Some balance please! An independant view of the RAV/Canada line.

The following Email came Zweisystem’s way today and is certainly contrary to the hype and hoopla of other blogs claiming that the RAV Line is almost at capacity. The author of the item, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a party who worksAi??Ai??in local transit planning. Yes, the RAV/Canada line is up and running, but […]

TransLink hunts for money – From the Georgia Straight.

Ai??Ai?? Charlie Smith continues toAi??Ai??be Vancouver’s leading reporter on local and regional transit issues. Simply, he actually does research on the subject, unlike reporters in Vancouver’s mainstream media who have been reduced to printing well crafted TransLink and/or The Provincial Ministry of Transportation mews releases as facts. WhenAi??Ai?? it comes to a good analysis of […]

And we thought TransLink had problems – the Ottawa Light Rail Lawsuit.

Plan for light rail – Federal government intrigue – sign contracts – renege on contracts – the result: a massive lawsuit. Of course what civic, provincial and federal politicians all seem to forget is that there is one taxpayer and the monies awarded to the plaintiffs would go a long way to help build a […]

RFTV: Party In The Park

Aug 28th, the last Party in the Park for Chilliwack this year. And though it was the last, it most certainly was not the least. In fact, that may have been the best night Chilliwack has seen in years. It was like an outdoor concert, but instead of teens in a mosh pit, there were […]

The sticks have failed – its time for some carrots.

The following is from the Niche Transports web site which has a wonderful amount of modern transportation information. All common sense stuff here, but it does give pause for thought, in North America transit planners still use the ‘Carrot and Stick’ method of transit planning, which basically means people are forced onto a slightly improved […]

From the Georgia Straight – Michael Ignatieff puts a Liberal shine on the Canada Line

If there is any doubt that there was political chicanery involved with the Canada Line, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has put that to rest. SkyTrain, which if one cared to take a look back in history, was carefully planned to have a major extension opening coincide with a Social Credit election window every three and […]

New website

Here is our new website. Hope you enjoy. All content on the old website is still accessible, by following this link: http://www.sfu.ca/~jwbuker/rail. All the content will still be online, but the website will not be updated.

Is it time for the Valley to ditch TransLink? Would it lead to better regional transportation?

Martin Crilly’s report on TransLink came as no surprise, TransLink is in deep financial trouble and needs a major infusion of cash to keep it in operation. The question should be asked: “ShouldAi??Ai??the Valley MunicipalitiesAi??Ai??walk away from the transportation agency and let the chips fall where they may?” TransLink, despite all the revisionist history, was […]

How not to name a new streetcar – Seattle’s S.L.U.T. What were they thinking?

Bizarrely, Seattle’s new 2.1 km. demonstration streetcar line has the unhappy acronym of S.L.U.T. or South Lake Union Trolley and with this unhappy name the tram has had all the pitfalls of a demonstration line that really doesn’t fulfill a transportation need. Unlike the much more successful, sadly now defunctAi??Ai??Waterfront trolley operating vintage Melbourne trams, […]

Trouble at Translink – For whom the tax tolls!

Ai??Ai??Unhappy days indeedAi??Ai??with TransLink as the organization has not learned a golden rule; that if you build metro on routes that do not have the ridership to sustain them, costly subsidies must be paid. When costly subsidies are paid, there is less money available to be invested in the transit system. Ai??Ai??Rail for the Valley […]