Bombardier’s Skeletons Draining Cash From Alstom

Zwei knew all would not be happiness with Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier Inc. Lingering court cases, lawsuits and other criminal intrigue with the Yongin and Kuala Lumpor ART systems (that is SkyTrain in TransLink Speak) and other issues pertaining to the now called Movia Automatic Light Metro System (erroneously called SkyTrain), must be causing acute […]

The Collapse of U.S. Public Transit?

Interesting article and well worth reading; not all is happiness in transit land. From Zwei’s almost 40 years advocating for better transit and more affordable transit planning in the region, it seems those in charge are afraid of change. The same thing is done over and over again, ever hoping for different results, because that […]

Trackless Tram Scam

Our mainstream media always over-hypes the latest gadgetbahnen, or transit miracle from elsewhere, which turns out to be a yesterday’s failed transit experiment that was sold off on the cheap to let someone else try to sell it to rubes. This sensationalist reporting seldom, if ever reports that the very same transit miracle, in reality […]

SkyTrain – Eight myths and the facts

Facts do not change and with SkyTrain, the world understands the facts about this proprietary light metro system; unfortunately our politicians and bureaucrats do not. We now live in an age of fake news and alternative facts and the SkyTrain lobby and TransLink with their well oiled propaganda machine exploit this extremely well. Their most […]

The TransLink Planning Pantomime Continues

On the Delta Optimist’s web page. The trouble with TransLink, they promise the moon and the stars, but in the end, deliver the same old user unfriendly, expensive transit planning, ever hoping for different results. Case in point, TransLink’s new CEO, from Baltimore. Well good old Zwei sent an email to Baltimore and what I […]

Transit Is About Moving People -From 2011

From ten years ago. This post is pertinent today with the $4.6 billion, 12.8 km extensions to the Expo and Millennium Lines. One of great criticisms of old Zwei back in the day, was the claim that the Evergreen line was the unbuilt portion of the Millennium Line, which was piggybacked on the previous light […]

88% Favour Passenger Rail for the Fraser Valley!

 No surprise here! If anyone who has traveled into the upper Fraser Valley, especially the Chilliwack/Sardis/Vedder areas and seen the huge growth and the associated congestion must realize that a rail connection from Vancouver to Chilliwack, via North Delta, Cloverdale, Langley, Abbotsford, Vedder, Sardis and Chilliwack is most needed. * Rail for the Valley , […]

The Cost of Transporting People in the British Columbia Lower Mainland – Revisited

A repost from 2013. In 1992, the region woke up to a GVRD study that exposed the deceit of many politicians of the day who claimed that SkyTrain operated without subsidy. The truth was just the Expo line to New Westminster was heavily subsidized, more than the combined diesel and trolley buses! I add this […]

Why We Build With Light Rail

From December 2008, Zwei’s first post!   What is Light Rail Transit or more commonly known as LRT? According to the Light Rail Transit Association (www.lrta.org) Light rail is a mode that can deal economically with traffic flows of between 2,000 and 20,000 passengers per hour per direction, thus effectively bridging the gap between the […]

How To Build Light Rail In Our Cities Without Emptying The Public Purse

As urban sprawl and strip development is now engulfing the lower mainland, with associated traffic congestion and pollution, Rail for the Valley’s concept of TramTrain makes sense. We cannot afford to extend SkyTrain at over $200 million/km and certainly there is absolutely no real economic or business case for a subway under Broadway for a […]