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BC Minister of Transport!

 The Honourable Shirley Bond (click here)

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STREETCAR LINE IN TUCSON'S HEART IS SET TO START THIS YEAR

by Rob O ' Dell Arizona Daily Star: Thursday, February 18, 2010

Developers from the east end of downtown to the west side have touted the streetcar as the reason they plan to spend millions to try to revitalize downtown. (Another order for Oregon Iron Works; see article below.)

Welcome to United Streetcar - 1 July 2009

United Streetcar, LLC (a subsidiary of Oregon Iron Works, Inc.) and SKODA have partnered to produce modern, efficient, American-manufactured streetcars and to be a pioneering force in increasing urban transit options throughout the United States.  United Streetcar has completed manufacturing the first Buy-America compliant modern streetcar for the City of Portland, Oregon.

Arkansas trip persuades Augusta group to support trolley

After reading the story above, we hope the Victoria Transit Committee will at least visit Portland!

Calgary-Edmonton train on the slow road to approval
Link between Alberta's largest cities supported by latest report that found enough people would use the service, and the faster it is, the more riders it would have!

Katherine O'Neill Globe and Mail Tuesday, Jul. 07, 2009 07:36AM EDT  (click here for the full story)

And, get ready to attend the HSR Seminar in Red Deer - October 2009 (read more)

Then, think about similar benefits for a Victoria to Campbell River link!

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Sheppard East LRT for Toronto
Groundbreaking; 14-km line to cost $1B, open by 2014

Click here to see what and why not sooner?!

National Post Tuesday, December 22, 2009

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New Rail Lines Spur Urban Revival

 Many cities are inspired by the success of Denver; Charlotte, N.C.;Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City and others in combining transit and development to revitalize downtowns and suburbs.

Government of Canada and VIA Rail announce new station for Cobourg !

Vancouver Canada Line Transit Oriented Development

Vancouver Olympic Line Now in Operation  Read Operational News Here

More videos of Olympic Line - Inside & Out!

What about Victoria, BC, Canada?

Click Here for ITO presentation of cost & availability facts to the C4CR Group (when the file opens, click on the slide to advance the presentation)

i.e. We could be ready to go on the current E&N line early in 2010 !!

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A sustainable Sydney (AU) needs bikes and trams
Clover Moore
April 17, 2009 - 12:00AM

Around the world, smart cities are remaking themselves. They are investing in sustainable public transport and creating pedestrian-friendly environments, reducing their greenhouse emissions, cleaning the air, and providing places for people to meet and congregate.

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Bordeaux: Fronting the French tramway revolution!

Article from the December 2002 edition of Tramways & Urban Transit

From 2004, trams will become the backbone of city transport, and one in two public transport users will be aboard a tram, C. J. Wansbeek reports. (see link above)

The Prime Mover- Architect   The type of trams

The Testimonies of Success: Europe  San Diego  Industry

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But, in Victoria, British Columbia?

We seem to have moved nowhere since the positive outlook of September 2003

Why?

Six years later, Why still Rubber and not Rail?  ... Why do we think on these in the way that we do? It has taken a long time and much effort to set our mind to think that way. How did it happen?

To find out why we North Americans tend to shun the one (the better one) and accept the other, please find a copy of this book and read it.

  Not boring.     Eye-opening.     Shocking.     Revealing.
"A streetcar named Conspire - Hooking the World on Oil and Blacktop"
      http://www.streetcarcon.com/

Thoroughly researched over 16 years and written by a Victoria man - the book tells why and how the North American mind was set in favour of the internal combustion engine, beginning at a time when electric rail transport was highly profitable, efficient, clean and served major areas of this continent in both city and inter-city capacity.

I had become somewhat numb to the National Bus Line story and, thinking that the book would be simply an enlargement on that, I approached the book with mild interest. In short order, though, shock came upon me as I read the story about the addition of lead to gasoline, never having realized that it, too, was part of an overall strategy to kill rail transit. Over the years, as we know, leaded gasoline has had terrible results on the health of many, many 
innocent citizens. Why was it used? .. read about it!

Then came the story about plate glass and how safety glass was fought - cast aside. The filth and killing aspects of diesel fumes are noted. Etc. - all part of an insidious plan to kill rail transit in North America.

On the other hand - The logic and simplicity of electric propulsion is brought to light.  And much of electric rail's technology originated right here - in North America!  The truth of the efficiency and cleanliness of electric rail is a 
message that needs to be broadcast. Is it too late to swing "the mindset" around to practical, logical thinking?

I promise you; a new view of rail transit will come to you.

Orders can be placed directly with the author at  louis@streetcarcon.com

signed: Dick Faulks 20 May 2009

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Elevated LRT Option for Orange County, CA

Is that an option for Victoria (downtown)?  Click on the title above to read more.

Nanaimo may beat us to the punch!!

Railway Gazette News

Canadians overwhelmingly support high-speed rail

Industry Poll - Railway Gazette, 29 July 2009

Will the global economic downturn encourage railway investment to improve environmental impact and reduce climate change?

Yes : 63.3%    No : 18.3%    Maybe: 18.4%

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National Plans in the US and Canada

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Will we be prepared for these changes in urban areas?

As reported in a spate of international articles, including Time, on the former software executive, Shai Agassi, and his company, Better Place has signed deals with governments in Israel, Denmark, Australia, California, Hawaii and Canada to build a web of electric car charging and battery replacement stations.  "Momentum behind electric vehicles continues to accelerate worldwide, as Ontario conducts a comprehensive study of financial incentives for consumers who buy electric cars and other ways to speed their introduction and adoption in Canada."

Read the article which predicts that transformation on our highways and in our cities,  and check all links;

It is a fascinating story; then, consider the fact that, unless we do something soon to improve urban mass transit facilities, we will still have "cleaner" cars clogging the access and exit routes of our cities.  Surely the only change in urban planning should be the provision of parking and "Better Place" servicing at our major transit stations on the outskirts of "downtown"!  Please help us to achieve that objective for Victoria.

How about doing your own upgrade of a small gasoline car to all electric?  You can do it !!  Click here to see how a Pratt & Whitney Canada technician did it!!   Now, he says:

Don't look for my car there though; I'm presently converting my batteries from lead to LiFePo4(Litihium Ion Phosphate).  I'll join that site when my autonomy will be an honest and true 60 km."

 

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