Metro mayors pitch ideas to keep Evergreen Line from going off the rails

Looks like the regional mayors are trying to save face with the delay in building the Evergreen Line. How about just saying no. Regional mayors should tell the Minister of Transportation and TransLink this: "If your government compels TransLink to plan and build with the proprietary SkyTrain light-metro system, then your government should pay the […]

SkyTrain justifications are way off track

It seems The North Shore News’s Liz James has scored a direct hit with her most recent article andAi??I hope the rest of the Post Media papers pick this up and print it. BC Transit and now TransLink has made the LRT/SkyTrain debate an idealogicalAi??one and not a debate about what is best for the […]

Around Canada

A column published by The National Post says Toronto has a fetish for streetcars and what the city really needs is more rapid transit subways to make it a world class urban area. The commentary compares Toronto with London and its Tube system:http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/06/10/kelvin-browne-derailed-by-the-spacehog-streetcar/ Every city with aspirations for greatness insists on good transit, and subways […]

A letter about light rail, the Vancouver Sun refuses to print.

It is strange that the pro-SkyTrain Vancouver Sun printed an article about the proposed Victoria LRT project, unless the Sun wanted to cool the anti-Evergreen Line, pro-LRT stance taken by many regional mayors, especially mayor Watts of Surrey. The gist of the Victoria story….. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Opinion+plan+Victoria+mayor+nervously+eyeing+bill/4917237/story.html#ixzz1Oshzwu6NBy …. is that LRT is also very expensive and that […]

Maybe Evergreen Line just isn’t affordable – From the Vancouver Province

Maybe Evergreen Line just isn’t affordable – you think? 11 km. of transit route for over $1.4 billion seems to be just a tad too much especially when it is compared with other transit modes, but Translink has created a lot of spin for the (N)Evergreen Line and it would be truly embarrassing for them if […]

LRT for Dummies – I hope Clark and Dix read this!

From the Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/06/infographic-light-rail-transit-for-dummies/239664/ Infographic: Light Rail Transit for Dummies Jun 2 2011 It's a subject that's sparked quite a bit of heated discussion, both in our own offices here at the Watergate and in homes across America. President Obama and his team have promised millions to transform our country's rail system, but several Republican […]

News From Down-Under

What I like about this article from Australia is that the picture gives a clear indication of what a LRT/streetcar line should look like down Broadway or any other city street in the region. This is how Broadway could look like with modern Light Rail. Councils are on line for tram fight EXCLUSIVE by Vikki […]

Before & after – TOD French Tramway style

Angers: before and after the coming of the Tram Taken from http://www.lineoz.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19049&p=317604#p317604 Ai?? The series of images shows the improvements in the urban environment that the introduction of an at-grade tram system can bring. 1. Rue de la RoAi??Ai??Ai??- before and after Ai??2. Alsace – before and after Finally a link to a `drivers eye’ […]

Solve bus problems: Make TransLink accountable

It takes a #49 bus driver to talk sense on the overcrowding issue, but is anyone listening? Note to TransLink: Being passed by by your bus makes the transit service seem customer unfriendly and unless one has a ‘cheap‘ bus pass, taking the bus becomes a second or thirdAi??transit option, with the car being the […]

Sound Transit to invest $2.1M in rail, bus ridership research

Seattle's LRT is grossly overbuilt for what it does. Seattle has built a grossly over-engineered light rail line which has more in common with Vancouver's SkyTrain light metro than LRT and ridership is flagging. Having failed to meet forecast ridership comes as no surprise as the hybrid light rail/metro is trying to be all things to all […]