Wrong Again – How Long will it Take Them To Get It Right?

They have got it wrong, but in Vancouver we have have always got transit wrong. Speed of a transit system is not the prime factor in attracting ridership, it is part of the mix. The main reasons for successful transit, according to the internationally acclaimed study ' Bus or light rail, making the right choice', by Professor […]

TransLink’s Finacial Woes

The Vancouver Province's editorial has got it partially wrong. a good part of TransLink's financial woes is that they have tied themselves to the extremely dated light-metro/SkyTrain rapid transit model which can cost over fifteen times more to build than light rail, without any operational or financial benefit! Light-metro, especially the automated (driverless) product not […]

TransLink’s Propaganda Machine In Full Force

Wait for it, TransLink wants more tax revenue to fund their questionable transit planning, so the propaganda campaign has started. We have seen this all before with the Canada Line, higher ridership claims, jammed buses due to lack of service, etc. The question what needs to be asked is; "Are TransLink's ridership claims valid?" With […]

TransLink urged to clarify tax-and-spend plan – Or is it More Smoke And Mirrors

"Vancouver is adopting a non-commercial approach…….I hope they have lots of money."; Norman Thompson, CBE, FCA, ACMA, English transit consultant and builder of the worlds busiest subway, on the BC Government's choice for SkyTrain instead of LRT in 1980.   TransLink's precarious financial position has been long predicted because the region was forced, by the […]

More Misleading TransLink Numbers – So What Esle is New?

A letter from a Mr. Rob Kwon certainly shreds TransLink’s CEO, Ian Jervis’s claim that the cost per revenue passenger is a$3.98 is based on questionable book keeping. Well so what else is new! The Canada line was supposed to cost a mere $1.3 billion, yet it’s final cost exceeds $2.5 billion. Translink never includes […]

TransLink CEO, Ian Jarvis Strikes Back

Irked with the Vancouver provinces editorial about Translink and the proposed 2 cent a litre gas tax to fund the Evergreen Line, TransLink's CEO, Ian Jarvis sent an angry letter to the Province. TransLink's progress  By Ian Jarvis, The Province July 26, 2011 Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/TransLink+progress/5159297/story.html#ixzz1TE21EMZl TransLink takes exception to the way in which your editorial […]

A transit day in the mainstream media

The two Vancouver dailies have offered, surprisingly to, several letters and an editorial about local transit issues. From the Vancouver Sun, comes a letter from a Mr. Villegas, who seems to know a lot about modern LRT and he is quite correct that a tram would offer a comparable service as a much more expensive […]

TransLink stumbles on

Liz James, who writes for the North Shore news, is one of the very few columnists that who has both researched the regional transit issue and understands transit issues. As TransLink CEO Ian Jervis, is busy shilling for the very expensive Evergreen Line, he refuses to look a cheaper alternatives, such as light rail. SkyTrain […]

Another letter the media ignores

Another letter from a friend of Rail for the Valley,Ai??which the mainstream media wish to ignore. HereAi??is the problem with our current financial transit debacle, very few, if any in the region understandsAi??what SkyTrain is and why the Vancouver region has it. Most politicos just repeat TransLink’s bumf ad nauseoum! SkyTrain, both the Expo and […]

SkyTrain justifications are way off track

It seems The North Shore News’s Liz James has scored a direct hit with her most recent article andAi??I hope the rest of the Post Media papers pick this up and print it. BC Transit and now TransLink has made the LRT/SkyTrain debate an idealogicalAi??one and not a debate about what is best for the […]