David Bellerive

The PBO's cost estimate is the result of a weekend spent playing around with the Transit Costs Project spreadsheet and some typesetting. There is ~0 special insight and treating it as authoritative is silly

Final day of Rail Safety Week, and an important one for me: I had the pleasure of partaking in today’s video about the importance of staying safe while enjoying, sharing, and talking about our railways! #RSW26 @railfans.ca

Bold strategy: tresspassing and taking a statiscally unpopular position for three reasons that are basically pandering rather than based in evidence. I'd say let's see if it pays off, but Neil's campaign as a whole is built on sinking deeper at every opportunity.

We can build all the models we want, but we usually miss what's actually happening right in front of us. Whether we improve the infrastructure, people still need to get between our biggest cities. The real question now is how we make that travel better and more productive in the future.

It is one of those “it makes so much sense” ideas that I cannot personally explain why it is not already underway. Quebec must develop a more robust and continuous method for delivering infrastructure projects.

The opposition to the project often talks about "a silent majority", and I will concede that they are right. The issue is the majority is on the side of those saying we should be building it. Canada has waited long enough for modern, transformative and necessary infrastructure.

Ever wonder how an O-Train actually enters service each day? In this video, we take a look at how trains are launched from Albion Yard onto Line 2 & 4. There’s a lot more going on than you might expect. youtu.be/7urbUuADisc

The first pieces of Exhibition Station’s superstructure have been installed. This hub will be a major transfer point between Lakeshore West GO trains, 509 + 511 streetcars, and the Ontario Line subway, serving Liberty Village and the busy Exhibition Grounds.

Hello, Montreal. Today is a new dawn for the @remgrandmtl.bsky.social with the (actual) opening of the Anse-à-l’Orme branch! 4 new stations, 14km of mostly elevated guideway.

This isn’t really about trains. It’s about whether Canada is still willing to build major infrastructure, or keep studying it. The case has been known for decades. The question now is whether we act on it. dbellerive.substack.com/p/why-i-supp...

The same drivers: "I couldnt see you!" We need some very strict rules about what is an "acceptable" (very generous choice of word) way to mount a phone on a "hands-free" holder. The number of times I see drivers that have most of the FOV filled with the phones, but hey, they aren't touching it!

We have released a copy of @railfans.ca's brief to ALTO’s public consultation. Canadians deserve better intercity transportation options and capable of changing how this country connects. If you haven't done so yet, you can still participate before April 24, 2026: www.railfans.ca/news/brief-s...

Canadians support high-speed rail. A March 2026 survey from Abacus Data found 62% support for building it, versus 18% opposition. Even a survey commissioned by opponents still shows majority support. Read more: www.railfans.ca/article/cana...

Rob Ford preferred subways over LRTs because he didn’t want transit slowing down cars. I prefer subways over LRTs because I don’t want cars slowing down transit. 🤝

Malgré la hausse des derniers jours, le prix de l’essence est dans la moyenne des 15 dernières années lorsqu’on considère l’inflation. Ce qui n’a pas suivi l’inflation, ce sont les revenus de la taxe sur les carburants, qui financent les réseaux de transport. /1 www.transitquebec.org/communiques/...

Once again, the Mayor boasts about how low our taxes are - we’re not even keeping up with the rate of inflation. But this ideological obsession long pre-dates Sutcliffe. It’s a point of pride in Ottawa, a city with almost the highest median household income in Ontario. 1/

I'll pass on a hold-the-date. Thanks @railfans.ca and @bettertransitottawa.ca for talking transit data with me on February 2. Notez bien cette date. Merci à @railfans.ca et @bettertransitottawa.ca pour nos échanges sur les données de transport en commun le 2 février.

Sincerely.

We talk a lot about “value engineering” as responsible cost control. Too often, it’s really a way to defer decisions and push costs, complexity, and risk into the future. I wrote about why waiting is rarely neutral in infrastructure, and what it really costs us. open.substack.com/pub/dbelleri...

We talk a lot about what Canada should build. This is one of the moments where a real project is on the table and public input actually matters. The Alto high-speed rail consultation is open and worth a few minutes of your time! en.consultation.altotrain.ca/shaping-the-...