UBC Transit A?ai??i??ai??? Rapid transit for UBC has priority over SurreyA?ai??i??ai???s, students and university say

Well now, someone should instruct the UBC Alma Matter Society on the economics of subway/light-metro and light rail, because there is no way that a $4 billion subway can be funded by $1.00 a day U-Pass ticket holders. That Translink still wastes the taxpayer’s money planning for yet more SkyTrain for the region only confirms […]

Build Murray-Clarke A?ai??i??ai??? or Evergreen support goes: PM council

An interesting little spat is taking place in Port Moody, where the city council want TransLink to chip in with the Murray-Clarke Connector project and if they don’t, they will pull their support for the Evergreen (Nevergreen) Line. This confirms two of Zwei’s opinions about the $1.4 billion light-metro project: The Evergreen Line is front […]

Abbotsford Today Doesn’t Like the Rail for the Valley/Leewood Report

A new valley magazine and web site, Abbotsford Today doesn’t like the RftV/Leewood report and one wonders why? What do they want, more new highways or a SkyTrain that will never come? Issues: Costs Still Make Light Rail A Pipe Dream http://www.abbotsfordtoday.ca/?p=46791 AsAi??Ai??stated before, the report was a feasibility study for the implantation of a […]

Vancouver Commuting Habits

Ai??Ai?? The following information from the Out-of-home Marketing Research Association of Canada or OMAC is certainly contrary to the SkyTrain lobby claims that SkyTrain takes a large share of Vancouver’s commuters. But Zwei knew that already as if any claims made by Translink about SkyTrain being a wunder system are quickly dispelled by the lack […]

Trains get streetwise

The following link from the Professional Engineering Magazine ….. http://www.profeng.com/archive/2010/2311/23110053.htm ….. is well worth the read as it neatly sums up the German city of Karlsruhe’s success in integrating transit. Karlsruhe, it must be remembered, pioneered the TramTrain concept andAi??Ai??with stunning results. When the firstAi??Ai??TramTrain line (which replaced a commuter train & one transfer) opened […]

News Round-up – October 12, 2010

It seems Russian tram operators know how to conduct a tram emergency test.Ai??Ai?? The ultimate annual tram emergency exercise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OwPSI5eJQ&feature=related From the Langley Times http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/langleytimes/opinion/104350994.html The Vancouver Province http://www.theprovince.com/opinion/Premier+transit+pitch+hard+swallow/3635873/story.html The North Shore News http://www.nsnews.com/news/Railroading/3643583/story.html Queensland First contracts awarded for Gold Coast Light Rail http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/07/3032028.htm or http://tinyurl.com/32w8j3e Green light for GC rail tenderers http://tinyurl.com/27gzfrs Avignon The […]

World Cities – population, population density, transport including Light Rail/Trams – Round 2

The following is a revised account of city population and the type of transit used; metro or light rail. With Vancouver’s low population density, makes one wonder why the transportation authority and politicians only look at light-metro for transit solutions. World City Rankings – 2 – Asia – view The top 31 No Asian cities, […]

If One Build Metro On Routes That Do Not Have The Ridership That Would Justify Contruction……

…..Then One Will Have To Pay Large Subsidies To Build And Operate It! Large Subsidies Translates Into Higher Taxes! Of course those high subsidies will have to be borne by the taxpayer, either in gas taxes, car levies, or road pricing (or all three), and or increased property taxes. The current belief by TransLink’s highly […]

BRT to Chilliwack & SkyTrain to Langley? Just Business as Usual in BC!

The following article by Brian Lewis should forewarn us that the transit decision for the Fraser Valley has been already made. Like all transit studies done in the region in the past 30 years, the decision on transit mode is made beforehand and thenAi??Ai??a study is commissioned to confirm the decision. This is howAi??Ai??transit planning […]

The 10,000 PPHPD Question – TransLink is Hoisted on its Own Petard

At the recent streetcar symposium in Vancouver, TransLink officials contend that streetcars have very little capacity, almost less than a busAi??Ai??and that light rail can carry only 10,000 persons per hour per direction. This,Ai??Ai??despite the fact that the Light Rail Transit Association has, since the 1980’s, defined LRT “as a mode that can carry 2,000 […]