Does Translink’s wet leaf excuse hold water?

At first glance, TransLink’s excuse for SkyTrain going kaput last Saturday, may explain why the mini-metro stopped dead in its tracks. But there is a problem – SkyTrain is an unconventional railway, powered by Linear Induction Motors or LIM’s and there is no power transmitted to the wheels at all, thus no wheel slip. It […]

Light rail vs. SkyTrain expansion: Surrey transit a hot election issue

Well at least there is some discussion about modern LRT, but the SkyTrain lobby remains mute on one very important issue and that is funding. currently the region can afford only afford to build one metro line a decade, with light rail, we can build up to four light rail lines a decade. If Surrey […]

Is Surrey is being badly shortchanged on transit?

Is Surrey being shortchanged on transit? The entire area, South of the Fraser River, has been shortchanged with public transit and still being shortchanged with current transit planning. TransLink's myopic 1950's style of planning doesn't include, nor want to include proven modern public transit technique, such as modern LRT and its cousin Tramtrain. Tramtrain, a development of modern LRT, allows […]

Could be Granville Street or Broadway

Though this is K Street in Sacramento, it could be Granville Street or Broadway in Vancouver!

SkyTrain Craps Out Again – So what Else Is new! (Updated)

For the third time this week, the SkyTrain Expo Line has shut down, first due to electrical problems; then for mechanical problems; and as I write this, the news on the radio claims that the Expo Line is closed for electrical and mechanical reasons – go figure. For those who claim that SkyTrain is more reliable […]

A Ford Fiasco In Toronto

There are many in the Metro Lobby crowd that think moneyAi??grows on trees and taxpayers just love paying more taxes and modern LRT is nothing more than an “European concept” andAi??not really applicable here in Canada or the USA. What is applicable for grand metro schemes is the extremely high cost of construction and I […]

Light rail closer to reality for Surrey, Langley – From Newsradio 11:30

Some positive news – well maybe, but we have all heard this before. If TransLink is involved with light rail planning for Surrey, it will fail for sure as TransLink couldn’t even plan for an outhouse, let alone understand its function. TransLink is famous for gold-plating proposed LRT that the cost becomes more than an […]

Transit agencies must put customer first

If ‘Zwei’ ever wants to createAi??howls of “shock and disbelief“, from the transit elites in the region, all ‘Zwei’ has to say is “transit is about moving people andAi??the transit customer comes first. Well ‘Zwei‘ is not alone with this thought. Custom journeys for transit customers andAi??seamless (no-transfer) journeys for transit customers both areAi??a non-subjectAi??with […]

The SkyTrain Faregate Saga – The Farce Continues!

While transit authorities around the world are doing away with faregates and turnstiles and investing in smart card that can be automatically read even if the card is in one’s pocket or wallet, TransLink, abetted by the provincial government is, at great expense, retro-fitting faregate to the entire SkyTrain/Canada Line system. The real story about […]

The Evergreen Line Farce Continues

The Evergreen Line saga continues, with tenders being called for construction. The sad fact is, the winning bidder will have to cut corners to if is to secure the winning bid, just like what SNC Lavalin did when it won the Canada Line bid, by changing from bored tunnel to cut-and-cover tunnel construction and not […]