Austin LRT plan criticized … by rail advocates

Light rail advocates not only promote light rail, they also promote good public transport and if a light rail project does not meet the criteria for good public transit, light-rail advocates must criticize the project. What is happening in Austin has happened elsewhere. In Seattle, the light-rail group supporting the then proposed Seattle LRT projects […]

Surrey’s mayor renews call for light rail

Surrey mayor, Dianne Watts is renewing her call for LRT and well she should as the province is now leaning towards a SkyTrain subway under Broadway. Surrey and the south Fraser region is grossly shortchanged by TransLink and public transit is just a few steps up the ladder from dismal. The real problem is TransLink’s […]

The Karlsruhe model of a dual-mode railway system

Karlsruhe: The Karlsruhe model of a dual-mode railway system Country: Germany Type: Policies Area: Entire City, Region Actors: Local Gov. Funding: Local Gov., Regional Gov., National Gov., Private Topics: Built environment Consultancy Mobility Objectives: Increase non-motorised mobility Increase use of public transport Reduce car mobility Reduce energy consumption Instruments: A coupled set of GT-8’s in […]

The 1986 LRTA Study: Bus ai??i?? LRT ai??i?? Metro Comparison – Reprinted

I thought I would reprint this post from May 20, 2010 as it may clear up some major misconceptions about LRT capacity. There is an ongoing debate today that LRTAi??can only carry a limited number of riders and that the magic number for a subway is about 100,000 riders a day on a transit line. […]

Who is driving TransLink?

Who is driving TransLink, you ask? The real answer, if a Mr. Ferry cared to investigate, is the provincial government and the Premier’s office. What is making TransLink so expensive, demanding all sorts of taxes and levies? The provincial demand for light-metro, mostly in the guise of SkyTrain, has increased the the cost of a […]

Bring Back Our Trams – A New Website for Victoria Light Rail – A question About SNC

Our friends across the pond, in Victoria have a new website, Bring Back Our Trams http://www.b-bot.ca/index.htmlAi??which contains some surprising information. Zwei has wondered why the cost of a simple streetcar/LRT line would cost over $62 million/km and BBOTAi??may haveAi??supplied the answer: Canada’s favourite engineering group, SNC Lavalin did the initial cost study. Why then, would […]

The Real Question: What are You Willing To Pay For A Subway?

Here is the question taxpayers inAi??Metro Vancouver have not been asked; “What are you willing to pay for SkyTrain/RAV/Canada line?”Ai?? The regional taxpayer has never been asked: Do you wish light rail at a cost of $20 million/km. (streetcar) up to $35 mil/km. (LRT)? SkyTrain at a cost of $90 mil/km to $100 mil/km. Subway, […]

The Toronto Transit Fiasco, Brought To You By Rob “The Edsel” Ford

The following article aptly describes the Toronto transit fiasco, which has been unfoldingAi??for the past sixAi??months. The fiasco was created, when a politician, who had absolutely no knowledge of urban transportation, forced legally and illegally, aAi??hugely expensive subway solution for regional transit needs. Subways cost a lot of money to build and even more money […]

What Fools We Mortal Be – Regional Mayors Support Road Tolling

I see many civic politicians are gambling with theirAi??political futuresAi??with taxpayer’s hubrisAi??by supportingAi??road tolling. Are they mad? Evidently so, as they all seem to have collective amnesia over the HST fiasco, which saw the humiliation of just reelected Premier Gordon Campbell beingAi??chased from office. It seems tax and spend transit policies are the order of […]

Road tolls coming – welcome to tax and spend TransLink

Road tolls, the clarion call of tax and spend bureaucrats and politicians. What the boys and girls wanting road tolls or road pricing is more taxpayers money to waste on nextAi??to useless SkyTrain expansion, new posh offices, and ever higher salaries; better public transit is just an excuse, but not in the cards. For road […]