West Broadway Business Association calls for light rail

A new group, the West Broadway Business Association, has been formed: The WBBA is a non-profit society representing the local interests of businesses along West Broadway, from Alma to Burrard, and beyond to Cambie. They’re calling for a surface-level light rail or tram system along Broadway instead of the current plan to build a subway: […]

Why it is important that SkyTrain not be built on the Evergreen Line

A letter in todays Vancouver Sun ~ SkyTrain extension not an astute investment Vancouver Sun January 8, 2009 The case for SkyTrain’s $1.4-billion Evergreen Line is terribly weak. Despite the hype and hoopla from local politicians, this version of a public-private partnership is more like a Ponzi scheme than an astute investment. David Gillen, director […]

TramTrain, the interurban of the 21st century!

With the ongoing campaign for the “return of the interurban” in the Fraser Valley, an understanding of what the 21st century interurban is needed. The old Vancouver to Chilliwack interurban,Ai??Ai??ran from downtown Vancouver along streetcar tracks, up Main St. and down KingswayAi??Ai??to the beginning of the Central Park Line, just past Commercial drive. Then the […]

Does light-rail make the grade?

There is a common misconception, especially with loal transit planners, that light-rail can’t climb steep grades. The industry standard (crush capacity or all seats taken and 8 persons per square metre standing) for the maximum gradient that modern LRT can climb is 8%. Sheffield’s trams (streetcars) because all axles are motorized, can climb 10% grades […]

Bus Rapid Transit or BRT – Does it deliver?

The bus lobby are quick to jump on the Bus Rapid Transit or BRT bandwagon, yet fail to point to any one BRTAi??Ai?? that has attracted the all important motorist from the car. While new LRT/tram operations have seen major jumps in ridership, ridership figures for newAi??Ai??BRT systemsAi??Ai??have been disappointing. Ottawa is on record though […]

SkyTrain – Eight myths and the facts;Oh what tangled webs we weave, when we first practice to deceive!

Since 1980, when SkyTrain was imposed on the region, the SkyTrain lobby abetted by politicians, bureaucrats, and the media, have created a grand SkyTrain myth which is now taken as fact. Lenin’s quote, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth“, is certainly true of the SkyTrain lobby, when defending their beloved light-metro system. Despite […]

In the snow, go Diesel LRT! The E & N’s RDC’s (D-LRT’s big cousins) had no problems!

  Snow pulls Islanders onto E&N trains   Ridership jumped nearly 50% since snowstorms hit   by Darrell Bellaart, Times-Colonist, December 30, 2008   More Vancouver Islanders are choosing to travel by train when the roads get too slushy and slippery to drive. Southern Rail, which operates the E&N railway from Victoria to Courtenay, saw […]

Transit lessons unlearned – Part 2

In the 1980’s there was much debateAi??Ai??between modern light-rail and many proprietary transit systems being offered for sale, which included the SkyTrain ICTS/ALRT automatic light-metro. Many claims were made by the owners of various proprietary transit systems being offered for sale, about the effectivenessAi??Ai??of their transit systems. In 1991, Gerald Fox a noted American transit […]

Transit lessons unlearned – Lesson #1

In the very early 1980’s, the Ontario Conservative Party (the William Davis Government) tried to force the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to build with theAi??Ai??new Intermediate Capacity Transit System or ICTS, now known as SkyTrain; produced by the Urban Transit Development Corporation (UTDC) an Ontario crown corporation. The TTC commissionedAi??Ai??a comprehensive studyAi??Ai??comparing streetcars/LRT and metro […]

The wheezy SkyTrain – a real snow job!

Again, SkyTrain embarrassed itself during the snowy Christmas holiday. For over a week TransLink announced fewer, longer trains, manual operation, service disruptions and complete systems shutdowns. SkyTrain is not a new system, being in operation 23 years, there should be no ‘Gremlins’ to fix, but SkyTrain proved again, when it snows in Vancouver DO NOT […]