https://tcomm.bustrainferry.com/mobile/routes/R2
UTL is about exploring past, present and future urban technologies in science and fiction, etc...
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
TransLink's R2 RapidBus to be extended from North Shore to Metrotown this September
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/r2-marine-willingdon-rapidbus-metrotown-bus-route-translink
http://www.transitdb.ca/route/R2
A Boundary+Road Bridge over the inlet could have had a couple of Rapid Bus lanes and relieved some of the traffic on the inadequate Iron+Bridge. Had The+Iron+Bridge been originally designed to have 2 wide shoulders and 2 wide emergency lanes, then it could have been gradually adapted to accommodate 4 general lanes each way and 1 Rapid Bus lane each way. Instead, busses, trucks, cars and motorcycles are all squeezed into 3 lanes each way.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=R2+RapidBus
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Boundary+Road+Corridor
Friday, April 3, 2026
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Some Canada Mega-projects Under Construction
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
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Group rejects TransLink’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit route with picnic protest in Burnaby, B.C.
Backwards thinking & planning is so ingrained in BC. The R5 is already a frequent bus route along Hastings. https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/route/r5/direction/0/map
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/08/26/transit-advocates-push-for-brt-through-burnaby-heights/
https://ehq-production-canada.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com
A BRT route along Boundary Road would be much better in the long run. Especially, if someday there can be a serious BRT route running the entire length of Boundary Road between North Vancouver & Richmond.
https://www.translink.ca/plans-and-projects/projects/bus-projects/rapidbus-projects
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Tunnel boring or a Cut-and-cover tunnel to UBC to save money?
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ubc-skytrain-cut-and-cover-tunnel-construction
Of course backwards Vancouver would have to take a backseat to Toronto & Montreal. However, even Edmonton, Calgary & Seattle were able to have a university station long before Vancouver-UBC.
https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/infrastructure-projects/tunnel-boring-machines
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=UBC-Broadway+Corridor
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Metrotown-North+Shore+Rapid+Transit+route
Monday, August 25, 2025
The Metrotown-North Shore bus rapid transit route
A Metrotown-North+Shore+Rapid+Transit+route should ultimately have a train as well as a bus line. That's because the SkyTrain won't be running 24 hours a day & BC lacks transportation redundancy.
There still should be a foot, bus & bike bridge between Port+Moody and Deep+Cove.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Metrotown-North+Shore+Rapid+Transit+route
Friday, May 23, 2025
Metrotown to Park Royal
Of course an express bus route from Metrotown+to+Park+Royal should have been established before the 1990s. Unfortunatly, Vancouver & BC mover very slowly towards getting various things done.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RapidBus_(TransLink)#Metrotown_to_North_Shore
BC Government orders West Vancouver to expand community plans for more housing
There should have been an official plan to extend the Canada embarrassment Line to the Park+Royal+Shopping+Centre and the Horseshoe+Bay ferry terminal. Unfortunatly, Vancouver and the metropolitan region isn't a normal city with proper urban transportation planning.
While a rapid bus line connecting Metrotown+to+Park+Royal is a good idea, a rapid rail transit line between the Horseshoe+Bay+ferry+terminal and downtown Vancouver must be considered an essential link, someday.
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
Burnaby’s municipal government is looking to put a greater emphasis on catalyzing economic and business growth
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/burnaby-task-force-economic-growth
Burnaby might eventually have a taller office tower than what's allowed in stumpy Vancouver. In the meantime, taller residential towers exist in Burnaby, because Burnaby isn't under the the extrem Vancouver restrictions.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/concord-metrotown-metropolis-at-metrotown-construction-redevelopment
Stumpy Vancouver wont permit any residential tower to have 65 stories. No office tower in Vancouver has been allowed to have a 40th floor.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-new-tallest-building-bc-gilmore-place
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
The Merotower Office Complex
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/paid-parking-metropolis-metrotown
https://www.metrotowerofficecomplex.com/
https://www.metrotowerofficecomplex.com/metrotower-1 28 stories since 1989. It should have been the first 40 story office tower in BC.
https://www.metrotowerofficecomplex.com/metrotower-2 First 30 story (1991) office tower in BC, outside of the city limits of Vancouver. It could have been the first 50 story office tower in BC.
MT3 could have & should have been the first 60 story office tower in BC.
https://www.rjc.ca/project-details/metrotower-iii-.html Not 60, 50, or 40 stories. Techncally, not even 30 stories.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Public transit advocates to rally Sunday to save BC Lower Mainland bus routes
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/03/22/lower-mainland-public-transit-rally-burnaby-metrotown/
The region is already thwarted with short trains & a lack of bus-bridges. Of course the next best thing to increase urban congestion & degrade public transit, is to cut some bus routes.
The Guess Who - Bus Rider https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcWQ0utym4I
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Friday, January 17, 2025
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Concord Pacific sets sights on more Metrotown redevelopment
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/concord-metrotown-phase-two-mall-redevelopment-construction-progress
Wow, a 47 story office tower in the BC part of Canada. Toronto's first office building over 55 stories was the TD tower in 1967. The 52 story B of A opened in SF in 1969. Seattle's first 50 story office tower was in 1969. Calgary's first office building over 50 stories was in 1984.
https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/fourteen-storey-non-market-rental-tower-47-storey-8251174
A 72-storey tower proposed in Metrotown could be one of Metro Vancouver's tallest
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/burnaby-metrotown-72-storey-tower
Buildings over 70 floors in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Seattle & Toronto aren't earth-shattering like it is in backwater BC.
Friday, January 10, 2025
A 72-storey tower proposed for Burnaby’s Metrotown
Hardly would be the tallest in Melbourne, Toronto or Seattle, but for backwater BC. This is big time stuff for BC.
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Calls for Metrotown Station overpass continue after man left seriously injured by bus
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metrotown-overpass-man-struck-bus
The irony is that it has been standing unused for several years. Yet, all it needed was a new connecting stairway.
Thursday, October 24, 2024
The goal to build one of Metro Vancouver's new tallest buildings
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/citizen-tower-anthem-properties-burnaby-metrotown-ipo
Unlike Calgary and Seattle, Vancouver won't permit any residential building to be this tall within its strictly controlled city limits. Fortunately, Burnaby, Coquitlam and Surrey will allow taller buildings.
https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/vancouver-developer-seeks-to-raise-82m-for-metrotown-project-via-ipo-9508936 This is Business Outside of Vancouver.
https://storeys.com/anthem-properties-burnaby-66-storey-citizen-metro-king-metrotown This is like an average semi-tall building in Toronto and the GTA.
https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/real-estate/two-more-towers-up-to-80-storeys-tall-more-rental-housing-could-be-coming-to-burnabys-brentwood-8461795 There has been an unwretten ruel in Greater Vancouver for several decades. As long as something is impressive by PG, Kamloops, Kelowna & especially Victoria standards, that's good enough for backwater BC.
https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/burnaby-councillor-opposes-plan-for-80-storey-tower-in-burnaby-5509305 No buildings taller than 40 stories & no roads wider than 4 lanes is very symbolic of the, KEEP IT SMALL mentality of BC. Even the newer SkyTran cars still only form 4 car trains. The Canada Line only has 2 car trains.
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9875630 When the scale of things in BC have been kept back for several decades, its difficult for some people to fathom an attempt to have a taller or larger scale of developments and infrastructure.
Even the mountains just north of LA are allowed to be taller than those of (Greater_Vancouver).