The Grand Broadway Subway Photo-Op Begins

It has all been said before the many issues that plague the Broadway subway but never keep a politician from a grand photo-op to show the public how politicians squander money. Liberal and NDP cabinet members, with the federal Liberals election ready, will attend, eager for the public too see how they squander taxpayer’s money […]

Horror in Honolulu – Light metro Project tops $12.4 billion USD!

This is a new one, thin wheels and wide track causing problems with Honolulu’s light metro horror show. What was a $5.3 billion project in 2010 has now turned into a $12.4 billion project in 2021; that is $15 billion Canadian dollars! Put another way, the HART light metro in Honolulu costs as much as […]

It Is Time For The Return of Regional Passenger Rail In BC?

  Calls for a return of an interurban style rail passenger service from Vancouver to Chilliwack; the restoration of passenger service on the E&N; the reinstatement of a passenger service from Vancouver to Prince George;  for a Vernon to Kelowna passenger rail service and now folks in the Kootenay’s want a passenger rail service as […]

The Paths to Public Transport Enlightenment

  In light of former MP Denise Savoei’s grossly ill-informed letter in the Victoria’s Times Colonist about the E&N railway and public transport in general, the following maybe of some help for those advocating for affordable and user friendly transit in BC. The following from London Reconnections. The Paths to Public Transport Enlightenment By Long […]

How To Build Light Rail In Our Cities Without Emptying The Public Purse

As urban sprawl and strip development is now engulfing the lower mainland, with associated traffic congestion and pollution, Rail for the Valley’s concept of TramTrain makes sense. We cannot afford to extend SkyTrain at over $200 million/km and certainly there is absolutely no real economic or business case for a subway under Broadway for a […]

IS IT TIME TO HAVE A ROYAL COMMISSION ON URBAN TRANSPORTATION?

A repost from April 30, 2011. In 2021, TransLink with the approval of the provincial and federal governments are spending almost $3 billion to build a 5.8 km subway under Broadway in a transit route which (pre Covid) saw the Broadway 99B-Line bus achieve a maximum capacity of 2,000 pphpd, yet the North American standard […]

The NDP Are paving Paradise And Turning It Into A Parking Lot – Part 2

Reinstating passenger services on regional railways, it is what government should be doing, to deal with traffic congestion and pollution, but they are not, as government would rather spend money on prestigious “rapid transit” monuments to cut for photo-ops at election time. The E&N, the RftV TramTain from Vancouver to Chilliwack; and the Okanagan corridor […]

The NDP – Blacktopping Its Way Out Of Congestion

The NDP government is going to try to blacktop its way out of congestion despite the fact that added road space only attracts more vehicles, thus adding to congestion and gridlock at choke points. You cannot blacktop your way out of congestion! The updated cost for the the full build Leewood Study is now $1,5 […]

Funding – How to restore Passenger Rail

The UK, as well as many European countries, are reopening long abandoned rail routes for passenger service. The lesson is simple, if you want to attract the motorist from the car, you must develop a user friendly alternative. The railway is a proven user friendly alternative to the car. In BC, politicians have not learned […]

Have We Crossed The Rubicon, With Regional Transit Planning?

According to Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase ālea iacta est (“the die has been cast”). The phrase “crossing the Rubicon” has survived to refer to any individual or group committing itself irrevocably to a risky or revolutionary course of action, similar to the modern phrase “passing the point of no return” In the late […]