Ottawa’s Transit system project

  ai???The Transitwayai??i??, in Ottawa, is one of the most successful Bus Rapid Transit Systems in North America. However with the increase of traffic and demand the Council has decided to develop the Bus Rapid Transit System into to a Light Rail Transit one. This 20 year plus expansion will start its first phase with […]

Hutzpa!

What hutzpa! The Broadway subway a transit project of national significance, really? I think Mayor Robinson thinks that the taxpayer are rubes. According to our friend, Mr. Haveacow,Ai?? Broadway’s peak demand numbers on average of 2000-3700 passenger trips per hour per direction, which is barely enough to support light rail, let alone a subway. What […]

Light Rail & Tram ridership

Have received the following statistics from an Aussie mate, who is resident in Europe. 1 St Petersburg: tram 476 mill pax p.a., 205 route km. Ai??2 Budapest: tram 393 mill pax p.a., 156 route km. 3 Prague: tram 324 mill pax p.a., 141 route km. Ai??4 Warsaw: tram 270 mill pax p.a., 120 route km. […]

5 light rail projects to watch this year

Which light rail Ai??projects should we be watching this year? Here are just 5 of the many projects developing around the world. They are at different stages and may have different reasons you should keep an eye on them, for example, to find out who will land major contracts or what will happen when it […]

Tracks to the Cities

Light Rail for Liveable Cities A UITP POSITION PAPER http://www.uitp.org/sites/default/files/cck-focus-papers-files/01%20LIGHT%20RAIL%20FOR%20LIVEABLE%20CITIES.pdf In countries where tramways had survived the massive closures of the 50ai??i??s and 60ai??i??s, e.g. Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, many remaining systems have been modernised and upgraded and may now be called ai???light rail systemsai???. In many other countries, where tramways had disappeared from the streets, […]

Subway cost per mile nearly 9 times higher than for light rail, says study

Recent study results of subway-LRT investment costs posted on the Light Rail Now (LRN) site provide a sobering reality check on the cost issue. http://austinrailnow.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/subway-cost-per-mile-nearly-9-times-higher-than-for-light-rail-says-study/ Projects examined were an assortment of “recent urban rail projects (all from the 2000s), either completed or well under construction and fully budgeted.” The report lists 24 subway and 13 […]

LRT South of the Fraser

A pleasant surprise in the Delta Optimist, Zwei’s home town paper, a light rail friendly article. Though I hate the term Light Rapid Transit, because I believe it is used deliberately to misinform people. The comment by Delta-Richmond East MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay, the minister of national revenue; “the fund is aimed at projects that have […]

TransLink, Act 5

Alas, poor TransLink, I knew it Ken. As the Vancouver Sun article alludes to the fact that, we paid a lot of money for vanity rapid transit projects and that my friends is why TransLink is in the financial glue it finds itself in today. Zwei has known this for a long time and only […]

The Emperor has no Clothes and no Transit – A Repost From March 27, 2011

Vancouver is at first glance a beautiful city. It is surrounded by sweeping vistas and a dramatic skyline. The climate is moderate butAi??spend some time here and scratch the surface and it becomes far less attractive. It is a city that is divided politically; it is parochial, narrow minded and shallow. The people are characterless, […]

Liz James Takes On The TransLink Referendum

The fiery independent columnist Liz James is one of the few scribes that is willing to take on the TransLink behemoth with other than the political correctness that follows the issue. David Cockle, mentioned in Ms. James piece, is the very same David Cockle who did the famous Leewood/Rail for the Valley Study….. ….. and […]