Two letters in the North Shore News

The usual suspects yes, but an insight to the up coming Evergreen Line/Broadway – UBC metro line debate. Take the regional view on transit investment North Shore News Published:Ai??Ai??Wednesday, March 24, 201o Dear Editor: In her March 17 columns Costly SkyTrain Technology Choices Baffle, Elizabeth James, cites U.S. professor Panos Prevedouros saying, “Light rail service […]

From the Tri City News – Olympic transit wasn’t as good as the hype

An interesting letter that appeared in the Tri-City news, reflecting that transit service during the Olympics wasn’t all what TransLink claimed. The reason for reproducing the letter is that Zwei has heard from several people that the regional transit system wasn’t working as advertised and many just took the car instead. Olympic transit wasn’t as […]

Costly SkyTrain technology choices baffle – From the North Shore News

It seems that the efforts of Zwei and others have paid off’ asAi??Ai??others in the region are taking note of LRT and TramTrain and the hugeAi??Ai??costs that go along with the SkyTrain light-metro system and subway construction. TramTrain andAi??Ai??especially “Rail for the Valley” itselfAi??Ai??may find some welcome allies to their cause from the North Shore, […]

Half a million riders; but the Olympic streetcar won’t be staying- From News Radio 1130

500,000 customers moved in two months, by two Flexity trams is a very good statistic and bodes well for further expansion of LRT/streetcar in the region. It is time to build a ‘real’ streetcar/LRT line to show what a streetcar/LRT can do! Ai??Ai?? Ai??Ai??Half a million riders; but the Olympic streetcar won’t be staying Dave […]

Hawaii SkyTrain Project Heats Up

A Hawaiian blog by Ian Lind posted Zwei’s ‘Debunking SkyTrain Series’ and continues the hot debate on the elevated SkyTrain project in Hawaii. http://ilind.net/2010/03/03/responses-show-rail-a-very-hot-topic/ It is good that the locals are beginning to ask questions about SkyTrain and may be beginning to see that the proprietary light-metro isn’t as great as ‘sliced bread’ which the […]

From the Tyee On Line NewsPaper: Vancouver’s Street Car Gift: Keep It?

An interesting article from the Tyee. Vancouver’s Street Car Gift: Keep It? To the delight of tourists and locals, the Olympic Line streetcar has been delivering people smoothly from Athlete’s Village on lower Cambie Street to Granville Island since Jan. 21. A Bombardier Flexity Outlook on loan from Brussels for the duration of the Games, […]

Olympic Hubris – Will The Wrong Conclusions Be Made By Our Planning & Political Elites?

In the last days of the 2010 Olympics, much has been made about how well our transportation worked during the event. What has been overlooked is that for the two week extravaganza, Vancouver had much warmer seasonal weather, meaning noAi??Ai??snow to stall the SkyTrain metro and make a shambles out of the bus schedules. Added […]

A Press Release From The Light Rail Transit Association

Ai?? The following press release from the LRTA is their response to the UK Ai??Ai??All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group, regarding LRT which ‘Zwei’ commented on earlier in the week. http://railforthevalley.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/all-party-parliamentary-light-rail-group-applrg-report-should-we-do-the-same-in-bc/   PRES S RELEASE FROM Ai??Ai?? TramForward 25 February 2010 Ai??Ai??   TramForwardAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??welcomes publication of Light Rail and the City regions Report TramForward welcomes […]

All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group (APPLRG) report – Should we do the same in BC?

Some interesting news from across the pond. Urban transit development in the UK has been hamstrung by a very powerful and vocal ‘Roads Lobby’, within the central government (not unlike the SkyTrain Lobby in Victoria), which has all but stopped light rail development in the UK. In an era of peak oil and global warming, […]

A Tram in the Black Forest

This U-Tube of a Karlsruhe TramTrain, goingAi??Ai??about its businessAi??Ai??in Germany’s Black Forest certainly makes a mockery of the ‘needAi??Ai??for density’ claim by those opposing the Fraser Valley interurban. By utilizing existing railway infrastructure, LRT can penetrate into unpopulated areas very cheaply, thus creating a larger tram network, as well servicing far flung transit destinations. Karlsruhe’s […]