Clean, affordable light rail also delivers economic lift

Shades of the Broadway LRT/metro debate. It seems the metro lobby is hard at it to derail Toronto’s LRT plans, just like how the metro/SkyTrain lobby is trying to do the same in Vancouver. Ai??Ai?? Added to the metro/SkyTrainAi??Ai??debate is that our friends South of the boarder are trying reinvent light rail into light-metro, a […]

Some Sunday Reading – The "Automatic Metro" or AGT Debate – Too Much Bunkum By The AGT Lobby

In various other transit oriented blogs, the myth that automatic operation of trains saves operating costs is perpetuated ad nauseum. Those who try to set the record straight are subjected to a sort of ‘Spanish Inquisition’ and are treated as latter day heretics. What is so Monty Pythonish about this is that back in the […]

From Seattle – A light-rail tunnel is best solution for Bellevue and region – NOT!

I see that the city of Bellevue,Ai??Ai??located directly East ofAi??Ai??Seattle across Lake Washington, wants to put the proposed LRT in a tunnel under the city. ThisAi??Ai??extremely expensiveAi??Ai??bit of transit planning reflects the power of the auto lobby to push public transit underground, thus greatly increasing costs, while at the same time deterring ridership. This blinkered […]

UBC SkyTrain Subway Gaining Steam – Is it An Unstoppable Train?

One year ago, with Cambie Street merchant’s Susan Heyes lawsuit against TransLink fresh in many peoples minds, any thought of a SkyTrain subway under Broadway was quietly ignored. Now, with TransLink teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Vancouver’s political bloggists and mainstream media are gung-ho promoting a SkyTrain subwayAi??Ai??under Broadway to UBC. The tired old […]

In Seattle – Proposed First Hill streetcar is Broadway bound – The Seattle Times

While Vancouver council sweats over big decisions like ‘chickens in the backyard’ and ‘chicken shelters’ for unwanted chickens, Seattle’s politicians seem on the right track improving their urban and regional transportation. The first streetcar line, the ill-named South Lake Union Transportation or SLUT, was too small an effort for the investment and I think this […]

The Fare Evasion Fiasco – Why Spend $171 million to save $4.38 million Annually?

The real story of course is that Premier Campbell’s political crony, Ken Dobell, acted as a lobbyist for Cubit Industries who are putting in the turnstiles at SkyTrain stations. In what amounts to massive overkill, a $171 million turnstile system with about $15 million annual operating costs, toAi??Ai??deter an approximatelyAi??Ai??$4.38 annual loss due to fare […]

Talking transportation – From the Chilliwack Progress

More conversation about ‘rail‘ transit from the Fraser Valley. For very little money as compared to the SkyTrain light-metro, we could have a Diesel LRT demonstration line up and running from Chilliwack to Langley by the end of the year. It is time that BC’s regional transportation policies reflect the 21st century, where building ‘rail’ […]

Transit at a crossroads – From The Surrey Leader

Well here we go again, TransLink is planning for ‘rapid’ transit for Surrey and the Fraser Valley.Ai??Ai??Zwei has seen this all before and I’m afraidAi??Ai??I amAi??Ai??not at all enthused with the process, nor have much faithAi??Ai??in TransLink to do an honest study. Zwei hates the term ‘rapid transit’ as it refers to metro and only […]

Costly SkyTrain technology choices baffle – From the North Shore News

It seems that the efforts of Zwei and others have paid off’ asAi??Ai??others in the region are taking note of LRT and TramTrain and the hugeAi??Ai??costs that go along with the SkyTrain light-metro system and subway construction. TramTrain andAi??Ai??especially “Rail for the Valley” itselfAi??Ai??may find some welcome allies to their cause from the North Shore, […]

Is the Hawaii SkyTrain Project Bombardier’s Last Kick At The Can?

The i L i n d . n e tAi??Ai??blog has been asking many questions about the proposed SkyTrain transit project in Hawaii, questions which should be answered before embarking on a multi billion dollar rapid transit project. Recent postings point to the fact that light rail was quietly dropped from theAi??Ai??planning process, not unlike […]