SkyTrain Whitewash Continues

TransLink can’t help it. It is inbred in them. Honesty is just not in their lexicon. They hire a SkyTrain type, at $1,200 a day to do a review of the two recent embarrassing shutdowns. It is like the police investigating itself. What should be a truly independent review, will be another SkyTrain “whitewash”, with […]

TransLinkai??i??s seven ai???deadly sinsai??i??

The reverberations of TransLink’s double SkyTrain fiasco continues to echo in Metro Vancouver. I think transit customers can understand system wide shutdowns, but when the captain and crew leave the passengers to fend for themselves, then very pointed questions will be asked. Jordan Bateman has become a serious thorn in the side of regional bureaucrats, […]

SkyTrain Fizzles Again! Passengers Abandon SkyTrain Like Rats leaving a Sinking Ship!

Oops, SkyTrain fizzles again with scores of passengers abandoning the Skytrain and walking down the tracks to escape the damned thing. It certainly looks like transit customers are completely fed up with SkyTrain and TransLink wants to build more? ‘Computer glitch’ shuts down SkyTrain again; some passengers walking on tracks to stations July 21, 2014 […]

SkyTrain Fizzles Again

The problem with driverless transit systems is that when there is a problem, there is no driver to drive the damn thing if things go wrong. As SkyTrain ages, stoppages like this will become more common. Computer problems cause major SkyTrain disruptions Crews are working to fix the problem, but it could take a while […]

Send in the clowns – Urban Land Instituteai??i??s Governorai??i??s Advisory Panel

Really, one tires of this nonsense that Broadway needs a subway. If the truth were to be told, the Vancouver city fathers want a subway under Broadway because they feel it would make Vancouver a “world class city” and the current political party in power want to reward its developer friends with windfall profits up-zoning […]

In Search of the Light Rail Renaissance

A little history. On April 22, 1978, the city of Edmonton heraldedAi?? a new era of what we now call light rail transit, with the opening of its first 6.9 km, LRT line. Using the now venerable Siemens U-2 vehicle, which was designed for the Frankfurt U-Bahn metro system. Edmonton’s new LRT line set the […]

Trams save operating costs!

Confirming what Zwei has been saying for the past few decades, on modern streetcar or tram is as efficient as four to six buses. The key statement from TTC Chair Councillor Maria Augimeri; “………for every streetcar removed from the downtown core, they would have to be replaced with 3-5 buses.”, confirms what Zwei has been […]

Taking public transit kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Though Zwei is not a fan of Jarrett Walker, our Ottawa friend, Haveacow, recommended this post from his blog. http://www.humantransit.org/2014/07/california-topples-a-tyrant.html It seems that transit improvements, especially light rail, have been hamstrung by ensuring that traffic flows are not reduced, which is the cornerstone of the light rail Renaissance, emanating from Europe. http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/07/transit-projects-are-about-to-get-much-much-easier-in-california/374049/ So, our American […]

Liz James takes on TransLink

Liz James understands the problems that beset TransLink as she is one of the few columnists in the region who has taken the time to study the issue. More and more, the City of Vancouver sounds like a spoiled child having a temper tantrum, wanting a $2 billion plusAi?? subway under Broadway. Plus because the […]

A Broadway subway: Do the numbers add up?

An interesting read from Toronto. Two items of interest: Contrary to North American thought, 14,000 persons per hour per direction is not near the upper limit of modern LRT. In 2014, the upper limit for LRT is about 25,000 pphpd. Unfortunately, Toronto’s transit gurus still live in the land of non articulated cars. “An old […]