Oxymoron

  TransLink advisory: In anticipation of bad weather Millennium Line is operating with 4 car trains so increased capacity but reduced frequency. Memo to TransLink: 2 car trains, operating at 2 minute headway’s (30 trips per hour), capacity equals 6,000 pphpd. 4 car trains operating at 4 minute headway’s (15 trips per hour), capacity equals […]

A Comment Worth Reading – Costs!

The chap who uses the avatar Haveacow is a transit and transportation expert and it is a must, reading his comments; I certainly do! I have been in this game for almost 35 years and the song sung by the SkyTrain lobby never changes. Those defending light metro in Metro Vancouver never deal with costs. […]

SNC Lavalin Back In The Game

SNC Lavalin is back in the game after a wrist slap from the Canadian courts. The following is from Randy Chatterjee, who has been following the financial paper-trail from the RAV/Canada Line project; and it ain’t pretty. The SNC Lavalin/Caisse/ROTEM consortium won the faux BC Liberal P-3 contract and by doing so, made the Canada […]

It Is Essential That LRT Is Designed By Consultants With Expertise In Modern LRT!

TransLink has absolutely zero expertise with modern light rail, yet continually plans for grossly inferior light rail lines which under scrutiny shows so many flaws that their plans become laughable. The latest was then Surrey LRT, which was so over engineered and so gold-plated, it became unafordable and was easily pushed aside by the SkyTrain […]

Expo & Millennium Line Ridership – 150,000 Per Weekday

It is interesting, the on going debate about the SkyTrain light metro’s ridership, especially when TransLink’s spin doctors tell the truth. This comment by a TransLink spokesperson caught me by surprise and it has been repeated in both the mainstream and electronic media. Just has to be true! TransLink characterized this job action as unreasonable […]

Montreal’s REM – The Canada Line’s Financial Clone

  Like the Canada Line light-metro, REM’s funding comes from the the Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and being built by Canadian favourite, SNC Lavalin. Bombardier Inc., again got pipped at the post by a desperate Alstom/Hitachi conglomerate desperately trying to sell their light-metro system. Like the Canada Line, is grossly under […]

Reality Check

Transit rule number 1: You got to have funding to build and operate a transit line. The Mayors Council on Transit, is a little weak on this issue, especially after a mostly federal/provincial funded $4.6 billion grant to build 12.8 km of extensions to the Expo and Millennium Lines. They also approved an increased of […]

Seriously Deluded, Or…….?

Really? Is this the best we can expect from TransLink, deception? Two quotes from TransLink CEO, Kevin Desmond, are very disturbing: Desmond called the Canada Line, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, a “smart investment”. “But, he said, he hopes the region has learned that lesson, adding that “help is on its way” for the […]

Future Funding Implications Threaten Regional Transit Projects.

With the clear evidence that transportation authorities around the world opting to build with LRT, one must pose, again, the question; Why does TransLink inflate the cost of light Rail? The simple answer is, “they don’t want to build with light rail, so they inflate the cost to match that of SkyTrain. From the Briefing […]

The $4.6 billion Question

  $4.6 billion is a lot of cash, but in metro Vancouver, $4.6 billion (well that is the amount funded) buys you a mere 12.8 km of the decidedly obsolete light metro system, now called Movia Automatic Light Metro, used on the Millennium and Expo Lines. So much money, for so little transit. It maybe […]