Regional Politicos Play Russian Roulette With the Province

The regional cities and municipalities are digging the financial spurs into the province to come up with a new TransLink deal, the problem is, the province may go along with this and let the regional mayors hoist themselves on their own petard and let the regional mayors decide how to pay for major regional transit […]

New Surrey coalition to push for light-rail transit south of the Fraser

Ai??Dianne Watts gets it, but Daryl Dela Cruz doesn’t. Rail for the Valley gets it, but TransLink doesn’t. The rest of the world gets it, but the SkyTrain lobby doesn’t. Financial managers in most major cities around the world gets it, but BC’s Auditor General doesn’t. Isn’t interesting that while the rest of the world […]

Ottawa LRT

CFRA News-Talk Radio posted this report on April 22nd about a possible alignment for the leg of the Ottawa starter light rail line west of downtown. http://www.cfra.com/News/Ottawa-Regional-News/City-likes-tunnel-under-Richmond-Road-for-next-pha The route dubbed Richmond Underground is the favourite of city officials for the second phase of the light rail transit route that would link Tunney’s pasture to the […]

Limiting in Honolula

The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project (HHCTCP) is the official name for the plan to construct an elevated rapid transit line serving the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. http://www.honolulutransit.org/ The line will use 128Ai??ft (39Ai??m) trains carrying about 390 passengers each, similar in weight to light rail systems elsewhere in […]

A Tale of Two Letters

Two letters to the Vancouver Province newspaper have found their way into Zwei’s inbox. TransLink is broken, probably broken beyond repair and no political candidate has the moral jam to state the obvious. “Throw more money at TransLink, that’s the ticket for improving our regional transit system” is the clarion call of prospective MLA wannabees, […]

A Question of Capacity – A Transit Primer For BC’s Auditor General

A Question of Capacity ai??i?? A LRTA Topic Sheet Contrary to the COV and TransLink, modern LRT can obtain high capacities, on transit routes, by being able to operate at close headways.Ai??Today, the main tram route through the city is being relocated in a subway because the line was seeing 45 second headways during peak […]

TransLink, The City of Vancouver, and the SkyTrain Lobby Practice Lysenkoism

The SkyTrain Lobby Is Watching You! Lysenkoism: describes the manipulation or distortion of the scientific process as a way to reach a predetermined conclusion as dictated by an ideological bias, often related to social or political objectives. IgnoringAi?? the fact that the proprietary SkyTrain mini-metro system has been rejected by transit planners around the world […]

A Letter To BC’s Auditor General John Doyle

Long time light rail advocate, Malcolm Johnston, has sent a letter to John Doyle, BC’s Auditor General regarding the recent Evergreen Line audit. To the point, if LRT vehicles have higher passenger capacities than Skytrain cars; are cheaper to supply than Skytrain cars and LRT can be built on much cheaper rights-of-ways and operate at […]

Sorry Mr. Doyle, You Are Wrong!

Sorry to say, BC’s soon to be departing Auditor General, John Doyle has got it wrong about SkyTrain and LRT capacity, but then in BC, what is true elsewhere tends not to true here. “John Doyle’s latest audit concludes SkyTrain and not light rail was the best option because of its greater capacity at similar […]

Light Rail Vehicle & Tramcar orders – 2013

The following table gives the totals for Trams/LRV’s on order + options, as at February 2013 Source Tramways & Urban Transit No 904 April 2013 Manufacturer City’s Orders Options Sub-Total Orders Pending Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? Ai?? OrdersAi?? Options Alstom Bordeaux, Dubai, Nottingham, Ottawa, Paris, Toulouse 188 91 2701 792 587 AnsaldoBreda Genoa, Firenza 68 7 […]