If Cambie Street grows as hoped, City of Vancouver will lose big bucks – From The Vancouver Sun

As stated before many times, rapid transit development in Vancouver, especially the Millennium and RAV/Canada Lines, has been about development and not moving people. The hype and hoopla of TransLink and the mainstream media that the Canada Line is carrying 94,000 riders a day ignores the fact that all except about 10% of the Canada […]

Questions: What density is needed for ‘Rail’ Transit? Does Anyone Really Know?

Simple questions today folks. Over the past few weeks the ugly question of densityAi??Ai??has beenAi??Ai??rearing its ugly head in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley concerning transit. Vancouver council is considering major density increases for Cambie Street because it has the Canada line mini-metro and the same treatment is expected for Broadway if ‘rail‘ transit is […]

Deficit hawkism = gloomy outlook for public transit

An interesting item from the Light Rail Transit Association blog. The same seems to be true for Vancouver, but only with a twist. All levels of government seem to want to only fund (and partially at that) the most expensive forms of rail transit; subways and elevatedAi??Ai??metros instead of much cheaper at-grade/on-street light rail. The […]

U-Pass program offered to more students in Metro Vancouver, across B.C. Will Transit Fares soon increase?

Gordon Campbell is in trouble, the HST fiasco is as close to a ‘pitchfork‘ rebellion as one can get, so to increase his popularity he must buy off voters and in a classic Campbell downloading taxes onto the poor announcementAi??Ai??has declared a universal U-Pass to all post secondary students. The problem is, the region has […]

TransLink’s Renumerations. A $270 Regional Transit Tax Well spent??

Ever wanted to know what Translink pays their erstwhile spin-doctor,Ken Hardie? Would you beleive $151,000 a year with $18,500 in expenses in 2008. Why was Better Environmentaly Sound Transportation (BEST) paid $61,886 in 2008? Are you appalled by the fact that Gordon Campbell’s and Keven Falcon’s TransLink Board of Ameutuers, which replaced theAi??Ai??previous board made […]

Texas’s Newest ‘Rail’ Transit line, the Red Line

This article for Mass Transit should prove interesting to supporters of the “return of the interurban“, in the Fraser Valley. What should be of interest is the cost of the 32 mile (51.5 km)Ai??Ai??line is less than $5 million per mile or $3.1 million per km. (CAD $ 3.24 million)! Let’s see, a Vancouver to […]

Canada’s gridlocked mayors call for multi-level strategy on transit

The following news item shows that the issue of public and regional transit and funding of transit is beginning to creep into the politicians radar. Throwing more money at transit will not solve very much as politicians have a very strange habit of funding their ‘pet‘ projects. The federal government can help by rewriting the […]

TransLink’s Ridership Numbers – Can They Be Trusted?

Several local blogs have trumpeted TransLink’s claim thatAi??Ai??March’s ridership is up over 19% from the same time last year. http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Olympic+commuters+sticking+with+public+transit/3065957/story.html#Comments Yet ‘Zwei’ has some nagging questions as to how TransLinkAi??Ai??counts transitAi??Ai??ridership, especially on the metro system. Back in BC Transit days, the transit agencyAi??Ai??proclaimed in annual news releases; “that ridership on the SkyTrain metro has […]

SkyTrain service shut down between two Surrey stations

From the Vancouver Sun. According to the SkyTrain Lobby, SkyTrain operates trouble free; well not today it seems. SkyTrain service shut down between two Surrey stations May 25, 2010 SURREY – A problem with a train near the end of the Surrey section has shut down SkyTrain service between Gateway and King George stations. Coast […]

The Failure To Understand Modern Light Rail = Public Transit Chaos

‘Zwei’ has been taken aback by the viciousness of the SkyTrain Lobby and the great lengths they haveAi??Ai??taken in discrediting the LRT, while at the same time refusing to acknowledge the marketing failure of the proprietary (ICTS/ALRT/ALM/ART ) light-metro system, known in Vancouver as SkyTrain. ‘Zwei’ is also taken aback by abject refusalAi??Ai??by many supposed […]