The Future through Zwei’s (not so) Crystal ball

The big transit news for 2014 is the BC Liberal transit referendum. What will be the outcome? What will be the question asked for the public to vote on? Presently, I do not think even the Premier herself can answer these questions, as Premier Clark, like several Premiers before her, is a “rubber on asphalt” […]

Why we build with light rail

The following was Zweisystem’s first offering on the Rail for the Valley blog, posted on December 12, 2008. Five years and some 1,359 posts later, the message has stayed essentially the same; why does the provincial government and TransLink still pursue light metro instead of LRT, especially when light metro has proven inferior in service […]

TransLink’s Fiscal House of Cards

Is TransLink’s financial ‘house of cards‘ ready to collapse? It seems the independent commissioner overseeing TransLink thinks so. Certainly the ‘self proclaimed‘ transit experts are circling TransLink like vultures seem to thinks so, by advocating more onerous taxes on the public with ‘road pricing‘ and even a ‘border toll’. Zwei has not heard of one […]

Professor warns of suburban sprawl, ai???horrificai??i?? congestion.

Zwei has been warning about this for several years, and now, now someone has noticed? I’m sorry, but I just do not see any improvement in our regional transit chaos, until someone has the moral fortitude to put a wooden stake through the heart of SkyTrain. For too long, TransLink has been recycling bus riders […]

Massive pileup closes Highway 1 in Chilliwack. We need a rail alternative!

One wonders if we had a TramTrain service from Chilliwack to Vancouver, would it reduce the chances ofAi?? major accidents, especially in icy weather?If a major closure of Hwy. 1 does happens, would not a Chilliwack to Vancouver TramTrain service offer a handy alternative for people wishing to travel to Vancouver or Surrey, or Langley, […]

Yippee, Vancouver Is Number One!

So? What else is new? The provincial and regional governments have spent over $9 billion on three mini-metro lines that have done nothing to alleviate congestion; it will be dAi??jAi?? vu with the Evergreen Line and TransLinks still wants more taxpayer’s money to do the same thing again, hoping that it will work this time. […]

The Real Costs of Subways – Is The Provincial Government Listening?

There is a misconception by Vancouver politicians and engineers; TransLink’s planners and bureaucrats; Ministry of Transportation bureaucrats; and The Minister of Transportation and the Premier, that subways are rather cheap to build. TransLink has fortified this perception by deliberately over-engineering light rail to sell the idea that the cost of at-grade and or on-street light […]

GetOnBoard Want’s Valley Tax Money

The pro transit group GetOnBoard BC (well Rail for the Valley is a pro transit group as well) wants a yes vote in the upcoming TransLink referendum, but they seem to be a little naive about public transit in general and firmly believe that the more money you throw at TransLink, the better it will […]

The Current Vacuum In Regional Transit Planning

Where’s the transit? This question is being asked more and more and despite the hype an hoopla from Translink in their quest for more money, there is absolutely no concept of a regional transit strategy. Oh yes, we have SkyTrain for Vancouver; light rail for Surrey; and express buses (BRT is somewhat a fraudulent term) […]

A comparison of Canadian Rail Transit Systems

Please note station platform lengths, SkyTrain and the Canada Line’s station platforms, as well as the vehicles are smaller than most, which means TransLink’s claimed high capacity for Metro Vancouver’s rail system maybe more of a fairy tale than reality. Pixie dust planning and operation seems to be TransLink’s forte.