Leaving Lotus Land
I find it strange that Vancouver politicians, past and present, still view themselves as the centre of the universe and whatever is built or done in Vancouver is considered immediately as being good or the delightful local phrase, "world class". Of course, Vancouver's internationally notorious downtown Eastside is conveniently forgotten by everyone, throw away people are always conveniently forgotten. This myopic view is leading the region down a dangerous road of high debt and questionable planning practices, yet very little is done and everyone carries on as if they were "the best place on earth". Those who question the status quo are instantly labeled naysayers and derided. Because of this, those who live outside Vancouver and its environs, refer to the city and its citizens as "Lotus land".
"In the afternoon they came unto a land
In which it seemed always afternoon.
All around the coast the languid air did swoon,
Breathing like one that hath a weary dream."
— Tennyson, "The Lotus Eaters"
The unelected METRO Vancouver Regional Board and the similarly unelected TransLink Board, both dominated by Vancouver politicians, have insulated themselves from public scrutiny which has greatly eroded the regional publics faith in the two institutions. What support is there for both METRO and TransLink is swiftly eroding.
There are solutions to alleviate the problems associated with METRO and TransLink, but politicians, ever fearful of loosing political power, reject reform out of hand. In BC, according to the local spin, public involvement diminishes democracy.
Where is this leading………
On September 21, 2010, Rail for the Valley released a ground breaking report for 'rail' transit for the Fraser Valley.
http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/groundbreaking-report-on-interurban-light-rail/
Despite wide media exposure, the response from TransLink has been deafening; there has been no response – no acknowledgment of the report by TransLink. This speaks volumes about the planning bureaucrats in their insulated ivory towers on Kingsway; they do not want to address any transit plan other than their own, especially the RftV/Leewood TramTrain Report.
TransLink, which can't find the $400 million to pay its share for the yet to be started Evergreen SkyTrain light-metro line, is busily planning for a $4 billion subway under Broadway to UBC and a $2 billion plus SkyTrain light-metro extension to Langley! TransLink, refuses to recognize that the same amount of money spent on a light rail construction program would provide about five to ten times more route mileage that what can be had with SkyTrain!
Without public oversight, TransLink's planning managers refuse to address real transit and transportation problems that have beset the region and spend countless hours, days, weeks (and spending countless taxpayers dollars as well) in the arcane world of light-metro planning and trying convince the public with outright propaganda that the TransLink way is the right way; the only way!
Even TransLink's 'trolls of war' are finding harder and harder to bamboozle the public on various blogs, etc.
Until TransLink is made to plan for affordable transit options, the ponderous bureaucracy will carry on producing one SkyTrain plan after another and the METRO Vancouver region will wallow in traffic chaos, expensive public transit and ever higher property taxes and transit fares without any light at the end of the tunnel.
What politician in BC, civic or provincial, is not afraid to bell the TransLink Cat!
None it seems, except for Mayors Dianne Watts of Surrey and Rick Green of the Township of Langley!
The time has come to speak of many things and leave the city of the Lotus, to dream dreams of SkyTrain and subways; it is time for the South Fraser region to leave TransLink.
The Budapest HA?ai??i??V System A?ai??i??ai??? Budapest’s Interurban
Although not a classicAi??Ai??tram or light rail system, the Budapest HA?ai??i??V system deservesAi??Ai??a mentioning, because the rail line combines on-street operation (on a reserved rights-of-ways) in downtown Csepel, as well as classic railway operation.
SeeAi??Ai??the HA?ai??i??V System
Ai??Ai??http://hampage.hu/trams/thg2bp/csepel.html
The Vogtlandbahn TramTrains & Interurbans A Template For The Valley Interurban
A diesel TramTrain
The following is a summery of the Vogtlandbahn TramTrain operation in Germany. Contrary to TransLink’s (and Metro Vancouver and Liberal government) spin that one needs oodles & oodles of density for ‘rail‘ transit, the continues success of new TramTrain operations dispels the many negative myths.
The SkyTrain lobby is also desperately hard at work spreading myth and tall tales about LRT, that it can’t do this or it can’t do that and TransLink continues to support these negative myths by claiming that LRT can carry only about 10,000 pphpd and streetcars much less. The truth be know, LRT can carry over 20,000 pphpd! The fear is widespread among transit and planning bureaucrats that LRT, built and operated in any form, will give an apples to apples comparison of light rail and their beloved SkyTrain. The push to build the Evergreen line in the Tri-cities, planning for SkyTrain expansion in surrey and the $4 billion UBC/Broadway subway point to their anti LRT agenda.
TramTrain is about economy and giving the transit customer want he wants, a one stop (no-transfer) travel experience. To provide this, one must plan for cheap transit options, not gold-plated metro and TramTrain is the cheapest light rail option available.
Valley politicians have a choice, either continue supporting SkyTrain light-metro which never will be built or BRT, which has proven not to attract the motorist from the car – or – support TramTrain, a proven transit mode for reducing auto congestion and gridlock for the Fraser Valley.
The VogtlandbahnAi?? Tram-Trains & Interurbans
The Vogtlandbahn is a private railway company in Germany, which runs diesel trains on regional lines in the states of Saxony, Thuringia, Bavaria, Brandenburg, and Berlin and as well as routes into the Czech Republic. Vogtlandbahn is wholly owned by the Arriva subsidiary Regentalbahn.
After German Reunification in 1990, there was a sharp drop in passenger numbers on the local rail network. The railways had old locomotives rolling stock and couldn’t compete with the rapidly improving roads. The Saxony government invested in an attempt to improve the attractiveness of the ZwickauA? Falkenstein Klingenthal line and the Herlasg Falkenstein Adorf Line, the track was relaid to a 80Ai??Ai??km/h standard, disabled access was facilitated at all stations and new stations opened. Train and track maintenance was rationalized and to reduce costs some stations such as Schneck were restyled as simple halts.
The investments in upgraded track and rolling stock proved successful and reversed the fortunes of the railway.
A further success, is the extension of the network into Zwickau town centre (TramTrain). Following the example set by very successful Karlsruhe Zweisystem (TramTrain), the lines extend from Zwickau Hauptbahnhof (Main Railway Station) to the central market. As most of the Vogtland network has not been electrified, the train-trams do not use current from the overhead tram wires (as in Karlsruhe) but use diesel engines. From there to Zentrum the train and the tram use the same tracks. To do this, dual-gauge track has been laid; there are three rails, the tram uses metre gauge(1000Ai??Ai??mm), and the Vogtlandbahn uses standard gauge (1435 mm). An extra rail was laid next to the tram line so thatAi?? they share one rail and each use one of the others as appropriate.
Success followed success and several abandoned or disused railway lines were relaid or upgraded for service. Today the Vogtlandbahn is the second largest railway company in Geramny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogtlandbahn
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/de/private/passenger/Vogtlandbahn/RegioSprinter/pix.html
News About the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway
PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE EXPANSION PROPOSED
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRAHAM BRUCE MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY…Ai??
“We’ve made formal application to VIA Rail to move the terminus from Victoria to Nanaimo and initiate an early morning southbound rail service from Nanaimo to Victoria. This would tie in to the daily service that then runs from Victoria to Courtenay, and provides a more friendly service for people on the rail, moving to the southern sector of Victoria”Ai??
BRUCE SAYS IT’LL BE 12 TO 18 MONTHS BEFORE THE SERVICE ENHANCEMENT COULD BE ACHIEVED. IT DEPENDS, IN PART, ON A 15 MILLION DOLLAR UPGRADE OF THE RAIL TRACK, WHICH THE I-C-F IS ASKING THE FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS TO FUND.Ai??
BRUCE WAS SPEAKING WITH DAVE DICKSON ON C-FAX1070 THIS AFTERNOON.
News and Letters A?ai??i??ai??? October 27, 2010
Local news & Letters
Chilliwack Progress#
http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/theprogress/opinion/letters/105729548.html
William Chambers has very succinctly scored with a well landed punch on Sharon Gaetz, with this one.
Ai??Ai??Also in the Chilliwack Times
http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/news/High+cost+rail+just+myth/3727555/story.html
Ai??Ai??Langley Times#
Metro urged to recant rapid transit priority for Surrey
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/langleytimes/news/105694708.html
Two more overpasses planned for Langleys
Ai??Ai??http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/langleytimes/news/105490118.html
Ai??Ai??Surrey Leader#
Make Bond use transit
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/opinion/letters/105542243.html
Ai??Ai??The Province#
Valley commuters need bridge
http://www.theprovince.com/opinion/letters/Valley+commuters+need+bridge/3718612/story.html
A Siemens Combino tram in Budapest colours.
International News
Gold Coast, Australia
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/10/26/265831_gold-coast-news.ht
ml
Phoenix
Los Angeles
http://redondobeach.patch.com/articles/locals-prefer-light-rail
Denver
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/eaglepcommuterrailpr/
Dulwich Hill, Sydney
http://lightrailextension.metrotransport.com.au/proposed-routes/light-rail-to-dulwich-hill/
Utrecht
Valley commuters need bridge
Valley commuters need bridge
By Christina Beaupre, The Province October 24, 2010
This is the first I’ve heard that the old Port Mann Bridge is going to be demolished! That bridge was an integral part of the Trans Canada Highway, which is supposed to connect Canadians coast to coast.
How can it be that B. C is ignoring the increasing demand of people who live in the valley by not bringing back light rail. The tracks are laid, we just need trains and stations. I for one would much rather take a train to my job in Vancouver from my home in Abbotsford.
How can they impose a toll on commuters, many of us young families who can’t afford real estate on the other side of the bridge, while not providing a viable public-transit alternative?
How dare they!
Christina Beaupre, Abbotsford
Ai??Ai?? Copyright (c) The Province
via Valley commuters need bridge.
Uninformed about transit
Uninformed about transit
The Times October 19, 2010
Editor:
Each time the light rail issue has been brought up Mayor Sharon Gaetz hasn’t had any more insight than to say rail crossings would cost the city $500,000 each. Upper Prairie Road is shortly getting one of these new crossings and after the government’s contributions the bill to the city is actually $44,000.
I have nothing against Mayor Gaetz, but I also know that Chilliwack council is totally uninformed when it comes to rail.
There are already three studies recommending it. The Rail For the Valley one is just the most recent, and council hasn’t done anything positive. The experts have said to put together a pilot project and Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford are working toward this goal with the South of the Fraser Community Rail Task Force.
Meanwhile, Chilliwack council is ignoring this and we really risk being excluded from the eventual rail network.
Please, Mayor Gaetz, there is now more then enough data that firmly supports light rail. Chilliwack deserves a lot better transportation then you’re giving us.
Nick Wimpney
Chilliwack
Ai??Ai?? Copyright (c) Chilliwack Times
Chilliwack Progress – Light rail offers economic solution
Light rail offers economic solution
Published: October 25, 2010 6:00 PM
It should be noted that ChilliwackA?ai??i??ai???s public transit is utilized by about one per cent of residents. We donA?ai??i??ai???t need studies to tell us the reason for that is our bus service is terrible. The mayor has pointed out that most vehicle traffic stays within town. What she doesnA?ai??i??ai???t add, though, is that the type of rail being proposed is defined as A?ai??i??E?community rail,A?ai??i??ai??? designed exactly to that purpose. It is politicians who mistakenly label it a commuter system. The fact that it can also be used for traveling to other communities is what makes it so advantageous. It is only with a practical service like this that we will get the ridership on local public transit that we need. A 20 minute trip from Yarrow to Downtown Chilliwack, for example, would take only 11 minutes by train. The recent Quality of Life poll showed only 23 per cent of Chilliwack residents are satisfied with existing public transit.
The mayor mentioned the cost of a new rail system, but has left out that the province has proposed as an alternative a rapidbus system which will cost a great deal more to build and maintain. Most people, including Chilliwack council, are totally unaware of this fact. The province isnA?ai??i??ai???t exactly advertising all the costs of it, theyA?ai??i??ai???ve implied it will be cheaper.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Regardless of what system is built, Victoria and Ottawa will share in a cost partnership with municipalities. (The type of rail crossings needed will in fact cost about $50,000.) Simply throwing money at our broken bus system by adding more buses is not going to work either, and it is sign of poor fiscal planning.
If Chilliwack council fails to move toward light rail like most of our other neighbours are doing, you the taxpayer will pay the price for it. The greatest myth to be corrected is that rail service will cost more. It costs less. Research yourself and you will find itA?ai??i??ai???s true.
William Chambers
via Chilliwack Progress – Light rail offers economic solution.
Rail for the Valley on the Radio
On CKNW radio this morning, Fraser Valley transportation was discussed. Sadly, the mayor of Abbotsford, seems to be quite out of his depth on the issue.
For a listen, please follow the link and set at October 26, 10:00 am
http://www.cknw.com/other/audiovault.html
Why there is antagonism towards at-grade Light Rail/Tramways & streetcars (North America + Canada)
The following was sent to Zwei by a very concerned urban transportation advocate.
All the SkyTrain lobby has is fear to debate light rail and spread fear they do. All technical debates between LRT and SkyTrain/light-metro have been won or lost decades ago and SkyTrain has been relegated to the history books. Like uber Regulus fanatics, the SkyTrain Lobby and its ilk, well entrenched in TransLink, desperately try to keep building with the aging SkyTrain system with any argument they can muster.
Zweisystem predicted over a decade ago, if TransLink persisted in building with SkyTrain/light metro, it would bankrupt itself and that prediction has come true, with TransLink, balancing on the knifes edge of financial peril. It can not fund the $1.4 billion SkyTrain Evergreen Line, it can’t fund the proposed $2 billion plus Surrey/Langley extension and TransLink certainly can’t fund the proposed $4 billion UBC/Broadway subway; yet TransLink still wastes the taxpayers money, playing the same games planning for light-metro that no one can afford.
Like a slow motion train wreck, TransLink skirts with financial oblivion, ignoring all danger signals, until it finally crashes into a brick financial wall.
In the end, as noted American transit expert, Gerald Fox: “But, eventually, Vancouver will need to adopt lower-cost LRT in its lesser corridors, or else limit the extent of its rail system. And that seems to make some TransLink people very nervous.”
Why there is antagonism towards at-grade Light Rail/Tramways & streetcars (North America + Canada)
The title could be for a doctorate or thesis on public attitudes & political psychology, towards public transport.
The anathema is not always or usual directed towards cost of a project. Over the last ten years or so of Light Rail advocacy, IAi??Ai??has noted a number of key arguments which I have listed below.
- The road lobby fear at-grade Light Rail/Street Tramways, because of the reduction in road width/road capacity for cars.
- The road lobby and dedicated motorists donA?ai??i??ai???t like Ai??Ai??Light Rail/Street Tramways, because it means that junction/intersection signals will be prioritized for Light Rail
- Buses & BRT are tolerated because it is known that these modes will not offer modal shift comparable to Light Rail/Street Tramways
- Downtown & suburban/out of town retailers fear Light Rail/Street Tramways will give shoppers a reliable transport service into the city centre to shop & by so reducing their trade.
- Politicians & business leaders in suburban townships & rural areas, fear Light Rail/Street Tramways will turn their communities into dormitories as residents find that a commute to Ai??Ai??the big city is feasible.
- Politicians, civic leaders & established residents fear Light Rail/Street Tramways, will bring developers & an influx of newbieA?ai??i??ai???s into their communities.
- Big city politicians & civic leaders fear Light Rail/Street Tramways will mean citizens moving out further into the suburbs to live, work & shop.
- Planners & politicians fear Light Rail/Street Tramways will bring urban sprawl.
- Contrary to many expressed views, major private bus operators are remarkably tolerant of Light Rail/Street Tramways, in Europe many of them operate the Light Rail/Street Tramway systems. With public bus operators, competition with Light Rail/Street Tramways cannot be an issue. There may be a number of small existing public transport operators such as cab firms that fear a loss of trade, but often they readily adapt to the changing patterns.
Ai??Ai??To put this into a Fraser Valley/Vancouver/BC context.
- TransLink fears Light Rail/Street Tramways, because its likely popularity with the general public will undermine their business model for SkyTrain & their credibility.
- Likewise the TransLink apparatchiks on Skyscraper, for whom urban transport is ART running through densely populated cities on elevated segregated tracks surrounded by A?ai??i??Ai??.. wait for itA?ai??i??Ai??A?ai??i??Ai??SkyscrapersA?ai??i??Ai??.of course! What they would actually like to see is a Dan Dare year 3000 scenario with thousands of PRT pods flying around.
- Gordon Campbell fears Light Rail/Street Tramways, because it will destroy his credibility and his power base.
- Civic politicians Ai??Ai??fear Light Rail/Street Tramways will turn their communities into dormitories as residents find that a commute to Ai??Ai??the big city is feasible and will bring developers & an influx of newbieA?ai??i??ai???s into their communities.
- Civic politiciansAi??Ai??would support buses or BRT, cos they know that mode will not offer a comparable modal shift.
- LangleyapparatchiksAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??fear Light Rail/Street Tramways, cos it wasnA?ai??i??ai???tAi??Ai??their idea and they didnA?ai??i??ai???t think of it first.
- Mike Archer & others of his ilk fear Light Rail/Street Tramways, because heA?ai??i??ai???s a journalist & itA?ai??i??ai???s his job & nature to write negative articles about what he doesnA?ai??i??ai???t really understand.
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