Ottawa tries to avoid the Vanvouver T.O.D. disease.

In Vancouver, metro construction is planned andAi??built toAi??subsidize land development, not to provide better transit for customers. In theory it is to greatly increase ridership for the new metro line, in practice some unpleasant things happen,Ai??such asAi??people moving into the new high rise apartments and condos and driving to work because they work where the […]

Trams, Pedestrians & Bicycles + buses & cars in Amsterdam

Trams, bicycles, pedestrians also buses, motorcycles & cars happily co-existing in Amsterdam. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JeWED7Zilo Just to reassure Ai??theAi??Ai??retardedAi??Ai??dingbats amongst Skyscraper, Ai??Skytrain for Surrey, Translink & Ai??VancouverAi??activistsAi??that it can be done Ai??and that no one was killed or injured during the making of this video a Happy New Year to one & all…. the toast is `Shiney […]

Seattle’s Light-Metro Plans……Er, LRT Plans

Seattle’s Sound Transit penchant for planning for light-metro and calling it light rail is leading regional taxpayers into a fincial fiasco. Sound familiar, well it should, it is the same type of regioanl transit policy that TransLink has. Sound Transit’s first hybrid 22.4Ai??km light-metro/light rail line, costing $3.6 billion (this is the complete cost including […]

E & N Blues

Want to kill a Railway? Starve it of funds and let it rust away and this seems the fate of the E & N railway. For a want of a mere $15 million to upgrade the tracks, the provincial government has loudly signaled that it wants to wash its hands of the E&N, especially when […]

Liar, liar, liar……….

It seems the SkyTrain Lobby has started a wee blog to compete with Rail for the Valley, called Surrey needs SkyTrainAi??and true to form, if one supports light rail, one is a liar. It is so sad to see so much time and effort is wasted on what is now an obsolete proprietary transit mode, […]

Hume: The suburbs ask: Whereai??i??s the subway? In Metro Vancouver, the ‘burbs ask: Where is SkyTrain?

Like the Vancouver Metro Region, everyone wants SkyTrain, but there is no money to pay for it. Trouble is, no one has explained this to civic and provincial politicians, who continue to promise multi billion dollar SkyTrain extensions. In the Fraser Valley mayor Watts of Surrey does get it, with her support for LRT construction, […]

Road Pricing Coming To Surrey?

It seems that local bureaucrats are trying to persuade regional politicians to agree to a road-pricing or road toll scheme, to both ensure their incomes and pensions by increasing the transit and planning bureaucracies – OOPS, I meant to sayAi??increase funds for transit. For road pricing or road tolls to work, the region needs a […]

Light Rail runs in inclement weather

Trams and Streetcars "Stuttering & Crapping out" not a chance brother! As in the winter of 2010/2011 when Light Rail & Trams continued to run across Europe as well as in Calgary, despite heavy snow falls, when Skytrain ground to an ignominious halt, likewise recent floods in Europe & Australia haven't stopped the Trams! Montpellier, France […]

SkyTrain “Stutters” – Craps Out Again

I only thought people stutter, but evidently not as TransLink claims "stuttering" has caused SkyTrain to shutdown periodically. Metro Vancouver hit by windstorm; SkyTrain, West Coast Express, ferries all facing disruptions  Vancouver Sun November 22, 2011 6:19 AM   VANCOUVER – The heavy rain and fierce windstorm that struck Metro Vancouver overnight is wreaking havoc with […]

SkyTrain Craps Out Again – So what Else Is new! (Updated)

For the third time this week, the SkyTrain Expo Line has shut down, first due to electrical problems; then for mechanical problems; and as I write this, the news on the radio claims that the Expo Line is closed for electrical and mechanical reasons – go figure. For those who claim that SkyTrain is more reliable […]