Monday, December 22, 2025
Monday, December 15, 2025
Metro Vancouver leadership chaos
https://globalnews.ca/video/11579521/metro-vancouver-leadership-chaos
This has been such an inept and mismaged organization for several decades. Too many short trains and mostly narrow bridges, but always enough money to put into a $HIT box.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District
Friday, December 12, 2025
History of the Pattullo Bridge in BC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw934knFUgc Such a very narrow 4 lane bridge that just wasn't properly designed for future capacity.
The new (4 lane) cable-stayed bridge to replace the old 1937 Pattullo Bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzr0ZSIcfo
History of the Port Mann Bridge in BC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4aYxObfjJ8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Original_bridge The original PMB had only 2 lanes each way with no emergency lanes or wide shoulders. It was designed to be a classic BC bottleneck-chokepoint right from the start. Eventually, a 5th lane was squeezed in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Opposition_to_twinning_plan While bridge duplication isn't that big of a problem in Australia or the US, it is in the BC part of Canada. Australia is allowed to have 3 proper big cities on the Pacific. Thus, the urban scale of infrastructure in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane are much larger than what's allowed in the Greater Vancouver Region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#New_bridge Given that this is supposed to be part of the main East-West highway in Canada, a significantly wider bridge was eventually approved. While it was designed with a provision for a potential future rail line, there should have also been a provision for a lower deck.
Are Trams the Best Transportation Mode for Cities?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNTg9EX7MLw While trams and streetcars (LRT) can't rival the capacity of a metro train or commuter rail, they still can be a good intermediate mode of transportation.
Every Type of Transit System That can WORK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYYIXluTu8E
Do Cities Still Need Metros? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp0SystR3GU
Public Transit in Texas and Japan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTbSQyqCuys
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Australian pipeline history
https://apga.org.au/pipeline-facts-and-figures
https://www.aemc.gov.au/energy-system/gas/gas-pipeline-register
https://apga.org.au/pipeline-information-users
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Australian-Gas-Pipelines-and-LNG-Plants_fig1_320655629
https://www.australiangasnetworks.com.au/
https://nataustpipe.com.au/national-australian-pipelines-a-brief-history/
https://www.pipeliner.com.au/1968-1979-the-making-of-an-industry/
https://www.jemena.com.au/gas/pipelines/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_gas_pipelines_in_Western_Australia
https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/wa-goldfields/water-arid-land/building-pipeline
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
No help for Broadway corridor businesses suffering from subway construction
If the Covid control shutdown wasn't bad enough, this is like a push over the edge.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/broadway-subway-won-t-be-cut-and-cover-mayor-pledges-1.2850400 For all the trouble and B$ of constructiong the YVR-Canada Line, the stations should have been long enough to accommodate at least 5 car trains. Unfortunatly, the BC Mind Virus made sure that the stations were only designed to eventually accommodate 2.5 car trains.
https://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Transportation/2009/05/27/CambieWins/
Monday, December 8, 2025
The Montreal Metro and REM Trains
The REM vs. Reality: Does Montreal's new train meet expectations? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq1xpxOt7FM
Sunday, December 7, 2025
Los Angeles and its traffic problems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7CxiqNnm80
While LA has a subway, it's not that extensive. Of course several other cities have more lines.
What the future has in store for Sydney's Metro! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZlV329Ba8g
Inside the $60 Billion Metro Transforming Sydney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe3y7Rlhk9c&t=2s
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Halifax, NS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_FnM-e-8xs
This city could have been as big as Boston or Montreal by now.
Canada's plan for the Arctic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7JX6fD6GXA
Manley on Canada joining EU defence program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m67_sGvESEA
Friday, December 5, 2025
There will be no revival of the Olympic streetcar line in Vancouver for 2026
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-olympic-line-demonstration-streetcar-revival-cancelled
Once again, what's easy for several cities to accomplish is difficult for backwards Vancouver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Second-generation_streetcar_systems
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tram_and_light_rail_transit_systems
Thursday, December 4, 2025
The Bus and Bike Bridge Concept
The Bus and Bike Bridge Concept isn't officially banned in Vancouver or BC in general. It just hasn't been as important as it is in other cities.
Of course it would be Calgary, not stubborn Vancouver that would have an improved Cushing+Bridge crossing. While the main 4 lane bridge could easily be just like a narrow BC bridge, it's the parallel crossing that takes it above and beyond backwards Vancouver. There is a 2 lane bus bridge with a wide bike & footpath.
Since so many bridges in backwards BC are mostly narrow, a parallel Bus and Bike Bridge would be a huge improvement.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Inglewood+Bicycle+Pump+Track
Not just Greater Vancouver, but several cities in BC could really benefit from having parallel bus+and+bike+bridges.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bus+and+bike+bridge
Federal Way Link Extension
https://seattletransitblog.com/2025/12/04/federal-way-link-extension-a-sneak-peek/
https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/tacoma-dome-link-extension
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article309480020.html
https://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_lrt_sea.htm
https://seattletransitblog.com/tag/tacoma-light-rail/
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Westham Island Bridge, B.C....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westham_Island_Bridge So, it would take until the mid 2020s for this wagon road era bridge to be seriously considered for upgrading.
https://deltasheritage.com/buildings/wib.html Whenever a new bridge is built, it should have 2 wide lanes, 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks.
https://lifesincrediblejourney.com/explore-historic-westham-island/
https://seabc.ca/rehabilitation-of-westham-island-bridge-and-alexandra-bridge/
The Marpole_Bridge_(1889) was another wagon road era crossing that took a very long time to be upgraded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marpole_Bridge_(1889)#Congestion_and_replacement
The 1970s Arthur_Laing_Bridge (ALB) should have had at least 6 lanes, plus 2 wide shoulders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laing_Bridge#Since_opening There also should have been 2 sidewalks & 2 bike lanes. By now, there should have been a bus+and+bike+bridge built next to it.
Several decades after the removal of the (wagon road) Fraser_Street_Bridge_(1894), no replacement has ever been built.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Street_Bridge_(1894)#Provincial_government_headache
At the very least, it should have been replaced with a bus+and+bike+bridge in the 1970s.
https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/photos-and-video-was-this-the-unluckiest-bridge-between-richmond-and-vancouver-4475444 However by now, there should have been a new 4 lane bridge with 2 emergency lanes, 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks.
https://evelazarus.com/the-fraser-street-swing-span-bridge
The joke that is the Knight_Street_Bridge (KSB) was deliberately designed to be another quintessential BC bottleneck-chokepoint. The bridge should have opened with 6 lanes & 2 wide shoulders or emergency lanes. Pulse, 2 wide sidewalks & 2 bike lanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Street_Bridge#Maintenance,_upgrades_and_incidents Instead, the middle of the bridge is just 2 lanes each way, with 2 narrow sidewalks & no bike separate bike lanes. The KSB should have had a parallel bus+and+bike+bridge built next to it decades ago.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Broadway Plan Solar Access Policies
Over the decades, Vancouver planners have ingeniously used shadow restrictions to hold back the scale of the city. Vancouver is cold, dark and depressing for half of the year. Even a 10-20 story stump can cast a shadow. However, when summer does return every year, some people like to have more shade from buildings and trees.
San Francisco MUNI (rail) and the Trams of Melbourne
Why San Francisco Runs America's Slowest...Metro? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzi1oNaRIUE Unless a streetcar, tram or any LRV has its own right of way, it always has the potential of running slow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne#First_electric_trams
_in_Elizabeth_St_on_route_19_to_North_Coburg_in_PTV_livery,_December_2013.jpg){kind=link}
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne#/media/File:C2.5123_bourke,_2014.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne#/media/File:E2.6057_bourke,_2023_(01).jpg
.jpg){kind=link}
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne#/media/File:Melbourne_Tram_E-Class_6007.jpg
SF and Melbourne
The gentrification of the Downtown Eastside
https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/events-before-dec9th-dtes-mass-rezone-public-hearing
I really like tall buildings, but...
The city should be able to use leverage to get developers to not only match, but add more social housing and affordable housing in general.
Monday, December 1, 2025
Metro Vancouver housing supply
Developers want to make a profit, but most people really need affordable housing.