Staffing on light rail systems

From a previous post http://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/now-we-know-why-skytrain-is-so-expensive-to-operate/ we find that there are 600 or more employees (530 in the CUPE Union) that work on the SkyTrain Expo and Millennium Lines. The Canada Line is a conventional metro and employs over 200 people (with 180 in the CUPE union) and both metro systems are quite separate. The Canada Line, a […]

Susan Heyes and the Canada Line fiasco – Justice denied!

The Canada Line was never about providing good public transitAi??for the region, rather the metro was all about political and corporate prestige. The Vancouver International Airport gang wanted a prestigious metro to connect YVR to downtown Vancouver, for corporate prestige because they thought that a metro would make YVR ‘world class’; the City of Vancouver […]

Absurdity, Hiatus, Ignominy, Irony, Paradox and Prognosis

The Cardinal cordially welcomes Zweisystem back & offers him wishes for a speedy recovery from his recent illness; – Hurry up and get the heck out of there! Zwei, remember Mark Twainai??i??s advice `be careful when reading health books; you may die of a misprintai??i?? Ai?? With Zweisystem back in the section, continuing his mission, […]

Porkies from TransLink!

In the UK, London's Cockney's (the East End crowd) have long had an interesting rhyming slang tradition – examples: jam jar is a car; dicky dirt a shirt and so on. Well, a pork pie or porkie is – well you guessed it. The following letter from Ken Hardie, to the Delta Optimist, is full of "Porkies" […]

Delta Politicians Mull Leaving TransLink

As predicted, the South Fraser municipality of Delta is mulling over the proposal to leave TransLink. Delta is the first, but if TransLink doesn't change its current very expensive metro only policy, then providing second rate transit services for customers, then more South Fraser municipalities will contemplate leaving. If TransLink stopped being devious and actually told […]

The Light Rail Committee Sends a Message

The Light Rail Committee sent the following letter to all municipal governments in the lower mainland, to inform municipal politicians about upcoming transit funding discussions by the mayors council, with Transportation Minister Shirley Bond for the Evergreen Line. One wishes that Mayor Walton tell Minister Bond to "take a powder", and "if the provincial government wants more […]

Canada Line workers take a strike vote – Is The Driverless Myth About To Be Exposed? (Updated)

Well, well, well, the 180 control room workers, maintenance personnel and attendants for the Canada Line are taking a strike vote and TransLink is very worried. Since the SkyTrain light-metro was built over 30 years ago, the mainstream media and politicians sang in chorus that automatic metros were good because they did not need drivers and […]

Why Are North American Engineers So Afraid Of European Transit Developments?

Answer: They can't plan for $1.4 Million a mile rail transit schemes, like what their European friends are doing! The Valley Rail naysayers abound, but when faced with undisputable facts that light rail and/or its many variants can be built very cheaply indeed; much cheaper than $125 million/km SkyTrain or even $20 million/km highways, they […]

The War on Cars

Is there really a “war on cars” in Seattle? Politics Northwest The Seattle Times political team explores national, state and local politics. Posted by Jim Brunner Has Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn really declared a “war on cars?” Or is that just a manufactured right-wing talking point? http://tinyurl.com/34thhyo At the blog of the green think tank, […]

High density urban living, not neccessary for good public transport

Units not crucial for good public transport, study finds Andrew West, January 5, 2011 RESIDENTS of Australia's outer suburbs do not have to wait for higher housing densities before getting better public transport, according to new research, which could defuse one of urban planning's biggest controversies. In a paper for the journal Australian Planner, Dr […]