PortlandA?ai??i??ai???s Regional Planning Agency Highlights Two New Corridors for Light Rail – From the Transport Politic

Interesting news from Portland Oregon, where their light rail system keeps on growing at a steady pace, with taxpayer’s approving construction onAi??Ai??every new line. It must be remembered that Portland’s original light railAi??Ai??line cost one quarter of that to build than Vancouver’s SkyTrain and the regional taxpayer has never been allowed to vote on any […]

The demise of the Evergreen Line – How does this affect the valley interurban?

It seems that TransLink, which is in deep financial trouble, is on the verge of dumping the Evergreen SkyTrain Line. No surprise here as the proposed Evergreen line follows a route with little ridership potential. Despite claims and opinions to the contrary, there is little demand for a SkyTrain metro extension to the Tri-Cities as […]

First day passengers pay for Seattle light rail – From the Seattle PI

The costs for Seattle’s hybrid light-metro/rail system are about on par with Vancouver’s SkyTrain, indeed there was a lot of collaboration from Vancouver’s transit planners and Seattle’s planners on ‘rail’ transit. What Seattle has is an extremely expensive light rail system that resembles a ‘poor-man’s’ metro than light rail. The massive costs of expansion will […]

The high cost of subway construction compared to LRT

Ai??Ai??The following excerpt from the UK House of Commons Select Committee on light rail, 2000, reported the following subway construction costs in 2004 Canadian dollars:Ai??ai??i?? Toulouse metro line B – CAD $161 million/km. Turin metro extension – CAD $196 million/km. Meteor Metro, Paris – CAD $290 million/km. Singapore metro – CAD $420.7 million/km. Jubilee Line […]

Take Transit Campaign to Province – From the Aldergrove Star

The following is a letter from VALTAC, published in many Fraser Valley newspapers and I believe sums up what the majority of residents think. Regional mayors should think twice before supporting any moreAi??Ai??TransLink inspired taxes, until the TransLink behemoth itself, cleans house. Editor: Re: TransLink Workshop Consultation Process, June 1-2. Kicked off with a May […]

TransLink funding crunch has mayors worried about Evergreen – From the Tri-City News

This is not surprising at all, with very little ridership potential and massive costs, it is real challenge to make the Evergreen Line SkyTrain, light-metro line successful! Again, TransLink completely ignores the folly of building hugely expensive metro lines on transit lines with not nearly enough ridership to demand metro service. TransLink is bankrupt, yet […]

Wuppertal Schwebebahn – The 108 year old gadgetbahnen!

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn isAi??Ai??one of theAi??Ai??most unique public transit system in the world, a true monorail.Ai??Ai??Opened in 1901, the Schwebebahn operated overAi??Ai??98 years before it recorded itsAi??Ai??first fatal accident and thus quite correctly, can be called the safest public transit system in the world. What is also interesting is that the Schwebebahn was never copied […]

Time to Bell TransLink’s Cat

A letter that appeared in several lower mainland weeklies. Editor: TransLink is bankrupt, but as every bureaucracy knows, the taxpayer can be forced to ante up; in Canada, higher taxes cures all ills. TransLink may not know how to plan for affordable transit, but the ‘boys and girls in the ivory towers’ know how to […]

Bogota TransMilenio ‘BRT’ selling ‘carbon credits’ – From the Light Rail now folks

This is an interesting article, but badly marred by very poor research by the author.Ai??Ai?? It also should be noted that bus ridership figuresAi??Ai??for South American BRT’s have proven to be greatly overstated. What also isAi??Ai??not mentioned isAi??Ai??that BRT has been disappointing in operation in North America, India, Australia and Europe, failing to achieve projected […]

NYC: Transport chief pushes more livable city, but faces anti-rail BRT "booby trap" – From the Light Rail Now Folks

Ominous news for the Fraser Valley efforts to reinstate the interurban, as it seems New York City’s transit plannersAi??Ai??are going against the world trend in building with LRT and instead is planning for Bus Rapid Transit or BRT. What a coincidence that TransLink’s new CEO,Ai??Ai??comes from New York City and its long established transit bureaucracy. […]