More trams for Montpelier

The following happier transit news for Montpelier, is courtesy of David Cockle. As the SkyTrain lobby still dream a Luddites dream of the world being flat and everyone builds with SkyTrain, more light rail is being built in France. Why is France so important, you ask? Well France also has a proprietary light-metro system, called […]

Wrong Again – How Long will it Take Them To Get It Right?

They have got it wrong, but in Vancouver we have have always got transit wrong. Speed of a transit system is not the prime factor in attracting ridership, it is part of the mix. The main reasons for successful transit, according to the internationally acclaimed study ' Bus or light rail, making the right choice', by Professor […]

TransLink’s Finacial Woes

The Vancouver Province's editorial has got it partially wrong. a good part of TransLink's financial woes is that they have tied themselves to the extremely dated light-metro/SkyTrain rapid transit model which can cost over fifteen times more to build than light rail, without any operational or financial benefit! Light-metro, especially the automated (driverless) product not […]

TransLink’s Propaganda Machine In Full Force

Wait for it, TransLink wants more tax revenue to fund their questionable transit planning, so the propaganda campaign has started. We have seen this all before with the Canada Line, higher ridership claims, jammed buses due to lack of service, etc. The question what needs to be asked is; "Are TransLink's ridership claims valid?" With […]

Amtrak to continue running two trains a day into Vancouver.

Common sense at last. Amtrak will continue to rumble Seattle to Vancouver route twice daily   By Susan Gilmore, Seattle TimesAugust 18, 2011     The Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver to Seattle. Photograph by: Vancouver Sun files, . The second daily Amtrak Cascades train between Seattle and Vancouver, which was scheduled to end in […]

Do Buses Actually Ease Gridlock?

So some people think that adding more buses will solve our endemic transit gridlock, yet buses themselves contribute to traffic congestion. There is a strong bus lobby that continually advocates buying more buses, yet when more buses are operated, congestion and gridlock just continues. In Portland, transit official reckon that one tram or LRV, is […]

Non News From TransLink – Canada Line to Operate Two More Trains

What would not be considered a news story elsewhere, the Vancouver Sun makes much hoopla that the Canada Line will operate two extra trains during peak hours as per the operating contract. Adding two more trains will slightly ease congestion but unless Translink operates the bus services to feed the Canada line, the $2.5 million metro […]

Winds of Change

LRT operating as a streetcar in downtown Portland The Vancouver Sun has always been a barometer on the governments standing on regional rail transit. The paper is famous for its pro SkyTrain stance, printing the usual SkyTrain myths as they were facts, but now, with the current TransLink financial morass, the Sun prints a letter that […]

More Misleading TransLink Numbers – So What Esle is New?

A letter from a Mr. Rob Kwon certainly shreds TransLink’s CEO, Ian Jervis’s claim that the cost per revenue passenger is a$3.98 is based on questionable book keeping. Well so what else is new! The Canada line was supposed to cost a mere $1.3 billion, yet it’s final cost exceeds $2.5 billion. Translink never includes […]

TransLink CEO, Ian Jarvis Strikes Back

Irked with the Vancouver provinces editorial about Translink and the proposed 2 cent a litre gas tax to fund the Evergreen Line, TransLink's CEO, Ian Jarvis sent an angry letter to the Province. TransLink's progress  By Ian Jarvis, The Province July 26, 2011 Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/TransLink+progress/5159297/story.html#ixzz1TE21EMZl TransLink takes exception to the way in which your editorial […]