Gondolas, Not User Freindly

As the regional mayors are gung-ho on the $200 million SFU gondola, I went back to my files and found some more interesting information on using gondolas or aerial tamways. * I see one very big problem, the aerial tramway is a transit system and must adhere to Transport Canada’s rules and one big problem […]

SFU Gondola Update – Ah, the real story emerges – Repost from 2011

It’s the old story in metro Vancouver, Transit is not built to better public transit, it is built for land development. To sell it to very gullible and uninformed politicos you dress up the transit as a gadgetbahnen, all glitzy and nice. The politicians all act if they got their very first electric train set […]

From 2015 – The Broadway Subway, No Value For Money

The NDP have now blundered in approving the Broadway subway and photo-ops by Premier Horgan attributed what LRT is very good at and light-metro which is not very good at. Wrong script, wrong mode. LRT has a proven record of modal shift, attracting motorists from the car. SkyTrain has no such record. LRT has a […]

A Novice’s Guide To Transit – Reposted and Updated

……….. or cutting through the BS about light rail, SkyTrain and BRT. The following is a guide plus definitions. ALM: Automatic Light metro, the fourth marketing name given for the SkyTrain family of light-metros, when Lavalin briefly owned SkyTrain before going bankrupt. ALRT (1): Advanced Light Rail Transit, the second marketing name for SkyTrain. ALRT […]

Of Pressers, Photo-ops and Gadgetbahnen

Premier Horgan doesn’t get it. The NDP don’t get it. The Liberals don’t get it. The metro mayors don’t get it. We are governed by a ship of fools. What we are getting is a $3 billion subway, which will operate a capacity limited proprietary railway, which will drive up TransLink’s operating costs and will […]

A Post From Mr. Haveacow – Speedy Transit

The avatar, “Haveacow” is used by a very knowledgeable Canadian transportation specialist. He knows what he is talking about and Zwei greatly respects his input. Since SkyTrain was first foisted on the taxpayer, one of the many false claims for building with it, was that it was fast. There are problems with this claim, including: […]

From 2009 – The Light Rail Committee

A repost from 2009   A 2007 Presentation on Valley Rail – by the Light Rail Committee Posted by zweisystem on Thursday, June 25, 2009 First, before any discussion about rail transit, including Light Rail Transit, we must define LRT and other transit modes. The following is a brief descriptions of various transit modes advocated […]

A Decade Later, Nothing Changes – A Repost From 2010

A decade later and the same same ills plague transit planning in the Metro Vancouver region. The strangle hold that Vancouver and Surrey have on the region is causing much fiscal mismanagement, as it is deemed, what is good for Vancouver and Surrey politicians is good for the region. The provincial government seems OK with […]

From Jan. 2011

Pertinent today, as it was almost ten years ago. From January 2011: Rail For the Valley completes Analysis of Fraser Valley Transit Study Posted by John Buker on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Here is our media release: Rail For the Valley completes Analysis of Fraser Valley Transit Study * After years of delays the B.C. […]

An Ongoing Charade

Gordon Campbell is gone, due to his less than honest performance with the combined GST/PST, which cost him the Premiership. The public had enough and wanted him gone. But, Gordon Campbell echoed then and what still echoes today with the Mayor’s Council on Transit, TransLink and in Victoria, that somehow SkyTrain is superior to light […]