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Surrey Leader – Valley ignored by TransLink

Valley ignored by TransLink

Published: October 19, 2010 4:00 PM

Updated: October 19, 2010 4:31 PM

The recent announcement by TransLink dismissing the Interurban corridor from transit consideration shows the provincial government to be completely out of touch when it comes to meeting the needs of people South of the Fraser River.

Rail For the Valley has never claimed the Interurban corridor should be the only route for light rail through Surrey. Rather, due to the nature of the line, light rail could be implemented quickly and with extreme economy over long distances, thereby establishing an attractive initial base from which a more extensive light rail network could grow.

By dismissing the Interurban corridor, firstly Translink is dismissing outright the needs of thousands of residents of Delta who will not be served by any of the transit extensions TransLink has proposed.

Secondly, TransLink is dismissing Newton, South Surrey, Cloverdale and Langley, communities that will likely have to wait decades for light rail to come. Light rail implementation on the existing Interurban tracks would cost about $5 million/km, according to a recent comprehensive study of the corridor by a respected firm with expertise in light rail. Light rail construction when there is no track available, however, usually costs on the order of $20-30 million/km, or greater than $100 million/km for Skytrain. With the Evergreen Skytrain Line already delayed 20 years due to its cost, one can only guess how long these communities will have to wait.

Thirdly, TransLink is dismissing the people of Abbotsford and Chilliwack, two fast-growing cities in the Fraser Valley that, without the Interurban, will be lucky to get light rail to their communities in the next 40 years. While Abbotsford and Chilliwack are not a part of TransLink, artificial boundaries must never be used to write off regions by an organization created ostensibly to serve the public good.

Fourthly, TransLink is dismissing the taxpayers of British Columbia, who will ultimately be left paying the bill for transit decisions that do not even consider the taxpayer as part of the equation.

TransLink has not listened to the people of the Fraser Valley. Ultimately, the Provincial government directs TransLink and must stand accountable. Citizens of the Fraser Valley must ask themselves, should they continue to support a government that so blatantly ignores their interests?

John Buker

Rail For the Valley

via Surrey Leader – Valley ignored by TransLink.

Peace Arch News – Keep railing for commuter train

Keep railing for commuter train

Published: October 15, 2010 9:00 AM

Updated: October 15, 2010 9:33 AM

Editor:

Re: Light rail would work here, Oct. 8.

Kudos to columnist Frank Bucholtz for raising awareness of a viable alternative to SkyTrain expansion in the Fraser Valley, which is available now A?ai??i??ai??? not 10 to 20 years from now.

Rehabilitation and upgrading of the former BC Electric (interurban) line which still runs from New Westminster through Cloverdale, Langley and Abbotsford to Chilliwack is an idea whose time has come.

As Bucholtz points out, the main impediment appears to be the issue of road-grade crossings, but bridges would be required also for any SkyTrain expansion south of the Fraser River. TransLink and the province should be looking into engineering design and feasibility of rehabilitating the interurban line now, at least for the most urgent section between Langley and New Westminster.

And while weA?ai??i??ai???re at it, what about the BNSF line connecting White Rock and South Surrey with New Westminster? Surely some agreement could be reached with the owners to provide light-rail commuter service during peak hours.

Every year we see more home construction in South Surrey, yet the main means of road access to Vancouver A?ai??i??ai??? the George Massey Tunnel and Alex Fraser Bridge A?ai??i??ai??? are the same now as they were decades ago. We need commuter-train service now!

Chris Hodgson, Surrey

via Peace Arch News – Keep railing for commuter train.

Surrey Leader – Why no light rail?

Why no light rail?

Published: October 14, 2010 1:00 PM

Updated: October 14, 2010 1:45 PM

So Premier Campbell has promised SkyTrain to Langley, but does anyone believe him?

To refresh everyoneA?ai??i??ai???sA?ai??i??ai??? memories, SkyTrain is a proprietary, automatic (driverless) railway that is now owned by Bombardier Inc. First marketed in the late 1970s, what we in the Vancouver Metro region call SkyTrain has gone through at least four official name changes and a complete redesigns, yet only seven such transit systems have been built and now relegated to the niche airport people-mover market.

SkyTrain was even too expensive for the truncated Canada Line subway and a generic metro system was used and is incompatible with the proprietary SkyTrain Advanced Rapid Transit or ART.

Only Vancouver has expanded its SkyTrain ICTS/ALRT/ALM/ART light-metro system and is the only one of four cities in North America having SkyTrain (there is no SkyTrain operation in Europe) to do so.

Why? The answer is simple economics: SkyTrain costs more to build and operate than comparable light rail systems and despite dubious claims by TransLink, SkyTrain has yet to prove that it has a greater capacity than light rail.

The grade crossing argument used by the SkyTrain lobby is a man-of-straw argument as rail/road crossings are more than 10 times safer than road/road intersections. The proposed TramTrain grade crossings will be protected by lights, bells and a gate. Compare this to a typical light-controlled traffic intersection or the cheaper four-way stop intersection. The road/rail intersection is much safer. If a car driver disobeys a road/rail crossing protected by lights, bells and a gate and collides with a TramTrain, should not the car driverA?ai??i??ai???s licence be revoked?

For the premierA?ai??i??ai???s proposed $2-billion SkyTrain line to Langley, we can build a A?ai??i??Ai??full buildA?ai??i??A? (Vancouver/Richmond to Rosedale TramTrain) and a new multi-track Fraser River Rail Bridge and at least two LRT 10-km LRT/streetcar lines in Surrey and Langley.

It seems Premier Campbell is waiting at the station for a SkyTrain that will never come.

Malcolm Johnston

Light Rail Committee

Rail for the Valley

via Surrey Leader – Why no light rail?.

Abbotsford News – RegionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors will be left waiting for SkyTrain

RegionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors will be left waiting for SkyTrain

Published: October 07, 2010 11:00 AM

Updated: October 07, 2010 11:22 AM

0 Comments

On Monday, Rail for the Valley and Leewood Projects (UK) released a historic and revolutionary TramTrain report for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

The TramTrain plan is historic, for it is the first time in over 30 years that a transit study, independent of political and bureaucratic influence has been released to the public, giving an affordable option to TransLinkA?ai??i??ai???s expensive SkyTrain light metro planning.

The TramTrain plan is revolutionary because it gives economic 21st century transit solutions for the region, instead of costly and dated 1950s metro and subway planning.

TramTrain is a reinvention of the interurban and is part of the large light rail family, which sees over 450 such systems in operation around the world. First operated in Karlsruhe Germany in 1993, the new TramTrain proved so successful that ridership on the new TramTrain line (which replaced a commuter train and one transfer) exploded from 533,600 per week to over 2,555,000, (almost 480% increase) in just a few months! Karlsruhe now operates over 410 km of TramTrain, including lines in the environmentally sensitive Black Forest, with the longest route being over 210 km.

As TramTrain is inexpensive to build, TramTrain lines do not need the massive densification needed by SkyTrain and the RAV/Canada Line. TramTrain can pass through sensitive ALR lands, leaving farm lands as they are, and preventing rampant land speculation and development that more expensive transit modes need to sustain them.

The Rail for the Valley/Leewood plan also gives glimpse in the future with the initial line expanding to Vancouver, Richmond and Rosedale.

Why build the 11 km., $1.4 billion plus SkyTrain Evergreen Line, when we can build a full 138 km Vancouver/Richmond to Rosedale TramTrain service for under $1 billion, with enough money left over to build a Vancouver to Maple Ridge TramTrain service, as TransLink planned for in the late 1990s.

Today there are 14 cities with TramTrain operation (only 7 cities have SkyTrain), with a further 20 TramTrain operations being planned for.

One hopes the the regionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors board the TramTrain for better public transit. If not, they will be left behind at the station, waiting for a SkyTrain that will never come.

Malcolm Johnston

Light Rail Committee

via Abbotsford News – RegionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors will be left waiting for SkyTrain.

Chilliwack Progress – Light rail delivers more bang for the buck

Light rail delivers more bang for the buck

Published: October 13, 2010 10:00 AM

Updated: October 13, 2010 10:38 AM

So Premier Campbell has promised SkyTrain to Langley, but does anyone believe him?

To refresh everyoneA?ai??i??ai???s memory, SkyTrain is a proprietary, automatic (driverless) railway that is now owned by Bombardier Inc. First marketed in the late 1970s, what we in the Vancouver METRO region call SkyTrain, has gone through at least four official name changes and a complete redesign, yet only seven such transit systems have been built and now relegated to the niche airport people mover market. SkyTrain was even too expensive for the truncated Canada Line subway and a generic metro system was used and is incompatible with the proprietary SkyTrain Advanced Rapid Transit or ART.

Only Vancouver has expanded it SkyTrain ICTS/ALRT/ALM/ART light-metro system and is the only one of four cities in North America having SkyTrain(there is no SkyTrain operation in Europe) to do so.

Why?

The answer is simple economics; SkyTrain costs more to build and operate than comparable light rail systems and despite dubious claims by TransLink, SkyTrain has yet to prove that it has a greater capacity than light rail!

The grade crossing argument used by the SkyTrain lobby, is a man of straw argument as rail/road crossings are over ten times safer than a road/road intersections. The proposed TramTrain grade crossings will be protected by lights, bells, and a gate. Compare this to a typical light controlled traffic intersection or the cheaper four way stop intersection; the road/rail intersection is much safer. If car driver disobeys a road/rail crossing protected by lights. bells, and a gate and collides with a TramTrain, should not the car drivers license be revoked?

For the PremierA?ai??i??ai???s proposed $2 billion SkyTrain line to Langley, we can build a A?ai??i??Ai??full buildA?ai??i??A? (Vancouver/Richmond to Rosedale TramTrain) and a new multi track Fraser River Rail Bridge and at least two LRT 10 km. LRT/streetcar lines in Surrey and Langley!

It seems Premier Campbell is waiting at the station for a SkyTrain that will never come.

Malcolm Johnston

Light Rail Committee

via Chilliwack Progress – Light rail delivers more bang for the buck.

Chilliwack Progress – Message to transport minister

Message to transport minister

Published: August 20, 2010 9:00 AM

Updated: August 20, 2010 9:45 AM

Open letter to Chuck Strahl, federal minister of transportation.

I am concerned about congestion on Highway No. 1, and the need for a passenger service four times a day in each direction on the Southern Railway, from Chilliwack to Delta and on to Anacis Island. This will serve:

A?ai??i??A? Students attending all the universities and colleges south of the Fraser River,

A?ai??i??A? Passengers to Abbotsford Airport,

A?ai??i??A? Farmers who have no public transport south of Highway 1,

A?ai??i??A? Commuters, most of whom work south of the Fraser River.

A?ai??i??A? Besides it would connect with the Skytrain on Scott Road, and thus get people to Vancouver and UBC.

A?ai??i??A? Cultus Lake, Vedder River and Chilliwack Lake could become joyful destinations for tourists who could enjoy the scenery along the way, restfully on a train. Beyond Chilliwack, tourists could proceed to Harrison Hot Springs, and on their way Minter Gardens, Bridal Veil Falls, Aboriginal historic sites, Kirby, Agassiz, Hope, etc, etc. Minibuses could shuttle people here and there. Why not?

A?ai??i??A? The connection with the whole USA rail system, at Huntington/Sumas has great potential too. There are already refrigerator cars on the Southern Railway, so the import and export of fruit and vegetables has a great future that could cut down on huge dangerous trucks that fill our air with fumes and keep costs of highway maintenance unnecessarily high.

Myrtle Macdonald

via Chilliwack Progress – Message to transport minister.

Chilliwack Progress – A transportation vision for the future

A transportation vision for the future

Published: July 27, 2010 9:00 AM

Updated: July 27, 2010 9:50 AM

Re: Chilliwack not on board with commuter rail (Chilliwack Progress, July 20). Kudos to Mayor Gaetz for being patient and waiting for the results from the Fraser Valley transit study currently underway. But if sheA?ai??i??ai???s hoping to hear something new on utilizing the Interurban line for passenger rail, I can save her the wait. The results will be just like those from the report released last week that looked at the feasibility of utilizing the E&N Line on Vancouver Island for an upgraded passenger rail service. In short, the Fraser Valley will also be told that implementing a passenger service at this time is too expensive, and should be postponed until sometime in the future. The cost per passenger for each ride will be too much they will say, and the current population densities along the line donA?ai??i??ai???t support the investment at this time.

But the powers that be are looking at rail, and transit for that matter, without a vision for our future. They assume that the status quo never changes, that people will be driving for the majority of their trips 30 years from now just like they do today, and future ridership estimates for rail are made under this assumption. It is in effect a self fulfilling prophecy that allows investment in real transportation alternatives to the car to be avoided. Forget for a second that the baby boomers will be increasingly relying on public transit in just a few short years. Forget that despite all our wailing about air quality here in the Fraser Valley, more cars means more pollution. Forget that global oil production is projected to peak in the next few decades (if it hasnA?ai??i??ai???t already) and our increasingly desperate search for oil is causing untold destruction both here in Canada as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. Under the status quo, we are looking at more roads and overpasses to service an ever-increasing number of cars, and more importantly, more traffic and more congestion. Rather than plan for more of the same only bigger, we need to be planning our communities around a different way of living in this world. Our decisions here at the local level matter, and influence the bigger issues playing out across the country and the globe. If the communities of the Fraser Valley are serious about the issues they claim to be serious about A?ai??i??ai??? improving the environment and livability, air quality, aging in place for retiring boomers A?ai??i??ai??? then we need to look at a new way of doing business. We need leaders with a vision for the future, not leaders whose goal is just the status quo only bigger. If we follow the same path we are on now, growth will bring us the same problems A?ai??i??ai??? only more so A?ai??i??ai??? 25 or 50 years from now.

A few examples to think about for when the Province trots out its A?ai??i??Ai??too expensive per rideA?ai??i??A? number once the study is finished: when the West Coast Express (WCE) was implemented, the cost per ride was somewhere around a whopping $40 per person, much more than a ticket cost, and service was heavily subsidized. But as the service gained a reputation for a relaxing and comfortable ride (something cars will never provide by the way), ridership increased and costs per ride came down substantially. Today, no one could imagine getting rid of such a great service, and indeed it has shaped the way residents live and work north of the Fraser. (DonA?ai??i??ai???t forget to think about the low densities north of the Fraser in relation to the success of the WCE when they trot out the A?ai??i??Ai??not enough densityA?ai??i??A? argument also!)

Today, the automobile no longer represents that same freedom of mobility for our communities. In addition to air quality and pollution impacts, congestion and over-use has killed the automobile as the saviour of freedom of movement. Today, we are moving towards a world where public transportation systems, walking, and cycling are the real tools for improved mobility and health for all ages, and leaders with vision will recognize that and act accordingly.

James Watt

via Chilliwack Progress – A transportation vision for the future.

Transportation: TransLink dog and pony show selling snake oil

Transportation: TransLink dog and pony show selling snake oil

Langley Advance October 15, 2010

Dear Editor,

I see that TransLink is taking its well-honed dog and pony transit show to Surrey, and I hope residents watch out for the snake-oil that passes as transit planning.

TransLink doesnA?ai??i??ai???t care for modern light rail, and prefers to build with itA?ai??i??ai???s expensive, old standby, the bureaucratic and politically prestigious SkyTrain light-metro system.

To this end, TransLink pulls out all the stops to make LRT seem inferior to SkyTrain, which has worked well with the rubes on the north side of the river. One hopes Surrey folks and politicians can see through TransLinkA?ai??i??ai???s hype and hoopla, and see the slick-willies for what they are.

Despite TransLinkA?ai??i??ai???s claims that modern LRT canA?ai??i??ai???t carry much more than 10,000 persons per hour per direction, in the real world (beyond the GVRD), modern LRT is defined as mode A?ai??i??Ai??that can deal economically with traffic flows of between 2,000 and 20,000 passengers per hour per direction, thus effectively bridging the gap between the maximum flow that can be dealt with using buses and the minimum that justifies a metro.A?ai??i??A?

LRT, with its inherent high passenger-carrying capacities, combined with economic construction costs, made the SkyTrain metro system obsolete decades ago, but TransLink lives in the world of A?ai??i??Ai??Pixie-dustA?ai??i??A? planning, where facts are contrived to continue building with SkyTrain. Sadly, TransLinkA?ai??i??ai???s current transit plans are A?ai??i??Ai??fruits of the poisonous treeA?ai??i??A? and not worth the paper itA?ai??i??ai???s printed on.

Noted American transit specialist, Gerald fox, in a letter to a Victoria (BC) transit group, summed up TransLinkA?ai??i??ai???s mania for SkyTrain on the Evergreen line: A?ai??i??Ai??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 taxpayersA?ai??i??ai??? interests are protected. No SkyTrain project has ever passed this scrutiny in the US.A?ai??i??A?

TransLink, embarrassed by the Rail for the Valley/Leewood TramTrain report, is hoping once again to bamboozle Surrey residents with its anti-LRT rhetoric that has worked so well for them in the past.

Malcolm Johnston, Light Rail Committee, Rail for the Valley

Ai??Ai?? Copyright (c) Langley Advance

via Transportation: TransLink dog and pony show selling snake oil.

Rail readily beats SkyTrain

Rail readily beats SkyTrain

By John Buker, Langley Advance October 8, 2010

Dear Editor,

Premier Gordon Campbell announced a SkyTrain line to Langley, and rapid buses from Langley to Chilliwack, with no timeline for implementation and no funding arrangements.

Has the provincial government not yet read the independent 84-page Interurban study by Leewood Projects?

The report concludes that a modern, frequent light rail service for the entire Fraser Valley to Chilliwack is achievable in the near-term, for an initial $500 million investment – a far better investment than SkyTrain and rapid buses.

SkyTrain costs more than $100 million per kilometre to build, compared to $5 million/km for an Interurban light rail service.

John Buker, Rail For The Valley

Ai??Ai?? Copyright (c) Langley Advance

via Rail readily beats SkyTrain.