Broadway needs SkyTrain rather than light rail, Vancouver city staff & Translink trot out the same old, same old.

Broadway needs SkyTrain rather than light rail, Vancouver city staff say http://www.straight.com/article-843831/vancouver/broadway-needs-skytrain-rather-light-rail-vancouver-city-staff-say By Yolande Cole, November 27, 2012 Vancouver city staff believe a subway SkyTrain line to UBC is the best way to meet the growing demand along the Broadway corridor, outweighing the option of a light-rail system that they say would not accommodate the […]

Transportation Planning – A North American view

An interesting extract from a commentary comparing currentAi??North AmericanAi??practice with European `In Vancouver, over a decade ago at the grand opening of the heritage streetcar project, a chap from Bombardier singled me out. What he said after a few niceties, astounded me. To paraphrase, he claimed that: Vancouver’s SkyTrain greatly retarded sales of Bombardier built […]

Trams are good for your health – 2

Public transport is good for your health and your wallet, according to scientists Switching to public transport could help you lose nearly half a stone a year in weight, new research suggests. Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7861343/Public-transport-is-good-for-your-health-and-your-wallet-according-to-scientists.html  Nantes Light Rail Taking the train, tram or bus instead of your car increases physical activity so much that the […]

Light Rail Transforming Cities, Guiding Development

December 27, 2010 JJ Sutherland, National Public Radio http://www.npr.org/ It’s hard to find a city in America that isn’t planning, proposing, studying or actually building a light rail system. Cities as diverse as Dallas, Seattle and Washington, D.C., all see light rail as part of their future — a way to reshape their development. There […]

2nd Swiss Tramway opening in the week – Berne

Tram Berne West opens http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/tram-bern-west-opens.html 17 December 2010   SWITZERLAND: Trams now serve the business and residential areas of Bümpliz and Brünnen in the western suburbs of Bern, replacing two former trolleybus routes. On December 12 public transport operator Bernmobil inaugurated its Tram Bern West project, a 6·8 km Y-shaped extension of the city’s light […]

How would Montreal’s tramways have fared in this week’s snow storm?

How would tramways have fared in this week’s Montreal snowstorm? By Andy Riga Wed, Dec 8 2010 Whenever the topic of returning tramways to Montreal streets comes up, someone mentions our city’s rough winters. The issue came up a couple of weeks ago when IAi??wrote abouta Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal study (PDF here). […]

From Seattle – A light-rail tunnel is best solution for Bellevue and region – NOT!

I see that the city of Bellevue,Ai??Ai??located directly East ofAi??Ai??Seattle across Lake Washington, wants to put the proposed LRT in a tunnel under the city. ThisAi??Ai??extremely expensiveAi??Ai??bit of transit planning reflects the power of the auto lobby to push public transit underground, thus greatly increasing costs, while at the same time deterring ridership. This blinkered […]