Is Vision Vancouver’s Subway Fantasy Putting City Taxpayer’s At Risk?

Courtesy Light Rail Now Micheal Geller has an interesting item in the Vancouver Courier which indicates that Vancouver taxpayers maybe on the hook for a minimum of $500 million for demanding a SkyTrain subway under Broadway. Predictably, Geller still follows the local line about transit and growth, while ignoring the fact that transit use mainly […]

Four Years Since the Release of the Leewood Study and the Silence is Deafening!

It now has been four years since the historic release of the Leewood/Rail for the Valley report, yet except for sparse political support, very few people actually know that the study exists, let alone that it is “shovel ready”. The Leewood study is just too simple, too cheap, and too practical compared to other politically […]

The Arbutus Saga Continues

Not much transit news about with the school strike and the lead up to the November civic elections, but old news is still news. The CPR want $100 million for the land and the City of Vancouver wants to pay only $20 million, yet $100 million is a bargain if one wants the land for […]

Will TransLink Overly Invest In Subways In Vancouver?

Interesting article from Toronto. In Germany in the 1960’s and 70’s many cities started building subways and replacing their surface tramways. The first noticeable change was that ridership dropped and for many, journey times increased. This was due to many more km. of tramway being abandoned compared to the very few km. of new subway […]

The Federal NDP suddenly Discouver Transit

The Federal NDP have never really cared about regional transit and desperately need some sort of policy to try to show the public they care and and have a plan in time for the 2015 election. Throwing more money at transit won’t solve transportation problems and will drive up transit costs. Canadian cities need a […]

The Truth Slowly Ekes Out – Surprise, Surprise

Well, someone is waking up at the Vancouver Sun or are they. SkyTrain is obsolete. The philosophy behind the operation of SkyTrain is obsolete. Obsolete transit mode + obsolete transit philosophy = lagging ridership. So it should come as no surprise Vancouver spends more for transit, but like fools at a carnival, planners and politicians, […]

Public Meeting Re: The Arbutus Corridor

The Arbutus Corridor: A Way Forward? You might think that thereai??i??s no solution to the conflict over the Arbutus rail corridor. Canadian Pacific Rail wants $100 million for its right-of-way. The City of Vancouver has offered $20m. Neighbourhood gardens, longstanding although trespassing, have been ripped up just before harvestai??i?? and electionai??i?? time. Trains, moving or […]

Streetcars and LRT, A Quick Primer

First published in the RftV blog in 2011, it is still pertinent today. Updated to August 2014. The silly season continues in the Vancouver region, with TransLink desperately trying to persuade regional mayors to levy more taxes to mainly pay for the Evergreen SkyTrain light-metro line and a SkyTrain subway under Broadway. The following is […]

Speaking of the Arbutus Corridor…………..

A Marpole bound interurban crosses 41st. Please note trolleybus and the overhead. ……. why TransLink will never support LRT on the Arbutus and why the City of Vancouver wants the ‘Arbutus” for a glorified bike lane. Evergreen Line is said to cost no more than $1.4 billion for just over 11 km of line and […]

It Ain’t Rocket Science Folks

Really, do the math. TransLink has 170 full time attendants (part time attendants unknown); TransLink operates 57 trains during peak hours; how hard is it to schedule an attendant to be on a train at all times? Why doesn’t TransLink force management types to be on the trains, and act as attendants as well? Unless […]