Elevated or at-grade; let’s look at both!

A post to RFV’s blog moaned that; “you always show ugly pictures of elevated transit rather than the wonderful job Richmond did on #3 Road or sections of the Central Valley Greenway……………”, well let’s compare elevated transit with at-grade/on-street light rail. or It seems that the vast majority of transit planners would rather be associate […]

Tramway Line 3 in Paris – Let’s have a look!

A post inAi??Ai??today’s blog about Portland’s new light rail line mentioned Paris’s newAi??Ai??Tramway Line 3, so let’s explore Tramway Ligne 3 in Paris. If TransLink ever showed the public true images of modern light rail, instead of their stock of dated and altered photos, there would be much more public support for modern light rail […]

From the Seattle Times – TriMet opens MAX Green Line in Oregon

Portland continues to expand its light rail network with the opening of the Green Line. The Green line is 13.35 km. long and cost CAD $619.45 million or CAD $46.4 million per km. The higher cost of Portland’s Green line can be attributed to the fact that the new light rail-line parallels Highway 205 and […]

From Radio 1130 – Cambie merchants still waiting for Canada Line business boom. Not coming? Yes, Zweisystem told you so!

Well the RAV/Canada line has been open for some time now and now one wonders where is all those subway passengers that were dying to shop on Cambie St., as promised by RAVCo. and InTransit BC? Didn’t come? Well don’t hold your breathe, they’re not. It has been found in other jurisdictions where cut-and-cover subway […]

From Transit & Urban Tramways – Alstom and Dalkia win five-year, CAD $41.7 million, Luas (Dublin’s LRT) extension

There has been much ‘bumf’ in local blogs that light rail is expensive to maintain, even more expensive to maintain than metro. The following news item from T & UT gives a good example of theAi??Ai??annual operating costs of a modern light rail system. Dublin’s LUAS LRT does operate at a profit, even after paying […]

And we thought TransLink had problems – the Ottawa Light Rail Lawsuit.

Plan for light rail – Federal government intrigue – sign contracts – renege on contracts – the result: a massive lawsuit. Of course what civic, provincial and federal politicians all seem to forget is that there is one taxpayer and the monies awarded to the plaintiffs would go a long way to help build a […]

The sticks have failed – its time for some carrots.

The following is from the Niche Transports web site which has a wonderful amount of modern transportation information. All common sense stuff here, but it does give pause for thought, in North America transit planners still use the ‘Carrot and Stick’ method of transit planning, which basically means people are forced onto a slightly improved […]

From the Georgia Straight – Michael Ignatieff puts a Liberal shine on the Canada Line

If there is any doubt that there was political chicanery involved with the Canada Line, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has put that to rest. SkyTrain, which if one cared to take a look back in history, was carefully planned to have a major extension opening coincide with a Social Credit election window every three and […]

Is it time for the Valley to ditch TransLink? Would it lead to better regional transportation?

Martin Crilly’s report on TransLink came as no surprise, TransLink is in deep financial trouble and needs a major infusion of cash to keep it in operation. The question should be asked: “ShouldAi??Ai??the Valley MunicipalitiesAi??Ai??walk away from the transportation agency and let the chips fall where they may?” TransLink, despite all the revisionist history, was […]

How not to name a new streetcar – Seattle’s S.L.U.T. What were they thinking?

Bizarrely, Seattle’s new 2.1 km. demonstration streetcar line has the unhappy acronym of S.L.U.T. or South Lake Union Trolley and with this unhappy name the tram has had all the pitfalls of a demonstration line that really doesn’t fulfill a transportation need. Unlike the much more successful, sadly now defunctAi??Ai??Waterfront trolley operating vintage Melbourne trams, […]