The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree – TransLink’s Regional Transit Planning

Fruit of the poisonous tree is a legal metaphor in the United States used to describe evidence that is obtained illegally.The logic of the terminology is that if the source of the evidence (the “tree”) is tainted, then anything gained from it (the “fruit”) is as well. TransLink’s planning officials still maintain that modern light […]

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 […]

Mr. Campbell Responds to the Rail For The Valley/Leewood Report With Deciet

Gordon Campbell has a very bad reputation for not telling the truth, in fact he is a habitual teller of very tall tales. The Premier’s statement in the following article, ” But you know the operating costs of the SkyTrain are about 50 per cent a year less than with light rail. And the ridership […]

500 Posts – The story so far……………..

Todays post, marks the five hundredth post on the Rail for The Valley blog and today I want to reflect on the main themes that keep out transit debates going. The Canada line Again, anotherAi??Ai??major Canada Line storyAi??Ai??by the Vancouver Province news paper…. http://www.theprovince.com/business/Canada+Line+year+later+Next+stop+construction+controversy/3400752/story.html -and I wonder why the Vancouver Province keeps writing ‘puff’ stories […]

Tram Berlin Linie M13 KT4D Warschauer Str. – Virchow Klinikum 1/7

This video from U-Tube shows a classic European tramways, which operates on-street and on reserved rights-of-ways, including simple HOV lane style of RRoW. Please note the simple (traffic light) style signaling at intersections and the various styles of RRoWs. Streetcar/LRT has the flexibility to operate in almost all urban conditions, affordabley and efficiently, a lesson […]

A Cost Comparison of Transportation Modes. A study worth looking at.

The following study is well worth a look as it dispels many currents myths about transit, especially the SkyTrain light-metro system. ‘Zwei’ notes that Professor Condon has fallen into the light rail/streetcar trap. The difference between LRT and a streetcar is the quality of rights-of-way, where a streetcar operates on-street in mixed traffic, with little […]

View obscured from ivory tower – From the Chilliwack times.

The Light Rail Committee has been advocating TramTrain for the Fraser Valley since the mid 90’s, hopefully some positive news will be forthcoming soon! Sadly, in an age of financial frugality, regional and provincial transit planners still plan for hugely expensive metro and SkyTrain systems, yet with little or no method to pay for them. […]

Light Rail Fits In! Useful Links for LRT

A reader of this blog from the UK has sent Rail For The Valley some very useful links for those advocating for light rail. Zweisystem send a a hearty thank you! http://www.eukn.org/eukn/themes/Urban_Policy/Economy_knowledge_and_employment/Urban_economy/Specific_sectors/Distribution/citycargo-freight-tram_1007.html http://citytransport.info/Street.htm http://citytransport.info/Zones.htm http://www.citymayors.com/transport/trams-europe.html http://www.etcproceedings.org/paper/trams-and-bikes-towards-good-practice-in-light-rail-planning http://www.isocarp.net/Data/case_studies/1592.pdf http://www.metrocouncil.org/media/CCLRTstreetscapeFeb09.pdf http://www.vmwp.com/projects/leland-avenue-streetscape.php http://www.pdc.us/ura/interstate/kenton.asp http://lightrailjacksonville.webs.com/whylrti.htm http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Attachments/Internet/Transport/Walking_and_cycling/Cycling_around_Edinburgh/Cycling_and_trams_leaflet.pdf http://www.totallyriviera.com/nice/content/113 http://www.globalmasstransit.net/archive.php?id=1293 http://www.bringingbackbroadway.com/stellent/groups/electedofficials/@cd14_contributor/documents/classmaterials/lacity_007110.pdf http://www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/planning/environmental-review/eirs/documents/Appendix_B.pdf http://www.metro.net/news/simple_pr/metro-hold-streetscape-design-workshop-crenshawlax/

More Links for Transit oriented Development

Today, more links for TOD in low density areas. My thanks to David Cockle for sending them to Rail for the Valley! Ai??Ai?? http://www.drcog.org/index.cfm?page=TODDensity http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm45.htm http://tinyurl.com/btacou http://www.sacrt.com/realestate/TODpage.stm

Smart Growth. A look into Cities, Urban planning, and the Sustainable Movement.

A reader of this blog has kindly given ‘Zwei’ some links about Smart Growth around the world and they are very much well worth having a look. http://smarturbandesign.blogspot.com/2009/04/mall-of-america-and-minneapolis-light.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQQ/is_8_41/ai_81104210/ http://www.friends4expo.org/ltrail.htm http://www.drcog.org/documents/LRT%20and%20TOD.pdf http://www.thespec.com/article/717530 http://www.mindspring.com/~tbgray/lrtmaps.htm