TransLink’s Fiscal House of Cards

Is TransLink’s financial ‘house of cards‘ ready to collapse? It seems the independent commissioner overseeing TransLink thinks so. Certainly the ‘self proclaimed‘ transit experts are circling TransLink like vultures seem to thinks so, by advocating more onerous taxes on the public with ‘road pricing‘ and even a ‘border toll’. Zwei has not heard of one […]

Wisdom From Ottawa

  Our friend Haveacow, is a transit professional and his comment, I believe’ gets to core of TransLink’s woes. When you add in the extra costs of operating the Canada Line and SkyTrain ALRT/ICTS Lines, one can easily see why TransLink’s costs are a third higher than Edmonton and Calgary. From Haveacow and please forward […]

Yippee, Vancouver Is Number One!

So? What else is new? The provincial and regional governments have spent over $9 billion on three mini-metro lines that have done nothing to alleviate congestion; it will be dAi??jAi?? vu with the Evergreen Line and TransLinks still wants more taxpayer’s money to do the same thing again, hoping that it will work this time. […]

TransLink’s Compass Card Boondoggle Revisited

Well, here we go again, new numbers from TransLink clearly shows that the much touted Compass Card is $23 million over budget and Cubit Industries will be paid $12 million annually to operated the system – more money than was thought lost through fare evasion! So, let’s look at more TransLink expenditures. *TransLink CEO Ian […]

ZA?rich Suburban Light Rail Line Approved

From the Railway Gazette. The Swiss city of ZA?rich has approved a new suburban 13Ai??4 km tram line, the Limmattalbahn light rail line which would link the ZA?rich suburbs of Altstetten, Dietikon and Killwangen-Spreitenbach. The project is backed by the cantons of ZA?rich and Aargau, which would pay 75% and 25% of the estimated SFr670m […]

The Real Costs of Subways – Is The Provincial Government Listening?

There is a misconception by Vancouver politicians and engineers; TransLink’s planners and bureaucrats; Ministry of Transportation bureaucrats; and The Minister of Transportation and the Premier, that subways are rather cheap to build. TransLink has fortified this perception by deliberately over-engineering light rail to sell the idea that the cost of at-grade and or on-street light […]

The Current Vacuum In Regional Transit Planning

Where’s the transit? This question is being asked more and more and despite the hype an hoopla from Translink in their quest for more money, there is absolutely no concept of a regional transit strategy. Oh yes, we have SkyTrain for Vancouver; light rail for Surrey; and express buses (BRT is somewhat a fraudulent term) […]

Does the Provincial government Want TransLink To Fail?

Like a death dirge, the TransLink referendum drags on and on, yet the provincial Premier is steadfast on the question of a funding referendum for TransLink. The regional mayors are more and more making fools of themselves wanting one of many tax proposals to fund the TransLink behemoth, yet abhor a “none of the above” […]

A comparison of Canadian Rail Transit Systems

Please note station platform lengths, SkyTrain and the Canada Line’s station platforms, as well as the vehicles are smaller than most, which means TransLink’s claimed high capacity for Metro Vancouver’s rail system maybe more of a fairy tale than reality. Pixie dust planning and operation seems to be TransLink’s forte.  

A Letter To South Fraser Mayors And Councils

A letter sent this week to South Fraser mayors and councils and to the media. One wonders how TransLink and its surrogates will respond? Zwei The following email was sent out to South Fraser mayors and councils, warning of Translink hyperbole in overstating the success of SkyTrain and the Canada Line. This letter contains a […]