The Future through Zwei’s (not so) Crystal ball

The big transit news for 2014 is the BC Liberal transit referendum. What will be the outcome? What will be the question asked for the public to vote on? Presently, I do not think even the Premier herself can answer these questions, as Premier Clark, like several Premiers before her, is a “rubber on asphalt” […]

What $536 Million Will Buy You, Part 2 – A Rail for the Valley TramTrain

The Leewood Study Diesel Hybrid option Stage 1 Phase 1. It is as simple as that. http://www.railforthevalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/chilliwacktosurreyinterurbanfinalreportr.pdf – Chilliwack to Scott Road [Diesel/hybrid option] summary capital cost . CAD $491,819,424.00 (CAD $5.02m per km)

Improving Metro Vancouverai??i??s public transit system

It seems you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, especially ex GVRD types. Mr. Spaeth has, like many other GVRD/Metro Vancouver types, have deluded themselves that transit has taken cars of the road in Vancouver.Ai?? The reason for declining car use is the changing nature of the city, but this has not translated to […]

Death By Toll

Is anyone surprised by this? If you are, you are either residing outside Metro Vancouver or you are living in a bubble, because the taxpayer is maxed out. The BC Liberal regime of Gordon Campbell has off-loaded so many user fees, taxes and other costs on to the backs of taxpayers that he has all […]

Why we build with light rail

The following was Zweisystem’s first offering on the Rail for the Valley blog, posted on December 12, 2008. Five years and some 1,359 posts later, the message has stayed essentially the same; why does the provincial government and TransLink still pursue light metro instead of LRT, especially when light metro has proven inferior in service […]

TransLink’s Fiscal House of Cards

Is TransLink’s financial ‘house of cards‘ ready to collapse? It seems the independent commissioner overseeing TransLink thinks so. Certainly the ‘self proclaimed‘ transit experts are circling TransLink like vultures seem to thinks so, by advocating more onerous taxes on the public with ‘road pricing‘ and even a ‘border toll’. Zwei has not heard of one […]

Wisdom From Ottawa

  Our friend Haveacow, is a transit professional and his comment, I believe’ gets to core of TransLink’s woes. When you add in the extra costs of operating the Canada Line and SkyTrain ALRT/ICTS Lines, one can easily see why TransLink’s costs are a third higher than Edmonton and Calgary. From Haveacow and please forward […]

So, Where Did The $500 Million Go?

Not before another dime is spent on TransLink, some fiscal sanity must come to TransLink. TransLink has operating expenses which are about one-third greater than the transit industry norm in Canada.Ai?? For the present annual $1.5 billion operating budget of TransLinkAi?? this works out to $500 million annually in unexplained operating expenses.Ai?? How can the […]

Surrey asks feds for $1.8 billion for light rail- Maybe It’s Time To Say Adios to TransLink

Well, Toronto’s crack smoking Toronto’s mayor Rob Ford wants Ottawa to fund his multi billion dollar subway dream, I guess Surrey feels the feds should ante up for transit projects out west. What the likes of UBC professor Larry Franks doesn’t realize or refuses to realize is that Skytrain is obsolete, a yesterday’s transit system […]

Massive pileup closes Highway 1 in Chilliwack. We need a rail alternative!

One wonders if we had a TramTrain service from Chilliwack to Vancouver, would it reduce the chances ofAi?? major accidents, especially in icy weather?If a major closure of Hwy. 1 does happens, would not a Chilliwack to Vancouver TramTrain service offer a handy alternative for people wishing to travel to Vancouver or Surrey, or Langley, […]