Remember years ago there was a commercial on Hockey Night in Canada “Ford has a better idea.” The commercial would run for about a minute and at the end a little light would go on symbolizing Ford's better idea.

Well I think someone in the Okanagan has a better idea and it's one in the future that could even apply to Kimberley and Cranbrook. Believe it or not, they're seriously talking about setting up a light rail transit system between Kelowna and Vernon.

"I've been an advocate for the rail line from downtown Kelowna all the way to Vernon as has mayor (Wayne) Lippert because we've always had this vision of having the rails by trails part," said Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd in a recent interview on radio station AM 1150.

Apparently the two cities, which are 44 km (27 miles) apart and have a population of more than 150,000 between them, set up a transit bus service a year ago and it's already over-subscribed. Commuters are complaining the bus is too crowded – ergo – the idea to replace it with something that could handle greater numbers.

The two cities are also blessed by the fact that the rails are already in place from the days when CN and CP took turns operating the once-busy line between the communities. But since the trucking era, the line isn't busy anymore, and ironically the original reason for building the line – to carry passengers – now makes sense again.

There will be more irony if Kelowna and Vernon actually succeed in setting up a light rail transit system between the communities because two other cities many times larger than Kelowna and Vernon have talked about doing the same thing for years but now appear to have shelved the project.

And that would be Edmonton and Calgary, which in late November quietly shelved a once highly-touted $2 billion allocation for a “green” light rail transit line between the two cities which are both over a million in population and 290 km (130 miles) apart. With the price of oil falling and the deficit rising, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach felt the project was too expensive for Canada's richest province.

It certainly makes you wonder if Alberta can't afford light rail, rapid transit, who can? Mind you, I think B.C. missed a similar opportunity by not converting the existing Vancouver to Whistler rail line to a rapid rail transit line for the Olympics. The same line could have served the Whistler-Blackcomb resorts after the Olympics were over, and through the new Canada Metro Line in Vancouver, extended all the way to Vancouver International Airport.

What a boon for tourism that would have been, but we are a culture still wedded to the automobile despite all the brave talk about being “green” and reducing our carbon footprint.

This point was driven home to me during my trip to Europe last summer. No matter whether you land at Heathrow or Gatwick in London you need do no more than walk a few feet with your bags and board a train for Piccadilly Square and all the delights London has to offer. It's the same situation in Paris, Madrid, Moscow and most other major European cities.

Vancouver to its credit now offers the same service out of its airport, but I do think it's a shame that no one had the vision to propose linking the airport Skytrain service to Whistler.

And what about Cranbrook and Kimberley? Obviously our population is not near large enough to have a regular transit service between us and the rails connecting us were recently pulled and will soon make way for an already immensely popular paved bike path connecting our two towns and I don't doubt a few hardy souls will probably use it to commute.

But there is the “Health Connections” bus, a joint-venture of the RDEK, Interior Health and BC Transit ealth Health and BC Transit that operates twice-a-week between Kimberley and Cranbrook and is also very popular. It's meant primarily for hospital and clinic patients without cars, but it will also take non-medical passengers if it isn't full. I used to ride it myself.

What's the old saying, “when there's a will, there's a way?” Perhaps the proverbial light will go on here some day and we'll get some sort of a regional public transit system of our own?