When Politicians Think They Know Better – Watch Out!

When a new transit line is built, months of testing must take place before commissioning the line for public service. This did not happen in Ottawa. Many people do not realize that the Ottawa LRT operation is automatic, just like Vancouver’s light metro system and the new line suffers the same ills that plague Automatic […]

Of Photo-ops And 10 Second Sound Bites – The Mayor’s Council Pre Election Grift

How can one tell it is civic election time. Hint: Regional mayors, with little knowledge about transit, are promising everything, but without a mention of raising taxes to fund those gold plated pre election goodies! I have one question: Funding? It all sounds good, bike lanes here, a gondola there, a UBC subway (strange, no […]

TransLink Does Something Right – Who Knew!

Zwei has been long advocating for bus services dedicated to cyclists on important routes and the new 900 bus from Bridgeport Station to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, via the Ladner Loop, certainly fits the bill. Well done! TransLink launches new summer bike bus in Tsawwassen The Bike Bus will follow the existing 620 route, with […]

And Now – Here Is The Real Story

  With my long association with the LRTA, I have made many contacts with professionals in the transit industry, who have guided me and given me much information on modern public transport. The following questions deserve an answer. Is current regional transit planning viable in the post Covid world? Is the current light-metro only planning […]

SkyTrain Derails On The SkyBridge

Well the truth is out, a Movia Automatic Light Metro vehicle has derailed on the SkyBridge. UPDATE: “Crews have identified a failed switch as the cause of the track issue,” notes another update Tuesday. “This has led to a SkyTrain being partially dislodged from the tracks.”  Being honest is just not in TransLink’s mandate and […]

Surrey’s Board of Trade Reality Check!

The business types with the Surrey Board of Trade don’t seem quite up to date with the cost of Transit projects in Metro Vancouver. The provincial governments Friday news release (Friday is always used for bad news which is hopefully forgotten by Monday) that the “B.C. government commits $2.4B to transit in Metro Vancouver“, was […]

Broadway Subway Steamrolls Through Small Business – Politicians Do Not Care!

Zwei told ya so. The precedent set by the Canada Line Cambie St. cut and cover is coming to Broadway and that means “to hell with the small business”. The mayor and council knew this would happen; TransLink knew this would happen (and why TransLink hired a professional spin doctor as CEO) as they know […]

The E&N Business Case: Getting Cars Off The Road

Well, it is a start. The Business Case for the E&N has been released and the cost provided ($431 million) seems quite cheap, compared to the Expo and Millennium Line extensions, where the cost per km is over $400 million/km (over $500 million/km for the Broadway subway). What has proven to work elsewhere, will work […]

Expo Line Extension To Langley Bafflegab. Has The Cost Risen To $5 Billion?

The Daily Hive has become TransLink’s official mouthpiece and sadly the Daily Hive, knows very little about transit and even less about SkyTrain light metro. * It is my belief that this article, in part, is in response to this letter to the editor which appeared in the Langley Advance Times. The article below is […]

The Broadway suybway Will Sterilize Buisness – Redux

On the local TV last night, small businesses along the Broadway construction zone are seeing huge drop in sales and a big increase in debt, due to closure of sidewalks. Shades of the Canada Line debacle on Cambie 15 years ago! BC’s Transportation Minister Ian Flemming, trundled out the old tried and true comment from […]