Congestion Crisis

Well Zwei told you so, the failure to plan for an affordable public transit alternative for the car has helped create this crisis and no one in charge seems to understand what the real transportation problems are in the region. While Victoria and regional mayors squabble about who is going to tax whom and by […]

A Replacement For the Fraser River Rail Bridge?

Interesting article in the Vancouver Sun that Surreyai??i??s light rail bid could have edge in federal funding over Vancouverai??i??s Broadway subway line. What is of more importance for Rail for the Valley is the replacement of the decrepit Fraser river rail bridge which lies in the shadows of the Patullo Bridge. The present single track […]

The Politics of Fear

It seems if all else fails for the TransLink referendum, scare the people to vote for yes for more money. This is called the politics of fear. The harsh facts are that three LRT lines in Surrey and a SkyTrain subway under Broadway will not alleviate traffic congestion in the region! To be successful, transit […]

The Novice’s Guide toTransit Updated

or cutting through the BS about light rail, SkyTrain and BRT. The following is a guide plus definitions about transit. ALM: Automatic Light metro, the fourth marketing name given for the SkyTrain family of light-metros, when Lavalin briefly owned SkyTrain before gong bankrupt. ALRT (1): Advanced Light Rail Transit, the second marketing name for SkyTrain. […]

The Future through Zwei’s (not so) Crystal ball

The big transit news for 2014 is the BC Liberal transit referendum. What will be the outcome? What will be the question asked for the public to vote on? Presently, I do not think even the Premier herself can answer these questions, as Premier Clark, like several Premiers before her, is a “rubber on asphalt” […]

New Prague streetcars reverse noise pollution

An overlooked benefit of streetcars is the reduction in noise pollution associated with bus and car traffic. In fact, some pedestrians in Prague say the newest streetcars from Skoda are too quiet! Latest streetcars in historic Prague. An article from iDnes, a Czech news portal, describes the experiences of operators of the new 15T streetcarsbuilt […]

Tram Train

A summary of the latestAi??EuropeanAi??Tram Train developments at the end of 2013. UK – Manchester: Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has created new plans which could see specially designed vehicles running on both street tracks and train tracks between Glossop and Manchester city centre. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/tram-trains-could-link-glossop-up-6312282 Manchester to explore future tram-train network Councillors in Manchester have […]

What $536 Million Will Buy You, Part 2 – A Rail for the Valley TramTrain

The Leewood Study Diesel Hybrid option Stage 1 Phase 1. It is as simple as that. http://www.railforthevalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/chilliwacktosurreyinterurbanfinalreportr.pdf – Chilliwack to Scott Road [Diesel/hybrid option] summary capital cost . CAD $491,819,424.00 (CAD $5.02m per km)

Death By Toll

Is anyone surprised by this? If you are, you are either residing outside Metro Vancouver or you are living in a bubble, because the taxpayer is maxed out. The BC Liberal regime of Gordon Campbell has off-loaded so many user fees, taxes and other costs on to the backs of taxpayers that he has all […]

Why we build with light rail

The following was Zweisystem’s first offering on the Rail for the Valley blog, posted on December 12, 2008. Five years and some 1,359 posts later, the message has stayed essentially the same; why does the provincial government and TransLink still pursue light metro instead of LRT, especially when light metro has proven inferior in service […]