Is a Customer First Transit Policy Foolish?

In addition to Cardinal Fang’s most excellent postAi??last Sunday, one has to reflect on the question; “Should a customer first policy take priority over transit oriented development or TOD?” Certainly TOD has become the great philosopher’s stone for transit planners in METRO Vancouver, where most lands around SkyTrain stations and along the SkyTrain route have […]

Much longer delay on Evergreen Line start feared – From the Black Press

 From the So What's New Department.   The never ending financial problems for the 'Nevergreen Line' continue as TransLink has not anted up the $400 million to complete the line. Brave talk on new funding formulas are laughable as the regional taxpayer is maxed out and any new taxes may see a voter rebellion on […]

SkyTrain loss is Ansaldo’s gain

Bombardier and their friends on the Skyscraper blog must be weeping a sad song. After many years, carefully cultivating a case for an elevatedAi??SkyTrain light metro in Honolulu, the Ansaldo company of Italy, pipped Bombardier and SkyTrain at the post, by winning the Honolulu light metro contract. The main difference between SkyTrain and the Ansaldo […]

London’s Post Office Railway, The First Automatic Railway

London's Post Office Railway, also known as Mail Rail, was a narrow-gauge driverless private underground railway in London built by the Post Office with assistance from the Underground Electric Railways Company of London to move mail between sorting offices. Inspired by the Chicago Tunnel Company, it was in operation from 3 December 1927  until 31 […]

Surrey to push TransLink for light rail, mayor says in state of city address

Welcome to TransLink’s worst nightmare, the mayor of Ai??Surrey (BC, Canada) wants light rail and not SkyTrain for the city. Three decades of deliberate misinformation, misleading studies, and anti-LRT rhetoric is going to come back and haunt TransLink, with this decision. TransLink’s grand economies of the truth about modern light rail, may cause such rancor […]

A Tale of Two Letters

 Mr. Brussac, a long time man of letters from Coquitlam, understands our current public transit malaise. He is well read on the subject and his letters are worth a read when printed. One may not always agree with his opinions, but his knowledge on transit and public transit issues is very good and is correspondence well […]

Without the right questions, transit plan could fail

Of course in the Vancouver metro region, the right questions about transit have never been asked for fear of getting ‘correct’ answers. Building Metro Vancouver’s mini-metro system has always been about land development, political prestige and vote getting and not providing the best transit choice or the most affordable transit choice for the transit customer. […]

A letter To Rail for the Valley

Good Morning   I am an avid believer of a Ground LRT System for the lower mainland and the valley.   As a previous resident of Abbotsford I daily commuted to Surrey and Vancouver with frustration and impatience,that never seemed to end. I have like many others sent e-mails to Ken Hardie (Trans Link spokes […]

AdiA?s TransLink? Letters Published in the Postmedia Press

The following letter has appeared in the Postmedia press including the Vancouver Province and the Delta Optimist and should start some lively debate. A valid question is asked; “Why is TransLink planning for transit on Broadway, when they know it will be decades before anything is done; or, is there already a secret agreement involving […]

Broadway Transit Follies – TransLink Does The Gong Show – Part 2

Want to know how TransLink spends taxpayer’s hard earned money? It is easy, TransLink studies transit options for Broadway. TransLink’s Broadway “Rapid Transit” (which means metro) study for Broadway is dated and extremely misleading, but what else would one expect from an organization that has done little, but to waste time, justifying their existence. TransLink’s […]