Subway Realities

Old Zwei has been warning about the costs associated with subways and now New York’s MTA says it needs $32 billion over the next five years to repair decaying subway infrastructure! We also have a familiar name, Tom Prendergast, warning that the subway system needs expensive upgrading done. Prendergast also warned TransLink about the high […]

Metro Madness

In one of the silliest items written in Canada about public transit, The Globe and Mail’s (Mop & Pail) Jeffery Simpson has inked a article about how the taxpayer in the lower mainland should vote YES to build subways because Asia builds them. * Why then are subways built? * The answer is simple, subways […]

In Toronto – A $3 Billion Subway Carries Fewer Customers Than A Streetcar Line!

Those who promote a Broadway subway had better beware, subways are not the magic elixir in attracting ridership. A Toronto CBC news story giving mayoralty hopeful Doug Ford (brother of the discredited Rob Ford) an “F” for his subway plans contains an interesting item: “The Sheppard subway is a classic example,” said Bedford. “It cost […]

Subway Economics

The difficulties of making subway lines run at a profit have existed for over ten years and, up until now, no solution has been found. It’s obvious that simply relying on revenue from ticket sales is not enough to cover the sizable operating costs. Attempts to replicate the Hong Kong model have also proved unsuccessful, […]

Subway cost per mile nearly 9 times higher than for light rail, says study

Recent study results of subway-LRT investment costs posted on the Light Rail Now (LRN) site provide a sobering reality check on the cost issue. http://austinrailnow.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/subway-cost-per-mile-nearly-9-times-higher-than-for-light-rail-says-study/ Projects examined were an assortment of “recent urban rail projects (all from the 2000s), either completed or well under construction and fully budgeted.” The report lists 24 subway and 13 […]

Subways dreams for dreamers

Interesting article from Toronto. I doAi??take issue with is the claim “that subways attract more riders than any other form of transit.”whichAi??is not supported by studies elsewhere, instead it isAi??modern LRT actually attracts more new ridership than other modes. That Toronto doesn’t have modern LRT and instead operates with the light rail variant streetcars (mostly […]

Transit Realities In Toronto

Transit realities are coming into the fore in Toronto and Toronto’s mayor Ford is being dragged screaming and kicking into the 21st century; even the Mayor’s political appointees are singing the light rail song! The Mayor’s anti-LRT stance is based on many factors, including; Subways keep traffic lanes open for cars, thus are poor in […]

A Ford Fiasco In Toronto

There are many in the Metro Lobby crowd that think moneyAi??grows on trees and taxpayers just love paying more taxes and modern LRT is nothing more than an “European concept” andAi??not really applicable here in Canada or the USA. What is applicable for grand metro schemes is the extremely high cost of construction and I […]

Transit agencies must put customer first

If ‘Zwei’ ever wants to createAi??howls of “shock and disbelief“, from the transit elites in the region, all ‘Zwei’ has to say is “transit is about moving people andAi??the transit customer comes first. Well ‘Zwei‘ is not alone with this thought. Custom journeys for transit customers andAi??seamless (no-transfer) journeys for transit customers both areAi??a non-subjectAi??with […]

Will Toronto’s Transit City Return?

In Toronto, it seems politicians are having a lot of fun with transit. New mayor and anti-tram and tea-bag type Rob Ford received a backhand from the voters when they did not give the Ontario Conservatives a mandate to in the recent election. In fact, the brutish antics of Mayor Ford helped in the defeat […]