The TransLink Debacle – Brought To You In Part, By Mr. Factbender

Nothing new here. TransLink was conceivedAi?? by the NDP to get then GVRD Chair, George Puil on board to support the now renamed (ALRT to ART) Millennium Line. No one in the NDP at the time had any thought of making TransLink independent as control of major transit projects would remain in the Premier’s office. […]

Sorry David Suzuki, You Are Wrong

Sorry David, you are wrong. TransLink does not have a income problem, it has a spendingAi?? problem as it spends about three times more to build with the now obsolete light-metro instead of light rail. Our proprietary light-metro system also costs about 60% more to operate than comparable light rail lines. David, you and your […]

The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway

The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway is again in operation, which begs the question; “Who says that passenger rail cannot operate on the former interurban route?” The interurban operates on weekends and please go for a ride and support them.

Is Factbender Going To Announce SkyTrain To Langley On Canada Day?

“You are going to get SkyTrain whether you like it or not”, has been the popular refrain from notable BC politicians including Bill Bennett, Bill Van der Zalm, Grace McCarthy, Glen Clark, Joy McPhail, Gordon Campbell, Kevin Falcon and now, Factbender and Premier photo-Op! Only seven built in 40 years!   Is the Minister responsible […]

TransLink’s PR Stunt & Factbender Follies

TransLink is going to review fares. Great, I thought, they are listening to the public, who hold the ossified bureaucracy in high odor, but it was too good to be true as the minister in charge of Transit, Mr. Factbender is rehashing an old idea, create a density tax for new high rise development. But […]

Roses in full bloom along Tokyo’s only tram line

How about roses blooming along the Arbutus corridor complete with trams? Roses are in full bloom along the only streetcar line in TOKYO, Japan’s capital city, according to “the-japan-news dot com” site:Ai?? <http://tinyurl.com/jp72uc4> Roses in full bloom along streetcar line May 22, 2016 The Yomiuri Shimbun Ai??Roses in full bloom at Machiya Station on the […]

Honolulu is Learning the Vancouver Lesson – Build Light-Metro At Your Financial Peril

Updated May 22, 2016 – Added CAD currency conversions. Bombardier and SNC Lavalin spent years grooming Honolulu City politicians to build with light-metro. For their efforts, Bombardier and SNC got pipped at the post by Ansaldo with their proprietary light-metro and and the now chagrined burghers of Honolulu are now finding out that proprietary light-metro […]

Why the car is winning the commuter war – Simple, it is called SkyTrain

The modern tram brings fast, reliable and user-friendly public transport to densely populated European Cities, like Amsterdam. The ability of the transit customer of having his/hers transit on the pavement and easily accessible, makes modern light-rail the first choice of transit planners around the world. Sadly, not so in Metro Vancouver. A bit of a […]

TramTrain – TransLink Fears Success

A candid conversation with a former TransLink planner all most a year ago (I gather from an email he is happily motoring along in his motor home in New Mexico), may shed some light on TransLink’s current planning and fiscal ills. The problem seems to be TransLink’s planners and bureaucrats are afraid of success. Why? […]

Photo Tour of Waterloo Region ION Light Rail Construction

From our friend Haveacow. Here is the link to an article in the Raise The Hammer (“The Hammer” is Hamilton, Ontario) website about their tour of the ION LRT Construction Site. The pictures are telling. The development has already started and the line isn’t even finished yet. The start date is Fall 2017, I don’t […]