Caen Opens Its New 16km, $373 Million Tram/LRT System

The new 16.2 km tramway in Caen, France has opened after a nineteen month build. Granted the new tramway has used the the previous trouble prone, 15.7 km,  TVR rubber tire guided bus line, which opened in 20o2 and abandoned in 2017. The Euro €260 million (CAD $373 million) tramway opened six weeks earlier than […]

Streets Paved With Gold – Transit Planning is Driven By Politics

Footnotes: The author,  Adrienne Tanner,  was city editor at the Sun, a newspaper that prevented any real reporting of our regional transit issues and took orders from back east to report “SkyTrain” in a positive light. As well, there was little investigative reporting on SNC-Lavalin’s B.C. operations. Detroit’s ALRT system officially called a People Mover […]

Trams At The Heart Of The 21st Century Metropolis

With nearly 600 tram and light rail systems in operation around the world, this is hardly surprising. With Vancouver being the odd-ball city, insisting that the light-metro is the way to go, taxpayers have to have extremely deep pockets, to pay for the politicians  foolish financial excesses. During an era of record investment in urban […]

Less Transit For More Money – The Canadain Way

Here we go again. The combined naivete of regional mayors about regional transportation and the abandonment of their fiduciary duty protecting the taxpayer from ill advised “prestige projects” such as the Broadway subway and the Expo Line extension in Surrey, is just simply breathtaking! * Both the ill conceived Broadway subway and the now equally […]

Quebec City’s $3.3 Billion Transit Plan – 23 km of LRT, 16 km Of Real BRT & More!

An interesting comparison can be made with the just approved Quebec City light rail and BRT projects and Metro Vancouver’s Mayor’s Council/TransLink project, extending the light-metro system. In Quebec City, $3.3 billion will buy you 3.5 km of tunnel, 23 km of LRT, 2 lines totaling 15 km of electric powered BRT, 16 km of […]

Calgary LRT Angst

The anti LRT schlock continues from the mainstream media. The BRT/LRT debate has been long over, but not in Canada it seems, where disgruntled bus-boy types whine that buses are cheaper. Well no, not really. The problem is that about $2 billion of the estimated $4.9 billion cost is a 4.2 km subway under the […]

Vancouver Will Need To Adopt Lower-Cost LRT In Its Lesser Corridors

But, eventually, Vancouver will need to adopt lower-cost LRT in its lesser corridors, or else limit the extent of its rail system. And that seems to make some TransLink people very nervous. Gerald Fox, 2008.   Here is the big crunch which TransLink seems deathly afraid of, do they continue with the now obsolete and […]

Tax, tax, tax – SkyTrain Needs New And Higher Taxes

From the very beginning, building the SkyTrain network demanded new and higher taxes. As the SkyTrain light-metro network is automatic, it must be grade seperated and grade separation is costly. It is the Achilles heel of light-metro as construction is so costly, compared to other modes, that extending the initial line into areas of low […]

Mr. Cow Pegs It. Expo Line Extension Will Cost $3.2 billion

I am continually amazed that an area like the lower mainland of BC, an area that claims to be so high tech, yet can’t get its head around the simplicity of a regional rail line using already available track. Yet, will spend billions and you guys will be spending billions ($2.9-$3.2 Billion by current estimates) […]

Why Not Battery Powered EMU’s For A Vancouver To Chilliwack Rail Service?

As technology advances, the benefits of a “green” electric rail service will greatly increase. The long distance battery powered train is now upon us. A FLRT Akku battery powered train could be the answer for a regional passenger service in the Fraser Valley as Battery powered trains could be recharged from strategically placed sections of […]