Karlsruhe Revisited

Let us not forget, the birthplace of what is now called TramTrain, was in Karlsruhe Germany. When it comes to denial, the following statistic is greeted with hoots and howls of disbelief from the anti-tram crowd, yet it is the very basis for the success of TramTrain today. Ridership of the Karlsruhe-Bretton route went from […]

Adios, the Shopping Mall?

The shape of things to come? Transportation planners in Metro Vancouver should take note that when planning very expensive fixed transit infrastructure to shopping malls, if the mall closes in 15 years, the transit system will have very expensive infrastructure to nowhere. This is very true for SkyTrain and its $80 million/km elevated structure is […]

The Failure To Understand Modern Light Rail = Public Transit Chaos – From May 2010

The Failure To Understand Modern Light Rail = Public Transit Chaos First published in May, 2010 From, May 25, 2010 – five years later, the song remains the same. ai???Zweiai??i?? has been taken aback by the viciousness of the SkyTrain Lobby and the great lengths they have taken in discrediting the LRT, while at the […]

TransLink’s Ridership – An Independant Calculation

Eric Chris has done some calculations ascertaining TransLink’s ridership numbers, independent of what the many pundits and instant experts that are pontificating on the YES side of the TransLink congestion plebiscite. A well known pundit stated on the radio that one million people took transit last year, but recanted on Facebook when faced with overwhelming […]

Liz James Gets It Right!

Liz James, who pens op-ed pieces in the North Shore news has a very good grasp of our local transit ills. Liz’s Jan. 7th article is well worth a read as she has a full grasp of the transit situation, which is more than I can say about the Vancouver Sun and many other reporters. […]

April First Comes Early In Vancouver

I just do not know whether to laugh or cry at this one. Business in Vancouver (who’s co-founder is one Peter Ladner, noted Vancouver politician) has printed the puff piece of puff pieces, regarding TransLink. In Zwei’s timid way and not wanting to get TransLink’s higher purposes persons in a tissy, I have made a […]

Broadway Subway Planning Under Way!

ai???If you tell a Broadway subway lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The Broadway subway lie can be maintained only for such time as TransLink, the Board of Trade, the City of Vancouver and the NDP can shield the people from the political, economic and/or negative transit […]

A Light (Rail) In The Piazza

A very welcomed editorial in the Delta Optimist. Slowly, ever slowly, people are beginning to realize that modern LRT is just not a transit mode, but a transit philosophy! Here lies the difference between LRT and SkyTrain; as SkyTrain or light metro is designed to give fast service between transit hubs forcing transit customers to […]

The Broadway Subway, No Value For Money

Despite a growing number of supporters, such as the business community, the City of Vancouver; most of the regional mayors, the provincial NDP and their combined sundry of shills clamouringAi?? for a SkyTrain Broadway subway, many serious questions remain unanswered. The following op-ed commentary published by The Toronto Star questions whether the concept of building […]

Conundrum! A No Means Yes!

A “YES” vote in the upcoming TransLink referendum will probably increase the cost per revenue passenger as the transit system seems to have a hard time attracting new ridership, especially the motorist from the car! Conundrum! I am not going to make this blog, home central for a “No” vote in the upcoming TransLink referendum, […]