The Fiscal Realities of Subways Surface

Taxpayers in Ontario are slowly awakening up to the fiscal realities of modern subway construction, just as their European counterparts did in the 1970’s and 80’s. Little known on this side of the pond, is that subway construction in Europe has almost bankrupted public transit en mass and by the 1990’s subways were only considered […]

What the Bus Boys Don’t Tell About BRT

BRT – BRT is the clarion call from many politicians in the region, yet very few really have a clue what BRT is. Real BRT or bus Rapid Transit is a bus which operates on an exclusive roadway or on a guideway. BRT costs about 70% of that of light rail to install, yet does […]

Is Compass Card Really the first Step to Privatization?

Long predicted, TransLink’s buses will all be “one-zone” fares, leaving those who ride the SeaBus and SkyTrain, pay premium fares. Zwei sees this as the road to privatization, where money losing, politically designed and heavily subsidized bus routes (especially the trolleybuses routes) will be operated by Translink, and the mini-metro system and SeaBus will charge […]

Oh Dear, the Scarborough R/T Replacement Again

Interesting news from Toronto, with the ongoing debate over the replacement of the Scarborough R/T. One would think our Toronto cousins believe that money grows on trees, wanting a a $3 billion, three stop subway line instead of a more convenient $1.8 billion seven stop LRT line. What I find so sad is the absolute […]

Portland Streetcar spurs $4.5 billion in new real estate development

Funny that the city of Vancouver preaches that only a SkyTrain subway will spur investment along Broadway, while at the same time, treats light rail as an economic leper. Well streetcars in Portland, Oregon prove otherwise. Rail News: Passenger Rail Portland Streetcar spurs $4.5 billion in new real estate development, study says Since 1998, the […]

Light Metro Woes in Hawaii

All is not well with Honolulu’s new light metro system. A classic “I told you so” situation has occurred as the fiscal realities of light metro are hitting home very hard. I hope taxpayers have very deep pockets. With proprietary light metro systems, politicians purposely forget that you can also build light rail as a […]

Nelson streetcar museum opens Monday

Streetcar news from Nelson BC.   Nelson streetcar museum opens Monday Contributed – Nelson Star posted Jul 28, 2015 The Nelson Electric Tramway Society is ready to officially open their latest project, the Car Barn Museum. On Monday they are inviting the entire community to come on down from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with […]

Crossing the Fraser

In answer to a private email, yes indeed the Chilliwack interurban did cross the Fraser River, using the then Great Northern Railway Fraser River Bridge. The photo is a Chilliwack bound train in the late 1940’s. And yes, the proposed TramTrain could use the same bridge today.

Weekend Quizz

This picture of a pair of BC Electric interurbans has intrigued me, where is the location that this photo was taken? It seems it is a single track crossing a four lane road with a tarmac median. If so, then it is not the Arbutus or Central Park Lines. I do not think it is […]

Calgary’s LRT Expands

The Calgary C-Train will almost double in size after the Federal Government’s gift to pay one third the cost of construction. The 60 km network will expand to 110 km with the 50 km Green Line. The large cost for the new LRT line will be, in part I believe, is due to a subway […]