Half a million riders; but the Olympic streetcar won’t be staying- From News Radio 1130

500,000 customers moved in two months, by two Flexity trams is a very good statistic and bodes well for further expansion of LRT/streetcar in the region. It is time to build a ‘real’ streetcar/LRT line to show what a streetcar/LRT can do!

Ai??Ai??

Ai??Ai??Half a million riders; but the Olympic streetcar won’t be staying

Dave White Mar 14, 2010 02:20:19 AM

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As of Saturday 500,000 riders have taken a trip on Vancouver’s Olympic streetcar, but the city has no immediate plan to keep the trains running after the Paralympics wrap up.

While the number of passengers certainly says something about the Olympic Line’s popularity, the City of Vancouver’s Dale Bracewell says the agreement with Bombardier is to only keep the trains running for the two month trial. “The track that we have is here permanently, we will have our downtown historical vehicles using the track again this summer. But it’s all ready to go for when an ultimate downtown streetcar project is realized.”

There’s no word when that project will come to fruition, but Bracewell says it’s in the city’s long term vision.

The streetcars will continue to run free of charge until March 21st, and will then return to Belgium.

Mayor not ready to jump aboard transit . . . just yet – From the Chilliwack Times

More Valley transit news.

Tyler Olsen, The Times

Published:Ai??Ai??Friday, March 12, 2010

Promoters of a rail line connecting the Fraser Valley with Metro Vancouver are urging Chilliwack politicians to jump aboard plans for a demonstration project along the old interurban rail line.

Chilliwack is the only municipality between here and Delta not represented on the South of the Fraser Rail Task Force headed by Langley mayor Rick Green.

“What we’re working for is simply to develop a demonstration project to show that this would work, that it’s viable and that it’s cost-effective,” Rail for the Valley spokesperson John Vissers–who also works with the task force–told the Chilliwack Rotary Club Tuesday.

While Vissers said participation on the task force isn’t required for Chilliwack to be part of a demonstration project, he added that Chilliwack’s support and assistance is vital for the project to be an unqualified success.

“We don’t believe this plan will proceed in the scope we think is necessary without Chilliwack’s full support,” said Vissers.

“If Chilliwack doesn’t participate as a player, then they might get left out of the planning process, and that would be a shame.”

Mayor Sharon Gaetz told the Times it’s too early to commit to the committee.

She pointed to an ongoing Fraser Valley Regional District study that is looking at transportation options between valley communities and is slated to deliver its final report at the end of May.

“They spent almost $400,000 on this study and the results haven’t come back yet, and we just think it’s premature to be advocating one particular solution without all the information,” said Gaetz.

“When and if we get to that place we will be happy to sit at the table.”

Gaetz said Chilliwack must ensure that it can afford whatever costs a new rail (or bus) system would require.

She said city staff estimated upgrading the 17 or 18 crossings required by a passenger rail system would cost about $500,000 each.

“Unless the province swoops in with a whole tanker of money, I don’t think it’s something we could afford right now.”

Rail for the Valley would like to see light rail trains run along the little-used Interurban rail line that weaves through Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Langley and Surrey.

Vissers stressed the line would be a community rail system (rather than a commuter system) that focused on linking south-of-the-Fraser municipalities together. One terminus would be in Chilliwack, the other at the Scott Road SkyTrain station. Along the route there are shopping centres, industrial areas and several university and college campuses.

“The goal is to connect the communities south of the Fraser, not just provide a route into the downtown Vancouver core,” said Rail for the Valley president Paul Gieselman.

Quizzed on the cost, Gieselman said cost would be cheaper than alternatives. He pointed to the public ownership of the right of way, the existence of track and the need for low-tech station platforms that would cost far less than their ritzier SkyTrain cousins. Upgrading the rail crossings would be the largest cost, he predicted. But he said all the work could be done relatively quickly and for the cost of three kilometres of SkyTrain track.

“A demonstration project could be implemented far earlier than any other comparable transportation project,” he told Rotary.

The hope is that the province would fund a demonstration project that could itself lead to a permanent rail system.

http://www2.canada.com/chilliwacktimes/news/story.html?id=dfac147a-2f54-47a7-9f14-f4985bca162f

It seems Chilliwack’s staff are not on board with the Interurban project and have been advising the Mayor badly. What is needed is a complete rewriting of the motor vehicles act, pertaining to streetcars, on-street streetcar operation and modern signaling. If a station or stop is included in an intersection, there is no need for crossing barriers. In fact there need not be any additional barriers needed if we call the proposed interurban project a streetcar or TramTrain.

Zwei lives in South Delta and there are three highwayAi??Ai?? intersections ( Hwy 17) where vehicles are allowed to travel at 80 kph, yet thereAi??Ai??are no barriers to be raised or lowered at the intersection which is simplyAi??Ai??is controlled by traffic lights and I would like someone to explain to me why a railway crossings differs. Red lights or stop signs mean stop.

I think the good mayor had better get on board with the interurban project, lest sheAi??Ai??be left behind at the station!

Some Interesting Tram Photos

Not much news on the transit front, other than the SkyTrain Subway to UBC and the endemic funding crisis with TransLink. I thought a few tram pictures would be nice.

Now, for our double-deck tram friends, the Swedes are no slouches when designing a modern double-deck, articulated tram!

For the LRT can’t operate in narrow roads or on steep grades crowd, let’s travel to Lisbon and see where it does every day.

And finally, Melbourne’s famous Restaurant tram, where one can have fine dining while touring the tram system.Ai??Ai??Appies on Broadway maybe?

Rail for the Valley News – Two Events

Two events upcoming! One of them is in Abbotsford, the other is in Vancouver.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Event 1

Friends of Rail for the Valley ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Tuesday, March 16, 7:00pm

Abbotsford UFV, Building D, Room D213

On March 16th we will be holding our first Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Friends Of Rail For The Valley Society. Here we will discuss progress of the campaign, society details, future direction, and other related issues. This is a very important meeting for our Society.

We will also need to elect some more directors, so please consider that, and also invite anyone you think would be interested in helping out.
-Paul Gieselman (President)

Get involved in the community effort. We need your help!
There will be refreshments. Bring a friend. Membership is $10, and you can sign up at the AGM.

*Please RSVP railforthevalley@gmail.com, so we know the number of people who will be coming.*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Event 2

Rail for the Valley A?ai??i??ai??? LIGHT RAIL RALLY & RIDE A?ai??i??ai??? Granville Island, Vancouver
Saturday, March 20, 2:00pm (first day of Spring)
Meet at the Granville Island Olympic Line Station
More details to come

This is your chance to experience VancouverA?ai??i??ai???s state-of-the-art 2010 Streetcar while itA?ai??i??ai???s still in operation. (Rides are free!)

Some background (From the Province)
Streetcar named desire shows transit future (The Province, Feb. 28, 2010)

A?ai??i??Ai??ItA?ai??i??ai???s a tiny 1.8-kilometre Olympic streetcar demonstration project between Granville Island and the Olympic Village that may prove to be the key transit legacy A?ai??i??ai??? especially south of the Fraser. The False Creek service also drew more riders than expected and, from day one, itA?ai??i??ai???s been very much A?ai??i??Ai??a streetcar named desireA?ai??i??A? for those in the Valley who call for just such a service on the former Inter-urban rail corridor from Surrey to Chilliwack.A?ai??i??A?

Yes, VancouverA?ai??i??ai???s Olympic Streetcar Line illustrates what we can have in the Valley all the way to Chilliwack, very soon and at very low cost, using the already-existing Inter-urban rail line.

The demo project is scheduled to end on Sunday, so letA?ai??i??ai???s get together and have a RALLY FROM THE VALLEY at Granville Island Station on Saturday. (The line was so successful, that there is a small but real chance it could be made permanent. I will keep you posted.)

Take the whole family, and make it a day. After the rally, visit Granville Island on the first day of spring!

Please RSVP railforthevalley@gmail.com if you can make it. More details to follow.

CARPOOLERS: let us know if you need a carpool, or if you can carpool somebody.

Is the Hawaii SkyTrain Project Bombardier’s Last Kick At The Can?

The i L i n d . n e tAi??Ai??blog has been asking many questions about the proposed SkyTrain transit project in Hawaii, questions which should be answered before embarking on a multi billion dollar rapid transit project. Recent postings point to the fact that light rail was quietly dropped from theAi??Ai??planning process, not unlike our RAV/Canada Line planning,Ai??Ai??and then just like magic, poof, SkyTrain appeared.

From our side of the pond, it appears that this could be Bombardier’s “last kick at the ‘SkyTrain’ can” as the proprietary light-metro is getting rather long in the tooth. The SkyTrain light-metro, a lash-up of 1960’s & 70’s technology and transit philosophy that has largely been made obsolete by time and light rail, is becoming a very hard sell, with only seven such systems built in the past 30 years. The embarrassment of the Vancouver RAV/Canada line being built as a conventional metro, instead of SkyTrain (therefore incompatible with the SkyTrain network) is a further slap in the face of Bombardier’s proprietary light-metro system.

But the real key why the Hawaii project is so important may be found in American transit specialist, Gerald Fox’s 2008 letter to a Victoria (BC) transit group, regarding the proposed SkyTrain Evergreen Line, where he easily shreds TransLink’s Evergreen Line business case.

http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/can-translinks-business-cases-be-trusted/

The key comes almost at the end of the letter:

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.

Unlike the Detroit “Mugger Mover“, which was marketed as an ICTS transit system (SkyTrain’s first name) or the JFK AirTrain, which was built in a private deal between the Port Authority and Bombardier, with funding provided by the Canadian Government, no SkyTrain project has ever passed the scrutiny “by a panel of transit peers, selected and monitored by the (US) Ai??Ai??federal government.”

Is theAi??Ai??Hawaii SkyTrain project a desperate attempt by Bombardier Inc. to give legitimacy to their expensive proprietary light-metro in the USA and to try to eekAi??Ai??out a few more sales of their metro system? It would be advisable for our friend in the sunny isles to take a microscope to the transit deal and who is supporting it, as it always has been a strange coincidence that those who support SkyTrain tend to be well rewarded down the line.

What does this mean for Rail for the Valley?

If the Hawaiian SkyTrain projects comes to grief, like the Seattle monorail project (which Bombardier was heavily involved with), SkyTrain will be shunted to a siding, for with coming new technologies making modern LRT even more cheaper to build and convenient to use, will make the SkyTrain light-metro almost unsellable, except for private and backroom deals, furnaced by the Canadian Government.

The failure of the Hawaiian SkyTrain will bode well for RFV is getting an affordable interurban built as SkyTrain will be relegated as an historic railway, not unlike the Wuppertal Schwebbebahn (monorail), and regional planners will be forced to think ‘light‘ for light rail.

Rail For The Valley News

A message from John Buker;

Hi everyone,

I haven’t sent out any news updates in awhile, but I can tell you, the campaign has been picking up speed behind the scenes at an encouraging rate. The Community Rail Task Force headed by Langley Township Mayor Rick Green continues to gain steam, with local governments and institutions continuing to sign on.

Because of our efforts, there is now a real political opening beginning to emerge.

While the behind-the-scenes work continues, it is vital that we keep up, and actually raise the level of, the public campaign.

This is what keeps things progressing. All of our Letters to the Editor, all the forums, rallies and special events, have been decisive in moving the cause of passenger rail for the Fraser Valley along, from being just a random opinion you might have heard from a friend, to the political issue it is today.

Coming up, we need a sustained effort to keep building the momentum. I hope you can help us make a difference.

There are two events in March. One of them is in Abbotsford, the other is in Vancouver.

Event 1

Ai??Ai??

Friends of Rail for the Valley ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Tuesday, March 16, 7:00pm
Abbotsford (precise location TBA)

On March 16th we will be holding our first Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Friends Of Rail For The Valley Society. Here we will discuss progress of the campaign, society details, future direction, and other related issues. This is a very important meeting for our Society.

We will also need to elect some more directors, so please consider that, and also invite anyone you think would be interested in helping out.
-Paul Gieselman (President)

Get involved in the community effort. We need your help!
There will be refreshments. Bring a friend. Membership is $10, and you can sign up at the AGM.

*Please RSVP, so we know the number of people who will be coming.*

Event 2

Rail for the Valley – LIGHT RAIL RALLY & RIDE – Granville Island, Vancouver
Saturday, March 20, 2:00pm (first day of Spring)
Meet at the Granville Island Olympic Line Station
More details to come

This is your chance to experience Vancouver’s state-of-the-art 2010 Streetcar while it’s still in operation. (Rides are free!)

Some background (From the Province)
Streetcar named desire shows transit future (The Province, Feb. 28, 2010)

“It’s a tiny 1.8-kilometre Olympic streetcar demonstration project between Granville Island and the Olympic Village that may prove to be the key transit legacy — especially south of the Fraser. The False Creek service also drew more riders than expected and, from day one, it’s been very much “a streetcar named desire” for those in the Valley who call for just such a service on the former Inter-urban rail corridor from Surrey to Chilliwack.”

Yes, Vancouver’s Olympic Streetcar Line illustrates what we can have in the Valley all the way to Chilliwack, very soon and at very low cost, using the already-existing Inter-urban rail line.

The demo project is scheduled to end on Sunday, so let’s get together and have a RALLY FROM THE VALLEY at Granville Island Station on Saturday.Ai??Ai?? (The line was so successful, that there is a small but real chance it could be made permanent. I will keep you posted.)

Take the whole family, and make it a day. After the rally, visit Granville Island on the first day of spring!

Please RSVP if you can make it. More details to follow.

CARPOOLERS: let us know if you need a carpool, or if you can carpool somebody.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading!

John Buker
Rail for the Valley

Hawaii SkyTrain Project Heats Up

A Hawaiian blog by Ian Lind posted Zwei’s ‘Debunking SkyTrain Series’ and continues the hot debate on the elevated SkyTrain project in Hawaii.

http://ilind.net/2010/03/03/responses-show-rail-a-very-hot-topic/

It is good that the locals are beginning to ask questions about SkyTrain and may be beginning to see that the proprietary light-metro isn’t as great as ‘sliced bread’ which the SkyTrain lobby is trying to portray. Seven systems built in over 30 years andAi??Ai??at least four name chances from ICTS, to ALRT (two versions), to ALM, and now ART, certainly doesn’t say very much for the mode. Anyone wants to buy an Edsel?

What the blog does illustrate is the SkyTrain Lobby’s dirty tricks campaign goes on unabated, no fib to big, no exaggeration too small is how they operate. It is very sad indeed.

From the Tyee On Line NewsPaper: Vancouver’s Street Car Gift: Keep It?

An interesting article from the Tyee.

Vancouver’s Street Car Gift: Keep It?

To the delight of tourists and locals, the Olympic Line streetcar has been delivering people smoothly from Athlete’s Village on lower Cambie Street to Granville Island since Jan. 21. A Bombardier Flexity Outlook on loan from Brussels for the duration of the Games, the streetcar was an instrumental part of Translink and the City of Vancouver’s plan to keep cars off the road and control traffic during the games.

It’s been both convenient and surreal to have a Euro-sleek streetcar around, but alas, it’s only an experiment.

The “demonstration streetcar project” will run until March 21, according to the City of Vancouver’s fact sheet on the temporary streetcar line. After that, any further life of the Olympic Line will be determined by the success of the streetcar during the Olympics and Paralympics and, of course, the presence of funding needed to make the streetcar line permanent, said the fact sheet.

If it is made permanent, there are tentative plans to extend the Olympic Line into a full downtown streetcar line that would drive passengers from the current Granville Island final stop through downtown, extending all the way to Chilco Street in Stanley Park. In between, the proposed route would connect with Science World and Waterfront Skytrain Stations, connecting with both the Millennium Line and the Canada Line.

Reporter Justin Langille went to find out what Vancouver citizens and those visiting our city had to say about a small transportation project that could become a major part of Vancouver transit in the near future. Is it worth the investment?

Should we keep it, or lose it?

http://thetyee.ca/News/2010/03/02/KeepTheStreetCar/

Olympic Hubris – Will The Wrong Conclusions Be Made By Our Planning & Political Elites?

In the last days of the 2010 Olympics, much has been made about how well our transportation worked during the event. What has been overlooked is that for the two week extravaganza, Vancouver had much warmer seasonal weather, meaning noAi??Ai??snow to stall the SkyTrain metro and make a shambles out of the bus schedules. Added to this, many Vancouver downtown professional businesses closed or reduced hours of operations because of driving and parking restrictions. This was a win-win situation for TransLink as many people were forced from car to transit (active traffic calming), while at the same time, spring like weather created absolutely no problems in operations.

High ridership figures were reported for SkyTrain and the Canada Line and that was to be expected for such a large protracted event. In San Diego, their LRT system, which carries about 110,000 passengers a day, carried over 340,000 customers on Superbowl Sunday, when the city last hosted the event.

The SkyTrain Lobby have taken the metro’s high ridership numbers as some sort of reason to build more metro, while at the same time belittling light-rail. Though one disputes some of the ridership figures given by TransLink, it must be accepted that the metro carried record numbers of customers, the same would have been true with light rail. The SkyTrain lobby are trying desperately, while the Olympic memory is still fresh, to push for hugely expensive metro and subway projects, beforeAi??Ai??the sleeping giant South of the Fraser awakens.

That sleeping giant? The Fraser Valley, which combined population is greater than Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond; which population is awakening to the fact that theirAi??Ai??transit taxes are paying for high priced metro for Vancouver, while they get scraps. Surrey residents in particular are beginning to realize that SkyTrain will not be extended in the near future (38 years according to one group)Ai??Ai??in their city, while learning thatAi??Ai??LRT/tram can be built for the fraction of the cost and quickly. There is an ever increasing call for the South Fraser Area to secede from TransLink and form their own transportation authority, which taxes collected will be kept in their local, to pay for the transit they want or can afford.

The provincial government must finally mature and let the people decide what transit modeAi??Ai??they want andAi??Ai??not keep on with a the very tired “You are going to get SkyTrain whether you like it or not” routine. What many South of the Fraser see, is that TransLink’s planning willAi??Ai??further burdening the taxpayer with ever higher taxes to subsidize a costlyAi??Ai??”Edsel” metro system, that very few will actually use.

The one question that the SkyTrain lobby refuse to answer is; “Why, after being on the market for over 30 years, only seven SkyTrain systems have been built; all by private deals with little or no public scrutiny?” The answer of course is embarrassing to their cause and is swept under the carpet.

The SkyTrain lobby’s demands for more and more expensive SkyTrain, may be fortifiedAi??Ai??with Olympic Hubris. Taxpayers beware!

A Press Release From The Light Rail Transit Association

Ai??

The following press release from the LRTA is their response to the UK Ai??Ai??All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group, regarding LRT which ‘Zwei’ commented on earlier in the week.

 

Ai??Ai??

TramForward

Ai??Ai??

 

The Inquiry found that light rail is best suited to heavily used urban corridors, where their speed, reliability and capacity can be fully exploited. Furthermore, evidence suggests that modern tram systems are very successful in attracting motorists out of their cars, reducing congestion, improving safety, providing access for all, transforming perceptions, improving the urban environment, and supporting regeneration.

Nevertheless, the Inquiry found a A?ai??i??E?lack of coherent policies and consistent directionA?ai??i??ai??? from the Department for Transport, which creates uncertainty in the industry and stifles development, leading to delays and cost inflation. In contrast the European experience is characterised by relatively faster delivery and lower costs.

Light rail in the UK is disadvantaged, compared to other transport modes, by the current appraisal system, which fails to take into account the full range of benefits that trams have to offer, while trams also experience less favourable treatment in the levels of local contribution and utilities betterment required.

The report calls upon Government to work together with local transport authorities and the light rail industry to address and solve these problems to ensure fair treatment for trams in the future.

Geoff Lusher, Chairman of the Light Rail Transit Association said A?ai??i??Ai??we support the InquiryA?ai??i??ai???s recommendations and look forward to a more robust government policy towards light rail. In order to survive and prosper in the modern world, our city regions need to be able to plan, develop and finance transport systems appropriate to their needs.A?ai??i??A?