The 10,000 PPHPD Question – TransLink is Hoisted on its Own Petard

At the recent streetcar symposium in Vancouver, TransLink officials contend that streetcars have very little capacity, almost less than a busAi??Ai??and that light rail can carry only 10,000 persons per hour per direction. This,Ai??Ai??despite the fact that the Light Rail Transit Association has, since the 1980’s, defined LRT “as a mode that can carry 2,000 […]

As Predicted – "Mayors consider raising taxes to pay for TransLink"

Ai??Ai??As predicted yesterday: TransLink is in a conundrum; there is no money for new metro expansion and the bureaucracy refuses to plan for much cheaper light rail. There is no way out, either taxes must increase to pay for metro constructionAi??Ai??or the transit system stagnates and becomes even more unattractive product for customers. It seems […]

The SkyTrain Lobby – Just The Usual Suspects!

Transit again is making front page news in the dailies and regional newspapers, with TransLink claiming that the next big rapid transit (read SkyTrain) line will be in Surrey, not Broadway. A few international transit blogs have picked up the storyAi??Ai??with the usual suspects singing hosannas about SkyTrain, while in the same breathe libeling anyone […]

Late Friday Night’s Musings For Saturday Reading

Zwei, with a cup of tea in hand, has been reading the various transit blogs and answering emailsAi??Ai??from interested parties around the world, trying to get a read onAi??Ai??what direction public transit is going in the near and not so near future. Sadly, I see a trend in North America towards supporting building hugely expensive […]

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 […]

Olympic Hubris – Will The Wrong Conclusions Be Made By Our Planning & Political Elites?

In the last days of the 2010 Olympics, much has been made about how well our transportation worked during the event. What has been overlooked is that for the two week extravaganza, Vancouver had much warmer seasonal weather, meaning noAi??Ai??snow to stall the SkyTrain metro and make a shambles out of the bus schedules. Added […]

And Then There Were Six – Metrolinx Says AdiA?A?s to SkyTrain

Toronto’sAi??Ai??Metrolinx is saying adiA?A?s to the SkyTrain (ICTS) Scarborough Line and will convert the route to LRT by 2015. In November 2009 Metrolinx, Toronto’s regional transit planning authority has decided to convert the 10 km. Scarborough ICTS (SkyTrain) light metro to LRT by 2015. The Scarborough ICTS/SkyTrain line is suffering the same fate as so […]

Another Gadgetbahnen Bites the Dust – Las Vegas Monorail Files for Bankruptcy

This news is not surprising and well illustrates the nonsense pandered by the light-metro lobby that grade separated, automatic transit systems themselves attract ridership. Monorails are in fact proprietary light-metros and once one invest with monorail, it is stuck with both monorail and the supplier, which is very bad for future transit planning, with Vancouver […]

Trouble in Paradise – Honolulu’s Troubled Mini-Metro Project

There has been much comment on Honolulu’s elevated rapid transit project and now, asAi??Ai??expected (as with Seattle’s stillborn monorail project)Ai??Ai??financial problems are rearingAi??Ai??their ugly heads. What I find astounding that the estimated cost of the elevated metro is now pegged atAi??Ai??USD $5.3 billion andAi??Ai??is to carry a paltry 100,000 daily passengers by 2030. Shades ofAi??Ai?? […]

From the Georgia Straight – Transportation activists mobilize to thwart South Fraser Perimeter Road and Broadway SkyTrain

Charlie Smith has another good article in the Georgia Straight about transit and transportation in the region and of course the comments are well worth a read. http://straight.com/article-280315/vancouver/transportation-activists-mobilize-thwart-south-fraser-perimeter-road-and-broadway-skytrain Please attend the meetings. The January 16 meeting will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Sundance Banquet Hall (6574 Ladner Trunk Road). It’s served […]