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 […]

A 2010 retrospective and a happy New Year!

Itai??i??s traditional for the media and bloggers alike to wrap up the retreating year or welcome in the New Year with a retrospective of all that was bad, depressing, frustrating, good, humorous, irritating, scandalous or just plain bizarre in the twelve months that finished on the stroke of midnight on 31st December. Stephen Reesai??i??s blog […]

This report merely postpones a serious attempt to grapple with crafting a long-term solution – Articles About TransLink’s Valley Transit Plans

It seems TransLink and the provincial government got what they wanted – nothing, for this is what their recently released transportation plan is really about, doing nothing. The estimated annual cost of $90 million to operate rail transit in the Fraser Valley is laughable, as well as the contention that buses would attract more ridership […]

A Letter To Zweisystem

From time to time, Zwei gets letters that actually do not libel, nor threaten me and they deserved to be printed. Much thought has been put into this letter by the author and though I agree with him on many points, there are some slight quibbles or additions which I would like to make and […]

The $400,000.00 Fraser Valley Transit Study – Much Ado About Nothing

TwoAi??weeks before Christmas and the provincial Liberal Government releases its long awaited Fraser Valley Transit Study and one can see why; it is badly stale-dated by the Rail For The Valley/Leewood Report. By releasing the report before Christmas, the government hoped to bury this stinker under Christmas cheer, hiding the the fact that the Fraser […]

The Evergreen Line – Will Finacial Reality Take Hold?

The problem with the Evergreen Line has always been about expense, what kind of bang will you get out of $1.4 Billion? Not much by all accounts and the lack lustre performance by the Canada Line is now sending financial shivers up TransLink’s spine as bureacratsAi??need oodles of property tax monies to subsidise the Evergreen […]

Has The “War On The Car” Gone To Far?

There is a growing problem concerning public and regional transportation that has become very worrisome and that is the so called "war on the car". This simple phrase has been used with great effect in Toronto, where anti-transit politicians have been elected in the Toronto metro region, whose sole goal is to dismantle Toronto's public transit system. The slogan […]

What Fools We Mortals Be – Toronto’s New mayor, Rob Ford.

American style Tea Party politician andAi??Toronto’s new mayor Rob Ford, is taking the TTC back 50 years or more by forcing the TTC to build new subways, instead of much cheaper light rail. Ford is just mimicking the same bleat that AmericanAi??politicos use, the “war on the car” andAi??has used itAi??with great effectiveness, but what […]