From Radio 1130 – Cambie merchants still waiting for Canada Line business boom. Not coming? Yes, Zweisystem told you so!

Well the RAV/Canada line has been open for some time now and now one wonders where is all those subway passengers that were dying to shop on Cambie St., as promised by RAVCo. and InTransit BC? Didn’t come? Well don’t hold your breathe, they’re not. It has been found in other jurisdictions where cut-and-cover subway […]

Is it time for the Valley to ditch TransLink? Would it lead to better regional transportation?

Martin Crilly’s report on TransLink came as no surprise, TransLink is in deep financial trouble and needs a major infusion of cash to keep it in operation. The question should be asked: “ShouldAi??Ai??the Valley MunicipalitiesAi??Ai??walk away from the transportation agency and let the chips fall where they may?” TransLink, despite all the revisionist history, was […]

Trouble at Translink – For whom the tax tolls!

Ai??Ai??Unhappy days indeedAi??Ai??with TransLink as the organization has not learned a golden rule; that if you build metro on routes that do not have the ridership to sustain them, costly subsidies must be paid. When costly subsidies are paid, there is less money available to be invested in the transit system. Ai??Ai??Rail for the Valley […]

The Last of the Interurbans #4 – The Electroliner, the last great Interurban!

The Electroliners were a pair of electric triple articulated interurban train sets operated by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, which ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. These streamlined electricAi??Ai??articulated interurban trains were built by St. Louis Car Company in 1941. Each train set carried two numbers, 801-802 and 803-804. Although the Electroliners […]

The last of the interurbans #3; the last American Interurban – The Chicago, Illinois / South Bend, Indiana: The South Shore Line

The The South Shore Line, operating on both regular railway tracks and on, on-street trackage, is strong evidence that the Fraser Valley could still do the same in 2009 and beyond. In an age of expensive SkyTrain light-metro and even more expensive, glitzy subways like that RAV/Canada line, it is still interesting to noteAi??Ai??that the […]

Kassel, Germany invests in tram train. Will Gordon Campbell’s government do the same for the valley?

Ai??Ai?? What Zweisystem would like readers to note is the the cost of the 122km or 75.8 mile Kassel Tram-Train projectAi??Ai??was CAD $278.55! The same amount of money will roughly buy just over 2 km. of SkyTrain! 75.8 miles is roughly the same distance of the Vancouver to Chilliwack Interurban. The following is from Railway […]

More European Tram-Trains – Rail for the Valley offers a challange to Translink and BC Transportation Minister Shirely Bond

In 1994, the GVRD, in an attempt to include the public in the planning process, held a two hour call-in about regional transit, on local cable channels.Ai??Ai??A panel of experts were on hand to answer the publics questions about transit issues, including rapid transit. Zweisystem phoned in and asked a question: Has BC Transit and/or […]

L.A. Times Columnist: American trains and transit will always suck. – Well if US trains & transit suck, god help Canada’s trains & transit!

The following is from The Infrastructurist http://www.infrastructurist.com/about/ Ai?? YesterdayA?ai??i??ai???s dispatch from LA Times business writer David Lazarus has a great lede: A?ai??i??Ai??ItA?ai??i??ai???s hard to appreciate how truly pitiful our public transportation system is until you spend some time with a system that works.A?ai??i??A? Many of us know that feeling. Then he gushes about the consistently […]

From the Georgia Straight – Professor calls Port Mann Bridge a "white elephant"

The director of SFUA?ai??i??ai???s urban studies program, Anthony Perl, has claimed that a new Port Mann Bridge will become the A?ai??i??Ai??Mirabel AirportA?ai??i??A? of Metro Vancouver. In a phone interview with the Straight, Perl said the B.C. government is building the bridge for a future that wonA?ai??i??ai???t exist, just as Mirabel was built in the 1970s […]

Rail for the Valley TramTrain – Arhus aims to pioneer Danish tram-train: Denmark’s second-largest city is planning the country’s first tram-train project. – From bNet

Here is another example for Rail to the Valley of TramTrain beingAi??Ai??planned forAi??Ai??in Europe. The theme is all too familiar, designing a transit system to cater to the needs of the customer, using existing railway infrastructure to reduce cost, while at the same time increasing service. The theme of TransLink is simple, we are going […]