Stupid Is As Stupid Does – I Expect Nothing More From TransLink

  So, what do the three new board members know about transit? Zilch, nada, nothing. But, I bet they all know how to cash a stipend. Thus the farce we call TransLink, continues. This is pork barrel politics at its very worst!   Three new members appointed to TransLink Board Vancouver, BC, Canada / News […]

Do The SkyTrain MK.3 Cars Have A Fatal Flaw?

Really. No, really, can’t TransLink come up with a better excuse than a “high tech glitch” for the recent embarrassing problems with the brand new MK.3 cars? Evidently not. Mk.3 cars high tech? No. What the Mk.3 car is a new universal body shell to fit all of Bombardier’s ‘rail’ light-metros or other like light-metros […]

In Metro Vancouver……

The subway lobby seem hard at it in Toronto and have been caught out by an independent public watchdog, set up to protect the taxpayer. Metro Vancouver and its member municipalities has no such watchdog to watch for bureaucratic or political malfeasance and with the media well in bed with Metro Vancouver politicians, the taxpayer […]

Trams for Kuala Lumpur? Evidently Light Metro Did Not Reduce Congestion!

Interesting news from Kuala Lumpur, transit experts urge that trams be used. Kuala Lumpur already has an elevated RT line; a ART (SkyTrain) Line and an monorail, now transit authorities urge trams! The key phrase; “…….the mode of transportation could also reduce vehicles on the road and simultaneously solve traffic congestion in Kuala Lumpur especially […]

INFRASTRUCTURE

One politicians “infrastructure” is another one’s waste. It’s not transit or transportation projects we build, rather it is infrastructure. The SkyTrain Broadway subway is deemedAi?? by Vancouver politicians to be a good investment of the taxpayer’s money because it is “infrastructure” , but the subway is not based on sound transit and transportation planning, thus […]

The BRT Myth Exposed!

The following is from the Urbansit from Seattle and is quite interesting. First of all, for those who care to know, Seattle’s LRT is indeed a light-metro, which ultimate capacity is over 32,000 pphpd (today, itai??i??s 16,000″on the existing line before ventilation and emergency escape upgrades are made.”) True light rail operates mainly at-grade and […]

Willful Ignorance

The radio is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier. (Apologies to H. L. Mencken) SkyTrain here, SkyTrain there, SkyTrain everywhere! TransLink’s CEO, Kevin Desmond is an ignorant man and as such, makes a perfect CEO of TransLink, where ignorance is a prerequisite for employment. I have kept silent about […]

The Tallinn experiment: what happens when a city makes public transport free?

An interesting read for those who want free transit, but remember, free transit comes at a price.   The Tallinn experiment: what happens when a city makes public transport free? Since Estoniaai??i??s capital started providing free public transport for residents in 2013, it claims to have turned a ai??i??20m a year profit each year. But […]

Calgary, Alberta: Green Line LRT tunnel option approved in principle by Calgary city council

Everyone wants tunnels and subways. Victorian railway companies in the UK, bankrupted themselves with needless and over engineered tunnels because they were in vogue. Calgary’s LRT was designed more as a light metro than light rail, but that still did not stop transit planners from putting the C-Train mostly at grade, with on-street operation in […]

Scarborough Subway Derailing?

Unfortunately financial reality is now setting in in Toronto and building subways are a very expensive proposition.. The cost to replace the aging Scarborough ICTS mini-metro with a one stop, 6 km. subway (about the same length as a Broadway subway to Arbutus!) is now put at $3.2 billion and rising. Plans to revive a […]