A Bad Day For SkyTrain

Oops, a bad day for TransLink and the mini-metro system. Confusion reigns, as TransLink can’t even manage a coherent news story. Canada Line resumes after ai???fire incidentai??? causes delays Vancouver, BC, Canada / News Talk 980 CKNW | Vancouver’s News. Vancouver’s Talk Simon Little December 29, 2015 Good news for rush hour commuters ai??i?? TransLink […]

The Other SkyTrain Saga

Question: What happens when developers have to pay for expensive subway construction? Answer: They want to build with much cheaper light rail instead. Reality: Subways are great, if someone else pays for them. Lesson: Lost on Vision(less) Vancouver, the provincial Minister for Transportation, the Premier, the NDP, TransLink, and regional mayors. Developers highlight ai???defectai??i?? in […]

TramTrain’s In The UK – Good News For Rail for the Valley

This news item from the UK, is good news for those who advocate for TramTrain operation in Canada. Why? The Sheffield TramTrains have gone through a rigorous safety program of testing overseen by the UK’s Office of Rail and Road formerly her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate, a body that is highly respected around the world. Sheffield’s […]

The Seamless (No Transfer) Journey

From a 2010 post, edited for today. It has been long known with transit operators that the seamless or no transfer journey is the ‘ticket’ to attract customers to public transit as it is well understood that one could lose upwards of 70% of ridership per transfer, even inter modal. On older tramways and streetcar […]

A Letter to the Prime Minister – Transit Issues in Metro Vancouver

Sent November 9, 2015 Dear Prime Minister Trudeau; Congratulations on your recent electoral success and now a fresh wind sweeps across Canada. I have been an advocate for better public transit in the Metro Vancouver region for over 30 years. I have seen three major rapid transit projects built during this time and can honestly […]

The 1986 LRTA Study: Bus ai??i?? LRT ai??i?? Metro Comparison

I thought I would again reprint this post from May 20, 2010 as it may clear up some major misconceptions about LRT capacity, since many in Metro Vancouver are very confused about modern light rail. There is an ongoing debate today that LRTAi??can only carry a limited number of riders and that the magic number […]

Global News Spotlights SkyTrain’s Ills

To say I am gobsmacked is an understatement, Global News actually had a rather negative story about SkyTrain, which convinces me some pointed questions about the proprietary railway are circling in Victoria. Everything about SkyTrain, from it being forced onto the region in the early 80’s, the NDP flip-flop of the Millennium Line and forcing […]

In Toronto Developers Want Light Rail and Not A Subway!

Something new. In Toronto, developers want light rail and not an expensive subway to replace their life expired SkyTrain Line, the Scarborough R/T. What should be of interest is that the ridership on the proposed LRT/subway route, is more than the proposed SkyTrain subway under Broadway. Maybe Vision(less) Vancouver would rethink their grand Broadway subway […]

Vancouver Blunders Ahead With Its Vanity Project.

Well, Vision(less) Vancouver is blundering ahead with its much cherished $3 billion subway under Broadway and our feckless politicians South of the Fraser remaining willfully blind to this billions of dollars boondoggle. One would think they would be more in tuned with the costs of this massive project. Surrey has been bought off with its […]

SkyTrain Gadgetbahnen Goes Ka-Put……Agian!

From our photo file: It would be a cold walk on the guideway tonight. The aging SkyTrain shows once again shows the pitfalls of building with a proprietary light metro and TransLink’s ‘hub to hub’ transit planning. There is no redundancy, no plan B, except for buses that are promised but never come, and the […]