A Comment Worthy of a Post.

Zwei has never met, nor even talked in person to chap who uses the name Haveacow, but I do know he is a professional planning consultant working on the the Ottawa light rail project and I have a great respect for his opinion. Like Cardinal Fang, who is also a transit professional, and they choose […]

Vancouver Comes in fourth, With the Decades Most Expensive Transit Projects

This graphic should sound alarm bells to transit planners and politicians about the ever escalating cost of transit projects. What ever happened to the 80’s light rail philosophy of “build it cheap and build lots”? The the real cost of the Canada Line has now been pegged at $2.4 billion (depending on who one listens […]

Really Mr. Zabel, You Can Do Better Than That

Really, Mr. Zabel, you can do better than this. Switch motors do burn occasionally , but with the SkyTrain light metro system, when a switch motor burns out, the system goes down. When a switch motor burns out on a light rail line, the system does not go down and service is maintained. SkyTrain’s all […]

Really, SkyTrain Craps Out Again!

For a transit system that is supposedly free of breakdowns and loss of service, the SkyTrain mini-metro seems to have all too many breakdowns. I would ask the SkyTrain lobby to refrain from the claim that SkyTrain is more reliable than light rail, simply because it isn’t. Millennium Line out of service in New Westminster […]

Liz James asks important questions

Liz James, who writes opinion pieces for the North Shore News, asks some ‘striking’ questions of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, the question is; “are they willing to answer?“ The answer is no, as the regional mayors are afraid of a referendum and the reason is simple, they are afraid of a “none of […]

Zwei Told Ya So…………Despite massive investment in public transit, most Metro Vancouver residents favour commuting by car

In the 21st century, public transit is seen as a product and if the product is good, people will use it. In Metro Vancouver, public transit is seen as an experiment of sorts, combining extremely dated transit operation, land development and social welfare into a hodge-podge local transit philosophy which, despite a now over $8 […]

TransLink Whinges for More Money

TransLink’s gold-plated transit planning needs funding and the the question is, which politicians are foolish enough to let Translink squander billions more taxpayer’s dollars? A Broadway subway costing $3 billion? Well if the proposed subway goes to UBC, the cost would be more like $4 billion. LRT can’t operate on Broadway? A LRT line on […]

Has TransLink Ignored SkyTrain Safety by Refusing to Install Sliding Doors at Stations?

The VAL automatic metro in Lille, France has sliding doors at stations to prevent suicides as mandated by EEC rules for automatic metro systems. This begs the question; “Has TransLink ignored this important safety feature to reduce costs for the SkyTrain and Canada line mini-metro systems?” The sad answer is that TransLink finds it cheaper […]

Another suicide on SkyTrain

A touchy subject but it must be addressed. A medical emergency is TransLink speak for someone killed by a Skytrain, either by accident or suicide. In most cases some poor soul has decided to end their days by throwing themselves in front of a driverless SkyTrain. For those contemplating suicide, their twisted thinking is that […]

TransLink wants $23 billion to expand transit system

From your wildest dreams department: TransLink wants 23 billion dollars over the next three decades to improve transit. Ha, ha, ha; and this from an organization who has been less than honest about transit since their inception. Really boys & girls, do you still want the public to believe that subways will attract more new […]