Has Metro Vancouver Past The Point of No Return With Transit Planning?

  Metro Vancouver is approaching a critical decision on transit, but has the region already past the “point of no return” with regional transit? The Metro Vancouver region has been able to afford one light-metro line every decade; the 80’s saw the the Expo Line; the late 90’s the Millennium Line; the 2000’nds the Canada […]

Light Rail For Surrey Fights Back

After the CBC’s fawning over the largely discredited SkyTrain for Surrey lot, Light Rail For Surrey fights back. Just a reminder, in 2016, CKNW outed SkyTrain for Surrey for fudging the truth and now, they are at it again with the CBC. The questions I would like answered is: “Who is really behind the SkyTrain […]

Road Pricing Farce

From Bob Mackin and the Breaker. From July 2017 Zwei has studied “Road Pricing” and “Congestion Charging” for over 20 years and……………… the very first rule for a successful road pricing scheme is that the region have a user friendly and affordable public transit alternative. With TransLink we don’t…….. not even close and TransLink is […]

The Pursuit Of European Ideals In Toronto

As expected, upgrade a heritage streetcar line to a light rail standard and ridership increases dramatically. By making King St. an exclusive route for trams, increased both commercial speed and ridership, so much so, it overwhelmed the servcie. This is old news as our European friends knew his decades ago and the question must be […]

The SkyTrain Cult Is Today’s Version Of The Cargo Cult

The Cargo Cult is a millenarian movement first described in Melanesia which encompasses a range of practices and occurs in the wake of contact with more technologically advanced societies. The name derives from the belief which began among Melanesian’s in the late 19th and early 20th century that various ritualistic acts such as the building […]

A Question Of Capacity Reprinted from the Light Rail Transit Association

A QUESTION OF CAPACITY THE CAPACITIES of different modes of transport are generally quoted as 0-10 000 passengers per hour for bus, 2000-20 000 for light rail, and 15 000 upwards for heavy rail.     * Maximum capacity is only likely to be required for a few hours during peak hours, and even here […]

The Return Of The Tram!

One of the recurring themes for the SkyTrain types is that big cities have subways and little cities have trams. Well Berlin, the Capital of Germany with a population 3.7 million, is now investing in trams in the former “West” portion of the city as the old Communist “East” section retained the pre-war tramways. This […]

Their NDP May Do, What Our NDP Should Do!

The Scarborough subway soap opera continues. What is interesting is that the NDP in Ontario may very well kill the now $3.45 billion, 5 km., one station subway for a much cheaper light rail line. “There is a tipping point beyond which the unjustifiable becomes unsustainable.” and as TransLink and the Mayor’s Council on Transit […]

Scarborough Subway Sticker Shock

More info on the Scarborough controversy. First, modern LRT can carry more than 15,000 pphpd, in fact modern LRT can carry well over 20,000 pphpd. In Karlsruhe Germany, one tram line carried over 35,000 pphpd in the peak hour! Toronto’s old Bloor Danforth streetcar line, using coupled sets of PCC cars were known to move […]

The Ignorance Of Light Rail Knows No Bounds – Distinctly In Vancouver

It is sad that anti-tram journalist, Francis Bula, writes such tawdry articles about transit and by doing so, demonstrates that she does little or no research and repeats the anti-tram myth. Citing Jarret Walker as a renowned transit expert is stretching it a bit, as he is a bloggist, catering to the anti-tram crowd. He […]