Facts Don’t Seem To Matter – UBC Students Gaslights The Truth.
Gaslighting: a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes including low self-esteem. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim’s beliefs. Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred, to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
When it comes to regional transit and regional transit planning, UBC Students, abetted by TransLink’s gas-lighting, rules.
Three issues which TransLink’s gaslighting has been a success.
- SkyTrain is not a proprietary transit system.
- Broadway is the most heaviest used transit route in Canada, no North America
- LRT is in inferior
The SkyTrain Light-Metro system includes a proprietary transit system.
The question those claiming that SkyTrain is not a proprietary transit system, must ask; “Since when did the proprietary Movia Automatic Light Metro cease to be a proprietary transit system?“
SkyTrain is the name of the regional light-metro network and not the commercial trains used.
The Canada line uses conventional EMU’s made by ROTEM.
The Expo Line used the the proprietary Advanced Light Rail Transit (ALRT) system, renamed from the original Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS), developed by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC), an Ontario Crown corporation. The later Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) cars (MK.2’s), which came with the Millennium Line, were produced by Bombardier after it acquired the remains of the UTDC after it was returned to the Ontario government when Lavalin went Bankrupt.
Lavalin briefly owned the proprietary railway, renaming the proprietary transit system Advanced Light Metro (ALM) but the UTDC was returned to the Province of Ontario, after Lavalin went bankrupt trying to sell the often renamed proprietary transit system to Bangkok.
Montreal rebuilt the curs using their Innovia light-metro body-shell.
The Mk.5 cars, TransLink boast about, are Innovia 300 cars with open vestibules and have been on the market for about 20 years.
Bombardier’s Innovia line of light-metros, due to lack of sales was folded into the Movia heavy-rail metro line, with the proprietary system called Movia Automatic Light Metro.
MALM is now owned by Alstom, when they acquired Bombardier’s rail division.
The key to the MALM system being proprietary is the use of Linear Induction Motors and the steerable axle trucks as no other company offers an “off the shelf” product compatible to operate son the MALM Lines.
As one German Engineer told me; “One just cannot slap on a pair of LIM’s on a conventional bogie (truck) and expect it to operate!“
The steerable axle truck, and LIM, are the key to the proprietary light metro.
Broadway is not the busiest transit corridor in Canada.
The hype and hoopla that Broadway being the the heaviest used transit route in Canada, no North America is a common refrain one reads in the mainstream media and hears on the radio or TV, made by politicians and bureaucrats.
Sorry it’s not true as the following from TransLink confirms.
“Finally, on January 31, 2019, you contacted several news organizations and this Secretariat raising concerns over TransLink’s assertion that the 99 B-Line is the busiest bus route in the US and Canada.
This is our region’s most overcrowded bus route. Pass ups are already common, as our regular riders on that route are fully aware. TransLink projects that the 99 B-Line from Arbutus to UBC will be at capacity in the peak when the Millennium Line extension from Commercial-Broadway to Arbutus opens.”
Cutting through the TransLink speak of this reply, TransLink only admits to Broadway being “our region’s most overcrowded bus route” and nothing more. What seems to be causing overcrowding is not heavy use, rather poor management because the capacity offered by B-line buses is under 2,000 persons per hour per direction at 3 minute headway’s.
The 99 B-Line bus only had 10,623,737 hoardings in 2024. That’s 34,161 to 40,861 passengers per business day, depending on your daily numbers conversion calculation method. Which puts it in at best, 4th in Toronto in 2024 or 9th if you use the lowest number, compared to other T.T.C. surface routes. Second place in 2024 Ottawa, if you use the arithmetic mean.
The claims that the 99 B-Line route on the Broadway Corridor moves 60,000 customers per day, are just, claims.
To increase capacity, why not offer peak hour 2 minute headway’s for the 99 B-Line and increase capacity by 50%; much simpler and affordable than a $4 billion subway.
Light rail is not inferior.
TransLink’s anti LRT screed is laughable and in the real world, they would be “thrown off the stage” with the drivel they peddle.
It seems TransLink’s six figured salaried bureaucrats can’t or won’t read transit history for if they had, they would know that only seven of the now called Movia Automatic Light Metro proprietary transit systems have been built over the past 40 years, under six different names. During the same period well over over two hundred and fifty new build Light rail lines have been built and most of the existing streetcar/ram systems have been upgraded or partially upgraded to light rail standards.
No MALM system has been sold in the past two decades.
Modern trams, today can obtain capacities beyond 20,000 pphpd on portions of their routes at peak hours. This is why modern light rail has been so successful due in part for its ability to carry heavy passenger loads when need be. This is part of the flexibility of service inherent in modern light rail.
According to Thales, who has won the $1.47 billion re-signalling contract for the Expo and Millennium lines, the present maximum capacity of the Millennium Line is a mere 4,000 persons per hour per direction and after re-signalling, the maximum capacity of the Millennium Line will be only 7,500.
Toronto streetcars were obtaining peak hour capacity of over 12,000 pphpd on select routes in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s!
Today, the modern tram can operate as a mainline passenger train, a light-metro, light-rail and a streetcar all on the same route! Modern LRT has a proven record of attracting motorists from the car creating a viable modal shift from car to transit.
The last forty years has seen an unprecedented investment either building new or refurbishing existing transit systems around the world. It is a field where success is eagerly copied and what is deemed poor avoided. During this time, no other city has copied Vancouver’s transit planning, nor has copied Vancouver’s exclusive use of light-metro.
Sadly, TransLink’s “gaslighting” has so perverted transit planning in the region, that there is absolutely no hope of any coherent transit planning for the foreseeable future. UBC Students demanding a $8 billion subway to UBC, continue gas-lighting the media and public, continuing the Goebbels Gambit, of repeating lies often enough that the public begin to believe it!
The end result; Vancouver continues building with a “museum piece” transit system, too expensive to deal with today’s transit ills.
