A discussion about TransLink

A new transit blog is in town and I think it is well worth a read. Called Inside TransLink, it gives an insider’s view of the organization and the many problems the exist, culminating with this rather destructive transit plebiscite. http://www.insidetranslink.ca/ The ways to improve TransLink, from a voice that saw the inside. Ai??There are […]

Terence Corcoran: Hey, Vancouver: Just say ai???Noai??i?? to transit tax

Though I am trying to avoid unhappiness with the upcoming transit plebiscite, this item from the Financial Post is well worth a read. What I find interesting, is the following comment; “Even London, a world leader in public transit and congestion charges, is still bogged down in traffic. ai???Traffic jams in London getting worse, ai??? […]

Prototype battery-powered ai???IPEMUai??i?? carries passengers for first time

Battery powered trains are evolving at a fast pace. For the Chilliwack interurbanAi?? purposes, this sort of train could operate quite well on sections of non electrified track, including the 12.5 section of shared track with the Roberts Bank Railway and the 22 km section from the Fraser river Bridge to the downtown Vancouver Central […]

It is these debt-servicing costs that are contributing greatly to the need for the additional taxes

A little food for thought. From Liz James and the North Shore News. From the North Shore News JAMES: Get facts before marking your ballot Elizabeth James , contributing writer / North Shore News March 4, 2015 – See more at: Emotion will trump facts every time.ai??? ai??i?? Keith Baldrey, North Shore News, Feb. 11, […]

The Myth That Everyone Naturally Prefers Trains to Buses

Actually it is not a myth, transit customers do prefer rail to buses. The study does leave out the fact that rail’s operating costs can be much less than buses because the tram can operate in multiple units, thus with one driver carrying more passengers. In the end though, transit customers perceive that BRT is […]

Aussie Companies Ante Up For Trams

Love to see this happen in Vancouver! I wonder if the Board of Trade would be supporting TransLink’s initiative if their members had to come up with $300 or $400 million for transit improvements or if their members had to pay for the extra cost of subway construction under Broadway? Parramatta Powerful corporate syndicate hatch […]

You have sat too long ……………..

TransLink CEO Ian Jervis has been made to “walk the plank” in an attempt to appease the No side of the upcoming plebiscite. A quote from Oliver Cromwell comes to mind, when he dismissed the rump parliament. You have sat too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us […]

Le Mans A tram for a small city

While both BC Transit and TransLink gold-plate LRT planning with millions of dollars of extras, making tram projects almost as expensive as SkyTrain, the new Le Mans LRT/tramway demonstrates that light rail is affordable for smaller cities. The new 15.4 km Le Mans Tramway total cost is about CAD $450 million, including cars or about […]

Bombardier Transportation accused of corruption in South Korea

A single car train on the Yongin Everline Line The following is from CBC Radio Canada. Even though the date of this news item is Jan. 28, no news outlet in Vancouver has mentioned it. It also answers the question why TransLink has ignored the Yongin Line, it only has one car! So let us […]

Adios, the Shopping Mall?

The shape of things to come? Transportation planners in Metro Vancouver should take note that when planning very expensive fixed transit infrastructure to shopping malls, if the mall closes in 15 years, the transit system will have very expensive infrastructure to nowhere. This is very true for SkyTrain and its $80 million/km elevated structure is […]