Vancouver’s Skytrain has long dominated the list of automated mass transit systems globally. It is the longest automated system of its kind in the world, and relies on space age technology to propel me from downtown Vancouver to any number of places I’d rather be half the time. Some people freak out when told that “Nobody is driving the train” others freak out when a door fails to close while you’re moving at 100km/h 30 feet above the ground. (That’s only happened once though…) Lack of conductor, frighteningly high stretches of track and the occasional deadly door opening aside- the Skytrain is still a point of pride for Vancouverites, especially with the addition of the new Canada Line which goes direct to the airport. In fact, it’s the envy of many American cities and transit planners. I’ve taken the rapid transit in Minneapolis  (like a slow Disney children’s ride right to the mall) and in Seattle (You can race it to the space needle and back on a bike!) so it’s no surprise to me that it gets favorable mention in their media.  But our Skytrain will have to play second fiddle starting very soon. Dubai is building the final phase to their new fully automated mass transit system which will be the longest in the world, beating out Vancouver’s, upon completion next year. At its launch it apparently experienced problems synching up doors. Maybe they used the same company as us?

Around the world as transportation costs increase due to finite oil and gas supply, and as urbana megaclusters become increasingly dense, countries and megacities are looking to digitally organized and managed mass transit like the systems in Vancouver and Dubai. Recently the BART system in San Francisco, one of the older and storied mass transit systems in the US, adopted the use of new IBM software to better manage their assets and operations. The Long Island Rail Road, a commuter line in New York, will also be using the IBM, Maximo software, which is being adopted in several mass transit systems in America, Asia and around the world, including the impressive and fast Taiwan High Speed Rail, China’s Guangzhou Metro and the Washington DC Metro, one of the busiest in the United States. According to IBM, Maximo is an asset management software program while Maximo for Transportation is “…an extension to Maximo Asset Management, offering industry specific capabilities that address the needs of transportation organizations”

Not to be outdone, Vancouver’s Translink recently installed Omnivex software and display technology into our Sky Train system. The content management software is capable of real-time data acquisition and distribution and will no doubt add a great feature that’s perfectly suited for the fast approaching 2010 Olympics.  On a related note when the previous round of 150,000 Olympic tickets were released earlier this year,VANOC’s website experienced 1,500 hits every second for four hours – making it the busiest website in the world during that period. This according to Jim Furlong who spoke yesterday to the Olympics media and IOC  president Jacques Rogge who was in town to give the final blessing to the games. Should be interesting to see how our Sky Train performs for the games it’s also going to recieve massive amounts of people every hour during the games. It will be its swan song as the longest automated system in the world- let’s hope those doors stay closed.