Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Perth. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Perth. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, June 19, 2023

Perth, WA and Seattle, WA

Perth and Seattle are fine examples of what hasn't been allowed in Vancouver, BC. Perth has good year round weather & better infrastructure than Vancouver. While Seattle can almost have as much cold & crappy damp Vancouver weather, it's not a thwarted city. Perth & especially Seattle permit taller buildings, wider bridges & have longer trains.

https://www.westernaustralia.com/en/places-to-visit/perth-and-surrounds/travel-to-and-around-perth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth#Infrastructure

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windan_Bridge , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goongoongup_Bridge


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railways_in_Perth#Routes_and_services

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_line,_Perth#Stations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_line,_Perth#Rolling_stock


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandurah_line

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/High_Wycombe_train_gn1.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth_railway_station#/media/File:Perth_station_platform2.jpg


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle#Transportation

https://www.soundtransit.org/blog/platform/making-i-90-floating-bridge-stronger-longer-lasting-trains This crossing provides 4 Lanes each way with 2 tracks for LRT. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Link_Light_Rail_Line_1_Siemens_S700_Mount_Baker_Station_%2852232826261%29.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Link_LRV_128_approaching_Sea-Tac_Airport_Station.jpg

Essentially, Perth+and+Seattle both have been able to develop on a grander urban scale than restrictive Vancouver. There is just something about the small-scale thinking of backwater BC that hasn't caught on with, or been adopted by WA. 

https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/perths-mining-boom-to-blame-for-lack-of-heritage-20130315-2g4xl.html


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Seattle

Thursday, January 2, 2025

The growth for some of Australia’s cities

 https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/urban/pressures/population

https://www.app.com.au/insights/bridging-gap-australias-next-infrastructure-boom

https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2023/australian-infrastructure-and-transport-statistics-yearbook-2023/infrastructure-economy

https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-06/future-cities-paper-web.pdf

If you are from Perth you might expect that the transportation infrastructure might be of a similar caliber in the BC part of Canada. 

Fortunately, the Vancouver mentality didn't make it over to Perth, causing a lane to be removed from the 6 lane Windan_Bridge. Unfortunatly, that was the case with the Cambie_Bridge in Vancouver. Had the bridge been designed to have wide sidewalks on both sides, or a lower level bike path, a traffic lane wouldn't have been removed. 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Windan+Bridge

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mooro-Beeloo+Bridge Lower shared-use path

https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/projects-initiatives/projects-initiatives-news/tonk-221223-tonkin-gap-bridging-the-gap While the City of Vancouver & the region became obsesd with preventing bridge duplication or twinning, a key aspect was ignored. Since so many bridges in backwards BC are already narrow, they are unable to properly accommodate bus & bike lanes, or even truck lanes. A port region like Greater Vancouver really needs truck lanes, as well as bus & bike bridges. Fortunately, the narrowmindedness of BC hasn't been adopted in WA. Otherwise, this would be a 4 lane chokepoint.

https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/travel-information/paths-and-cycling

Perth,WA like Seattle, WA aren't so quick to take away lanes, because foot & bike paths are better integrated into the city. That's also the case with Portland, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg & Montreal...

Perth has an excellent bike path system. https://uncoolcyclingclub.com/perth-swan-river-cycling-loop The Greater Vancouver region has refused to build a proper network of buss & bike bridges, even though that would help to relieve congestion.

https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/perths-mining-boom-to-blame-for-lack-of-heritage-20130315-2g4xl.html 

Perth+and+Seattle have been able to do so much more than backwards Vancouver, because they aren't hindered by anything like the BC Mind Virus.

Monday, June 19, 2023

Congestive urban planning in backwards BC

Most bridges in Greater Vancouver are so narrow, because there was no provision to have bus and HOV lanes. The+Lion+Bridge+and+The+Iron+Bridge are 2 classic examples of not constructing additional infrastructure to accommodate bus lanes, HOV lanes and especially, rail rapid transit. That's because such improvements would actually go against the congestive urban planning agenda. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacey_V._Murrow_Memorial_Bridge , https://www.historylink.org/file/21298 A narrow 4 lane BC type bridge was upgraded to an 8 lane crossing, plus 2 LRT tracks for WA. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) From a basic bridge to a nice 10 lane crossing with 2 train tracks for WA. https://structurae.net/en/structures/narrows-bridge Its great that the horrible backwards Vancouver mentality never made it to Perth. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-13/perth-narrows-bridge-60-years-since-construction/11697812 Unfortunately, Vancouver & BC have done their damndest to prevent a similar nice, wide crossing, which also includes 6_car_trains. While backwards Vancouver & BC didn't want to build wider infrastructure simply to accomodate more drivers, the funds didn't seem to go towards a regional rapid bus or at least an express bus & HOV network with its own set of bridges. The SkyTrain should have been designed with a provision to eventually have stations at least as long as those on the Montreal Metro, which can accomodate 9 car trains on a 500 ft platform or 152.5 m. https://heritage.engineersaustralia.org.au/wiki/Place:Constructing_Narrows_Bridges  

The old Champlain_Bridge_in Montreal just had 3 lanes each way & no provision for a train. Where as the new Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge provides 4 lanes each way & has 2 REM train tracks. https://www.samueldechamplainbridge.ca Fortunately, Montreal, like Seattle & Perth was able to have a nice wide bridge with 2 train tracks in the middle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge#Construction_method 

Montreal, Seattle & Perth are allowed to exist on a larger scale than backwards Vancouver, because they don't have the same imposed restrictions. Urban Quebec and urban WA are able to do so much more, because they aren't hindered by anything like the backwards BC mentality. 

Risk assessment model of bottlenecks for urban expressways using survival analysis approach https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235214651730474X 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bunbury+WA+6230,+Australia/@-33.3399232,115.6694676,430a,35y,44.83t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x2a39279b2423314b:0x500f638247a10a0!2sVancouver+Peninsula+WA+6330,+Australia!3b1!8m2!3d-35.0599149!4d117.9307564!16s%2Fg%2F11fmh3xt4l!3m5!1s0x2a2e1d48f5a47b23:0x500f638247a1470!8m2!3d-33.3270366!4d115.6408605!16zL20vMDEycTcx?entry=ttu


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Perth+and+Seattle

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=urban

Friday, November 29, 2024

Cambie Street Bridge repairs choke traffic out of downtown Vancouver

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/cambie-bridge-repairs-choke-traffic-downtown

Of course Vancouver won't build anything like the Boorloo_Bridge for bikes & pedestrians. Apparently, it's much better to take a lane away from the Cambie Bridge. 

Fortunately, the backward Vancouver mentality never made it over to Perth. Otherwise, the The_Third_Causeway bridge would have had 1 or 2 lanes removed.

With 6 lanes, The_Causeway_in_Victoria_Park, Perth provides a nice 6 lane crossing. Unlike backward Vancouver the Causeway in Perth was allowed to have 3 lanes each way. The key component is that the 3rd lane each way is for busses. In contrast, absurd Vancouver won't allow for a proper bus & bike bridge network to be built, because it would rather keep its bridges as narrow & congested as possible. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Causeway_-_Victoria_Park.JPG

It's very strange that Vancouver refused to have something like the 6 lane Causeway+Bridge in the 21st century. A 3rd lane each way for buses on the Causeway+Bridge makes so much sense in Perth. However, for stubborn Vancouver, such measures might help to improve mobility.

Apparently, Vancouver has no plans to build something like the Boorloo_Bridge or the Esplanade+Riel+Footbridge next to the Cambie & Burrard Bridges. Thus, the Cambie has lost a lane & the Burrard has lost 2 lanes. Had both bridges been allowed to retain 6 lanes, they both could have provided 2 bus lanes.

The Cushing+Bridge is a 4 lane bridge in Calgary. Thus, like the Oak Bridge & Knight Bridge in Vancouver, there was no room for 2 bus lanes on them. Unlike, backward Vancouver, Calgary was able to build a 2 lane bus bridge right next to its Cushing+Bridge.

Fortunately, the horrible transportation planning mentality of Vancouver was never adopted in Perth & Calgary. Either you have a wide enough bridge for busses, or you build bus & bike bridges to help the existing bridges.

The Norwood+Bridge in Winnipeg provides at least 6 lanes, so a couple of bus lanes isn't a problem.

Singapore built its Helix_Bridge instead of removing lanes from the other bridges.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Cambie+Street+Bridge

Thursday, March 20, 2025

The Typical Vancouver Size Stump Building

 Given that most proper big cities around the world are permitted to build much taller & wider buildings than what is allowed in strict & stubborn Vancouver, BC, a curious thing has happened over the decades. When a tall tower is built in another city, next to it will be a Vancouver size stump of a building. However, the Vancouver stump isn't always part of the complex, The Vancouver Size Stump might be across the street or a block or so away. Yet, such a stumpy building can provide an excellent example of the larger scale that most big cities are allowed to exist upon. 

The Royal_Banck_Centre_in_Vancouver, B.C. The windows only go up to the 36th floor, but there are 3 more levels above that. It's only 475 feet in height.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Centre_(Vancouver) "The skyscraper stands at just under 145m tall and 37 storeys. Royal Centre was the tallest building in Vancouver upon completion in 1973..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Canadian_Place The windows go up to 72 stories, plus a few levels above that. The BMO tower in Toronto is about twice the height of the RBC in Vancouver. The 32 story BMO tower in Vancouver is a stump when compared to the 72 story BMO tower in TO.

The Scotia_Tower in Vancouver, stands at 138 m or 35 storeys tall and completed in 1977. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Scotia_Tower_Vancouver The windows only go up to 34, but there are a few levels above that. The Toronto version has its windows go right to the 68th floor. Its twice the height & twice the width as the stump in backwater Vancouver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotia_Plaza 275 m (902 ft) with 68 floors.

A Vancouver Size stump in tall Toronto.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_Tower It's a 36 storey 146 m (479 ft) tower in the First Canadian Place complex of TorontoOntario, Canada. Due to the strict zoning restrictions in Vancouver, its difficult to even have an office building with 36 floors.

A Vancouver Size Stump in Perth, WA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_Tower,_Perth It's a 40-storey skyscraper in PerthWestern Australia. Completed in 1992, the 146-metre (479 ft). Stubborn Vancouver just won't permit any office building to have a 40th floor. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Perth_skyline_from_KS1%2C_November_2017.jpg The former AMP has become a stump in Perth, yet in Vancouver, it would still be a predominant tower. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/140_St_Georges_Terrace "140 St Georges Terrace is a 30-storey skyscraper in Perth, Western Australia. Opened in 1975, the 131-metre (430 ft) tower was known as the AMP Building..."

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Elizabeth_Quay_February_2016_%28cropped%29.jpg/640px-Elizabeth_Quay_February_2016_%28cropped%29.jpg The former AMP is a good example the stump size building that stubborn Vancouver wants to hold onto. 





Vancouver is a very tiny part of the BC land area. Even in the Greater Vancouver Region, Vancouver is a small component. Thus, while stubborn Vancouver wants to keep its stumpy agenda, other BC cities are more accepting of allowing significantly taller structures. https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?stateID=1&status=15


Thursday, January 23, 2025

Why doesn’t Australia simply build more cities?

 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAustralian/comments/17rn4r5/why_doesnt_australia_simply_build_more_cities/

A lot of the secondary cities in each state could become big in their own right.

https://theconversation.com/how-our-regions-can-help-make-australias-growing-cities-more-sustainable-240330

Texas has a lot more people than Australia, yet it's a much smaller area & still has plenty of room.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-11/cities-population-density-congestion-urban-environment/100183522

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829222001605

https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-06/future-cities-paper-web.pdf

https://scenariojournal.com/article/made-in-australia

Of course one expects Melbourne and Sydney to have all the big stuff. However, from a Canadian perspective, it's amazing to see that Australia has a 12 lane crossing in Brisbane & a 10 lane crossing in Perth. Such wide bridges just don't exist in Halifax, NS & Victoria, BC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges 12 lanes.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Gateway_Bridge_aerial4.JPG ,

There is a lot more potential to have express bus lanes & HOV lanes on 10-12 lane bridges than some narrow Vancouver, BC bridge with only 4 lanes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrows_Bridge_(Perth)#Railway_bridge:_2005 Seattle & Montreal would end up having their own version of a wide bridge with a train component as well. Of course, stubborn & backwards Greater Vancouver would be one of the last urban areas to ever allow such  similar bridges.

It doesn't look like anyone from Canada was ever able to convince Australians to give up on bridge duplication & opt to just cram everything into 4 lanes or an inept 3+lane+bridge for two-way traffic.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Urban Tech Links .:. UTL

UTL - Personal observations of the urban world from a backwards Vancouver and backwater BC perspective. Indeed, it's always amazing to see what so many other cities can do, simply because they don't have anything like a Vancouver, Victoria & BC mentality to hold them back.

The Greater_Tokyo_Area is the most populated urban region on the planet.
https://wikimedia.org/Sand_Island_and_Honolulu.jpg Honolulu hasn't permitted any buildings to be as tall as what is in Miami, LA or SF. Indeed, Honolulu, has avoided having a Singapore or especially a HK size skyline. So far, no building has been allowed to be as tall as the Custom_House_Tower in Boston or the Smith_Tower in Seattle. Indeed, no buildings are even allowed to be as tall as the Los_Angeles_City_Hall at 453 feet or 138m.
https://wikimedia.org/Perth_airport.JPG No building in Vancouver is allowed to be as tall as the 2 tallest in Perth & Calgary.
Honolulu and 
Perth, WA are in such nice climate zones. They are a couple of the most isolated major cities on the planet. 
In some ways, Australia has been able to surpass Canada, despite it having a smaller land area & less population than Canada. Unlike Montreal & especially Vancouver, Perth & especially Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane, have allowed several taller buildings than what is allowed in Montreal & Vancouver. 
However, Honolulu's_tallest_buildings still haven't been permitted to even be as tall as the 2 tallest in the Giza_pyramid_complex in Cairo, Egypt

Urban Tech Links is a basic blog about referencing tall buildings & urban technology in various cities in general. Thus, it's mostly just a list of various urban and tech links. It's also about comparing various cities & infrastructure.
Some cities like to have narrow bridges, short trains & small buildings, like Vancouver, while many others cities reach for the sky
There is a point when a lot of major cities start to permit buildings to be taller than the 2 tallest pyramids in Egypt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pyramids 
Paris & London, NYC & Chicago, Tokyo & Seoul...  


The BC part of Canada has tried to keep its infrastructure as small as possible for as long as possible.
It wasn't until the 1970s when strict & stubborn Vancouver started to allow for some buildings to be almost as tall as the 2 tallest Egyptian pyramids. https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?searchID=105524651&offset=50 

1973 Royal_Centre_(Vancouver) not quite as tall as .:.
1977 Harbour_Centre not counting the flagpole, its still shorter than the original height of the tallest Egyptian pyramid.
2001 One_Wall_Centre, not including its spire, was the first building in Vancouver & BC to be taller than the tallest pyramid in Egypt

For most of Vancouver's history, the city refused to permit any building to be taller than the pyramid on top of the 496' Custom_House_Tower in Boston, the 462' Smith_Tower in Seattle, the 453' Los_Angeles_City_Hall. Of course today they are all just like stumps. 481' and 471' are the original heights of the 2 tallest in the Giza_pyramid_complex.
https://wikimedia.org/Pyramids_of_the_Giza_Necropolis.jpg
https://wikimedia.org/Kheops-Pyramid.jpg
"Initially standing at 146.6 metres (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the world's tallest human-made structure for more than 3,800 years. Over time, most of the smooth white limestone casing was removed, which lowered the pyramid's height to the current 138.5 metres (454.4 ft)" 
HeightOriginal: 146.6 m (481 ft) or 280 cubits
Current: 138.5 m (454 ft)
HeightCurrently: 136.4 metres (448 ft)
Original: 143.5 m (471 ft; 274 cu)

"The 1997 study noted that the opportunities for buildings significantly exceeding existing permitted heights were limited. There were a total of five sites where buildings exceeding the 450 foot height limit are possible and two sites in the northwest corner of the Central Business District where heights up to 400 feet (exceeding the 300 foot limit) could be considered." https://council.vancouver.ca/20030515/pe2.htm

Indeed, it's tough to believe that for the longest time, any building in the BC part of Canada had to be considerably shorter than the Washington_Monument in DC or the Philadelphia_City_Hall.

Then Vancouver wouldn't permit any building to be as tall as the Cairo_Tower
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Tower "At 187 m (614 ft), it was the tallest structure in Egypt for 37 years until 1998..."
2016 was when a Hotel-Condo was allowed to be slightly taller than the Cairo-Tower

The Cairo_Flagpole is the world's tallest flagpole, at 201.952 m (662 ft 7 in) tall. No building in Vancouver is allowed to be as tall.
The Living_Shangri-La tower is close, but not quite.
Of course Vancouver, BC & even Canada can't stop Egypt from building big & tall.
{The origin of Al-Qahirah is said to come from the appearance of the planet Mars during the foundation of the City of Cairo. The planet Mars, which in Greek was called Ares, was associated with ruin or destruction and was called Al Najm Al Qahir in Arabic. Al Najm Al Qahir is transliterated as "the destroyer star [planet]".} http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo#Etymology


https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-cairo-washington-dc Washinton, DC made sure that going into the 20th century, it was going to have mostly low rise buildings like Paris & London or Berlin. However, the Greater Paris Region would eventually allow some tall buildings in certain areas. London even moreso. Yet, Greater London & Metropolitan Paris, certainly have allowed some tall buildings. 

Vancouver has been under a multigenerational set of restrictions as well as a small thinking & planning agenda. Part of this might be attributed to a backwater BC mentality. However, some parts of Greater Vancouver are allowed to build on a grander scale.

Edmonton, Seattle, Portland & eventually Calgary will all have underground train stations longer than what's in Vancouver. Yet, Vancouver could have really benefited from having proper big city long stations. Most of the regions bridges are so narrow that its difficult to have a proper bus lane & HOV lane system. But Vancouver & BC are all about inefficiency. Things might eventually improve if enough people someday start to see the growing gap between what most cities allow vs. stubborn Vancouver.

https://metropolisfilm.fandom.com/wiki/Joh_Frederson

Alphaville is one of the best cautionary stories about the AI run, totalitarian smart-city scenario. 

THX_1138 is the quintessential movie about AI & machines running an underground totalitarian city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THX_1138#Plot

Logan's_Run is another interesting totalitarian smart-city movie. 

Blade_Runner is one of the best urban Sci-Fi movies ever made.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner#Plot

Jacque_Fresco is one of many people throughout history with their own perspectives on civilization. https://www.forbes.com/2007/10/13/jacque-fresco-prediction-tech-future07-cx_1015fresco.html?sh=4107813c607f Some interesting ideas, but perhaps with a utopian angle.


http://www.city-data.com/forum/religion-spirituality/845605-humans-originate-mars.html,
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/marte/esp_marte_14.htm,
http://mars-earth.com/earthpage.htm

http://fusionanomaly.net/orion.htmlhttp://fusionanomaly.net/bladerunner.html,
http://vigilantcitizen.com/hidden-knowledge/connection-between-sirius-and-human-history

More about, UDLhttps://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=urban

https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/9/11/3318910/nasa-scientist-believes-we-could-all-be-in-a-video-game
Civilization_(computer_game)


The Universe seems to be a vast Multi-channel of space & time that originated from a central point of energy. But what or who started this Big_Bang of cosmic information? Its like a cosmic projection program running inside an immense planetarium. The energy of nature or part of a creators plan. Thus either nature or a conscious creator has set up a cosmic matrix of space & time. Humans are just beginning to try to understand how an intelligent force of creation set this all up. Computer models factor into the study of reality & VR helps to illustrate different phases & parts of the universe.
-
-


The Hundredth_monkey_effect isn't supposed to be true, but in backwards Vancouver & backwater BC, it does seem to be happening. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect#History
Almost everything in Vancouver is like a watered down knockoff. So many people from different backgrounds keep wanting to hold Vancouver back. The NO FUN CITY mentality keeps emerging, but that's just part of the phenomenon.


This reference blog is of a non profit nature.  


Thursday, March 20, 2025

Riverside Centre, Brisbane and QV1, Perth

https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=1097 40floors, 466ft 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside_Centre,_Brisbane "Completed in 1986, it contains 40 storeys and rises 146 metres (479 ft) above ground." https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=170&searchname=timeline , https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=170&status=15

Brisbane and Perth have a similar looking office tower.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QV1 "QV1 is a 40-storey modernist skyscraper in Perth, Western Australia. Completed in 1991, the 163-metre (535 ft)..."

https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=1263 40 floors, 533ft https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=168&searchname=timeline 


The big question is, will WA ever permit some Gold Coast size resedential towers? https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=712&status=15

https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?stateID=51&status=15


https://www.quora.com/Why-doesn-t-Australia-build-up-the-west-coast-north-of-Perth-with-resorts-as-in-Queensland-It-could-bring-in-people-from-the-UK-to-help-develop-it-then-settle-there-afterwards

While cold Canada has a lot more towns that could gradually be expanded into proper cities, the warm coast of WA has tremendous potential for urban growth. Yet, most of the state can or will likely remain undeveloped. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/WesternAustralia/comments/19azez6/is_there_a_reason_why_there_are_so_few_cities_on/

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

TransLink to extend North Shore RapidBus route to Metrotown starting in 2027

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/r2-rapidbus-north-shore-metrotown-burnaby-route-extension

https://aquilinidevelopment.com/community/kwasen-village

https://kwasenvillage.com 

The Kwasen Village & BCIT area is becoming a new intersection of housing & shopping, as well as education. So, hopefully starting in 2027, there will be an express bus from Metrotown_to_West-Vancouver. It will run along Willingdon Avenue providing a rapid bus link between Metrotown and Brentwood-Town-Centre-Station. Then onto N.Vancouver & W.Vancouver. This is being done, because backwards Vancouver refuses to build a rapid bus tunnel under or near the absurd, 3 lane Lions_Gate Bridge. Plus, the BC Government isn't interested in extending the SkyTrain on a bridge or through a tunnel to W.Vancouver. Thus, the inept, 3 lane Lions-Gate-Bridge remains as one of the worst bottlenecks or chokepoints in the world. 

Perth, WA built a 10 lane bridge with double train tracks in the middle of it.

Seattle, WA did something similar, but their 3 section bridge or crossing has 4 lanes each way & a double track middle section.

Montreal also did something similar to Seattle & Perth.

Being from backwards Vancouver & backwater BC, it's always amazing to see what other places can do, simply because they aren't in BC.

Fortunately, Perth, Seattle & Montreal don't have to contend with anything like the inept Vancouver & BC transportation mentality. It's mindboggeling that in 2025, Vancouver is still only running 4 car trains to Surrey & only 2 car trains to Coquitlam & Richmond. This, combined with several narrow bridges, makes it one of the most congested cities in the world. It's a sad & pathetic situation, because things in BC should be designed for proper future capacity expansion.


Friday, October 10, 2025

Tron: Ares in little backwards Vancouver

 https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tron-ares-review-9.6933888 

Unfortunatly, using special effects is the only way to make Vancouver, BC look like its a proper big city. 

No bridge within the small city limits of Vancouver has been allowed to be as big or wide as the biggest in Perth, Seattle, Portland, Edmonton & Glasgow...

The Skytrain stations are shorter than train stations in Perth, Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton...

No office tower in Vancouver has been permitted to have a 40th floor. Of course, Perth, Seattle, Portland and Calgary have office towers over 40 stories.  

https://hollywoodnorthbuzz.com/2025/10/tron-ares-vancouver-as-real-life-grid.html 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-landmarks-tron-ares-trailer

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/events-and-entertainment/new-tron-ares-movie-trailer-features-vancouver-sci-fi-setting-10488343 Vancouver is so smallscale, but awesome? Perhaps when compared to Victoria, Kelowna, Prince George, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, it is.

Seattle and Perth

https://www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/news-events/news-releases/first-powered-light-rail-vehicle-crosses-i-90-floating 

https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/05/22/sound-transit-starts-i-90-testing-full-2-line-opening-slips-to-2026 

https://www.theurbanist.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_2666.jpg Two train tracks and the 4th lane each way is for busses. Just amazing when compared to backwards BC. Seattle is able to do so much more because its not affected by the BC Mind Virus.

 https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/council/governance-leadership/county-council/newsroom/2025/05-21-balducci-st-i-90-testing-statement#:~:text=%60%60Of%20course%2C%20we%20have%20much%20more%20work,world%2Dclass%20mass%20transit%20system%20for%20our%20region.  

https://www.wsp.com/-/media/project/us/image/bnr-i90-track-bridge.jpg?h=750&w=1920&hash=261F6337C4BD257177CA53D111FD3483 s


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandurah_line#Kwinana_Freeway_roadworks

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1aarCsKys-/ The Vancouver mind virus never made it to Perth. 

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g255103-d6376252-Reviews-Narrows_Bridge-Perth_Greater_Perth_Western_Australia.html


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/2023/06/1_6.html

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Traffic impacts in downtown Vancouver due to marathons and other events

 https://globalnews.ca/news/10475853/traffic-impacted-in-downtown-vancouver-due-to-bmo-marathons/

While such events are for a good cause, the traffic gets even more congested.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/04/vancouver-marathon-road-closures/

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/road-closures-weekend-bmo-vancouver-marathon-may-2024-8678328

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/04/vancouver-marathon-road-closures/

Unfortunately, Vancouver city planning never allowed for any bus tunnels or bridges, especially under/over Burrard Inlet, False Creek & the Fraser River. All the underground train stations weren't built to easily become as long as the Montreal Metro stations, which are 152.45 m or 500 feet.  

Vancouver & the Metropolitan Region have done so many things wrong. The train stations are too short & most of the bridges are so narrow, there is no room for bus & HOV lanes. By now, there should have been a regional network of rapid bus & HOV bridges, because most of the existing bridges have just 2 lanes each way. 


How To Build A City | SEATTLE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MN6AXC4Z7k

Seattle, Perth, Calgary & Edmonton have been able to do so much more, because they don't have to contend with anything like the backwards mentality of Vancouver & BC.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Seattle

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Perth

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Perth, WA

Perth is in a similar climate to that of Miami or San Diego. So far away from cold, damp Vancouver, BC.

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Metro Vancouver transit facing 'drastic cuts'

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/metro-vancouver-mayors-council-demands-action-on-transit-funding-brad-west-9533754

After decades of imposing narrow streets, roads, highways & bridges, it's still difficult for the region to have a proper express bus network. Most of the bridges in the region need to have a bus & bike bridge built right next to them. 

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/this-is-not-a-bluff-translink-mayors-council-calls-on-b-c-political-parties-to-share-plans-to-avoid-transit-cuts-1.7041435

The first 2 SkyTrain lines still only have 80m stations & the 3rd line, the C-Line, only has 50m stations. In contrast, the Montreal Metro was designed to have almost 153m long stations. Thus, a 500 foot long station can accommodate a 9 car train. Unfortunately, the first 2 SkyTrain lines can only accommodate the newer 4 car trains with a potential for a 5 car train, someday. The 3rd line or the C-Line, can only accomodate a 2 car joke of a train, but it has the potential to become a 2.5 car joke of a train.

This absurdity of congestive planning must be challenged & stopped in backward BC. Unfortunately, there are some influential people that continually like to maintain the symbolism of short trains and narrow bridges. They don't want the Greater Vancouver Region to become a proper urban area. That mentality apparently justifies the inadequate or underbuilt infrastructure in the region. 

So now with looming transit cuts, the narrow roads & bridges will become even more congested.

https://www.rtands.com/tag/translink

The $2BN Megaproject Under Vancouver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4YFFtTEUQc

What Greater Vancouver Needs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZavPFZ9H1E

Whether its a bridge or a tunnel, Perth and Seattle have excellent wide crossings which allow for rail rapid transit. Fortunately, the congestive Vancouver mentality never reached into those cities.

https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/tunnel-construction Unfortunatly, BC missed another opportunity to have rapid rail transit through the tunnel.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/09/17/highway-91-spun-out-richmond Even back in the 1980s, BC_Highway_91 should have been designed to be at least 4 lanes each way. 3 general lanes each way with the 4th as a bus & HOV lane. There also should have been 2 wide shoulders or emergency lanes. The Alex_Fraser_Bridge should have been designed to be at least 10 lanes wide. 3 general lanes each way & a bus-HOV lane & a truck lane each way. Plus, 2 emergency lanes & a provision for a lower rail transit deck. Unfortunatly, bottleneck or chokepoint planning won out. Plus, the symbolism for BC is to not properly plan for large, efficient infrastructure. 

How can the Greater Vancouver Region have an efficient express bus & rapid bus network, when the highways & bridges are kept narrow? Why wasn't the SkyTrain designed to eventually have 153m or 500 foot long stations like the Montreal Metro? That would be symbolic of a proper big thinking city wanting to have high capacity transportation corridors. BC is about taking the congestive planning approach instead.

Perth+and+Seattle have been able to do so much more, because they aren't under anything like the imposed Vancouver restrictions and the overall backward BC mentality.