Floundering Public Transit and the Resurrection of the Car.

An interesting read. TransLink, the Mayor’s Council on Transit and the provincial government should take serious note of the following, but they won’t. Riding in their cars, subsidized by generous car allowances and more, politicians remain oblivious to current issues and pretend nothing has happened. For politicians it is “Do as I say, not as […]

More Fuel Cell Train News

More fuel cell train news. The technology is coming, whether we acknowledge it or not. The “Green” challenge is not taxing people out of their cars or airplanes, rather it is providing a reliable and user friendly “Green” transportation alternative. Our politicians have not done that, on the contrary they still opt for “rubber on […]

Hdrogen Fuel Trains Advance!

As the technology for hydrogen fueled trains continues to develop, the technology will become cheaper. Electric trains without the large cost of OHE. Very Green, isn’t it. Not in BC, where the government is OK building with prestigious light-metro and willing to spend $4.6 billion, to build a mere 12.8 km of line. For $4.6 […]

Light Metro Fiasco In Honolulu

Light-metro, a 1970’s solution for a 1950’s transit problems and made obsolete by light rail by the early 90’s. Why oh why do politicians love gadgetbahnen. The total cost of Honolulu’s 20-mile (32 km) rail line and 21 stations is $9.862 billion. If the add-ons approved by the board Friday are included in the final […]

Mobility Pricing – The Rapture of Megaprojects

The first rule of mobility pricing is: One must have an affordable and user friendly public transit alternative. Metro Vancouver doesn’t, nor is planning for one. Instead metro Vancouver is planning for politically prestigious mega transit projects and like all megaprojects, they cost a lot of money and government, whether it be civic, provincial or […]

Broadway Subway: Based On Inaccurate And Manipulated Assumptions

Haveacow is an avatar of a very knowledgeable chap from back east who works with public transport. In the arcane world of transit in Canada, speaking one’s mind or even being truthful can send one to Coventry. To send someone to Coventry is an English idiom meaning to deliberately ostracize someone. Typically, this is done […]

Quebec Follows The Vancouver Model Of Transit Planning

The Vancouver Model Of Transit Planning: If you build with light-metro, make damn sure you don’t build LRT anywhere near it In Quebec, Montreal’s REM Lobby, including the Caisse and city, provincial and federal politicians could not afford to have LRT interfere with their light metro propaganda campaign and made sure Quebec City’s $3.3 billion […]

SkyTrain On Fire!

Lost amidst the hurly burly of the American election and the just announced almost total lock down in BC, a fire at New Westminster Station caused the shutdown of service Sunday morning. What is interesting is that this fire on the main public transit route to downtown was not given great play in the media […]

For Whom the Tolls Toll.

You operate a very expensive transit system that is not user friendly. You build a subway on a route with nowhere near the ridership to sustain it. You persist in planning and using a very expensive, yet obsolete proprietary light metro. You pretend that public transit is a right and not a convenience. You persist […]

TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond Jumps Ship.

No surprise here, as I stated before, 2021, will make 2020 look child’s play. Desmond was hired because of his ability to massage the truth to build the Broadway subway. He seemed ignorant of transit mode and that the Expo and Millennium lines operated with a proprietary light metro system. I think this is evidence […]