Common Sense Transit Planning At last!

Common sense. Want a workable public transport system? One must plan on this scale as being done in the City of Surrey. Let us just add a Vancouver to Chilliwack TramTrain, instead of LRT to Langley and one would now have 270km of rail transit in the Fraser Valley. This is called “Vision”; this called […]

Surrey’s LRT Costs Skyrocket – As Planned?

And now, the real story. There is a growing number of politicians who want to build with SkyTrain instead of LRT in Surrey. What they ignore at their own peril is that SkyTrain will not cost $1 billion more than LRT to build, but it will cost over $6 billion! Why? TransLink has neglected to […]

Toronto Enters the Light Rail Era as Vancouver Decends Into Traffic Hell

This what LRT is supposed to do – traffic calm, by providing a quality public transit alternative. In Vancouver, light metro is built to increase density, thus increasing auto use. The modern tram, provides transit, on the pavement, easy to use, just what the transit customer wants. Maybe trams on Broadway will bring a Renaissance […]

The Greer Report – 20 Years On

This item is a reprint from 2009. After rereading the Greer Report, I see TransLink making the same unsubstantiated claims about SkyTrain. Another decade has passed and TransLink is still the autocratic organization, as it was twenty years ago! Who is not afraid to “Bell the Cat?” The Greer Report – Review of Rapid Transit […]

SkyTrain Costs That TransLink Do No Want The Taxpayer To Know

Many people who advocate for more SkyTrain extensions in the metro region, do not understand the costs associated with automatic train control or ATC, necessary for driverless operation. The cost of resignalling just one subway line in Toronto is said to cost CAD $562 million. TransLink’s problem is that to increase capacity on the Innovia […]

Bombardier Inc. Doesn’t Give a Damn

This is a major problem for Metro Vancouver, Bombardier Inc. doesn’t give a damn about its rail products and this should make Metro Vancouver mayors and TransLink very worried. Why? Bombardier is the sole suppliers of the Innovia metro car used on the Expo and Millennium/Evergreen lines and if Bombardier were to stop production, new […]

The Regional Mayor’s $7 Billion FastFerry Fiasco!

FastFerry fiascos tend to be common in BC, where politicians play the part of transit experts and squander the taxpayer’s money on prestige projects, that are great for ribbon cutting photo-ops, but little more. That Translink’s American CEO applauds this only shows the Mayor’s Council on Transit picked nothing more than a “Useful Idiot” to […]

As SkyTrain Ages…………….

As predicted. Yesterday, SkyTrain went ka-put, once again. SkyTrain needs a massive refurbishment, about $3 billion infusion is needed to make it dependable again. But, there is only so much money for transit projects, so the $3 billion Broadway subway and the $2.5 billion Surrey LRT get spending priority. The result, no proper maintenance; unreliable […]

Some Smart People Out There, Not Here Apparently……

In Europe, transportation needs are designed to meet the needs of transit customers. In BC, transportation needs are designed to further political careers and money laundering. Example: The $3 billion Broadway SkyTrain subway, being built on a transit route which has peak hour traffic flows under 4,000 pphpd! Who is the subway being built for? […]

Mobility Pricing -TransLink’s Desperate Ploy.

Mobility pricing, TransLink’s desperate ploy to hide their inept planning to date. TransLink happily spends twice or three times more for “rail” transit than they should. TransLink also spends at least 60% more operation “rail” transit than they should. The result, large deficits operating the transit system, requiring large subsidies to pay for the large […]