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Love the "except bicycles" tab under stop signs idea. Simple and effective.

US street design sucks. You got to improve.

the only way to fix this is hard law enforcement, Wasserbillig, Lux. did make crosswalks folks careful with enforcement.

Dude, an urban planning and design channel in Victoria? Hell yes. You may be small but keep it up. That crossing in the new lanes on Fort to get from the left side to the right side is abhorrent - I'm able bodied and have been cycling my whole life and fell off my bike for the first time in five years trying to get through that in time to not get run over by a bus. The provincial standard is something that UBCM has been fighting for already for a while. Our current MOTI is led by Rob Fleming - someone who dumps billions into highways and pennies into non-private vehicle transport. Don't hold your breath. MOTI doesn't care about anything other than car traffic efficiency and convenience. I'd also add to your call to actions section that meeting with counsellors is one of the most valuable things you can do in the CRD.

Sue everyone.

2:21 is that a random deer?

By the way, it is nice to see BC Transit buses. Thank you.

This is no good, We should advocate to use Netherlands's designs for bike infrastructure. Education is not good. Design is better. For example, by using humps and bulges, we can slow traffic, which means that traffic will be safer and more likely to cooperate.

In 2024, it costs $6 million per km to bring the tracks back up to speed. Ain't gonna happen. Look at the ridership before the shutdown. It was abysmal. I'm not seeing any real numbers to justify what would likely be a $1.5 billion dollar venture.

Moved off the island way back in 1979. And never looked back. They say after you live there for a few years. You start suffering from island fever. Went for a visit back in 2000. Boy that Pat Bay hwy was one big parking lot. And I thought the traffic was bad on the lower mainland.

Delusional

Interesting video and interesting debate/conversation in the comments. I recently started thinking about a future with rail service on the island.. I am learning about many of the challenges, and many of the opportunities. Somehow, someway.. it would be amazing if there was a case for it. And I see the value in getting started now, in preparation for what ever critical population milestone we have to achieve to make this economically viable. I agree, laying the tracks for this now will make it that much more likely to happen. I can tell you are not a boomer from your comment.. and therefore have a long future to dream for, and in that sense I fully support the dream!

You sir just gained a subscriber, as a fan (but not an expert) of the E&N I found this video very good. Also rip Johnson Street bridge

How beautiful this would be for us seniors to take the train to see a Dr. in Nanaimo or Victoria 👍

So, as a BC'r you want me, who lives in the interior, to pay absolute million$ to get a rail service up to code, on the island that no one will reasonably use, outside of tourism. Tourism wouldnt pay for even the running costs, those million$ will never be recovered. You would need literally hundreds of work commuters per day to pay running costs and even begin to pay off the up front infrastructure. Islanders dont have any recent history designing their life around train use, and so many other places that have tried this but suddenly found out that you really need the culture of train use for it to work. Hard pass.

I've been telling people for 30 yrs. To put a Mag Lev. Elevated train over the old line and keep the ground path clear for a recreation for the length of the island and when will we grab a brain and bore a tunnel through the Malahat from gold stream to bamberton

3:41 true instead you should do video essays using footage you didn't capture or license with clipping audio that potentially alienates part of the support base 🫠 That was probably the worst part of the video.

This would be perfect for getting the hell out of Nanaimo.

More videos? Yes please. Also, out of curiosity, are you familiar with There’s Your Problem Podcast?

Really good. Thank you for putting this together!

Yes we have to stop voting for this garbage

Love this. Watching from greater van and I found this super interesting

Hey I like trains too. But people like cars and business like trucks.

Just another left wing opinion! No facts, no figures…just lies and propaganda! If the railroad was viable…it would be running!

E&N Railway should reopen but only as a private company funded only by private investors. Do not use tax dollars for this railway; the potential for white elefant is huge.

Rail is dead on Vancouver Island forever and it is 100% the fault of the FNs. They'd rather build condos and strip malls on their small sections of the rail corridor than invest in a sustainable transportation future for all residents of Vancouver Island. They talk a bunch of BS about wanting the corridor land so they can protect their "Culture" or the "Environment" or whatever but if you read beyond the headlines here you'll see that what they actually care about is "Economic development," meaning real estate development. It's a real bloody shame too as we're essentially allowing a few special interest groups that represent less than 0.04% of the island's population to dictate policy that will affect the 850K other people that live on the island forever. There bottom line here is no one here to blame except the first nations as they hold all the cards, and will not allow the trains to ever run again as they'd rather make a quick buck in real estate than build a sustainable future for everyone. Doesn't matter what the other 850K island residents want, doesn't matter what the municipal, provincial or federal government want either, the FNs have said they want the corridor land and as anyone paying attention has long since realized, the FNs get whatever they want, whenever they want it, no questions asked. There's absolutely ZERO point in trying to do any kind of "Advocacy" or to attempt to put any pressure on the government, as our government has voluntarily tied their hands by adopting "UN Declaration on the Right of Indigenous People" and by using it as the framework for "Truth and reconciliation" they have essentially given the FNs an unlimited and unilateral right to block any project they don't like / don't make enough money in kickbacks from. The FNs have spoken, and they want condos, so the rest of us won't get a sustainable future and there's nothing that anyone can do about it. Have fun trying to drive the Malahat in 30 years when the islands population is well over a million and a half people!

Let's be honest here, BC Ferries in 2023 carried 21.5 million passengers and the best numbers the current proposal for rail service on the corridor is 240,000 per year. The number of trucks taken off the road will be minuscule due to the fact that most truck traffic is not containers, there is very little bulk commodities being produced on the island like minerals or grains, there are few sidings. Also, you'd have to have trucks delivering their goods to a rail yard or rail depot, empty their contents and load them into rail cars then unload them and reload them onto trucks to be carried to their final destination. Does this sound efficient and affordable to shippers? The list goes on...the configuration for their passenger train/cars is bizarre to say the least. Why would you have a separate locomotive pulling two passenger cars and why would you buy used locomotives whose service life is in question? How much subsidy would be needed to operate and maintain the corridor and its rail service? The last passenger train to run from Victoria to Nanaimo took 48 minutes just to get to Shawnigan Station and with no direct connection to downtown Victoria one would have to transfer to a bus just to get from Vic West to downtown. And finally, the cost for rebuilding the ballast and trackage is underestimated so to infer that a commuter rail service from Westshore to Vic West would incur cost overruns is just disingenuous since that portion of the line is the easiest to complete. This video shows why both the feds and province are reluctant to fund this scheme, too many amateurs including the ICF providing a "business plan" governments know to be more wishful and hopeful than meeting the necessary criteria for spending taxpayer dollars. The corridor can be preserved just as the City of Vancouver preserved the Arbutus Corridor for transportation purposes however the land issue with all Indigenous Nations the corridor passes through first must be settled.

The way to preserve this corridor is to pass it back into the public hands through the Province of BC. Get it out of the hands of the ICF.

Thank you for this! Good work...

At least don't sell the right of way.

As speaker 22 is such a critic of colonialism, maybe he should be advocating abandonment of the entire rail line, not just the part going through the first nation land. As for the Malahat, construct a southbound highway over the existing rail line, and convert the present highway to northbound only.

As I listen to this he is acting like money is just abundant and doesn’t actually come from us? All of this comes out of our pockets. So are we to pay billions to get this up and running only to find that low cost transport will not begin to repay the debt? That’s right…billions will mean that a ticket might be more than a plane flight and how many regular commuters will be able or willing to pay that? That’s what happened when the BCR was replaced. Is he fine paying a few more thousand in taxes a year in order to pay for a rail service he likely won’t be able to afford to take once new rails, cars, fencing, building new stops, new bridges and so much more? I don’t think so. I know I’m not.

I live close enough to this rail line that it would impact me one way or another. Even though this narrator doesn’t want to hear from…cringe…baby boomers that’s too bad. Here are my 2 cents anyway. I have lived in two places in BC that has lost its passenger rail service. I remember when the corrupt government sold BCrail off ending one form of transport from north to south. The BCR was revived in a way by becoming a tourist attraction that most people in BC could not afford. Which is likely the only way this rail could be revived and made cost effective. So basically catering to the elite few that are mostly foreigners. Years later the other most used public between north and south was greyhound that vanished leaving people stuck with stupidly expensive air travel or having to drive. Since being on island the train tracks have become walking trails and greenery has reclaimed much and nature, like the plethoras of deer and bunnies graze as they walk along the tracks with babies following. As much as I like the idea of travelling by train up and down island I can’t see how this might be a big impact on local residents that have purchased or built homes close to the tracks being told it’s out of commission. Even if a train went by once or twice a day they add significantly to noise pollution and safety issues for people and animals. Then there is the cost.The reason all costs go up for every project is because the government is a corrupt entity. Favouritism, nepotism, money laundering, blackmail, backroom deals, honey pots and more are all words that spell out theft….like what is finally being exposed right now. As the rail line goes across roads and very near people’s property I think this would bring law suits as people will feel deceived, less safe and burdened with sound issues. It would require, as well, the retraining of all the people that currently wait for lights sitting on the tracks as well. It would slow down car traffic too which already has issues. But all that aside most people cannot understand what a billion dollars really is and just how long that would take to pay off…without even interest….and this rail line would cost likely way more as fencing to protect nature would need to be done. The government tosses the word billions around like it’s nothing but in reality if we have to pay back the debt they have created, without our permission or knowledge, we could never pay it back and future generations would be enslaved forever lowering living standards all the way along. This would mean this GenZ narrating would never afford to own anything down the road so he might as well practice being happy about it now.

Did you know that the business case put forward by the ICF proposed only 1 or 2 passenger trips in the morning and the same in the evening and that it will have a maximum speed of 50 km/h? When commuters north of the Malahat are heading to Victoria, they also have to consider how much time it takes to get to the train station, park their car, wait for the train, travel to Victoria, find public transport to their work. How are they going to convince people to use it? A study in 2012 says that there were between 22,000 and 36,000 vehicles traveling the Malahat each day. A passenger car for a train can take about 70 people. Let's say that there may be 5 passenger cars. That's removing 700 cars (350 in each direction based on one train a day) which is not enough to ease the traffic on the highway. The ICF business case states that the majority of seats on the train would need to be for season ticket holders. Anyone wanting to take the train now and again will be out of luck. This also means that people that are trying to divert from the highway when there is a closure due to an accident will have no luck trying to take the train as an alternative. The ICF business case didn't state any financial information about having to purchase additional land or build stations to accommodate parking for the number of passengers that are needed to make this cost affective. I commuted by train for 18 years in the UK. I am a potential commuter for this train service from the Cowichan Valley to Victoria. All I want to hear and to be convinced of is that this would be both time and cost affective for the commuter. Despite asking this many times to those that are promoting the return of a train service, I've not had anything that convinces me to give up my car for the train. If someone could do this, I'd be all aboard.

I want it back so bad

Freight won't work for the E&N. If the line went to the container port in Nanaimo there could be some amount of trucks taken off the road but there are no rail links to the places where containers go. Best case scenario is they would have a tiny transload facility where the Roundhouse used to be. But there isn't enough land there to make a viable container transload. The customers bringing in containers already have them going on chassis and coming to their location. Its not going to be any cheaper to have them transloaded again. Freight worked when there was industry that was moving their goods over rail from here to there.

How do we avoid the conflict of freight and passenger traffic especially with only one track

Consistency schedule service between Victoria, & Nanaimo for Visitors like me to get around!

Unless the govt mandates the rail line to move cargo to take it off the roads, the line won't make enough money. Making Port Alberni an internodal port is the only hope to restore the line. This would help offload Vancouver traffick. The rail infrastructure all exists to do this, it just needs Port Alberni to get the show going.

We need to bring this back!

Nice video

This guy needs more subscribers! These videos are pure quality.

It's just amazing how much rail was on the Saanich Peninsula alone. A lot of locals have no clue how Brentwood Bay, Keating, Saanichton, and Sidney benefitted from this.

I would love to see the RDC sets running again in North America and Canada! They have a certain appeal!

Interesting video. I'm not sure why you felt you had to belittle boomers and that we are cringe and type with caps lock on. Anyways, The ICF(who owns the rail corridor) has said they cannot and will not run freight over the Malahat rail. Last month we learned the roundhouse land will be developed into condo's. CVRD has been building a trial within 3M of the rail most of the way through Shawnigan making rail impossible for safety. The cost estimate from ICF is way ,way low. Replace all the ties and all the rails and all the trestles will be billions. Commuter rail won't work since you need networks of tracks and infrastructure for moving people to work and to stores etc.. The whole corridor is way too steep and windy for high speed. I think they suggested 20-25kph. I love trains but this one just isn't worth the cost to us overloaded taxpayers for a non usefull tourist train that runs along the ground over what 400 crossings so far? fouling traffic even worse. Disposing of millions of creosote soaked rotten ties and replacing them with concrete? (super harmfull to environment) They talked about sourcing local lumber for the ties. How many millions of board feet? How many thousands of trees? Keep the corridor land for the overpopulated future when a raised high speed safe people mover can be justified.

R.I.P the blue bridge. before they took it down I saw some on had spray painted in like red “bye bye bluey”

Based on what area was told the whole entire VIA rail thing was called the Malahat , 10:13 and pretty and putting together. Some money they said it wouldn't happen anyway. So unless a lot of people put some money together. Apparently they're gonna start tearing up track which really sucks cause. They could make some money if people paid to go. Use speeders chargef to use the track. The line to port alberni apparently does not get used anymore. So there could be something there based on what everybody says. And why not run the line to tofino? Lots can hapen?

Great vid! Please do a follow up once more news develops! Looking forward to more vids in the future <3

Maybe the Alberni Sub could be upgraded, maybe with double track, electrification, and some more tunnels for faster travel.