roadways into downtown, people adjusted ai??i?? walking, taking the bus or working from home. That adjustment holds lessons, including the potential to use a ai???carrot and stickai??? approach to transit and travel planning, says Mr. Sayed.
A ai???carrotai??? might be a speedy new transit line, while a stick could be costly parking fees or road closures ai??i?? all designed to encourage ai???compactai??? living.
In Vancouver, planners are weighing proposals for higher-density developments along the Cambie Corridor travelled by the Canada Line. Richmond, too, is pursuing transit-oriented development.
Cities can also woo passengers through technology, such as electronic fare cards ai??i?? names in the running for TransLinkai??i??s planned smart card include Tpass, Compass and Starfish, along the lines of Londonai??i??s Oyster ai??i?? and other changes that make transit more convenient and efficient, such as traffic systems that provide green lights for transit vehicles.
TransLink is trying to build on its Olympic legacy, which includes higher-than-forecast ridership for the Canada Line, with TravelSmart, a program that encourages people to use sustainable options to travel around the region.
Outside of Vancouver, that concept can be more difficult to embrace.
TransLink has boosted bus service in Surrey, but thatai??i??s not enough for many people to give up the convenience and comfort of their cars, says Surrey mayor Dianne Watts.
ai???That SkyTrain is called the Expo line because it was built for Expo, with four stops,ai??? Ms. Watts says, referring to Surreyai??i??s four SkyTrain stations. ai???The population at that time was about 240,000 people. Today we have about half a million people and we have the same four stops.
ai???The situation south of the Fraser just exacerbates the problem of people getting in their cars. South of the Fraser we are going to take 70 per cent of the regionai??i??s growth over the next 10, 15, 20 years ai??i?? and there has to be infrastructure put in place.ai???
Ms. Watts, like many of her counterparts, says TransLink needs a different funding mechanism that would allow the agency to put together an integrated, long-term plan.
For Surrey, she favours a light rail systems that would link different ai???nodesai??? of Surrey to SkyTrain network.
SkyTrain is great for linking two urban centres but is far too expensive to run through sprawling Surrey, she says.
ai???That kind of money is just not sitting in a pot somewhere.ai???
Risky to bust up flow of gas tax to TransLink: Walton
Any move to split up the stream of funding to TransLink from its share of the federal gas tax could threaten the integrity of Metro Vancouver's transit system, warns the chair of the region's mayors council.
North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton was responding to suggestions from Delta council that it might want to break from TransLink and use Delta's share of the gas tax to run its own transit service.
"It wouldn't be very easily workable," he said. "That's something we'd have to talk about as a group. It would have significant implications for TransLink."
The federal budget handed down March 22 included a pledge the Conservative government will enshrine the gas tax transfer in law.
It's worth $123 million a year to TransLink – half of what Ottawa collects from the extra 10 cents in federal gasoline tax added to every litre of fuel sold in the Lower Mainland.
The arrangement whereby the money returned to this region is used by TransLink for regional transportation needs was agreed to years ago by the Metro Vancouver board and the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
"I think those funds should come directly to us," Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said.
"If we took the gas tax that's generated south of the river and put those funds into the things we need south of the river, would that give us a better opportunity to advance our options?"
Surrey council has also mulled the idea of striking off on its own to try to bring rapid transit expansion faster than TransLink.
"We know those kinds of challenges," Walton said. "The mayors at the most remote parts of Metro Vancouver question whether they're getting fair value from TransLink."
He said it makes more sense for those cities to pursue solutions directly with TransLink than to try to split up the mutually agreed pot of money that's a major part of the authority's budget.
The federal commitment to legislate the gas tax transfer had been requested by the mayors council.
The federal government in 2008 agreed to make the gas tax transfer permanent, but the pledge now to legislate the transfers is seen as a further strengthening of that commitment.
"We're all pleased about it," Walton said.
The change doesn't increase the amount of money TransLink can borrow for future transit expansion projects as it had already been counted as an assured revenue source.
Light Rail, Tram-Train & Tram news from Britain
Four further Light Rail/TramAi??announcements this week from Britain;
First UK tram-train plan on track for Sheffield
BBC 24th March
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-12844983
PlansAi??Ai??to make Sheffield the first city in the UK to get a state-of-the-art
“tram-train” service are on track after A?150,000 was granted to theAi??Ai??project.
The continental-style carriages, which operate on both tramAi??Ai??tracks and existing
railways, could run between Sheffield and RotherhamAi??Ai??from 2014.
The idea is to cut journey times and make it easier for people to get into city
centres, reducing car commutes.
The Department for Transport said the next stage of the project is under way.
Tram-trains are described as lighter, more energy efficient,Ai??Ai??with faster
acceleration and deceleration than conventional trains,Ai??Ai??making them greener and
potentially cutting down on the need forAi??Ai??maintenance works.’Exciting project’
Mayor announces shortlisted bidders for additional trams in Croydon
TfL Press release 24th March
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/19601.aspx
Mayor of London Boris Johnson today announced the shortlisted bidders to supply Transport for London (TfL) with up to ten more trams, which will increase services on the Tramlink network.Ai??
The three bidders, City of Edinburgh/CAF, Stadler (Stadler Pankow GmBH) and Pesa (Pojazdy Szynowe PESA Bydgoszcz S.A.Holding) will now be invited to submit proposals to supply the additional trams which would increase the frequency of services on the busiest parts of the network between Therapia Lane, central Croydon and Elmers End.
Tram extension scheme given go-ahead by Government
Nottingham Evening Post 24th March
THE Government has today confirmed that Nottingham City Council has found enough savings for Phase 2 of the tram system to go ahead.
The plans were given the green light by the Government when Transport Minister Norman Baker today after enough savings were identified to make the project more affordable.
The two extensions are planned to go to Chilwell/Beeston and Clifton, linking directly into Line One at Nottingham Station.
Today’s decision will now allow Nottingham City Council to continue to the next stage of the funding approval process.
Ai??
Blackpool explores tram extensions
TransportXtra 25th March
http://www.transportxtra.com/magazines/local_transport_today/news/?id=26146
Ai??Blackpool Borough Council is exploring options to extend its tramway system.
Paul Grocott, Blackpoolai??i??s programme manager for the existing tramway upgrade, said the Fylde Coast transport project was examining how to integrate the tram with other transport infrastructure ai???in the town and beyondai???.
Options under investigation include extending the tram lines to serve Blackpool North railway station and Blackpool Airport, as well as the potential of tram-train technology to make use of the heavy rail lines out of either Blackpool North or Blackpool South railway stations.
Manchester Tram & Rail Link announcements
Manchester Metrolink starts Phase 3b
Railway Gazette 22 March 2011
UK:ai??i??Construction work has started on a 3Ai??9Ai??km extension of the Manchester Metrolink light rail network from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne, following a groundreaking ceremony held on March 8. This is the first of the projects included in Phase 3b of the network expansion programme to get underway.
The work is being undertaken by the M-Pact Thales consortium of Laing O’Rourke, GrantRail and Thales as an option on the existing contract for Phase 3a, which includes construction of a line to Droylsden from the existing terminus at Manchester Piccadilly.
The four-stop Ashton extension will open in winter 2014. It will run on-street to Audenshaw, and then follow a segregated alignment to reach a bus-tram interchange in Ashton town centre. There will be a park-and-ride site for more than 600 cars at Ashton Moss.
Manchester rail link welcomed as a ‘boost’ to region
Funding for a new rail link connecting Manchester’s main stations has been welcomed as a boost to the region.
BBC 23/03/2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12831544
The rail link is part of a wider A?530m plan to improve rail services in and around the city.
Transport bosses said the news was a key step towards providing faster, more frequent trains from Manchester to Liverpool and Leeds.
The Chancellor’s announcement confirmed funding for a short stretch of line known as the Ordsall Curve in Salford.
The building of the curve would allow services to travel between Piccadilly and Victoria, reviving a former plan in the city for a “Picc-Vic” link.
The (AVG) Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft GmbH- KarlsruheA?ai??i??ai???s longest tramtrain route A?ai??i??ai??? S4
I am reprinting this post from last year due to a series of recent correspondence on the 210 km. TramTrain route. Those guys on the Skyscraper page really do a great disservice with regional transit with their extremely dated way of thinking. It is almost as TransLink sponsors the blog!
It must be remembered that the TramTrain route S-4 travels through the sparely populated Schwarzwald or Black forest region of Southern Germany. There are no musings about “not enough density” for the Karlsruhe TramTrain there!
The (AVG) Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft GmbH- Karlsruheai??i??s longest tramtrain route ai??i??Ai??S4
First published on Feb. 10 2010
The AVG’s longest run is now a 210km (130 mile) S4 service from Ai??hringen through central Karlsruhe to Achern, south-west of Baden-Baden. The TramTrain route uses DB mainlines, regional railway lines and on-street running in various cities.
The above map gives the various routes of Karlsruhe’s famous TramTrain network;Ai??largely in an area of comparable density and population of Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. This something to think about when planners and politicians claim: “There isn’t the density in the Fraser Valley to support ‘rail’ transit.”
An Open Letter To The New Minister of Transportation Blair Lekstrom
Dear Mr. Lekstrom;
Welcome to your new ministry, with its many challenges.
The Gateway project is one that will give a few headaches as it's a grossly overbuilt highway that will not carry much traffic. In BC, politicians love to build new highways because their political friends in the Road Builders Association and the trucking industry just love taxpayers money being spent on them. You will make many new friends, until, of course, stop building highways.
As minister of Transportation, you are responsible for that little gem TransLink and all what it entails. There is one problem that you will be soon forced to deal with and that is the $400 million funding gap for the forever promised Evergreen metro line. Regional mayors are tired of anteing up more money for the SkyTrain metro system and are balking at increasing property taxes to pay for gold plated metro schemes. The Evergreen Line must be built, because your new boss, Premier Christy Clark desperately wants to cut ribbons for the new line before the next political election. At the same time, South Fraser politicians are mulling over leaving TransLink because of their taxpayer's dollars are spent on other peoples transit projects. The Evergreen Line maybe the catalyst for a South Fraser rebellion, just in time for the next election. Gaining votes in the Tri-Cities maybe countered by losing many more votes south of the Fraser River.
Adding to the Evergreen Line woes, in 2008, American Transit expert, Gerald fox, shredded TransLink's Evergreen Line's business case. Mr. Fox stated; "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 to". Fox later said; "TransLink has used this cunning method of manipulating analysis to justify SkyTrain in corridor and corridor and has succeeded in keeping the proprietary rail system expanding. In the US all new transit projects that seek federal support are now subject to scrutiny by a panel of transit peers, selected and monitored by the federal government, to ensure that the projects are analysed honestly, and the taxpayers" interests are protected. No SkyTrain project has ever passed this scrutiny in the US.".
Dealing with TransLink maybe dealing with a Pandora's Box of myth, bad planning, and deliberately misleading bureaucrats.
There is one South Fraser rail project that is now more than a pipe dream, the Rail for the Valley TramTrain or Interurban initiative for the old BC Electric route. Backed by the Leewood Projects Study, which shows that a TramTrain project is financially viable, the return of the interurban is seen by many South Fraser politicians as an economic and doable project. The "Full Build" RftV/Leewood TramTrain is 138 km. long, costing just under $1 billion and would service Vancouver, Richmond, as far as Rosedale, past Chillwack. Compare this to the 11 km. $1.4 billion Evergreen line and it is easy to see one gets a lot more bang for your buck with the RftV/Leewood TramTrain/Interurban report!
TransLink and the BC government also have their own, rather dated study, which focuses on a bus based transit system for South Fraser Communities. Other than the fact that buses do not attract the motorist from the car, there is no evidence that TransLink or the BC Transportation ministry clearly understand Bus Rapid Transit. To be truly BRT, a bus needs to be guided or operate on an independent rights-of-way, which in most cases costs only slightly less than a LRT solution, with many more drawbacks. There is clear evidence that the recent provincial government Valley transportation report was done, like a similar study for the E & N Railway, to downplay any rail transit solution for South Fraser municipalities. The RftV/Leewood Study makes a mockery of the provincial government's efforts.
It is how the Ministry of Transportation responds to the many important transportation issues South of the Fraser River, that will decide the fate of TransLink, where present municipal unhappiness with current transit taxation, planning and implementation will later translate into out right rebellion and a succession from TransLink, just in time for the next provincial election in 2013.
Then there is TransLink itself. This ponderous bureaucracy which forever wants more and more tax money, with no public oversight, TransLink has failed to offer a transit system that is both efficient and affordable. TransLink's bureaucrats have convinced themselves of the opposite, that their metro only policy is both affordable and efficient, leaving Vancouver and TransLink a sort laughing stock in international circles. Major changes must be made and soon.
The major problem with our transit system can be summed up with a comparison with Calgary's LRT system. To date, the 48.8 km Calgary's LRT system has cost the Alberta taxpayer just over $1 billion, yet carries over 252,000 customers daily. By comparison, Vancouver's 68.7 km SkyTrain carries a claimed ridership of over 380,000 customers (it must be noted, that unlike Calgary' LRT, there is no independent audit of ridership on SkyTrain and without turnstiles, TransLink's numbers are suspect), a day yet TransLink's metro system has cost the taxpayer over $8 billion to date!
A complete reappraisal of our regional transit system is a must, but if the new Minister of Transportation, like the many before him, puts his head, like the proverbial Ostrich, in the sand and ignore the many problems plaguing TransLink, a Liberal mayor from Surrey may lead the charge of South Fraser municipalities abandoning the sinking ship TransLink.
Comments From The Sandhouse
An AVG TramTrain, from Karlsruhe, on a rail tour on the Swiss mainline.
The Sandhouse is the journal of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association, Pacific Coast Division. In Vol 35, No. 4, Issue 140 – Winter 2010/11, is a summary of the Rail for the Valley/Leewood report and the BC government's effort, with some important observations.
It must be pointed out that the CRHA types are mainline railway people and not up to date with light rail, TramTrain or the concept of the track sharing philosophy, in fact many of them would shudder at the thought of having a tram share the mainline with regular train traffic. I would wager a great many CRHA members are completely unaware of the fact that the Karlsruhe TramTrain has been in operation for over 17 years track sharing with regular railways on many railway lines, without major mishap and that TramTrain is gaining popularity with many transit operators, including in the USA. The longest TramTrain route, in Karlsruhe Germany, is over 210 km. long.
The article left an impression that the TramTrain service would use Ex-Brussels PCC trams and of course this is not so, as the study recommends proven TramTrain vehicles for the service. I think that the Sandhouse article confused the efforts of running a vintage tramway on parts of the old BC Electric line, with what the RftV/Leewood report.
What is of concern is the 12 km. (7.5 mile) Pratt/Livingston corridor, where the Southern Railway of BC (formerly the BC Electric), shares its line with the Roberts Bank Superport Railway. I think that double tracking would be the desired compromise for more efficient operation and I belive the 18 metre corridor of the rail route would easily accommodate double tracking. The cost to double track would be in the $25 million to $30 million range, which would include improved signaling. BC Hydro does have a statutory right to operate passenger trains on that stretch of track and with a double track and improved signaling would appease the railway companies to allow the operation of TramTrains and fright trains in complete safety – as what happens in over twenty European cities on a daily basis.
Railway rules change and the buff strength excuse, used by the railway companies to deliberately prevent LRT form track sharing dates back to wooden framed cars, modern TramTrains with steel frames and carbon fibre bodies are very robust and again, such vehicles operate safely in mixed railway traffic in Europe for many years now. It is the same sort of dated thinking that forced the Toronto streetcar system to be broad gauge, 1495 mm, instead of standard gauge of 1435 mm, to prevent any thought of the streetcars track sharing with the regular railways.
The key for safety is signaling – preventing a TramTrain and a regular train from colliding. And please, don't say the rules can't change, as the lowly caboose is all but a memory with freight train operation, yet were a common sight on all freight trains a mere twenty years ago.
The real problem of course is political support and if the public demand is strong enough for the Valley interurban, then politicians will do what is necessary to make it happen or face the wrath of the voters at the polls.
Click to see the famous Karlsruhe TramTrain in action.
Where’s The Transit?
It has been overAi??six months since the release of the Rail for the ground breakingAi??Valley/Leewood TramTrain report and very little of substance has happened. In BC and Metro Vancouver, it is business as usual, where civic and provincial politicians are fretting about funding for the discredited Evergreen metro line. The hype and hoopla on the mainstream media about the RAV/Canada line being massively successful, despite the fact that TransLink fails to actually state the numbers of new transit customers the truncated metro has attracted, is nothing more than pabulum for the masses to put put pressure on regional mayors to ante up more taxpayers money to fill the $400 million funding gap.
Mayors South of the Fraser are feeling somewhat rebellious as there is little investment in transit South of the Fraser, yet more money is needed to fund prestigious metro projects on the other side of the river. Some municipalities are openly mulling leaving TransLink, which must sent shivers up the SkyTrain Lobby’s spine, for if South of the Fraser municipalities pull out of TransLink, SkyTrain expansion will be doomed.
The RftV/Leewood study is a breathe of fresh air as a transit consultant, from outside the box, planned for an affordable railAi??transit solution for the Fraser Valley, a solution that has been largely ignored by the powers that be.
Just think, for the cost of the new retractable roof at BC Place, we could have built a diesel TramTrain service from Scott road station to Chilliwack. For the cost of the $5 billion plus Gateway Highways program, we could build:
- A “full build” 138 km. Vancouver/Richmond to Rosedale TramTrain.
- A new Fraser River Rail Bridge.
- A UBC to BCIT to Stanley Park LRT.
- TwoAi?? 15 km. LRT Lines in Surrey.
- One 15 km. LRTAi??line in Langley.
- A rail connection to YXX.
Plus at least $1 billion left over for schools and hospitals!
In BC we do not have a transit problem, rather we have a financial allocation problem, where the provincial government is following its highways and metro only investment policy and it is time that regional politicians to stop and have a good look, where are current transportation/transit policies are taking us. With gas prices rising and the economy teetering on a recession due to world events, should we not get the biggest transit bang for our buck?
It is time that Valley mayors and councilors ask BC’s new Premier, Christy Clark: “Where is the Transit?”
Should we build TramTrain, with costs starting at $6 million/km.
Or Light Rail (LRT), with costs starting at $20 million/km.
Or elevated metro, with costs starting at $125 million/km.
Or a subway, with costs starting at $200 million/km.
This the question that the politicians have to decide!
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