Quote:
Originally Posted by Ridgerunner
For those of you who are still watching the TBM, I have noticed a routine by translink.
Just before they shut the TBM down for Thanksgiving, they posted a "where is the TBM now" notice.
The TBM is shut down again and, sure enough, there was a new Oct 15th "where is the TBM now" posting just before it happened.
There must be a whole lot of "planned maintenance" going on.
They are about 600 meters from the breakout so we will get the tunnel, this year or the next (or the next after that).
What is interesting to me is the calm acceptance not only of the delays but also of the "benign patter" (read "government generated pablum") that we all are fed and are supposed to accept.
The upshot is, of course, that we are not going to make the "early 2016" opening date for the system. We are about one year late and that very real fact is what seems to be ignored by everyone.
The implications of this mismanagement is that it can cast a pall on future TBM/line extension projects.
That does worry me. I, like some of you, would like to see an integrated RR system running across much of the Lower Mainland.
Many people, in order to "say something" so that they can be heard, will pick on this delay in the future to oppose a good RR system and substitute some brain dead "cheaper alternative".
This TBM management is an issue, now and in the future.
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You're warning us that this sort of "mismanagement" of projects may lead to people "picking on" this delay in the future in order to oppose Skytrain extensions or what have you. But your post reads like so many of the newspaper articles pre-referendum, where delays (e.g. Compass) were pointed out as something that could
possibly lead to bad PR. If you look back at those many articles in the Sun, Province, 24 HRS, Metro, CKNW, etc., few to none of them actually stated that Translink had a PR/trust problem
already. Some of the reporters writing those articles probably actually did care about Translink and the future of transportation planning in the region, and wanted to call to account whichever leaders they could find over the delays. But the
effect of those articles, and of rhetoric like yours, which has an admirable goal, was nevertheless to create an accumulation of warnings about bad PR which at some point turned into
actual bad PR just through the magnifying power of the news media. At some point public speculation and commentary on transit in Metro Vancouver switched from warnings to statements of fact about the "public impression" of Translink, and at that point CTF/Automotive/Provincial representatives were able to jump in and begin character assassination of Translink using actual false facts about efficiency, etc., despite the fact that many of these voices were behind the projects that were delayed and the executive culture of Translink's board and so on.
My point to you, Ridgerunner, is that now that this character assassination has happened, there is no point in warning anybody anymore that Translink or whomever could have reputation problems in the future. The reputation problems have already been fabricated and continued criticism is only going to contribute to the hype. In other words, shut up and be thankful the Evergreen Line is still coming. Save your words to argue for the necessity of future projects that aren't already approved or under construction.