https://www.nsnews.com/highlights/shogun-filming-wrap-party-fireworks-metro-vancouver-2026-12725615
At least Port Moody wasn't thwarted by anything lik the VMV and could actually have some late summer fireworks. Vancouver no longer has any NY Eve fireworks and no Canada Day evening fireworks. However, Vancouver was able to have some fireworks on 1 evening in August.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/build-them-here-bc-ferries-9.7327339 It would make a lot of sense to have shipbuilding be a bigger part of the BC economy.
https://www.biv.com/news/commentary/rob-shaw-its-time-to-put-bc-back-in-the-ferry-building-business-12725450 Unfortunatly, the BCMV is so firmly entrenched.
https://www.bcferries.com/in-the-community/projects/new-major-vessels
What is the Vancouver Mind Virus and the BC Mind Virus?
Sometimes, it can be a provincial backwater approach to things. Other times, its a total Half-A$$ED attempt towards getting something done in backwards BC.
Its taken the City of Vancouver a very long time to surpass half a million residents. Its amazing that Vancouver finally surpassed having 3 quarters of a million people.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/canada/vancouver 751,644
It remains to be seen if Vancouver will ever have more people than Winnipeg. Indeed, Winnipeg, like Edmonton and Calgary don't have something like a Burnaby next to them, or a Surrey & Coquitlam close by. While Vancouver barely makes it into the top 10 biggest cities in Canada, Greater Vancouver is still the 3rd largest urban region in Canada. However, so much of the urban scale and infrastructure is being heled back.
The biggest cities in Canada don't have anything like a VMV to thwart or impeded their scale. Thus, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal & Edmonton all have taller buildings than stunted Vancouver. Edmonton and Montreal, like Seattle and Perth, WA are allowed to have wider bridges. Most major cities around the world have longer trains than what's in provincial Vancouver.
Is there a Canadian Mind Virus (CMV)? Of course not officially. Fortunately, nothing like a CMV ever made it to Australia. Otherwise something absurd like provincial Trade Barriers could have really thwarted things down under.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/interprovincial-trade-barriers-9.7323970
https://www.mnp.ca/en/insights/directory/what-are-the-barriers-to-interprovincial-trade-in-canada
Despite Canada being surrounded by water on 3 sides, there is no blue on the national flag. Fortunately, nothing like a CMV ever got Australia, NZ, the UK, France and even the US to remove blue from their flags.
Of course the flags of England, Switzerland and Japan have no blue in them, but blue is still a very nice color to behold.
Nothing on the scale of the 10 lane Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) is allowed in Vancouver, Victoria or Kelowna. Certainly, nothing like the Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges exists in Halifax. Even Boston and Montreal don't have a 12 lane crossing like the Gateway_Bridges.
Despite Australia having fewer people than Canada, its been able to exist on a larger scale in some ways. Its like there is still a plan to have a big country down under.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH37SqlW0Ks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Avenue_Shuttle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R68_(New_York_City_Subway_car) 75-foot (22.86 m) length for each car. So roughly, a 2 car joke of a train is almost 46 m, or 150 ft. The absurd Canada_Line-Stations with its 2 car trains are in the 40 m to 50 m range. Thus, only two car & 2.5 car trains are only possible. In contrast, a 9 car Montreal_Metro train can be up to 152.5 m, or 500 ft.
| Train length |
|
|---|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R68_(New_York_City_Subway_car)#Description So, an 8 car, 600 foot long train is 100 feet longer than a 500 foot, 9 car Montreal train.
The end of the line for the Franklin_Avenue_Shuttle is only a single track platform.
Unfortunately, the YVR and the Richmond end if the Canada_Line stations are also a single track platforms. Even if this was initially decided as a cost saving measure, a double track guideway still should have been built. Then, a proper double track station could eventually be completed. Especially if the line is ever extended to the Delta Ferry terminal.
The YVR-Airport_station was deliberately designed to be narrower and shorter than what a proper big city airport station should be. Its another example of the unofficial BCMV reducing and thwarting the scale of things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_Airport_station Almost like REM quality for Toronto, but not for provincial Vancouver. https://www.upexpress.com/en/up-express-stations/pearson-station , https://www.torontopearson.com/en/transportation-and-parking/up-express Wow, Toronto like Perth can run 3 car big city type trains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pearson_Express#Rolling_stock Vancouver can only hope for a 2.5 car train, someday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pearson_Express#Route Sometimes, a 2 car joke of a train might be OK to start with, but there should already be enough station clearance for at least 3-5 car trains. Then, as long as its a walk-through train, Selective_Door_Operation (SDO) can make it possible to add an extra car at both ends of a short train. SDO can be an intermediate step before having to extensively lighten each station.
Stubborn, backwards Vancouver will eventually have to seriously consider SDO in order to have longer big city type trains. Unfortunately, as long as its stuck in the BC backwater mentality or under the spell of the BCMV, things won't improve.
https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/projects/2026/05/montreals-airport-rem-station-will-have-signature-iceberg-motif , https://montrealgazette.com/news/rem-has-begun-testing-trains-on-airport-branch Of course the YUL-P.E. Trudeau_station, like the Honolulu Airport station, will be longer and wider than the one at YVR.
Perhaps the short, single track & platform at the YVR-Airport_Station would be impressive if it were in Victoria, Prince George, Kamloops or Kelowna, but its hardly impressive when compared to the SeaTac/Airport_station, Portland_Airport_station, Lelepaua_station in Honolulu, Brisbane_Airport station, Sydney_Airport stations, the future Melbourne_Airport station and Perth_Airport station. The scale of the San_Francisco_International_Airport_station, which can accommodate 10 car trains, is on a whole other scale. All major airports and their train stations in Asia & Europe are so far beyond what Canada has. There is no reason as to why Greater Vancouver and some other cities in BC, can't be upgraded to a Pacific Rim infrastructure level, instead of being stuck in a perpetual BC backwater mindset.
The VMV, under the umbrella of the larger BCMV, is such a horrible impediment and it doesn't even officially exist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQw18DQ4TlY MA$$IVE Upgrades? Compared to what, other provincial backwaters?
SkyTrain Front Window View - Canada Line to YVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxTEBfxYH0g This is very sad & pathetic that the stations weren't designed to be long enough to accommodate a 5 car train. The stations can only accommodate a 2.5 car joke of a train. The real sad joke is that the line is still only running 2 car trains on what is supposed to be a major urban area on the Pacific Rim.
Unfortunately, even if Vancouver-Surrey & Abbottsford, Victoria & Nanaimo, Prince Rupert & Kitimat were all upgraded to proper big urban areas on par with Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane, or even Seattle & Calgary, BC just isn't as warm as Australia, or even NZ for half of of the year. Edmonton & Calgary, Seattle & Portland are able to have wider bridges & roads, and even longer trains than Vancouver to Richmond & Vancouver to Surrey-Langley.
Fortunately, the Pacific Rim part of Australia hasn't been trapped in a provincial backwater mentality like the Pacific Rim part of Canada. For too long there has been a keep BC small and backwards mindset. AKA, the BC Mind Virus (BCMV).
Running short & frequent trains could be seen as a cost saving measure initially, but unless there is a genuine to have proper long big city type trains, the BCMV still wins out. The fanatical approach to keep most of the bridges in BC so narrow has made it very difficult to have a proper regional express bus network, let alone BRT.
The 3 main seaport regions of BC, Greater Vancouver, Victoria-Nanaimo-Kitimat should become proper big city ports on the Pacific Rim. BC is 23 times the size of Switzerland, yet it doesn't even have the population of 1 CH. Canada in turn, has less than half of 1% of the worlds population.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvPyRHaN2FE
Why Does Calgary Have FOUR Runways? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hdc1NbCMhw
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.
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.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-pne-fair-weekend-playland-aug-2026
At the same time that the madness of Vancouver was making the PNE smaller, the CNE was allowed to grow in size. If anything like a Vancouver Mind Virus had an influence in Toronto, the city would have become a backwards mess.
In 1981 Canada's Wonderland had just opened. But the CNE is also on. Which one do you decide to go to - the shiny new theme park or a Torontonian classic? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItiWGErRyZM
Toronto would go onto becoming as big as Chicago. However, the GTA still isn't quite as big as the overall Chicagoland Area. Vancouver is still stuck in its provincial backwater trap mentality.
At least the REM started out on a grander scale than the Skytrain. With SDO, a 4 car train could easily become 6. Then, as long as there is enough level station clearance, longer platforms should be possible.
Someday, SDO could even allow a 9 car Montreal Metro train to have 11 car trains like in NYC on the 7.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_(New_York_City_Subway_service)#Fleet 11 car trains.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/oakridge-41st-avenue-station-early-closure-construction-august-2026
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oakridge-41st+Avenue
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-line-skytrain For a line of B$ to have opened in 2009 and is still only using 2 car joke trains is a pretty sad example of inept transportation infrastructure planning.
Even using the argument that it was necessary to have a watered down or scaled back the YVR-Canada+Line to save money, this line of B$ still could have been designed to eventually become a proper big city like train. As long as the 50 m stations were designed with a future level clearance of 130 m to 153 m, the underground stations could have been as long as the Montreal Metro stations, or at least as long as the underground Edmonton LRT stations.
The Canada_Line opened with 2 car trains and is still running just 2 car trains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ouk0VifwM&t=817s
https://thecanadaline.com/station-history No reasonable attempt was made to make sure that the stations could eventually accommodate at least 5 car trains.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Stations The inadequate 50 m stations can only accommodate a 2.5 car train, not a 5 car train.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5778392/canada-line-10-year-anniversary/
https://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/08/skytrains-canada-line-marks-15th-anniversary/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Technology
https://www.atkinsrealis.com/en/projects/the-canada-line
https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/01/31/Canada-Line-New-Stop-Years-Making/
https://www.bb-gi.com/investment/canada-line/
Airport to Downtown Vancouver Transit Guide (Don't Take a Taxi!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bNYrJhUgu0
This $9 Train Saves You $40 at Vancouver Airport (YVR to Canada Place) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUpww86dow
Fortunately, the REM trains in Montreal can accommodate 4 car trains, as does the Skyline_(Honolulu).
The big mistake for all 3 of the Skytrain lines was not having all of the stations to be capable of accommodating 6-8 car trains. Plus, allowing for a future level station clearance of 153 m-160 m. That would have allowed Greater Vancouver to start of with short REM & Skyline type trains, with the capability to eventually have trains as long as those on the Montreal_Metro.
Proper big city transportation infrastructure is so difficult to plan and build in backwards BC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_H_set
| Train length | 81.55 m (267 ft 65⁄8 in) |
|---|---|
| Car length |
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_H_set#Design
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Coast_Line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Trains
Example of selective door operation. The doors in the first 2 carriages are not opened, because the platform is too short for an 8-carriage OSCAR train. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_door_operation (SDO)
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chemtrade+Electrochem+Inc.
By now, there should have been a North Boundary Road bus & bike bridge. Such a bus & bike bridge could be built in a way that isn't too disruptive to Orcas+Snow+Removal and Chemtrade+Electrochem+Inc., or any other businesses.
There should have also been a Willingdon Avenue bus & bike bride over the inlet by now. Instead, a 3 lane each way Iron Bridge is supposed to handle not only the TCH traffic, but regional traffic & truck traffic in what is supposed to be a major port region.
The Iron Bridge is so narrow, because there wasn't any serious consideration to have 2 emergency lanes, 2 wide shoulders and especially no bus or HOV lanes. Of course there should have been a parallel LRT bridge built there several decades ago, as well.
It really would have been nice if the YVR-Canada Line was able to run 5 car trains by now. Unfortunately, due to inept transportation planning in the BC part of Canada, the stations were only designed to accommodate 2.5 car trains.
A 2.5 car train fits right in with a 3 lane Lion Bridge that was never augmented with parallel BRT and LRT train tunnels.
Backwards Vancouver and backwater BC, are some of the best places in the world to see inept multigenerational transportation infrastructure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG1aRLZwihA
Of course Vancouver opted to have the shortest airport train possible. The 2 car YVR-Canada+Line.
