The Bistro Tram – Is it the right menu for the interurban?

Two previous postings – http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/why-the-valley-interurban-must-service-abbotsford-international-airport-yxx/Ai??Ai??and – http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/why-the-valley-interurban-must-service-vancouver/Ai??Ai??talk about long distance rail travel from Vancouver, East to Abbotsford, YXX, and Chilliwack and one must think of amenities for the transit customer. The proposed interurban service must be user-friendly from the start, to gain a solid consumer base and a ‘Bistro‘ car, serving light refreshmentsAi??Ai??maybe the ticket […]

Why the Valley Interurban Must Service Abbotsford International Airport (YXX)

To be successful, a transit system or transit line must serve popular destinations in order to generate ridership, the notion that transit customers will take ‘rail’ because it is just there is wrong. In order for successful interurban service it must serve destinations where customers want to go and Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) is a […]

Why the valley interurban must service Vancouver.

The current thinking is that the proposed valleyAi??Ai??’interurban’ service terminate at Scott road SkyTrain station and this is a big mistake. Lest we forget the majority of interurban customers will want to go to Vancouver and forcing them to transfer to SkyTrain will add at least 30 or more minutesAi??Ai?? to their journey. What is […]

B.C. on the hook for $3.3-billion Port Mann bridge

The Ministry of Transportation announced today that the Port Mann P3 has failed, and B.C. will now directly fund the bridge construction. Globe and Mail article here. The B.C. taxpayers will be taking all of the risk, if traffic on the bridge is less than forecast. What this means is….. If the government does invest […]

There is a good reason why the propaganda system works the way it does. It recognizes that the public will not support the actual policies. Therefore it is important to prevent any knowledge or understanding of them.A?ai??i??A?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised to give $350 million for the beleaguered and ill planned Evergreen SkyTrain Line,Ai??Ai??which must bring joy to the hearts of the SkyTrain lobby and Bombardier Inc. The SkyTrain/metro lobby is waking up to the fact that Fraser Valley residents wantAi??Ai??light-rail and they want it sooner rather than later. For […]

Is TransLink Going Bankrupt? Has Gordon Campbell Made a Secret Deal With The Devil (TransLink)?

An interesting email came my way today, with the astonishing claim that TransLink will go bankrupt next year! Two tiny snippets out of that tell the whole story… Even with the inflated ridership claims, the provincial subsidy per trip (TransLink) is $5/rider, and for Victoria’s BC Transit system it is over $20/rider.!!! We all pay […]

The Valley Interurban – As Shovel Ready as One Can Get!

In today’s lexicon of government deficit spending, ‘shovel ready’ has become the clichA?Ai?? of choice for politicians to fund their pet mega-projects. Evergreen Line, Gateway are all said to be shovel ready, yet much planning and design work must take place before the shovels are actually in the ground. The Valley Interurban project is almost […]

TRAM-TRAIN TECHNOLOGY SEARCHING FOR A PROBLEM – From the LRTA. And what is tram-train? The interurban!

The following discussion paper from the LRTA should be of interestAi??Ai??for those who want the return of the interurban to Chilliwack. Just substitute interurban for tram-train. A programme on BBC 1 giving a nostalgic look at the former local railway route from York to Beverley (1) interviewed locals along the former route to see if […]

Tales of Transit studies past – You’d be amazed at the hundreds of politicians manipulated over the last 30 years!

Since SkyTrain was forced onto the region, transit planning has been skewed to fit the expensive proprietary light-metro. Most recently, noted American transit specialist, Gerald Fox, found the business case for the Evergreen SkyTrain LineAi??Ai??had, “several instances where the analysis had made assumptions that were inaccurate, or had been manipulated to make the case for […]

Carole James & the NDP – Have they missed the train?

Carole James and the provincial NDP’s regional transportation platform is in stealth mode, which is not surprising, as past NDP administrations have ignored sound public transport practice and used ‘rail’ transit solely as an election tool. Glen Clark, successfully used ‘rail‘Ai??Ai??projects as reelection tools:Ai??Ai??theAi??Ai??West Coast Express (known at the time as the Reelection Express) and […]