Bombardier Inc. Doesn’t Give a Damn

This is a major problem for Metro Vancouver, Bombardier Inc. doesn’t give a damn about its rail products and this should make Metro Vancouver mayors and TransLink very worried. Why? Bombardier is the sole suppliers of the Innovia metro car used on the Expo and Millennium/Evergreen lines and if Bombardier were to stop production, new […]

The Regional Mayor’s $7 Billion FastFerry Fiasco!

FastFerry fiascos tend to be common in BC, where politicians play the part of transit experts and squander the taxpayer’s money on prestige projects, that are great for ribbon cutting photo-ops, but little more. That Translink’s American CEO applauds this only shows the Mayor’s Council on Transit picked nothing more than a “Useful Idiot” to […]

All Quiet On The Eastern Front

  Zwei has a habit of making people mad and the list is long. So, in an effort to even more people mad, I will recall a conversation I had a week or so back with a former NDP politician. The former NDP politician wishes to remain anonymous as the person does not want to […]

Some Smart People Out There, Not Here Apparently……

In Europe, transportation needs are designed to meet the needs of transit customers. In BC, transportation needs are designed to further political careers and money laundering. Example: The $3 billion Broadway SkyTrain subway, being built on a transit route which has peak hour traffic flows under 4,000 pphpd! Who is the subway being built for? […]

Mobility Pricing -TransLink’s Desperate Ploy.

Mobility pricing, TransLink’s desperate ploy to hide their inept planning to date. TransLink happily spends twice or three times more for “rail” transit than they should. TransLink also spends at least 60% more operation “rail” transit than they should. The result, large deficits operating the transit system, requiring large subsidies to pay for the large […]

The Litmus Test

Litmus Test: a test in which a single factor (such as an attitude, event, or fact) is decisive. Premier Horgan’s recent announcement, killing LRT On Vancouver Island all but sentencing the E&N to death, was the NDP’s Litmus test of their commitment on regional transit in the province. The answer, the NDP has none and […]

Surrey LRT News.

I think a tad optimistic. Huge costs for what is basically an on-street/at-grade tram is staggering and it seems TransLink has pulled out the stops to gold-plate this project, which has now become a road project, rather than a LRT project. That no one with real experience in building with LRT has been involved, tells […]

Madness

Good old Zwei has been blogging on local transit issues for the past 10 years, I can say that both recently announced “rail” transit projects are both hugely expensive, will not ease congestion and will fail to achieve their objective, except giving the excuse for land development adjacent to the routes. As advised by real […]

Of Fast Ferries and Casino Money Laundering, The Broadway Subway

One can draw a straight line from BC’s current money laundering scandal and the Broadway SkyTrain subway. It is the only conclusion one can make with the proposed Broadway subway, as customer flows on Broadway just do not warrant a subway. Building a subway, will enable developers and land speculators to assemble properties along the […]

Those Who Do Not Read History Are Doomed…………….

………….to make the same expensive mistakes. In Toronto, metro madness is the order of the day, but the overlooked story is the Scarborough R/T, SkyTrain’s first cousin, being torn down because it will be soon “life expired”. The current debate is whether to build a hugely expensive one stop subway to replace the SRT or […]