Pre-fab Track for Broadway

Slab or prefabricated track maybe an economicAi??solution for light rail/streetcar construction on Broadway in Vancouver. Combined with using the existing OHLE (span wires and vertical supports), construction of a streetcar/LRT on Broadway could be built and in operation in less than two years. The Broadway to UBC route is mainly straight, with little need for […]

Fare Evasion Kool Aid – TransLink Again Bamboozles the Mainstream Media

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If weai??i??ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. Weai??i??re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. Itai??i??s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that weai??i??ve been taken. Once you give a […]

Rob Ford fails to derail light rail lines

Mayor Rob Ford wend down swinging, saying again that people want subways, not LRT. However, Toronto City Council endorsed the $8.4 million master plan to build four LRT lines by a 30 to 11 margin. Toronto Sun story at: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/11/01/ford-defied-more-toronto-light-rail By Don Peat ,City Hall Bureau Chief First posted:Thursday, November 01, 2012 08:20 The Crosstown […]

The Province Pulls the Rug Out Under 2040 – But Will The NDP Play?

The province has sent a message to the city of Vancouver, 2040 is dead because the province will not fund a SkyTrain subway under Broadway.Ai??The Liberals know that SkyTrain is a very expensive transit mode with thier experience with theAi??Canada Line P-3. The politcal fallout from the Canada Line big dig has also hurt the […]

Vancouver’s 2040 Transportaion Plan Will Fail

With great fanfare and hoopla, the Vision Vancouver controlled city council has approved a rather vision-less transportation plan for the future. The plan is fatally flawed as the one tool with a proven record of reducing traffic, light rail or LRT/streetcar (tram for our European friends) is absent. Pretty pictures of people crossing on a […]

People love their cars or do they?

Portland sometimes struggles to find the right balance between car use and alternative modes of transportation. Striking the balance will require tough choices as population and housing density increase. Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/10/people_like_their_cars_a_fact.html Funny, people love cars. That may be why data released last week by researchers at Metro, the regional government, showed as much. […]

But, What About Hard Numbers?

In classic fashion, a TransLink news release to the mainstream media claims that, “there was a 17-per cent increase in the total number of trips taken on transit from 2008 to 2011.”, yet no hard numbers are used, and why not? TransLink wants money, a lot of money and how better to groom the taxpayer […]

SkyTrain Is At The Centre Of TransLink’s Finacial Woes

SkyTrain, the sum of TransLink’s financial evils. Long time transit advocate, Malcolm Johnston has had a very good letter printed in the weeklies and at least one daily newspaper, pointing out that the SkyTrain and light-metro are at the root of TransLink’s financial ills. No doubt the SkyTrain lobby will react negatively to Mr. Johnston’s […]

Federal Government Forces Transit P-3’s

In Europe, a P3 is a tool where by a private consortium is involved in the planning, design, building, and operation of a transit project, then ‘hires‘ money, in a form of a loan,Ai??from a bank or institution and assumes risk in the building and operation of a transit project.Ai??The P-3 consortium thenAi??pays back theAi??loan […]

SkyTrain & Canada Line Hubris At The Vancouver Sun

I see that the Vancouver Sun is continuing its propaganda campaign for the Canada Line with Saturday’s effort; “Future is bright for Cambie Corridor as development booms.” http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Stories/813152/story.html#ixzz29rcrw1OW What the article boils down to, is that the Canada Line was never about moving the public, nor reducing auto use (remember the 200,000 car journeys taken […]