Smart Growth. A look into Cities, Urban planning, and the Sustainable Movement.

A reader of this blog has kindly given ‘Zwei’ some links about Smart Growth around the world and they are very much well worth having a look. http://smarturbandesign.blogspot.com/2009/04/mall-of-america-and-minneapolis-light.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQQ/is_8_41/ai_81104210/ http://www.friends4expo.org/ltrail.htm http://www.drcog.org/documents/LRT%20and%20TOD.pdf http://www.thespec.com/article/717530 http://www.mindspring.com/~tbgray/lrtmaps.htm

Fuel cell tram trial – From the Railway Gazette

After a few false starts in the past decade with numerous railway operators, the Spanish FEVE Railway is experimenting with a fuel-cell powered train on a short non-electrified rail line. For those advocating alternative fuel for the Valley Interurban, it should fell worth noting that the maximum speed than can be achieved with a fuel […]

Notes on – Broadway merchants want light rail not SkyTrain down business corridor – meeting

A few thoughts on Tuesdays meeting put on by BARSTA regarding transit issues on Broadway or what Zweisystem calls the ‘Broadway Follies’. First though a comment on Vancouver’s pedestrians; my god does anyone in Vancouver, including pedestrians and cyclists obey the rules of the road? Driving in Vancouver reminded me of some sort of perverted […]

Broadway merchants want light rail not SkyTrain down business corridor

Last night’s adventure! Broadway merchants want light rail not SkyTrain down business corridor By Tamara Baluja, The Province June 22, 2010 A coalition of merchants and residents opposed to the building of a SkyTrain line along VancouverA?ai??i??ai???s Broadway corridor rolled ahead with a meeting Tuesday to discuss alternatives. About 120 people packed the meeting held […]

An Interesting Post From Net Density – American Changes to Transit funding

I wish we could apply the same criteria to our ‘rail‘ transit planning. Economic development Mobility improvements Environmental benefits Operating efficiencies Cost effectiveness Land use What, no mention of increasing population density? I wonder why? Ai??Ai?? Could new FTA A?ai??i??Ai??livabilityA?ai??i??A? funding rules change Southwest LRT route? Posted by Brendon on January 30, 2010 The big […]

LRT will motivate us to ditch cars, From the Hamilton Spectator

What I find interesting about this news item, is the statement, “…….a consultants’ report into the economics of LRT in Hamilton projected the system would need about 34,000 riders a weekday (8.9 million a year) to break even on its operational costs.“; which should put a stop to the SkyTrain’s lobby claims that light rail […]

If Cambie Street grows as hoped, City of Vancouver will lose big bucks – From The Vancouver Sun

As stated before many times, rapid transit development in Vancouver, especially the Millennium and RAV/Canada Lines, has been about development and not moving people. The hype and hoopla of TransLink and the mainstream media that the Canada Line is carrying 94,000 riders a day ignores the fact that all except about 10% of the Canada […]

Questions: What density is needed for ‘Rail’ Transit? Does Anyone Really Know?

Simple questions today folks. Over the past few weeks the ugly question of densityAi??Ai??has beenAi??Ai??rearing its ugly head in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley concerning transit. Vancouver council is considering major density increases for Cambie Street because it has the Canada line mini-metro and the same treatment is expected for Broadway if ‘rail‘ transit is […]

Light Rail on Broadway – The SkyTrain Lobby Ramps Up The Costs – BARSTA Fights Back

On June 22nd, at St. James Community Square 3214 West 10th Avenue at Trutch, a public meeting will take place concerning the building of ‘rail‘ transit on or under Broadway. What is of no great surprise, Translink has vastly ‘ramped’ up the cost for building modern light rail, with needless over-design. This is the tired […]

Take the Tram – From the AntonNews.com Long Island New York

Take the Tram By Michael Miller Friday, 11 June 2010 Why in 2010 does it often take twice as long to get from the North Shore to the Five Towns than it does to get from Mineola to White Plains? Cars are choking our roads, gas prices are threatening our economic viability. We need alternative […]