Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit Project, California, USA

The following article could be of interest for those promoting the “Return of the Interurban“. From Railway Technology.com Key Data: Name – Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Project Location – North Bay corridor, California Route – Cloverdale in Sonoma county to Larkspur in Marin county Length – 70 miles Estimated Investment – $590m Operator – North Coat […]

Ottawa LRT funding approved – Urban Transit News From The Light Rail Transit Association

Ottawa LRT funding approved The Canadian Federal Transport Minister John Baird has announced CAD600 million in funding for the City of Ottaw’s Light Rail Transit plan. The money would go toward the CAD2.1 billion first phase of the project, which includes 12.5 kilometres of light rail from the Tunney’s Pasture transit station in the west […]

Deficit hawkism = gloomy outlook for public transit

An interesting item from the Light Rail Transit Association blog. The same seems to be true for Vancouver, but only with a twist. All levels of government seem to want to only fund (and partially at that) the most expensive forms of rail transit; subways and elevatedAi??Ai??metros instead of much cheaper at-grade/on-street light rail. The […]

Cargotrams for Broadway or Chilliwack – LRT can adapt!

On 3 March 2000 the Dresden Public Transport Co. and the Volkswagen Automobile-Manufacture Dresden GmbH signed a contract for the Cargotram for the deliveryAi??Ai??of parts from the logistics center in Dresden FriedrichstadtAi??Ai?? to a new car factory, using a tram running over the cities tram lines. The route from the logistics center to the factory […]

Trams, Buses & Trolleybuses Can Co-exist

On another blog, a long standing member of the SkyTrain/metro fraternity alluded to the fact that LRT and buses could not co-exist on the Granville Mall. Sorry to disappoint the purveyors of misinformation, but they can and do in many cities. A photo essay from several citiesAi??Ai??proves the point. Milan Ai?? Geneva Ai?? Essen Riga

Canada Line Metro Reaches Capacity of 100,000 riders a day? Really, that little?

Here we have a classic Vancouver Sun ‘puff story’ about the Canada line, where real questions are not asked and $150 thousand a year man, the classic spin doctor himself, Ken Hardie shows why he is paid such a stipend. The real question should be; “We just spent $2.5 billion on a metro and its […]

Texas’s Newest ‘Rail’ Transit line, the Red Line

This article for Mass Transit should prove interesting to supporters of the “return of the interurban“, in the Fraser Valley. What should be of interest is the cost of the 32 mile (51.5 km)Ai??Ai??line is less than $5 million per mile or $3.1 million per km. (CAD $ 3.24 million)! Let’s see, a Vancouver to […]

Canada’s gridlocked mayors call for multi-level strategy on transit

The following news item shows that the issue of public and regional transit and funding of transit is beginning to creep into the politicians radar. Throwing more money at transit will not solve very much as politicians have a very strange habit of funding their ‘pet‘ projects. The federal government can help by rewriting the […]

The Failure To Understand Modern Light Rail = Public Transit Chaos

‘Zwei’ has been taken aback by the viciousness of the SkyTrain Lobby and the great lengths they haveAi??Ai??taken in discrediting the LRT, while at the same time refusing to acknowledge the marketing failure of the proprietary (ICTS/ALRT/ALM/ART ) light-metro system, known in Vancouver as SkyTrain. ‘Zwei’ is also taken aback by abject refusalAi??Ai??by many supposed […]

The 1986 LRTA Study: Bus – LRT – Metro Comparison

The followingAi??Ai??is from the Light Rail Transit Associations hand book Light Rail Transit Today, comparing the operating parameters of bus, light rail, and metro on an unimpeded 8 kilometre route with stations every 450 metres. Using real data based on acceleration, deceleration, dwell time, etc., the study gives real time information for the three transit […]