LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT ASSOCIATION Discussion Document 73 March 2009

Ai??Ai?? The following, though written for an English audience is pertinent to our current transit debates and maybe of some interest to those advocating rail transit here. Ai??Ai?? FALSE INFORMATION USED TO DESCRIBE A TRANSIT SCHEME Ai??Ai?? Introduction Ai??Ai?? This document is partly designed to correct a practice of using false information regarding transit modes. […]

Debunking the SkyTrain myth A?ai??i??ai??? Part 3 ~ So who operates SkyTrain and why?

Ai??Ai?? Detroit’s ICTS Two previous postings Ai??Ai??http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/debunking-the-skytrain-myth-rail-for-the-valley-answers-the-ubc-skytrain-lobby/ “Ai??Ai??Debunking the SkyTrain myth……. “Ai??Ai??and Ai??Ai??http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/debunking-the-skytrain-myth-part-2/Ai??Ai?? ” Debunking the SkyTrain myth Part 2 “Ai??Ai??has sent the SkyTrain lobby into apologetic fits. The cries of “shock and disbelief“, untrue, and cherry-picked information fill the comments postings, yet the SkyTrain lobby fail to answer one question: “Why after three decades […]

Debunking the SkyTrain myth – Part 2

A tramtrain traveling through a village near Karlsruhe Germany. The “Debunking the SkyTrain myth. Rail for the Valley answers the UBC SkyTrain Lobby”Ai??Ai??, post…….. http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/debunking-the-skytrain-myth-rail-for-the-valley-answers-the-ubc-skytrain-lobby/ …….has become the most readAi??Ai?? and commented one to date, yet no one with the SkyTrain lobby has posted a credible reply. On the various SkyTrain blog sites, the one […]

Extracts from The Regional Transport Strategy role of Tramways & Light Rail (UK)

The following give some insight how real transit planning is done and shows that health benefits should be calculated into new light rail cost analysis. Alas, for the SkyTrain lobby, with 80% of its ridership first taking buses to the metro, creates more pollution that new LRT replacing buses! 1 1. Health Impact of Airborne […]

Calgary’s C-Train Development & Operating Costs

C-Train’s Development and Operating Costs Total system development costs to date: $548 M Ai??Ai?? Original cost of vehicle acquisition/unit: $1.2 M Ai??Ai?? Current vehicle replacement cost: $3.9 M Ai??Ai?? Total costs of track construction per meter: above ground $30,000 below ground $35,000 at grade $15,000 Ai??Ai?? Average costs per station: $2.1 M Ai??Ai?? Cost of […]

There is a good reason why the propaganda system works the way it does. It recognizes that the public will not support the actual policies. Therefore it is important to prevent any knowledge or understanding of them.A?ai??i??A?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised to give $350 million for the beleaguered and ill planned Evergreen SkyTrain Line,Ai??Ai??which must bring joy to the hearts of the SkyTrain lobby and Bombardier Inc. The SkyTrain/metro lobby is waking up to the fact that Fraser Valley residents wantAi??Ai??light-rail and they want it sooner rather than later. For […]

Tales of Transit studies past – You’d be amazed at the hundreds of politicians manipulated over the last 30 years!

Since SkyTrain was forced onto the region, transit planning has been skewed to fit the expensive proprietary light-metro. Most recently, noted American transit specialist, Gerald Fox, found the business case for the Evergreen SkyTrain LineAi??Ai??had, “several instances where the analysis had made assumptions that were inaccurate, or had been manipulated to make the case for […]

Carole James & the NDP – Have they missed the train?

Carole James and the provincial NDP’s regional transportation platform is in stealth mode, which is not surprising, as past NDP administrations have ignored sound public transport practice and used ‘rail’ transit solely as an election tool. Glen Clark, successfully used ‘rail‘Ai??Ai??projects as reelection tools:Ai??Ai??theAi??Ai??West Coast Express (known at the time as the Reelection Express) and […]

Five reasons Why Gordo and his ‘Falcon’ don’t want the "Return of the Interurban".

It is all too simple, the tracks are there from Vancouver to Chilliwack, the diesel light-rail vehicles areAi??Ai??available from many manufacturers and have been proven in revenue operation, and the precedent of the Karlsruhe two-system or zweisystem LRT with almost 20 years of safe operation track-sharing with mainline railways, makes the return of the interurban […]

10 Quick notes on light rail – for quick letters to the Editor.

Light rail is a mode that can deal economically with traffic flows between 2,000 and 20,000 persons per hour per direction. LRT can be uses on-street, on elevated guide-ways (light-metro), in tunnel (subway), or track-share with existing railways. Calgary’s LRT (C-Train) carries over 250,000 passengers a day, more than SkyTrain. Capacity is a function of […]