A Reply to TransLink’s Anti Valley Rail Screed

Zwei will comment on this and Translink’s rebuttal in the next blog post. Translink has released a report dated June 6 to the Joint Regional Transportation Planning Committee later share with the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation. https://www.peacearchnews.com/news/service-on-interurban-rail-would-be-expensive-miss-key-destinations-translink/?fbclid=IwAR2DqlC_P9oF_JLVhqovE2w9G-BiyITd6xt097Hto5FfPAvy8TA9q6qVpcI It contains a number of misunderstandings and factual errors, some of which are addressed below. * Preamble: […]

TransLink And The Mayor’s Council Beg for More Money

  An open  letter to the Prime Minister of Canada, the Premier of BC, Federal and Provincial Ministers of Transportation, Metro Vancouver members of Parliament and the British Columbia Legislature. In the past few weeks TransLink and the mayor’s Council on Transit has been mounting a advertising blitz on Facebook and other social media pleading […]

Trams – The Way Of The Future

As the debate over trams/LRT and or proprietary light metro intensifies, let us look and modern trams in operation around the world. Today, there is over 600 tram/light rail systems in operation or nearing completion, around the world. Only seven of the proprietary ART Movia light-metros have been built in the past 40 years and […]

Trams Are Green – Subways Are Not!

From the response from the previous post with about lawned rights-of-ways for trams, I offer more glimpses of what modern LRT should look like in Metro Vancouver and in any city considering modern light rail. Think of tram routes as linear parks. Think of Vancouver with many linear parks, providing fast and efficient public transport. […]

Lawned Rights-of-Ways Revisited

One item that the SkyTrain lobby are loath to show, is lawned rights-of-ways for modern LRT and I wonder why? Even in parched Australia, lawned tram track is being laid. But it is in France, where lawned tram track is de rigueur, making the tram a part of the cityscape and not an eyesore. The […]

This Is Light Rail.

The new Camberra Australia, light rail line. This is classic light rail. Reserved or dedicated, at-grade rights-of-way and easy pedestrian access across the line is the hallmark of LRT. All the benefits of a metro at a fraction of the cost. So, why does the provincial NDP, the City of Vancouver and the Mayor’s Council […]

Trams Having Limited Capacity On Broadway? – SURELY NOT!

The ongoing planning charade currently being played out by the cities of Vancouver & Surrey, and TransLink with the proposed Broadway SkyTrain subway, is being fueled by professional misconduct, by all professionals and most politicians involved. A notable exception is Vancouver City Councillor Colleen Hardwick. Today, the message being relayed around the world is that […]

BCIT to UBC and Picnics In The Park

First published in 2009. Updated 2014, 2016 and in 2019   A Wee Bit Of Local History In early 1996, during BC Transit’s meaningless public consultation period for the Broadway Lougheed Rapid Transit Project which later morphed into the Millennium Line, Zwei received a phone call from an European Transit specialist, who worked for Asea […]

King Street Success – Lessons for Vancouver and Surrey!

Kicking and screaming all the way, Toronto is now updating its heritage streetcar system to light rail standards and the the result is obvious, success. Modern trams, reserved rights-of-ways, all the key ingredients for successful LRT. Sadly, this puts Toronto 40 years behind most other European Cities. As found in Europe, modern light-rail has changed […]

A Proven Winner

Sin city is getting LRT. After flirting with Bombardier’s Innovia monorail and optically guided buses, Las Vegas is now improving their regional transit system, with a proven winner, light rail transit. Light rail is the winning option for Las Vegas transportation Regional Transportation CommissionA rendering of a proposed light rail system along Maryland Parkway. Monday, Feb. 18, […]