https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9kGEdcYTPs

Links and tidbits is our semi-regular roundup of interesting fodder about transportation from the last few weeks or so. If you have links to contribute, put them in the comments or email us!

»  An oldie but a goodie! Daily Hive recently shared the Going to Town documentary (embed above) from 1985 about SkyTrain—or the Vancouver Regional Rapid Transit Project as it was referred to at the time.

»  But wait, there’s more! BC Transit also produced On Track, an early SkyTrain project film from 1983.

»  For more historical fodder, you’ll want to check out our Transit History category.

»  We’ve taken you behind the scenes to our Lost Property Office in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Let’s take a look inside Transport for London’s Lost Property Office!

»  In December, our counterparts at the Toronto Transit Commission opened the 8.6-kilometre extension of Line 1 from Downsview Park Station in Toronto to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre in York Region.

»  Over in New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has cut “ladies and gentlemen” announcements in favour of more gender-neutral words such as “passengers,” “riders,” and “everyone.”

»  Where do New York City subway maintenance personnel go when a train comes? Here’s your answer.

»  Also in New York, they are testing 10 different prototypes of open gangway trains by the 2020s.

»  This isn’t an April Fool’s joke! Waste coffee grounds will help power some Transport for London buses.

»  Australia has unveiled plans to build a supersonic hyperloop. Trains will travel at speeds of more than 1,000km/h! ?

»  QR code payment is coming to the Shanghai Metro. The pilot began on Oct. 30, 2017 and the plan is to expand it to all 17 lines in the city by early 2018. Closer to home, Metrolink in California is also getting QR code payment.

»  Baggage fees are common among airlines, but not on public transit. The Namma Metro in India is charging passengers 30 rupees for each piece of baggage they carry—and customers are furious.

»  What has been dubbed  the “millennial railcard” has launched in the United Kingdom, offering passengers between 26 and 30 years old a third off train travel.

»  Arlington used to be the largest city without any buses, now they are the first system to run solely on microtransit.

Author: Allen Tung