Conundrum! A No Means Yes!

A “YES” vote in the upcoming TransLink referendum will probably increase the cost per revenue passenger as the transit system seems to have a hard time attracting new ridership, especially the motorist from the car! Conundrum! I am not going to make this blog, home central for a “No” vote in the upcoming TransLink referendum, […]

Some New Year’s Reading – Eric Chris’s Six Facts About Hub to Hub Transport

Eric Chris is an Australian professional engineer with a masterai??i??s degree in chemical engineering and has been living in Vancouver near UBC on the 99 B-Line route for the last 16 years.Ai?? He works in the hydrocarbon industry as a design engineer for his entire career.Ai?? His masterai??i??s thesis was on real time air dispersion […]

Complete Street the French Way

Complete Streets: From Policy to Implementation How the French Blend Light Rail and Complete Streets for Total Accessibility A PowerPoint presentation from Rail~Volution Minneapolis, 22 September 2014 by Greg Thompson . Tom Larwin . Tom Parkinson ofAi?? the Transportation Research Board SubcommitteeAi?? on International Light Rail Development Since 1985 when the first modern tram line […]

After Intense Pressure From the Provincial Government……………..

The following is part of an article, The direction of TTC planning in the 1980’s, by Philip Webb, which appeared in the December 1983 edition of Modern Tramway and Light Rail Transit. By 1983, the UDTC knew that the ICTS/ALRT system could not offer the capacity as advertised. The ICTS/ALRT proprietary transit system did not […]

Modern Trams – from the US Point of View

From a recent issue of the US magazine Trains ai??i?? is an article which is uploaded to the web: ai???Modern streetcars take back US citiesai??? ai??i?? ai???A Streetcar named Revivalai???. Modern Streetcars in US cities (2) andAi?? TheStreetcarRenaissance  

Oh, what fools we mortals be

In charge of our of our Metro band, Moonbeam is here at hand, With a higher PST, mistook by me, While pleading for a congestion fee. Shall we their fond referendum see? Lord, what fools these mortals be! Apologies to the bard! The regional mayors who support a $0.5% increase to fund TransLink have shown […]

The GVRD’s 1978 LRT/Rail/Road Bridge – A Bridge Too Practical

In 1978, the GVRD were poised to install a three leg light rail system on the region and to cross the Fraser river a new bridge would have to be built. Demonstrating the forward thinking of the era, GVRD planners conceived a multi-use bridge for ‘rapid transit’; the mainline railways; a cycle path; and when […]

Capacity and speed of transit vehicles in the city

In the past few weeks, the merchants of misinformation have been busy spreading their anti tram rhetoric in a vain attempt to justify a Broadway subway. Unfortunately the mainstream media have repeated the same misinformation without any independent research done. The following charts come from Bus or Light Rail Making the Right Choice, Second Edition, […]

Let The fools Rush In, The Regional Maryors 0.5% Transit Sales Tax

After a considerable time of wailing and gnashing of teeth, the regional mayors have come up with a question for the upcoming TransLink referendum. What the mayors did not do was to try to understand why TransLink is hemorrhaging money and will continue to do so even if the referendum passes. It’s all tax and […]

The Tours Tramway

The newly opened tours tramway, classic French design. Tours:Ai?? Population:Ai?? City 136,000; Metro Area 400,000 Distance:Ai?? 150 miles southwest of Paris, 1A? hours System Length:Ai?? 14.5 kilometres No. Lines:Ai?? 1 No. Stations:Ai?? 29 Year Opened:Ai?? 2013 Rolling Stock:Ai?? 21 Citadis 402 Passengers: 45,000 a day Cost: ai??i??369.1 million Euros (2009) CAD $518.595 (20014) An Artist […]