An Interesting Post From Net Density – American Changes to Transit funding

I wish we could apply the same criteria to our ‘rail‘ transit planning. Economic development Mobility improvements Environmental benefits Operating efficiencies Cost effectiveness Land use What, no mention of increasing population density? I wonder why? Ai??Ai?? Could new FTA A?ai??i??Ai??livabilityA?ai??i??A? funding rules change Southwest LRT route? Posted by Brendon on January 30, 2010 The big […]

Questions: What density is needed for ‘Rail’ Transit? Does Anyone Really Know?

Simple questions today folks. Over the past few weeks the ugly question of densityAi??Ai??has beenAi??Ai??rearing its ugly head in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley concerning transit. Vancouver council is considering major density increases for Cambie Street because it has the Canada line mini-metro and the same treatment is expected for Broadway if ‘rail‘ transit is […]

Light Rail on Broadway – The SkyTrain Lobby Ramps Up The Costs – BARSTA Fights Back

On June 22nd, at St. James Community Square 3214 West 10th Avenue at Trutch, a public meeting will take place concerning the building of ‘rail‘ transit on or under Broadway. What is of no great surprise, Translink has vastly ‘ramped’ up the cost for building modern light rail, with needless over-design. This is the tired […]

Take the Tram – From the AntonNews.com Long Island New York

Take the Tram By Michael Miller Friday, 11 June 2010 Why in 2010 does it often take twice as long to get from the North Shore to the Five Towns than it does to get from Mineola to White Plains? Cars are choking our roads, gas prices are threatening our economic viability. We need alternative […]

Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit Project, California, USA

The following article could be of interest for those promoting the “Return of the Interurban“. From Railway Technology.com Key Data: Name – Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Project Location – North Bay corridor, California Route – Cloverdale in Sonoma county to Larkspur in Marin county Length – 70 miles Estimated Investment – $590m Operator – North Coat […]

Deficit hawkism = gloomy outlook for public transit

An interesting item from the Light Rail Transit Association blog. The same seems to be true for Vancouver, but only with a twist. All levels of government seem to want to only fund (and partially at that) the most expensive forms of rail transit; subways and elevatedAi??Ai??metros instead of much cheaper at-grade/on-street light rail. The […]

Cargotrams for Broadway or Chilliwack – LRT can adapt!

On 3 March 2000 the Dresden Public Transport Co. and the Volkswagen Automobile-Manufacture Dresden GmbH signed a contract for the Cargotram for the deliveryAi??Ai??of parts from the logistics center in Dresden FriedrichstadtAi??Ai?? to a new car factory, using a tram running over the cities tram lines. The route from the logistics center to the factory […]

Trams, Buses & Trolleybuses Can Co-exist

On another blog, a long standing member of the SkyTrain/metro fraternity alluded to the fact that LRT and buses could not co-exist on the Granville Mall. Sorry to disappoint the purveyors of misinformation, but they can and do in many cities. A photo essay from several citiesAi??Ai??proves the point. Milan Ai?? Geneva Ai?? Essen Riga

Canada Line Metro Reaches Capacity of 100,000 riders a day? Really, that little?

Here we have a classic Vancouver Sun ‘puff story’ about the Canada line, where real questions are not asked and $150 thousand a year man, the classic spin doctor himself, Ken Hardie shows why he is paid such a stipend. The real question should be; “We just spent $2.5 billion on a metro and its […]

Texas’s Newest ‘Rail’ Transit line, the Red Line

This article for Mass Transit should prove interesting to supporters of the “return of the interurban“, in the Fraser Valley. What should be of interest is the cost of the 32 mile (51.5 km)Ai??Ai??line is less than $5 million per mile or $3.1 million per km. (CAD $ 3.24 million)! Let’s see, a Vancouver to […]