https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeSQtHusn1A
The history of SkyTrain 1985-2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEt76BgRP5E
Expo Line Extension (Surrey - Langley) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CavX1TWYUsE
Surrey Langley Skytrain Construction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRARdwNIbls
17 years and waiting for UBC SkyTrain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIEhFrTuqkc
YVR-Skytrain: Canada Line https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwFeKtbyxU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_McMurray , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FCkJ8ZZ9VI
https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/bridge-to-oilsands-the-biggest-in-alberta
https://www.canambridges.com/projects/athabasca-river-bridge
https://khaledalmaaz.blogspot.com/search?q=Athabasca+River+Bridge
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/relief-for-ft-mac-traffic-jams-in-sight-as-127m-new-bridge-opens
https://www.outokumpu.com/en/expertise/2016/built-for-heavy-loads
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/geo2017Paper767.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Highway_63#Construction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Municipality_of_Wood_Buffalo
https://www.rmwb.ca/news/posts/join-an-rmwb-board-or-committee-and-help-shape-your-community/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_McMurray-Wood_Buffalo
https://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType4942/Production/HIGHWAY_63_STATUS_MAP2.pdf
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-fireworks-2026-new-years-eve-nye
While Vancouver hasn't been able to get most other cities across Canada and around the world to stop, ban or cancel their NY Eve fireworks, strange Vancouver will retain this part of its NO FUN CITY mentality and agenda.
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/fireworks-banned-halloween-vancouver-fire-department-9726922 Why just ban them in October and January, when you can ban them throughout the year?
https://www.ehnewspaper.ca/articles/third-year-of-vancouvers-fireworks-ban
For some strange reason, backwards Vancouver hasn't been able to get other cities around the world to adopt the same bizarre idiosyncrasies.
Officially, there isn't supposed to be a Vancouver+Mind+Virus, but the backwards city is so stunted and strange. Other cities in a scenic setting such as Sydney, Auckland, San_Francisco and Seattle are able to have wider bridges in or close to their city centers.
Despite warm and scenic Honolulu having some very short bridges, they are still wider than what extremely restrictive Vancouver allows. These two short bridges in Honolulu provide 4 lanes each way. Thus, they form an 8 lane crossing and they aren't even part of a freeway.
There is also a very short 6 lane bridge in Honolulu. In addition to its 6 lanes, there is a turning lane and a one lane wide median, which makes it equivalent to being 8 lanes wide. Plus, there are 2 wide sidewalks, which are wider than the original sidewalks on the Granville Bridge in Vancouver. In other words, no bridge in Vancouver is allowed to be as wide as it. Despite regional population growth, the Granville Bridge was reduced from 8 lanes to 6 lanes.
Considering how Vancouver has such a narrow road system, one would think that a regional network of bus and bike bridges would be essential. Of course the backwards city and greater urban region is too cheap to fund such infrastructure and rather opted for a congestive transportation approach.
In contrast, The+Helix+Bridge in Singapore is fine example of what backwards Vancouver refuses to build. No lanes had to be removed from the 6 lane Bayfront+Bridge or the 10 lane Benjamin+Sheares+Bridge. Stubborn Vancouver could really benefit from something like the Helix Bridge.
While Vancouver went backwards after Expo 86, Brisbane really took of after Expo 88. The Kangaroo_Point_Green_Bridge, Goodwill_Bridge, Kurilpa_Bridge, Jack_Pesch_Bridge and the Go_Between_Bridge are all great examples of what strange Vancouver refuses to build. What's really amazing from a backwater Vancouver perspective is that those bike and foot bridges in Brisbane never required any lanes to be removed from the cities road bridges.
In comparison, Vancouver removed 2 lanes from the Burrard Bridge, 1 lane from the Cambie Bridge and 2 lanes from the Granville Bridge. If urban planning in Vancouver was wise and the city never got rid of its trams or streetcars, perhaps something like the Tilikum_Crossing could have been built across False_Creek.
https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/89430?culture=en-CA
It would be very likely for Alberta to have the first such power plants in Western_Canada.
https://www.energyalberta.com Of course there are various risks, but Alberta likes to think big.
https://www.alberta.ca/nuclear-energy-engagement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_River,_Alberta
https://www.peaceriver.ca/business-development/peace-river-nuclear-project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_River,_Alberta#Economy
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/ap1000-under-consideration-for-deployment-in-alberta
https://www.albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlands/energy/nuclear-power
https://www.energyalberta.com/project#project-overview
Alberta just never had the same impose restrictions that backwater BC has.
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.
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/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7JX6fD6GXA
Manley on Canada joining EU defence program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m67_sGvESEA
Some people say that there can't be anything like a No Fun Vancouver Mind Virus. Its just that throughout the decades, backwards Vancouver keeps getting sevela things wrong.
For some strange reason, Vancouver hasn't been able to convince other Canadian cities to give up on their summer fireworks.
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouvers-celebration-of-light-cancelled-indefinitely
Over the years, a lot of people living in the West_End of downtown have gotten very pisst-off with all the beer, pee and excremental antics by the masses of visitors.
https://604now.com/honda-celebration-of-light-vancouver-cancelled/
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/celebration-of-light-vancouver-fireworks-2026-cancelled
https://vancouversun.com/news/could-be-vancouvers-last-celebration-light-producer-warns
This cancelation make sense, since Vancouver also ended up being the only major Canadian city to no longer bother with NY Day fireworks. Even if Vancouver was some kind of an entity that could pee into a bottle and market it to other cities so that they also would cancel their NY Day fireworks, they just aren't interested in buying that PI$$!
Vancouver lost its Sea Festival after 2005, but was never able to convince Seattle to give up on its Seafair.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/sea-vancouvers-assets-to-be-liquidated/article4122853/
This No Fun Vancouver Mind Virus is such B$! It would breakdown other cities if it ever gets contagious.
It's all part of the overall Vancouver Mind Virus.
The Transit Every Airport Needs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YeVZVluQWI&t=247s
https://www.upexpress.com/en/about-up/things-are-looking-up Its only a two and three car train, when it should be between 4-6 cars, depending upon the time of day. https://www.torontopearson.com/en/transportation-and-parking/up-express
At least it's not a perpetual 2 car train joke that is the YVR-Canada Line. The eventual airport REM line should consist of 4 car trains, but the entire REM should eventually have 6 car trains.
Somehow, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Perth all are able to have longer trains to the airport. The 10 car SFO-BART trains are pretty cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4V8jo8-NFg&t=113s
Drone View Of Toronto’s One Bloor West - Canada’s Tallest Building When Completed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26xU_Rx2ks0
How Toronto Is Slowly Becoming The Skyscraper Capital Of North America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z6w82sAYck
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/canada-next-tallest-building-100-floors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_108 Opened between 2018 to 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/875_North_Michigan_Avenue Chicago's first 100 story building opened in 1969.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building Opened in 1931.
https://www.dezeen.com/2025/07/09/one-park-lane-skyscraper-australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwsOVZ-j7hg
Oakridge_Park is on a much smaller scale than Metrotown, Brentwood and Lougheed. It will especially be on a much smaller scale than Parramatta in NSW.
Unfortunatly, the Oakridge-41st_Avenue_station was only designed to have 50m platforms, when it should have been at least 100m. Thus, the utter foolishness has meant that instead of allowing for a future level station clearance to accomodate 5 car trains, the Canada (embassament) Line was only designed to just have 2.5 car trains. While its extremely short stations might have been disguised as a cost saving measurer, there didn't seem to be any key people onboard to make sure that it could eventually become a proper big city train line. Its sad that a line which opened in 2009 is still only running 2 car trains. While the 2.5 car configuration is still a joke of a train, at least half of an extra coach-length is better than nothing. Plus, there should have been extra cars ordered by now so at least during the very busy times the trains could be operating at 1 minute headways. Unfortunatly, this goes against the Vancouver & BC congestion planning mentality.
Despite being built several years after the Sydney_Harbour_Bridge, the joke that is the Pattullo_Bridge was designed to only have 4 narrow lanes & only 1 sidewalk. Of course the replacement_bridge will only open with 2 lanes each way. It was as if someone really wanted to make sure that there won't be 2 bus lanes and no HOV lanes when the bridge opens. While the new bridge is designed to be expanded from a 4 lane joke to eventually having 6 lanes, it still won't be wide enough to accomodate 2 HOV lanes as well as 2 bus lanes. Of course the new bridge won't have any emergency lanes, just like the old bridge. However, it will have 2 bike lanes and 2 sidewalks. https://www.globalhighways.com/news/pattullo-bridge-completion-end-year Its only fitting that in backwards BC this new bridge wouldn't be designed to eventually have a lower deck to accomodate 2 bus lanes and 2 LRT tracks.
If the planners were afraid to symbolically have a wide bridge between NW and Surrey, the old Pattullo_Bridge should have been designed to eventually have a lower deck for trams, trucks and busses. Even when the SkyBridge between NW and Surrey opened in 1990, it wasn't designed to have any bus lanes or emergency vehicle lanes and especially, no bike and footpaths.
Is Vancouver the best city in North America? (2019) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8dmVUrNt38
One of the biggest mistakes in Vancouver & SW BC is to have short trains combined with mostly narrow bridges. Thus, the region doesn't get to have long, high capacity trains and there isn't a proper regional network of bus-bridges. The refusal to twin most of the bridges means that it's almost impossible to have a proper and efficient regional network of rapid-bus and HOV lanes.
While Montreal built the REM to augment their long-train Metro system, Vancouver should have allowed for enough clearance to eventually have 500 foot long trains. 80m-50m Skytrain stations are going to become inadequate, when there should have been a 152.4m provision so that the trains could eventually become as long as the ones on the Montreal Metro.
Is Regional Rail in the Future of British Columbia? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PeIOVy6fFc
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/westin-bayshore-vancouver-best-luxury-hotel
https://vancouversbestplaces.com/vancouver-hotels/vancouver-westin-bayshore-hotel
Of course the Vancouver location wasn't allowed to be as big as the one in Seattle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westin_Seattle "The hotel originally consisted of a single 40 story tower, today's south tower, reaching a height of 121 m (397 ft). The tower was topped out in January 1969 and the hotel opened on June 29, 1969." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westin_Seattle#History "The 137 m (449 ft), 47-story north tower opened in June 1982..."
While Vancouver is only warm for half of the year, at best, the old Bayshore Inn wasn't allowed to be as big as anything in Waikiki.
https://corporatemeetingsnetwork.ca/2025/05/01/tackling-vancouvers-hotel-shortage-crisis/
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/sep/27/wipe-out-era-1970s-vanish-vancouver
After several decades of keeping Vancouver hotels short and small, now the city realized that there aren't enough hotel rooms for the tourism industry.
https://globalnews.ca/video/11127278/biv-vancouver-needs-thousands-more-hotel-rooms
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-tourism-risk-hotel-development-construction-policies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_Seattle Vancouver has yet to permit a big, bulky hotel like this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier_Square_Tower While this isn't a hotel, its 60m taller than the tallest building in Vancouver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telus_Sky No hotel, just an office and residential tower. However, its about 22m taller than the tallest in Vancouver.
The (unofficial) rule is that almost everything in Vancouver has to be scaled back or watered down in size.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/11/19/growing-calls-to-clear-richmond-encampment
Of course any neighborhood will be concerned when a bunch of people are living under a bridge and wandering around.
Living under a bridge is hardly affordable housing. There needs to be proper secure housing with plenty of security and staff to help people who are stuck living outside.
That bridge is so narrow and inadequate.
SW-Vancouver needs a proper transportation upgrade. Granville Street should be extended across the Fraser River on a parallel bridge to the Oak Street Bridge (OSB). Then, the 2 bridges could provide 4 general lanes each way. Plus, another 4-lane parallel bridge to accommodate 2 BRT lanes and 2 HOV lanes.
Or, a totally built a new version of the Oak+St+Bridge that could provide 6 lanes northbound. Then, a Granville Street extension could provide 6 southbound lanes onto a new OSB. Four general lanes each way, plus a rapid bus lane each way & 1 HOV lane each way.
For the most part, the Oak+Street-Granville+Street+Corridor has 12 lanes. A yellow paint strip designates 3 lanes each way. Instead, Oak could have 6 northbound lanes and Granville could have 6 southbound lanes. The 5th & 6th lanes could be for the Oak & Granville BRT lane & HOV lane on complete one way streets.
Unfortunately, the OSB remains as a 4 lane traffic bottleneck or chokepoint.
The 2009 Canada (embarrassment) Line is still only using 2 car trains in 2025. A proper big city YVR-Canada Line should have been started with 5 car trains. Unfortunately, this joke of a train is only designed to ultimately run a 2.5 car train, someday.
This stunted infrastructure approach is so absurd. Transportation planning in the most populated parts of BC is so inadequate, but its all part of backwards BC symbolism. The symbolism is all about showing a thwarted or watered down a city can be. Narrow bridges and short trains are some of the best ways to increase congestion and inefficiency in backwater BC.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/tsawwassen-town-centre-redevelopment-delta-housing-supply-rejection
Unfortunatly, there are some serious examples of poor transportation planning in backwards BC. There never seemed to be a multistage plan to gradually have at least 5 car trains running between YVR and the BC Ferry terminal. Indeed, the YVR-Canada Line has stations that are only designed to eventually accomodate a 2.5 car train, not 5 cars. Plus, no train tunnel or bridge into Delta.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberts_Bank_Superport
https://www.portvancouver.com/project/deltaport-truck-staging-facility
Despite being on the same ocean, but half a world away, the Port_of_Brisbane has much better highway and freight railway infrastructure in place.
While the YVR Line or the Canada (Embarrassment) Line only runs trains that are a 2 car joke, Brisbane actually has a proper big city Airport_railway_line with longer trains.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_railway_line,_Brisbane#Criticism While long trains are better for capacity, a frequent number of trains per hour is also important.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_Airport_railway_station,_Brisbane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Airport#Rail
Fortunately, Queensland was never stunted by anything like a BC Mind Virus (BCMV).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uot7oIA9-ZE The station platforms will be 80m, which can only accomodate a 5 car train.
Unfortunatly, even if this segment had 500' or 152.4m long stations like the Montreal Metro, the rest of the first 2 lines only have 80m stations. Thus, 80m is only about 52% of the length of a Montreal Metro station, which can accomodate 9 car trains. It's taken until 2025 for the SkyTrain to gradually start running 5 car trains. In theory, if two Vancouver 80m trains run at twice the frequency as one 152m Montreal Metro train, a similar capacity could be attained.
However, in the long run, it would have been much more cost effective to have the first 2 SkyTrain lines stations already roughed out to 152m, or a least have enough level clearance to eventually become twice the length. But that's what a proper big city would do, something that Vancouver is against.
Even as an initial cost saving measure, the YVR-Canada Line should have opened with 100m stations, instead of the inadequate 50m joke. Then it could immediately accomodate 5 car trains. The station platforms should have had enough level clearance to eventually accommodate a 160m long train consisting of 8 cars reaching both ferry terminals. Of course there seems to be no plan to connect YVR to both ferry terminals.
Its very difficult for BC cities to allow proper big city size infrastructure, because that would symbolize a pro growth initiative. Since the world is mostly composed of non-white people, a slow growth agenda became a clever way to symbolically demonstrate a refusal to build big. BC is multicultural, but Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. Even in the 2020s, BC still retains some of its colonial outpost mentality. Just keep things small and backwards and try to remain a backwater for as long as possible.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-public-transit-fund-building-communities-strong-fund
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/metro-vancouver-transit-funding-1.7490218
https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/cptf-ftcc/mra-erm/index-eng.html
https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/cptf-ftcc/index-eng.html
https://www.railwaypro.com/wp/canada-creates-transit-fund-to-support-public-transport/
https://globalnews.ca/news/10702607/canada-public-transit-funding-shortfall/
