SkyTrain for Surrey, not LRT!

Edmonton Valley Line LRT ridership falls far short of estimates​

Canada’s most recently opened light rail transit line has failed to meet its ridership targets

Quebec’s provincial government has scrapped a surface light rail project in Quebec City

SkyTrain for Surrey applauds Quebec Transport Minister François Bonnardel’s recent announcement that the Quebec provincial government will withdraw provincial funding for a proposed $3.3 billion street-running light rail transit system in Quebec City.

At-Grade Rail systems have worse reliability

IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 23rd July, 2014 At-Grade Rail systems, like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) proposed in the City of Surrey, are more vulnerable than SkyTrain in experiencing large service issues like the two issues with SkyTrain seen in the past week. Three weeks ago, riders and news agencies were describing a major service disruption […]

REALITY CHECK: Cost of 3 LRT lines vs. SkyTrain to Langley

The City of Surrey has often stated, including on its current Rapid Transit Now advocacy page, that 3 Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines across the city would cost less than building SkyTrain to Langley. This claim is incorrect, and it may also be based on outdated data. The latest cost estimate values in the Surrey […]

The dishonesty of “No one builds with SkyTrain anymore”

Light Rail advocates frequently mislead the public with claims such as “No one builds with SkyTrain” and “only seven SkyTrain-type systems exist worldwide”.

Light Rail Transit has a high operating cost per service hour

Light Rail Transit has a high operating cost per service hour Reality Check SkyTrain for Surrey press team February 11, 2013 A comparison of LRT operating costs per service hour vs the operating cost per service hour of SkyTrain: City System Operating cost per revenue service hour in 2011 Calgary C-Train LRT $200 [1] Salt […]

Mode-share shift to transit prevalent in Vancouver, but not in Portland

Late last month, the online blog Price Tags by Simon Fraser University CITY director Gordon Price published a blog article titled “Vancouver demolishes Portland: A transit comparison“. The analysis found that Vancouver “demolishes” Portland in attracting riders onto transit service and encouraging transit trips rather than vehicle trips. As a continuation of this analysis, we’d […]

Poor fare revenue and LRT ridership cause free fare zone removal in Portland

MEDIA RELEASE – SKYTRAIN FOR SURREY ORIGINAL WRITTEN CONTENT Poor revenue and ridership cause free fare zone removal in Portland FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 18, 2012 – Surrey, BC Light Rail advocates in Surrey love to triumph Portland as a successful example of North American Light Rail Transit implementation. However, there is a side […]

Portland, OR: LRT is so cost-ineffective, unable to operate at promised frequencies

There were a number of interesting facts pointed out by The Cascade Policy’s John A. Charles, whose research we have cited before (see references #39 and #79), about the Portland MAX in his latest article, called: Transit Hypocrisy. It is notable that he points out that that it has been said that there is a […]

Portland: subsidies attracted economic development, not LRT

Portland: subsidies attracted economic development, not LRT Reality Check SkyTrain for Surrey press team March 15, 2012 There are serious problems with the City of Surrey’s use of Portland’s MAX Light Rail as an example to boost the image of potential at-grade Light Rail in Surrey, and one of those problems is the assumption that […]