The Broadway Follies – The Smear Campaign Begins!

On radio station CKNW, the opening salvos from the SkyTrain Lobby were fired at the public, in the was of getting public opinion to support a $2 billion plus SkyTrain subway under Broadway. The BS meter was running full throttle, when the usual suspects, Frances (BS) Bula, from the Globe and mail; Michael Geller, President, […]

Are The NDP Backing the “SkyTrain” For Transit Expansion?

A recent article in the Black media certainly indicates thatAi??the provincial NDP are going to expand the SkyTrain system in a forlorn hope to improve transit. Bains’s quote; “Besides the need to replace two Fraser River crossings, there’s multi-billion-dollar demands for new rapid transit extensions in Surrey and down the Broadway corridor in Vancouver toward […]

Broadway needs SkyTrain rather than light rail, Vancouver city staff & Translink trot out the same old, same old.

Broadway needs SkyTrain rather than light rail, Vancouver city staff say http://www.straight.com/article-843831/vancouver/broadway-needs-skytrain-rather-light-rail-vancouver-city-staff-say By Yolande Cole, November 27, 2012 Vancouver city staff believe a subway SkyTrain line to UBC is the best way to meet the growing demand along the Broadway corridor, outweighing the option of a light-rail system that they say would not accommodate the […]

A Broadway LRT or streetcar could look like this

LRT operating on Broadway could look like this. The preceding picture shows a German concept of LRT operating on a city street. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorists have good access to the city street, with the trams providing the “capacity” for high traffic flows. If the city of Vancouver ever wished to actually reduce auto traffic, […]

Dead Parrot Sketch

Want fast express bus service? Simple, run it point to point without any intermediate stops. This is what TransLink is going to do on the proposed new 555 Port Mann express bus service from the newAi??Carvolth bus exchange in Surrey to the Braid SkyTrain station in New Westminster, without intermediate stops. Er….excuse me TransLink, isn’t […]

Trams (streetcars) Happily Co-exist With Bicycles

On the radio a few days ago, there was some disparaging accusations about LRT (trams or streetcars) and bicycles. Evidently there are some at Vancouver’s city hall who think that cyclists will be killed or maimed by the score by streetcars or light rail operating on Broadway. In less tram backward countries, such as the […]

November 16, 2012 – SkyTrain On The Fritz Again – So What Else Is New!

When ones builds with a complicated gadgetbahnen, with all the bells and whistles that come with an automatic (driverless) transit system, one forgets at the time of purchase that gadgetbahnen age very poorly and as they grow older, they become very stubborn to operate. Sadly, the warranty for SkyTrain is long over and it is […]

Fares Up – TransLink’s Customers Pay More For Planning Incompetence.

Yes, yes, we knew this was coming, fare increases. TransLink, by refusing to do real cost cutting measures, has opened the door for fare increases. Yet those paying the least, the residents of Vancouver, have the most transit options, including three mini-metro lines; 13 trolley bus routes; and scores of urban bus routes. Those living […]

Aftert 17 Years & Over $8 billion Invested In Light-metro – Nothing changed

After 17 years of SkyTrain and or Canada Line investment,Ai??with well over $8 billion of taxpayers monies spent, there has been little change in the overall modal share. TransLink, a firm believer that is something doesn’t work, do it again, continues with SkyTrain light-metro planning or light rail designed as a poor man’s SkyTrain,Ai??for the […]

Pre-fab Track for Broadway

Slab or prefabricated track maybe an economicAi??solution for light rail/streetcar construction on Broadway in Vancouver. Combined with using the existing OHLE (span wires and vertical supports), construction of a streetcar/LRT on Broadway could be built and in operation in less than two years. The Broadway to UBC route is mainly straight, with little need for […]