Valley Rail Gaining Steam

It’s good news so far. The real trick is to plan for rail properly, which is hard to do in Metro Vancouver, where politicians think they are better at planning for transit than the real experts. It is hard to think any valley mayor and council would be against a viable Vancouver to Chilliwack rail […]

BS Line To Nowhere Or The Big Dig Part 2

Oh, the BS Line, Vancouver’s great vanity project. All world class cities must have a subway, according to the “booster class” who just love mega projects. Last cost estimate for the BS Line is around $3.5 billion, not including cars. Looks like the powers that be are already planning to reduce the scope of the […]

90 Years And Counting

Well, it has taken almost 90 years for transit planners in North America to realize that by giving a streetcar a dedicated lane it becomes light rail. European transit planners clearly understood by the 1930’s that by giving a streetcar a dedicated route, its performance almost matched that of a much more expensive metro or […]

Chilliwack Is On Board

Finally! It seems the good burghers of Chilliwack see the benefits of a rail servcie connecting Vancouver to Chilliwack. A basic Vancouver to Chilliwack DMU servcie can be had for as little as $750 million and a more elaborate service using hydrogen powered trains or electric servcie, with several trips per direction each hour would […]

Toronto’s 6.2 KM Scarborough Subway Costs Soar To $3.9 Billion – What Will be The Real Cost Of The BS Line?

I include this article from the Toronto Star to illustrate the escalating costs of subway construction. The one stop, 6.2 billion Scarborough subway cost has soared to $3.9 billion and climbing! Vancouver’s 5.7 km six station Broadway subway cost has escalated past its $2.8 billion price tag and now is said to cost $3.5 billion […]

Fiasco Brewing In Toronto

When politicians with little knowledge of transit, involve themselves with transit planning, a fiasco is soon in the making. Vancouver’s BS Line is a good example. It seems Premier Ford is entering the land of pixie dust and sparkle ponies. Instead of planning and building what will work, the Premier thinks a cheaper solution will […]

Chaos Wednesday

And SkyTrain never breaks down or stops service? Just saying. Commuter chaos amid problems on Expo, Canada Lines By Simon Little Online Journalist  Global News Passengers using the Expo and Canada Lines on Wednesday had to deal with major delays after both lines experienced separate problems. The Canada Line was dealing with a stalled train […]

TramTrain Expands in Germany

As TramTrain expands in Germany, it is time that the mode is considered for Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Why is LRT so popular with transit planners and operators? It is the inherent flexibility of the system and TramTrain has now enabled simple streetcar routes to expand affordably far into the countryside by being able […]

How does the BS Line Compare To Edmonton, Calagary and Ottawa?

The proposed 5.7 km Broadway SkyTrain subway, just to Arbutus is funded up to $2.84 billion, but not including cars. The cost is expected to rise to $3.5 billion before the project is completed. A comparison with Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa easily demonstrates that taxpayers in those cities are getting a far bigger bang for […]

When Will The lesson Be Learned?

When will the lesson be learned? In today’s world, the lowest bid is not always the best bid, rather it is the lowest bid that will make profit for the company bidding. Thus the lowest bid does not produce the best product. Like the Canada Line with its many problems, SNC Lavalin, which heads the […]