Island Corridor Foundation’s Letter to Minister Claire Trevena

After years of indifference by the Island Corridor Foundation, a new provincial government seems to have brought some life to the Island Corridor Foundation. Now the ICF is a political creature, which was believed by many, to oversee the demise of the E&N Railway on Vancouver island. Enter the NDP and Vancouver Island MLA and […]

Toronto’s King Street – A Template For Broadway?

The European light rail Renaissance in Toronto seems to be successful. Active traffic calming will both improve transit service, while at the same time pull more people to transit, a lesson that TansLink and Vancouver traffic engineers refuses to learn. Putting transit underground, may make local improvements, but the high costs hurts transit operations elsewhere. […]

A Broadway Tram – Under $5 Million Per Kilometre To Build!

What is the cost for light rail? In Budapest, Hungary, aAi?? 1Ai??7Ai??km extension of Budapest tram Route 1, will cost HF8Ai??6bn. Wow! 8.6 billion Hungarian Florints to build? But wait, HUF 8.6 billion, converts to CAD $7,690,959! What is more, the 1.7 km extension is costing CAD $4,524,093 per kilometre to build. I know, that […]

A Novices Guide To Transit – Updated

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

Thoughts For November

As 2017 wanes in the days of September and October andAi?? now the chill winds of November are upon us , the unprecedented dry spell, reeks of global warming. 7mm of rain in July and August must be setting off alarm bells in the various forestry and environmental ministries. This summer and autumn I had […]

Scarborough ……… Or Should We Say Broadway Subway ai???Not A Worthwhile Use Of Moneyai??i??

No real surprise here. What is very odious is that the Mayor of Toronto wants a subway, purely for political purposes and the taxpayer be damned! The same is true about the proposed Broadway SkyTrain subway, where the traffic flows just do not warrant a now almost $4 billion subway, yet the Mayor of Vancouver […]

Hawthorne Park – Premier Horgan, Are You Listening?

Surrey’s Hawthorne Park debacle clearly illustrates that something is wrong with our regional transit planning. Modern light rail transit, is a proven mode of public transportation that has an envious record in attracting the motorist from the car; a record that the proprietary light-metro, which we call SkyTrain, does not and why only seven SkyTrain […]

When You Really Need It – SkyTrain Craps out!

Again, SkyTrain never fails to, well fail! CKNW NEWS ALERT Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai??Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? […]

Mebourne: Trams Far Cheaper To Operate Than Buses

Interesting numbers from Melbourne Australia, where the subsidy for a tram, per customer, is $7.18 less than for a bus, per customer! Something to think about, isn’t it. Costs per passenger in Melbourne Tram vs Bus 30-Oct-2017Ai?? Ai?? Mal Rowe I came across the PTV annual report for last year (2015/16) with some remarkable figures. […]

The BRT And LRT Saga Continues

What is missing from this LRT/BRT study is very important, the cost of operating the BRT or LRT line. In Mexico, South America and the Middle East, wages paid to drivers, mechanics, managers and maintenance workers are much, much less than North America and Europe. As well, in third world countries, the world bank balks […]