
Ottawa’s Ongoing LRT Drama
When politicians get involved with transit, fiasco happens. When light-metro pretends to be light rail, fiasco happens. When the media’s ignorance of light-metro and light rail is so evident and they fail to ask important questions, fiasco happens. This article about the operational ills of Ottawa’s new light metro system (though the Ottawa light-metro uses […]

Why do some governments see Metros as more prestigious than Light Rail?
A pertinent question posed on one of the Light Rail discussion groups, particularly relevant in relation to Skytrain & the City’s of Surrey and Vancouver. A selection of answers: 1) Very simple. Because it is more expensive. There is nothing as prestigious as money. And then there is the tendency of: “The neighbouring community have […]

News Flash – SkyTrain down again
Here we go again. SkyTrain, as with all other automatic metros, has an Achilles heel – they stop working and more frequently as the metro ages. This is not a problem for light rail, as it is designed to operate when there are minor glitches. But there is another problem with TransLink and its SkyTrain "transit backbone" […]

Pushing a wooden stake through the heart of darkness
I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky–seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness It has not been a very good […]
Canada Line Puzzle A?ai??i??ai??? What’s The problem?
The cost of the Canada Line is now understood to be over $2.5 billion, with some estimates as high as $2.8 billion. The article illustrates the problems with automatic (driverless) transit systems is that when problems arise, service suffers. When metro stems stops it greatly inconveniences customers, many of whom have to make […]
Canada Line Puzzle A?ai??i??ai??? What’s The problem?
The cost of the Canada Line is now understood to be over $2.5 billion, with some estimates as high as $2.8 billion. The article illustrates the problems with automatic (driverless) transit systems is that when problems arise, service suffers. When metro stems stops it greatly inconveniences customers, many of whom have to make […]
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