https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksGM1nTWPDI
Chicago's FORGOTTEN "L" Lines- The History of Chicago Elevated Trains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NPCFnF4csA
UTL is about exploring past, present and future urban technologies in science and fiction, etc...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksGM1nTWPDI
Chicago's FORGOTTEN "L" Lines- The History of Chicago Elevated Trains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NPCFnF4csA
Vancouver is an incredibly small city with a land area of only 115.18 km2 (44.47 sq mi). It barely makes it into the top 10 largest cities in Canada. A lot of people still don't realize that Burnaby and Richmond, like the North Shore cities aren't within the small city limits of Vancouver. However, The Greater Vancouver Regional District is more comparable to other medium to semi-big cities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver#Geography
Unfortunately, Vancouver keeps opting for small scale transportation infrastructure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver#Transportation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_municipalities_in_Canada_by_population
https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/canada/vancouver 752K
| Toronto | 3,358,275 | 2.64% |
| Montreal | 1,943,903 | 1.49% |
| Calgary | 1,678,073 | 4.04% |
| Edmonton | 1,284,480 | 3.73% |
| Ottawa | 1,218,903 | 2.59% |
| Winnipeg | 870,032 | 2.33% |
| Brampton | 801,732 | 3.08% |
| Mississauga | 768,794 | 0.55% |
| Vancouver | 751,644 | 1.51% |
| Surrey | 731,630 | 3.99% |
https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/canada/vancouver#other-cities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtJHqEkPtYg Nice new walkthrough trains with AC.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/newton-skytrain-extension-considerations-opinion
A SkyTrain+line+from+Whalley+to+Newton and onto White Rock would make a lot of sense. However in the meantime, an express bus line from Surrey_Central_station to Newton_Exchange and especially onto White_Rock_Centre would be so much cheaper than the Skytrain. Eventually, SkyTrain+to+Newton and White Rock will be quite necessary.
https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=Newton ::
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/10/22/bc-election-why-are-both-main-parties-unprepared/
Backwards BC has been unprepared for generations. Regardless of who is in power, most of the bridges remain narrow and the trains are kept short.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-homeownership-losing-faith
The problem isn't with the stock of multimillion dollar homes, it that not enough affordable housing still hasn't been built.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-vancouver-real-estate-housing-construction-policies-opinion
Despite its overall area, Canada doesn't have 1% of the worlds population, not even half of 1 %.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-road-rage-bb-gun-police
Will cities eventually have AI drones patrolling over the streets? It could certainly help, but its also another level of general surveillance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Center Almost 80 floors in Seattle. Vancouver still won't permit any office tower to have a 40th floor.
https://columbiacenterseattle.com
An impressive building scale, even if it was in NYC, Chicago, L.A., Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas or S.F.
https://modtraveler.net/places/columbia-centre-2 Not even 30 floors.
https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/1111w-hastings-office-to-hotel-conversion-dp/
Perhaps its on an impressive scale if it were in PR, PG, Kamloops, Kelowna or Victoria, BC.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-conservatives-skytrain-newton-extension-election-promise
A Skytrain branch to Newton would be a good thing, but BC has a problem with getting enough funding to build proper big city size infrastructure. When things are finally built in BC, the trains are short and most of the bridges are still too narrow.
As usual, Greater Vancouver has been very slow to improve on a regional express bus network. A regional BRT system is still so Half-A$$ED, because there hasn't been a series of proper bus-bridges built over the Inlet and rivers for the past several decades.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/619-west-hastings-street-vancouver-hotel-office-revised-project
https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/619-675-w-hastings-st
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/619-685-west-hastings-street-vancouver-rbc-building
https://www.urbanyvr.com/royal-bank-tower-to-be-joined-by-sleek-new-addition/
https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/601-west-hastings/46241
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/99-b-line-rapidbus-renaming-broadway-subway-millennium-line-skytrain
The train isn't a 24hr system, yet there is a desire to reduce Broadway to only 2 lanes each way. 3 lanes each way would allow for more efficient 24hr bus service.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-judge-abbotsford-homicide-faint-hope-9.7387506
Its so unfortunate and tragic that they weren't able to call police, or even have an emergency help button that they could press. Some people might not only have a guard dog, but a special personal security drone on their house.
A B.C. judge ruled that restricting people who commit multiple murders from applying for early parole under the 'faint-hope' clause is unconstitutional https://vancouversun.com/news/family-frustrated-sentencing-delayed-for-men-who-killed-abbotsford-couple
Isn't it also unconstitutional to invade someone's home, tie them up, torture them, rob and then murder the occupants? Anyone who uses the argument that they need to rob people, and even kill them if they deem it so, but should still expect to eventually be on parole, has a strange perception of punishment for violent crime.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/10/19/bc-judge-says-parole-rules-for-murderers-unconstitutional/
Even if the defense can argue that the home invaders only wanted to rob them, something doesn't make sense. If the objective was to rob a house at night when the occupants were in bed, but then the thugs thought that it was necessary to tie them up, that might be considered to be a form of torture, especially during such a traumatic situation. Then, instead of just tying them up and leave, they thought that it was necessary to tape up an elderly mans face until he sufficated. Then it was also necessary to stab the tied up elderly woman.
So, somehow this is just supposed to be just a botched robbery and not cold blooded murder. Are hoodlums, thugs and robbers to expect that if a victim dies during the commission of a crime like a home invasion, they can still expect to eventually be out on parole someday?
Hopefully, enough family survivors and friends of such victims can get the law changed. To invade and rob people in their own home and then kill them, but not expect to get a life sentence is absurd.
In some countries such criminals are executed, but in Canada they can expect to be on parole even after committing cold blooded murder.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-doug-mccallum-mayor-2026-voters
Unlike Québec, Ontario and Alberta, BC has no individual city with at least a million people. However, the Greater_Vancouver Metropolitan Regional_District has over 2.6 million people and the BC Lower_Mainland has over 3 million residents.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-civic-election-mayoral-winners-results-2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_census_metropolitan_areas_and_agglomerations_in_Canada#List
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/doug-mccallum-elected-surrey-mayor-2026-election
Surrey is still set to become the biggest city in BC and Vancouver can't stop it. However, provincial NW stopped Surrey from having a new 6 lane bridge. The stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge should have opened with 2 bus lanes and 2 emergency lanes, or at least 2 wide shoulders. Instead, the stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge only opened with 2 general lanes each way, with no provision for LRT and BRT on a lower deck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0pN2GcIw1o
When all the usual BC restrictions kick in and thwart the scale and progress, it remains to be seen as to how much will be built.
https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2026/10/15/supertall-holborn-towers-and-view-protection/
There has been a long running concern by some about allowing big city infrastructure in backwater Vancouver. Things have been scaled back in Vancouver for so long that some people just can't fathom the potential of big city stuff.
https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/screenshot00606.jpg
The windows of the stumpy Scotiabank Tower in provincial Vancouver only go up to the 34th floor. The Scotiabank Tower in Toronto is twice as wide and the windows go up to 68th floor. The BMO in Vancouver has 32 floors while the BMO tower in Toronto has 72 floors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1LtBKE7yY8
There should be a few bus and bike bridges across the Fraser River.
Everyone has their own list of things to make a city better.
A bus and LRT tunnel should be built near the extremely narrow LGB.
Its so difficult to establish a proper regional BRT network.
https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/tag/vancouver-aquatic-centre-2
The go backwards mentality really wants to have a 25 m pool, because a 50 m pool is big city infrastructure. Just like a 3 lane Lion Bridge, which still has no bus and LRT tunnel next to it. Of course Vancouver just had to have the shortest train in Canada and is still only running a 2 car joke of a train between Richmond, YVR and downtown Vancouver.
A 25 m pool, a 3 lane bridge and a 2 car train, are all fine examples of the KEEP VANCOUVER SMALL AND BACKWARDS MENTALITY. Classic stunted infrastructure thats right in line with the Vancouver Mind Virus VMV
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-demolition-pause-bc-appeal-court-decision
BC is 23 ties the size of Switzerland, but has less population. Greater Vancouver and especially the Lower Mainland of BC has the potential to be a properly planned big urban area. Despite the city of Vancouver having a slightly smaller area than Boston and SF, the size or scale of things in Vancouver are still significantly small than what's in Boston and SF. The city of Paris is only slightly smaller than the area of Vancouver, yet Paris has been able to have longer trains, wider roads and taller buildings.
Unfortunately, the VMV with its propensity to keep things small, hold things back, or just take a backwards approach, is trying to prevent a new big city version of the Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre. While a 25 m pool might be impressive for PR, PG, Kamloops, Kelowna and Victoria, Vancouver should always have at least a 50 m pool complex, especially in the growing downtown area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication
Vancouver has remained a transportation infrastructure joke since Expo_86 and even long before the fair. Brisbane actually has long trains running to their airport. Brisbane is allowed to have wider bridges and taller buildings than provincial Vancouver.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/AUSTRALIAN_PAVILION_AT_EXPO_86%2C_VANCOUVER%2C_B.C..jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=index&utm_content=originalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia#Cities
Unlike watered down Vancouver before after Expo 86, Brisbane was allowed to become a proper big city after its World_Expo_88.
Brisbane is a major port city on the Pacific Rim. Thus, it has a lot of big city type infrastructure. Unfortunately, for western Canada, Vancouver is still stuck with mostly narrow roads, short trains and single freight train bridges and tracks, when they should be at least double tracked.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Expo_88#The_Fair
Another classic 4 lane BC bottleneck-chokepoint. No bus lanes, no emergency lanes and no provision for an extra deck to accommodate an LRT crossing.
Its not that BC infrastructure planners can't design big and wide bridges, they just aren't designed with proper future capacity in mind.
https://www.drivebc.ca/cameras/149?pan=-119.5019%2C49.881309999999985&zoom=13.5
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/old-pattullo-bridge-arch-deconstruction-process-october-2026
Over a century ago, there was no concept of having bus lanes across a Fraser River bridge between NW and Surrey.
Even with the new bridge, there aren't 2 dedicated bus lanes. That's despite the Skytrain not being a 24hr system. So, busses have to be funneled into only 2 crowded lanes each way. Its been that way since the late 1930s on the old bridge, as well as the new bridge.
Apparently, in the 1930s, there just wasn't any big city vision to build a significantly wider bridge to better handle the future traffic in the 1960s & 70s. The new bridge should have been built in the 1980s or 90s.
Now, little NW is still stuck with a narrow 4 lane bridge that doesn't even have 2 wide emergency lanes, or 2 wide shoulders, & especially no bus lanes.
"A couple of Pacific Stage Lines buses can be seen at the BCER bus terminal." https://archives.newwestcity.ca/Results.aspx?AC=NEXT_RECORD&XC=/Results.aspx&BU=http%3A%2F%2Farchives.newwestcity.ca%2Fsearch.aspx&GI=&TN=internet&SN=AUTO80&SE=555&RN=8&MR=100&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&XP=&RF=WebStartDate&EF=&DF=WebFull&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=255&ID=&MF=GENERICENGWPMSG.INI&DT=&ST=0&IR=4702&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&SS=0&BG=&FG=&QS=
https://www.surreyhistory.ca/pacificstage.html
Even the old Port_Mann_Bridge wasn't designed to have 2 bus lanes, just 2 lanes each way with no emergency lanes, or wide shoulders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Original_bridge Once a 5th lane was squeezed onto the narrow bridge, a parallel 5 lane bridge should have been built. Plus, an extra 2 lane section for express buses and a lower deck provision for future LRT.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Opposition_to_twinning_plan Unlike in Australia, bridge duplication or twinning is culturally difficult in backwards BC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#New_bridge While the new bridge has 10 lanes and can eventually accommodate an LRT line, there should have been a provision for 2 express bus lanes. That's because there is no 24 hour LRT service in Greater Vancouver.
When a train is shutdown for the night, or there is an emergency that stops service, there should always be a high capacity, or rapid bus route in place.
Its very difficult to have a proper regional express bus network in Greater Vancouver. Especially, a proper regional BRT system. That's because most of the bridges are so narrow there isn't enough space for 2 bus lanes.
Since LRT and subways can't cover the entire urban area, the region also needs to have an extensive network of express buses and BRT lines. That can only be accomplished in Greater Vancouver by having a series of bus-bridges.
https://movementyvr.ca/what-even-is-a-brt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufzDeoIu6_U
Unfortunately, the Canada Line isn't short-train fiction. Its actually a rapid transit line with only 2 car trains, with only a capacity increase of eventually running 2.5 car trains. Its very strange not to build a rapid transit line with stations that can at least accommodate 5 car trains, not a 2.5 car joke of a train. Two billion dollars just to build a 2 car train that's been running since 2009.
Backwards BC always has a problem with building transportation infrastructure with significant future capacity.
https://dailyhive.com/canada/canadians-react-florida-property-tax-plan
Perhaps its a block out Canada initiative.
In turn, Canada blocks out most of the worlds population. Despite having the 2ns largest national area, Canada has less than 0.005% of the worlds population. Perhaps someday Canada might have 1% of the worlds population.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJGVLs7DBgE
NYC-NJ has a few major airports, so why not the Bay Area?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensborough_Bridge
The Queensborough+Bridge in NW should have opened with 3 lanes each way, with 2 wide shoulders, or 2 wide emergency lanes. It became the main bridge and link between NW and Richmond and then eventually, a link to Delta. Thus, the Queensborough+Bridge should have been designed to ultimately have 8 lanes.
There is still enough space just east of the Queensborough+Bridge for there to be a 4 lane northbound bridge. Thus, two 4 lane bridges would allow for 3 general lanes each way, plus the 4th being an express or BRT lane & route between NW and YVR.
Since there is no direct express bus route between NW, Richmond & YVR, an improved Highway_91A and Highway_91 would be of great regional benefit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensborough,_New_Westminster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Westminster
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Queensborough+Bridge+in+BC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsvxf78TiV8
https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/infrastructure/queensboro-bridge.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge 8 lanes (4 upper, 4 lower)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge#Levels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge#2000s_to_present
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpdZn6cxYFo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_Design_Tower_(Sunny_Isles_Beach)
https://www.dezeen.com/2024/12/19/sinking-skyscrapers-miami/
So far, the situation doesn't seem to be anywhere as concerning as the SF+Millennium+Tower predicament.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auf_m-cV6mQ
Some might sat that there are several parts to the overall downtown area.
Chicago has one big downtown area with a few key sections. NYC has Midtown and Lower Manhattan as its two main areas. Boston has the area around the Custom+House+Tower and City Hall, plus the Prudential+Center part of town.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is building its first completely new terminal in two decades — but instead of constructing it the traditional way, DFW moved enormous prefabricated sections across the active airfield. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vua7GQ3Xac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmtSI3N57kM Auckland, like Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Seattle, Edmonton, Toronto & Montreal... are just some of the cities that get to have longer train than provincial Vancouver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Rail_Link
"Although the trains are capable of having extra cars added in groups of three, the CRL station platforms, as originally specified, would not be long enough to accommodate nine-car trains. The proposed new capacity is 54,000 passengers per hour with the station platforms to be made longer so they can take the longer trains..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Rail_Link#Capacity_forecast_forces_platform_enlargements
9 car trains are possible for Auckland, because there isn't anything like a Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) to thwart it.
https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/meet-your-stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitemat%C4%81_railway_station#Capacity Proper big city infrastructure planning and development, unlike backwards Vancouver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitemat%C4%81_railway_station#Electrification
In contrast is the joke that is the two car Canada_Line. There was a deliberate decision, (apparently to save money) to not have a future station level clearance of at lest 100 m, if not even 160 m. So instead of planning for at least 5 car trains, there is only enough space for a 2.5 car joke of a train, some day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Stations "The five busiest stations have platforms 50 metres (160 ft) long, while the rest of the stations have 40-metre (130 ft) platforms that can be easily extended to 50 metres."
Being that this is a line which could eventually link YVR to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal & eventually Waterfront station with Park Royal and even the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, the BC Mind Virus (BCMV) got in the way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Technology "The capacity of the trains is estimated at 334 people per pair of cars (comfortably) or 400 people at crush load."
Since each car is 20 m and the stations are designed to a maximum of 50 m, every effort should be made to try to eventually have 60 m platforms. Unfortunately, it might be difficult enough just to try to gradually have 55 m stations. Still, the initial goal should be to try to have a 3 car train of 60 m.
Then with Selective+Door+Operation, a 3 car train could become a 5 car train. Its unfortunate that there is such bad transportation planning in Greater Vancouver. Compared to backwards Vancouver, its great that nothing like a VMV has prevented Auckland from eventually having 9 car trains. The Montreal Metro and the Stockholm Subway can also have 9 car trains. Unlike Vancouver, several cities have no problem thinking big.
Auckland is so far away from the backwards mentality of Vancouver. Thus, Auckland is allowed to have longer trains than provincial Vancouver and taller buildings and even a wider harbor bridge. Of course the same can be said about Sydney and several other cities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8jNDgBr9A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Brienenoord_Bridge
Wow, no VMV or BCMV was able to get the Dutch to reduce the 12 lane Van_Brienoordbrug_Bridge back to a 6 lane bottleneck, or even a 4 lane chokepoint.
If you are Dutch and Visit Vancouver & Victoria, BC, you will be shocked as to how scaled back the infrastructure is. So far, no 12 lane crossing has been allowed in BC. Yet, for the Dutch, big city transportation infrastructure isn't a problem.
BC is 23 times the size of Switzerland, but doesn't even have the population of one CH.
Its very difficult to think big and tall in backwards BC. Thus, it takes a long time for big things to get approved and completed.