Pre-fab Track for Broadway

Slab or prefabricated track maybe an economicAi??solution for light rail/streetcar construction on Broadway in Vancouver. Combined with using the existing OHLE (span wires and vertical supports), construction of a streetcar/LRT on Broadway could be built and in operation in less than two years. The Broadway to UBC route is mainly straight, with little need for […]

Fare Evasion Kool Aid – TransLink Again Bamboozles the Mainstream Media

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If weai??i??ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. Weai??i??re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. Itai??i??s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that weai??i??ve been taken. Once you give a […]

U-Pass Fraud Tops $15 Million Annually

As predicted, the much vaunted U-Pass program isAi??costing TransLink at least $15 million annually, more thanAi??reported fare evasion, yet there is nary a peep from the mainstream media. Zwei’s sources at TransLink report that the U-Pass program is costing the taxpayer a lot more than what is being reported and there is no way that […]

Rob Ford fails to derail light rail lines

Mayor Rob Ford wend down swinging, saying again that people want subways, not LRT. However, Toronto City Council endorsed the $8.4 million master plan to build four LRT lines by a 30 to 11 margin. Toronto Sun story at: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/11/01/ford-defied-more-toronto-light-rail By Don Peat ,City Hall Bureau Chief First posted:Thursday, November 01, 2012 08:20 The Crosstown […]

Vancouver’s 2040 Transportaion Plan Will Fail

With great fanfare and hoopla, the Vision Vancouver controlled city council has approved a rather vision-less transportation plan for the future. The plan is fatally flawed as the one tool with a proven record of reducing traffic, light rail or LRT/streetcar (tram for our European friends) is absent. Pretty pictures of people crossing on a […]

People love their cars or do they?

Portland sometimes struggles to find the right balance between car use and alternative modes of transportation. Striking the balance will require tough choices as population and housing density increase. Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/10/people_like_their_cars_a_fact.html Funny, people love cars. That may be why data released last week by researchers at Metro, the regional government, showed as much. […]

But, What About Hard Numbers?

In classic fashion, a TransLink news release to the mainstream media claims that, “there was a 17-per cent increase in the total number of trips taken on transit from 2008 to 2011.”, yet no hard numbers are used, and why not? TransLink wants money, a lot of money and how better to groom the taxpayer […]

Federal Government Forces Transit P-3’s

In Europe, a P3 is a tool where by a private consortium is involved in the planning, design, building, and operation of a transit project, then ‘hires‘ money, in a form of a loan,Ai??from a bank or institution and assumes risk in the building and operation of a transit project.Ai??The P-3 consortium thenAi??pays back theAi??loan […]

SkyTrain & Canada Line Hubris At The Vancouver Sun

I see that the Vancouver Sun is continuing its propaganda campaign for the Canada Line with Saturday’s effort; “Future is bright for Cambie Corridor as development booms.” http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Stories/813152/story.html#ixzz29rcrw1OW What the article boils down to, is that the Canada Line was never about moving the public, nor reducing auto use (remember the 200,000 car journeys taken […]

Cities by the sea

A tale of two marine citiesai??i?? Bordeaux & Vancouver have much in common Ocean location Temperate climate Situated on a major tidal river A large natural seaport Extensive transport links, river, rail, air & road to the hinterland Comparable land area, both city & metropolitan areas An outstanding urban and architectural ensemble City Land Area […]