Metro Mayors Bite The Bullet

Metro Mayors, with visions of federal cash dancingAi?? in their heads approved a draft transit plan part of their so called ten year plan. Like all other transit ten year or twenty year plans that have come and gone, this one was drafted, probably on orders of the premier who is afraid of any negative […]

“The problem with TransLink is that you can never believe what it says…………”

The problem with TransLink is that you can never believe what it says; TransLink never produces a report based on the same set of assumptions.” Former West Vancouver Clr. Victor Durman, Chair of the GVRD (now METRO) Finance Committee. Old habits die hard and with TransLink, old habits never die, they just hire a new […]

SkyTrain Embaresses Itself Again

Oops! Rush hour, the time that transit must work, but with SkyTrain it doesn’t matter as it craps out now all to regularly. Again, aging complicated automatic transit systems grow more unreliable, making transit less dependable, which in turn makes the car more desirable. Memo to CKNW: Tracking issues? Are they trying to hunt down […]

Three Minutes Into The Future!

More wise words from Mr. ‘Haveacow’ who is an extremely experienced transit planner working on Ottawa’s new regional light rail line. This was originally a post from the recent Calgary blog and contains a wealth of information that the powers that be don’t really want in the public realm. What this boils down to is […]

Over to You Mr. Cow – The Vancouver Sun’s Recent “Puff” SkyTrain Story

This comment from Mr. Cow deserves a post of its own as there is so much information here, it deserves a wider audience. As Mr. Cow is a Canadian Transit Engineer, his comments are well worth reading. When SkyTrain ‘crapped-out’ in the Summer of 2014 there were no drivers or attendants to oversee the evacuation […]

Montreal, Quebec – op-ed: death of Canadian light metro ??

An interesting read. Why would Quebec’s Caisse de dAi??pA?t et placement du QuAi??bec, invest in the obsolete SkyTrain? Could the real reason be to help Bombardier out of its aerospace financial embarrassment, by buying ART? At the current rate, the proposed 67 km Montreal ART light-metro system will cost well over $8 billion or more […]

Port Mann Fiasco

Gridlock is endemic in metro Vancouver. TransLink has become the “clown of transit planning” and now with with two very expensive vanity projects, the truncated Broadway SkyTrain subway and the Surrey LRT, which is being planned as a “poor man’s” SkyTrain, the clown is turning into a nightmare. TransLink has had good teachers. Now, all […]

Now do you beleive Zwei!

Zwei has stated over and over again, one modern tram and tram driver is as efficient as six to eight buses and six to eight bus drivers and for every tram or bus operated one needs a minimum of four people to drive, maintain and manage them. As wages account for 70% or more of […]

The Costly White Elephant In The Room

While Vancouver mayor Pines for a SkyTrain subway under Broadway and Trudeau the Younger smiles at the cameras with promises of transit manna from heaven, no one is addressing the real subway issue: costs! It is now estimated that the Millennium Line subway extension to Arbutus will now cost $3 billion or slightly higher, if […]

Error Code 404 – Sums Up Regional Planning to a “T”.

Well, is this a sign of things to come error code 404? The three amigos got together on ART car 404 for a photo op and one can read into it as one wishes.