More Links for Transit oriented Development

Today, more links for TOD in low density areas. My thanks to David Cockle for sending them to Rail for the Valley! Ai??Ai?? http://www.drcog.org/index.cfm?page=TODDensity http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm45.htm http://tinyurl.com/btacou http://www.sacrt.com/realestate/TODpage.stm

Smart Growth. A look into Cities, Urban planning, and the Sustainable Movement.

A reader of this blog has kindly given ‘Zwei’ some links about Smart Growth around the world and they are very much well worth having a look. http://smarturbandesign.blogspot.com/2009/04/mall-of-america-and-minneapolis-light.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQQ/is_8_41/ai_81104210/ http://www.friends4expo.org/ltrail.htm http://www.drcog.org/documents/LRT%20and%20TOD.pdf http://www.thespec.com/article/717530 http://www.mindspring.com/~tbgray/lrtmaps.htm

Notes on – Broadway merchants want light rail not SkyTrain down business corridor – meeting

A few thoughts on Tuesdays meeting put on by BARSTA regarding transit issues on Broadway or what Zweisystem calls the ‘Broadway Follies’. First though a comment on Vancouver’s pedestrians; my god does anyone in Vancouver, including pedestrians and cyclists obey the rules of the road? Driving in Vancouver reminded me of some sort of perverted […]

An Interesting Post From Net Density – American Changes to Transit funding

I wish we could apply the same criteria to our ‘rail‘ transit planning. Economic development Mobility improvements Environmental benefits Operating efficiencies Cost effectiveness Land use What, no mention of increasing population density? I wonder why? Ai??Ai?? Could new FTA A?ai??i??Ai??livabilityA?ai??i??A? funding rules change Southwest LRT route? Posted by Brendon on January 30, 2010 The big […]

Questions: What density is needed for ‘Rail’ Transit? Does Anyone Really Know?

Simple questions today folks. Over the past few weeks the ugly question of densityAi??Ai??has beenAi??Ai??rearing its ugly head in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley concerning transit. Vancouver council is considering major density increases for Cambie Street because it has the Canada line mini-metro and the same treatment is expected for Broadway if ‘rail‘ transit is […]

Light Rail on Broadway – The SkyTrain Lobby Ramps Up The Costs – BARSTA Fights Back

On June 22nd, at St. James Community Square 3214 West 10th Avenue at Trutch, a public meeting will take place concerning the building of ‘rail‘ transit on or under Broadway. What is of no great surprise, Translink has vastly ‘ramped’ up the cost for building modern light rail, with needless over-design. This is the tired […]

Take the Tram – From the AntonNews.com Long Island New York

Take the Tram By Michael Miller Friday, 11 June 2010 Why in 2010 does it often take twice as long to get from the North Shore to the Five Towns than it does to get from Mineola to White Plains? Cars are choking our roads, gas prices are threatening our economic viability. We need alternative […]

The Broadway Follies Part 4 – The Versatile Light Rail

TheAi??Ai??entire transit debate for the Broadway route has been defined by the SkyTrain Lobby as a quest for speed, as if speed was the only criteria for a successful urban ‘rail‘ line. Yet speed of a transit system is onlyAi??Ai??one ofAi??Ai??many factors that determine a successful ‘rail‘ transit line. From the Haas-Klau study (Bus or […]

Stephen Rees’s blog – Bond shies away from major TransLink reforms – well worth a read.

Many who read the Rail for the Valley blog also read Stephen Rees’s blog, but for the growing number of overseas visitors, his most recent post; “Bond shies away from major TransLink reforms” is well worth a read. http://stephenrees.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/bond-shies-away-from-major-translink-reforms/

Two Tram projects planned in northern France. What no VAL?

What is interesting about this announcement is that the new tram projects are planned near Lille France, which operates the VAL automatic mini-metro. The two approved tram or light-rail lines are very close to the City of Lille and the VAL mini-metro system. This poses the question: Why not build with VAL? French cities that […]