A Letter In The Vancouver Sun

Ah “Road Pricing”, the next great tax grab by regional politicians and bureaucrats. When, oh when will they learn to make do with much cheaper and just as effective light rail? The sad fact is, if regional politicians do get their wish and road pricing is approved, kiss goodbye to any sane and/or affordable transit […]

Liz James asks important questions

Liz James, who writes opinion pieces for the North Shore News, asks some ‘striking’ questions of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, the question is; “are they willing to answer?“ The answer is no, as the regional mayors are afraid of a referendum and the reason is simple, they are afraid of a “none of […]

Zwei Told Ya So…………Despite massive investment in public transit, most Metro Vancouver residents favour commuting by car

In the 21st century, public transit is seen as a product and if the product is good, people will use it. In Metro Vancouver, public transit is seen as an experiment of sorts, combining extremely dated transit operation, land development and social welfare into a hodge-podge local transit philosophy which, despite a now over $8 […]

COLUMN: Surrey had great transit ai??i?? 100 years ago

From the Surrey News leader. The following link is for the Rail for the Valley/Leewood study for the return of the interurban! COLUMN: Surrey had great transit ai??i?? 100 years ago By Frank Bucholtz – Surrey North Delta Leader Published: June 26, 2013 I never thought I would ever see a genuine B.C. Electric Railway […]

All Roads Lead to Road Pricing

Force TransLink to efficiently and affordably operate the transit system – No. Force the taxpayer to ante up more money through road pricing (another name for a tax) – Yes. The following 1983 quote is from Norman Thompson; CBE, FCA, ACMA, English transit consultant and builder of the (then) world’s busiest subway on the decision […]

TransLink wants $23 billion to expand transit system

From your wildest dreams department: TransLink wants 23 billion dollars over the next three decades to improve transit. Ha, ha, ha; and this from an organization who has been less than honest about transit since their inception. Really boys & girls, do you still want the public to believe that subways will attract more new […]

The Great Capacity Debate – The USA Versus the World

For the past few weeks, there has been a bare knuckle debate on the LRPPro blog about light rail capacity and it seems in the USA, there is an independent view of capacity. The industry standard for light rail vehicle capacity is all seats occupied and standees @ 4 persons per metre/2. Crush load capacity […]

The World’s Top 10 Tram Rides

Taken from the National Geographicai??i??s Journeyai??i??s of a Lifetime ai??i?? 500 of the Worldai??i??s Greatest Trips http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=6200125&categoryId=A026&addFacet=9004:A026&navAction=jump Melbourne’s route 96 tram has been named in National Geographic’s “Journeys of a Lifetime” coffee table book as one of the planet’s top 10 “trolley car” rides. http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=13776 Ai?? Budapestai??i??s Tram Route No 2 is awarded 7th place, […]

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 […]

A New Patullo Bridge Must include A Fraser River Rail Bridge Replacement.

Though, not combined with an auto bridge, the modern railway lift bridge at Dordrecht, Netherlands is a good example of a modern railway lift span. The GVRD in the late 1970’s got it right; the replacement for the Patullo Bridge, must also include a new, multi track rail Fraser River Rail Bridge, replacing the current […]