It was originally supposed to open twelve days from now, but Vancouver’s Canada Line has already racked up millions of rides since it commenced operations in mid-August — and it’s now carrying almost 100,000 people a day on average. The 12-mile automated light metro, which was built at a cost of C$2 billion, was one of the first major works of transit infrastructure built with the help of a public-private partnership (PPP) in North America Join discussion...

Federal taxpayers paid the biggest up-front chunk of the Canada Line bill with a contribution of $450 million, said Canada Line spokesman Alan Dever. He said the provincial government added $252 million during the construction phase and is responsible for another $166 million during the operating period for performance payments. Vancouver International Airport contributed $259 million and the City of Vancouver spent $29 million to add the stop at 2nd Avenue that will be the Olympic Village Station. Join discussion...

Bombardier Transportation and Brussels Public Transport Company STIB (Societe des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles) are teaming up with the City of Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) to give North America a taste of European light rail technology. The partners continue preparations for a unique streetcar demonstration project that will help the city provide public transit service during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Join discussion...

Citi Infrastructure Investors was eliminated from the auction for BAA Ltd.’s London Gatwick airport, a decision it called “bizarre in the extreme.”Citigroup’s team, which includes Vancouver Airport Services and John Hancock Life Insurance Co., made an uncompetitive offer with no assurances on deliverability, BAA said in a statement today. The bid group, known as Lysander, said separately that it’s still interested in buying Gatwick and has full funding for a purchase that would improve the site’s passenger facilities. Join discussion...

Last month, the $2.5 billion deal to lease Chicago's Midway Airport to a private operator fell through because investors -- Vancouver Airport Services, Citigroup, and John Hancock Insurance Company -- could not secure the necessary financing. Had the deal gone through, Midway would have been the first major U.S. airport to be privately run under a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program that Congress created in 1997. Join discussion...

Chicago cancelled its planned sale of Midway Airport after the group trying to buy it failed to raise financing because of tight credit markets and strong interest in the sale of London's Gatwick Airport, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials involved in the $2.62 billion deal. The group, comprising Citigroup Inc.'s Citi Infrastructure Investments, John Hancock Life Insurance Co. and Vancouver Airport Services of Canada, have already paid a non-returnable $126 million deposit to the city; Vancouver's chief executive, George Casey, said financing hadn't been forthcoming, the newspaper said. Join discussion...

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada has been ranked the top Financial Adviser - Canada Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) from 2004 to October 2008, in terms of both number of deals and dollar volume, by Project Finance magazine. Over the past four years, PwC was engaged on a leading total of six PPP deals worth close to $3 billion. Join discussion...

The new 500-bed Royal Jubilee Hospital project in Victoria reached an important milestone today with the selection of ISL Health as the preferred proponent Join discussion...