Wednesday, August 26, 2026
More than 1,000 free parking spots will be added to several REM stations
Wow, in backwards BC, its so difficult to have places with 1000 parking spots.
Highway 99 Tunnel Program Update
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvaPpt2R69Y
A parallel bridge or tunnel should have been built decades ago.
There should have been 3 + 1 express bus lane each way, but also a temporary HOV lane each way. Then eventually, becoming 4 general lanes each way with the 5th becoming a totally separate BRT line each way.
Unfortunately, no 10 lane tunnel, just like no 10 lane bridge. Thus, whenever the 8 lane tunnel finally opens, there should be serious planning for a parallel BRT and LRT bridge or tunnel.
An extension of the YVR-Canada Line to the mall and ferry terminal would be of great benefit. However, since BC doesn't have 24hr train service, 24hr BRT can fill in the gaps.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
West Coast Express in SW BC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlFzR5_3RWM
https://www.translink.ca/about-us/about-translink/operating-companies/west-coast-express
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Express
| Daily ridership | 7,200 (weekdays, Q1 2026)[1] |
|---|---|
| Ridership | 1,734,200 (2025)[2] |
https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/west-coast-express
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Express#Operation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Express#Stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Express#Future_plans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Express#Supplementary_bus_service
HOV Lanes vs Bus Lanes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane
https://vtpi.org/tdm/tdm19.htm
A bus lane will always have more potential to move more people than a HOV lane.
https://www.drivesmartbc.ca/lanes/qa-bus-and-hov-lanes
Even if a vehicle is carrying 4-5 people in a HOV lane, a bus carrying 40-50 people is still much more efficient transportation.
https://www.liveabout.com/high-capacity-articulated-or-double-decker-2798841
https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/w9zja7/whenever_im_riding_the_bus_this_question_keeps/
Monday, August 24, 2026
Why Canada's Longest Runway Exists in Calgary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvPyRHaN2FE
Why Does Calgary Have FOUR Runways? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hdc1NbCMhw
The $16 billion Hudson River Tunnel project in NYC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7rngqeU2BE
How America is Building the Impossible $20B Tunnel Under the Hudson River https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZDf2eFfPC4
BRT in backwards BC
Of course Greater Vancouver really needs a big city BRT network, but unless a proper series of bus and bike bridges are built, its all just a Half-A$$ED joke of an attempt.
https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/about/projectoverview Of course the new bridge opened without any express bus lanes, especially no BRT corridor. Yet, Skytrain isn't a 24hr system, but a bus can be.
https://www.railforthevalley.com/tag/brt
Stockholm, SV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm#Public_transportation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Metro Unfortunatly, provincial Vancouver isn't allowed to have proper long big city type trains like in Stockholm or the Montreal Metro.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Metro#Rolling_stock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL_C30 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL_C20
Reykjavík, Iceland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjav%C3%ADk
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Reykjavik
The BC part of Canada has more than 10 times the population of Iceland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Region_(Iceland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reykjav%C3%ADk#Roads Once an urban area is busy enough, there should be a 3rd or 4th lane each way, so that there can be a bus lane or express bus lane each way. Of course, a proper BRT system requires its own right of way. Thus, its usually separated from the general traffic lanes.
Reykjavík has some overpasses and a bridge that are at least 6 lanes wide.
A key overpass with four lanes each way. This already has enough space for eight lanes.
This already has the space for three lanes each way. Nine lanes with enough space for 10.
In contrast, the Knight+Street+Bridge between Vancouver and Richmond becomes a classic 2 lane each way BC bottleneck-chokepoint. Unless a parallel bus and bike bridge is built, it will remain as an inefficient crossing. A parallel bridge could have 2 express bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes, plus 2 wide bike lanes and 2 footpaths. Two truck lanes would also be good, since Greater Vancouver is supposed to be a major port region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keflav%C3%ADk_International_Airport
There is enough space for this to be a big airport, someday.
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Philadelphia's City Hall Tower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esOvGChSrkk
Unfortunately, the L.A. City Hall isn't quite as tall, even though its a much larger city.
The 14 lane George Washington bridge vs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH6Q8yWjYpM There are wider sections of freeways in the US, but the double deck GWB has the most lanes.
Wow, in backwards Vancouver, or almost anywhere in backwater BC, just having 2 lanes each way is tough enough. A consistent 3rd lane each way could be for busses and a 4th lane for HOVs. Given that Greater Vancouver is supposed to be a major port region, several of the bridges should also have a truck lane each way. However, there is only one bridge in backwards BC that has 5 lanes each way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#New_bridge Unfortunatly, it wasn't designed to have a lower deck. Such a lower deck could have had 2 freight train tracks, 2 commuter train tracks and even a provision for 2 BRT lanes.
Essentially, in any proper big urban area, the bridges should not only provide at least 3 general lanes each way, but a bus and HOV lane each way. That's 5 lanes each way, plus on some crossings that are closer to port activity, there should even be a 6th lane each way. That's the case with the Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges. Unfortunately, unlike Queensland, BC has been very reluctant towards bridge duplication or twinning.
https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/bus-hov-lanes-different-2918490
https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1d3fixq/hov_and_bus_lanes_how_to_deter_abuse/
While Australia has Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane as its major Pacific Rim gateways, Canada just has provincial Vancouver, Victoria and Prince Rupert as port gateway cities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Design
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Gateway_Bridge_aerial4.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Duplication A 12 lane crossing.
The Port_of_Brisbane and the Brisbane_Airport are excellent port facilities in Queensland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Brisbane#Facilities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Airport#Rail Far away from the inept transportation planning in Greater Vancouver, Brisbane was able to do things correctly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_line,_Brisbane Unfortunatly, backwards BC just can't seem to properly plan big city type infrastructure.
The YVR-Canada_Line is a total embarrassment!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Stations Not 150 m, not 100 m, only a 50 m level clarence was allowed for the stations. Even the first 2 Skytrain lines only have 80 m stations, when they should have almost been twice as long.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Technology Aparently, the inept planning was due to cost saving measures. Thus, instead of designing the stations to be long enough to accommodate 5 car trains, they were only designed to ultimately have 2.5 car trains. Since 2009, the Canada_Line still only has 2 car joke trains.
The Tilikum_Crossing in Portland vs the North_Arm_Bridge between Vancouver and Richmond. The Tilikum_Crossing accommodates 2 bike lanes, 2 footpaths, 2 MAX-LRT tracks, 2 articulated_bus lanes and even streetcars can cross on it. Such a fine bridge just hasn't been allowed in BC.
