Debunking the SkyTrain myth part 5. Thirty years of SkyTrain planning – the years that the Locusts hath eaten!

In the late 1970’s, after much study and with regional consensus, Greater Vancouver’s Regional Authority, the GVRD,Ai??Ai??was on the verge of approving three light rail lines; Vancouver to Whalley (via New Westminster); New Westminster to Lougheed Mall and Vancouver to Richmond. Costing $350 million to $460 million. It wasn’t to be. The then Social Credit […]

PortlandA?ai??i??ai???s Regional Planning Agency Highlights Two New Corridors for Light Rail – From the Transport Politic

Interesting news from Portland Oregon, where their light rail system keeps on growing at a steady pace, with taxpayer’s approving construction onAi??Ai??every new line. It must be remembered that Portland’s original light railAi??Ai??line cost one quarter of that to build than Vancouver’s SkyTrain and the regional taxpayer has never been allowed to vote on any […]

The demise of the Evergreen Line – How does this affect the valley interurban?

It seems that TransLink, which is in deep financial trouble, is on the verge of dumping the Evergreen SkyTrain Line. No surprise here as the proposed Evergreen line follows a route with little ridership potential. Despite claims and opinions to the contrary, there is little demand for a SkyTrain metro extension to the Tri-Cities as […]

First day passengers pay for Seattle light rail – From the Seattle PI

The costs for Seattle’s hybrid light-metro/rail system are about on par with Vancouver’s SkyTrain, indeed there was a lot of collaboration from Vancouver’s transit planners and Seattle’s planners on ‘rail’ transit. What Seattle has is an extremely expensive light rail system that resembles a ‘poor-man’s’ metro than light rail. The massive costs of expansion will […]

The high cost of subway construction compared to LRT

Ai??Ai??The following excerpt from the UK House of Commons Select Committee on light rail, 2000, reported the following subway construction costs in 2004 Canadian dollars:Ai??ai??i?? Toulouse metro line B – CAD $161 million/km. Turin metro extension – CAD $196 million/km. Meteor Metro, Paris – CAD $290 million/km. Singapore metro – CAD $420.7 million/km. Jubilee Line […]

Take Transit Campaign to Province – From the Aldergrove Star

The following is a letter from VALTAC, published in many Fraser Valley newspapers and I believe sums up what the majority of residents think. Regional mayors should think twice before supporting any moreAi??Ai??TransLink inspired taxes, until the TransLink behemoth itself, cleans house. Editor: Re: TransLink Workshop Consultation Process, June 1-2. Kicked off with a May […]

TransLink funding crunch has mayors worried about Evergreen – From the Tri-City News

This is not surprising at all, with very little ridership potential and massive costs, it is real challenge to make the Evergreen Line SkyTrain, light-metro line successful! Again, TransLink completely ignores the folly of building hugely expensive metro lines on transit lines with not nearly enough ridership to demand metro service. TransLink is bankrupt, yet […]

Bogota TransMilenio ‘BRT’ selling ‘carbon credits’ – From the Light Rail now folks

This is an interesting article, but badly marred by very poor research by the author.Ai??Ai?? It also should be noted that bus ridership figuresAi??Ai??for South American BRT’s have proven to be greatly overstated. What also isAi??Ai??not mentioned isAi??Ai??that BRT has been disappointing in operation in North America, India, Australia and Europe, failing to achieve projected […]

Bus Raid Transit – A transit Panacea or a money pit?

Phileas woes in Istanbul. Ai?? Many politicians are calling for Bus Rapid Transit, but reallyAi??Ai??haven’t a clue what they are talking about. Internationally, BRT describes guided buses and/or large busway networks, but in Vancouver, BRT tends to mean B-Line style, limited stop, bus service. What is quietly forgotten is that BRT has not, except in […]

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.A?ai??i??A?

The title quote by Joseph Goebbels, famed Nazi propagandist, aptly describes the SkyTrain lobby’s and BC Transit/TransLink’s thirty year long propaganda campaign to sell SkyTrain and discredit modern light rail. The many pro-SkyTrain blog sites that offer little in fact, but much unfounded rhetoric. All the bumf spewed hides one singular fact; that SkyTrain has […]