Smart Growth. A look into Cities, Urban planning, and the Sustainable Movement.

A reader of this blog has kindly given ‘Zwei’ some links about Smart Growth around the world and they are very much well worth having a look. http://smarturbandesign.blogspot.com/2009/04/mall-of-america-and-minneapolis-light.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQQ/is_8_41/ai_81104210/ http://www.friends4expo.org/ltrail.htm http://www.drcog.org/documents/LRT%20and%20TOD.pdf http://www.thespec.com/article/717530 http://www.mindspring.com/~tbgray/lrtmaps.htm

Notes on – Broadway merchants want light rail not SkyTrain down business corridor – meeting

A few thoughts on Tuesdays meeting put on by BARSTA regarding transit issues on Broadway or what Zweisystem calls the ‘Broadway Follies’. First though a comment on Vancouver’s pedestrians; my god does anyone in Vancouver, including pedestrians and cyclists obey the rules of the road? Driving in Vancouver reminded me of some sort of perverted […]

Broadway merchants want light rail not SkyTrain down business corridor

Last night’s adventure! Broadway merchants want light rail not SkyTrain down business corridor By Tamara Baluja, The Province June 22, 2010 A coalition of merchants and residents opposed to the building of a SkyTrain line along VancouverA?ai??i??ai???s Broadway corridor rolled ahead with a meeting Tuesday to discuss alternatives. About 120 people packed the meeting held […]

An Interesting Post From Net Density – American Changes to Transit funding

I wish we could apply the same criteria to our ‘rail‘ transit planning. Economic development Mobility improvements Environmental benefits Operating efficiencies Cost effectiveness Land use What, no mention of increasing population density? I wonder why? Ai??Ai?? Could new FTA A?ai??i??Ai??livabilityA?ai??i??A? funding rules change Southwest LRT route? Posted by Brendon on January 30, 2010 The big […]

LRT will motivate us to ditch cars, From the Hamilton Spectator

What I find interesting about this news item, is the statement, “…….a consultants’ report into the economics of LRT in Hamilton projected the system would need about 34,000 riders a weekday (8.9 million a year) to break even on its operational costs.“; which should put a stop to the SkyTrain’s lobby claims that light rail […]

Questions: What density is needed for ‘Rail’ Transit? Does Anyone Really Know?

Simple questions today folks. Over the past few weeks the ugly question of densityAi??Ai??has beenAi??Ai??rearing its ugly head in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley concerning transit. Vancouver council is considering major density increases for Cambie Street because it has the Canada line mini-metro and the same treatment is expected for Broadway if ‘rail‘ transit is […]

Take the Tram – From the AntonNews.com Long Island New York

Take the Tram By Michael Miller Friday, 11 June 2010 Why in 2010 does it often take twice as long to get from the North Shore to the Five Towns than it does to get from Mineola to White Plains? Cars are choking our roads, gas prices are threatening our economic viability. We need alternative […]

Cargotrams for Broadway or Chilliwack – LRT can adapt!

On 3 March 2000 the Dresden Public Transport Co. and the Volkswagen Automobile-Manufacture Dresden GmbH signed a contract for the Cargotram for the deliveryAi??Ai??of parts from the logistics center in Dresden FriedrichstadtAi??Ai?? to a new car factory, using a tram running over the cities tram lines. The route from the logistics center to the factory […]

Trams, Buses & Trolleybuses Can Co-exist

On another blog, a long standing member of the SkyTrain/metro fraternity alluded to the fact that LRT and buses could not co-exist on the Granville Mall. Sorry to disappoint the purveyors of misinformation, but they can and do in many cities. A photo essay from several citiesAi??Ai??proves the point. Milan Ai?? Geneva Ai?? Essen Riga

Texas’s Newest ‘Rail’ Transit line, the Red Line

This article for Mass Transit should prove interesting to supporters of the “return of the interurban“, in the Fraser Valley. What should be of interest is the cost of the 32 mile (51.5 km)Ai??Ai??line is less than $5 million per mile or $3.1 million per km. (CAD $ 3.24 million)! Let’s see, a Vancouver to […]