The Ultimate BRT

Here we have the next generation of rapid bus. I understand Translink is sending stakeholders (first class) to see the new BRT in Action. Rumour has that the first trials will take place the first day of April, 2012. The following is a preview of the new  BRT. BRT Vision I think I'll take a tram […]

From The Heart Of The Evergreen Line

The Tri-City news is ground zero with the Evergreen Line projects, but news coming from Northeast sector of Metro Vancouver is not at all comforting, as it seems things are not what they seem. With TransLink, nothing is as it seems, as they have become circus conjurers, rather than transit planners.   Commissioner casts doubt […]

Regiona (Liberal) Mayors Vote To Increase Gas And Property Taxes

It seems, the provincial Liberals called in its markers as Liberal mayors in the Vancouver metro region voted to support gas and property tax increases to further fund TransLink. TransLink was holding a dud poker hand but bluffed regional politicians who were holding all the aces. Such weak tax and spend politicians should be defeated in the […]

Transit is about moving people stupid!

Interesting news item, from all places, the SkyTrain friendly CKNW radio station. VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) 10/7/2011 Just as the mayors vote today on funding for the Evergreen Line, a report by the transportation commissioner says TransLink’s ridership predictions may just be wishful thinking. The Province newspaper reports commissioner Martin Crilly wrote last week that the growth predictions […]

P. T. Barnum Was Right – There Is A Sucker Born Every Minute!

Psssst…….hey want to buy some stock in Nose Dive Airlines or a gold mine on Mars, well come to Metro Vancouver because we have city mayors that would. With absolutely no guarantee, just a promise from TransLink, that the extra two cent a litre tax increase will actually improve transit, several mayors have blundered ahead on […]

What Was Once $70 million, Is Now $120 Million! The SFU Gondola Project

As TransLink's is extorting as much tax money as it can from the regional taxpayer, the Simon Fraser University gondola project is in full swing.  What is interesting is that the cost of the gondola project has soared from $70 million from this spring to $120 million today. I wonder if TransLink Board Chair, Nancy […]

Union urges Vancouver mayors to accept gas taxes to pay for more transit – so they can hire more union bus drivers

The the bus driver union wants regional mayors to vote to increase property taxes to pay for light metro, mainly for Vancouver, comes as no surprise; the light-metro philosophy needs more buses and bus drivers to feed the hugely expensive metro lines. With much cheaper LRT because it can serve more destinations, doesn't such need a vast bus […]

SkyTrain too costly – A letter to the Editor

It not often that a sensible letter about light rail is printed in local papers.   SkyTrain too costly   In his coloum, Grant Granger argued that SkyTrain is a key symbol to the Lower Mainland and a tourist attraction. While this may be true, the trains come at a cost that far outweighs their […]

Transit Blundering in Victoria

Sad to say, transit planners in Victoria have not read the Rail for the Valley/Leewood Report, but then, why should they, they live in a world of gold-plated transit, where any form of rail transit is over-engineered to such an extent that it will be too costly to build. Economy is not in our transit […]

The Mufford Crescent Debate.

The Mufford Crescent overpass debate has implications for the proposed Rail for the Valley/Leewood TramTrain. The question Zwei asks is: “Why is a hugely expensive overpass being planned for Mufford Crescent at all, yet the far heavier used Langley Bypass/ Glover Road/Rail intersection/level-crossing remains almost unchanged. Would it not be better to move the overpass […]