Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[DKaz]

Wow 44,000 boardings on the 99... there are some LRT systems around the states and in Edmonton struggling to get that number no?

I've since switched to the 84 though, it's so much faster.

[city-dweller]

I think the growth of ridership along the Broadway corridor is under represented in a lot of peoples discussion here. The City of Vancouver is focusing a lot of growth in its planning along that corridor. Anyone who takes the 99B-line has seen plenty of 1-2 story buildings which are all within zoning (or easy rezoned) for much higher FSR, predominantly between Yukon and Arbutus. This does not even take into account translink's goal of realigning and re-scheduling local transit to the proposed route. This proposed route has density along its route and high demand at each hub. (UBC - Commercial) Numbers will go up more from new development and local transit than students.

[CLC]

Wow 44,000 boardings on the 99

this figure is actually lower than I thought. Perhaps the summer months 99-b does have a significant decrease in ridership, average the figure down

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i liked riding the muni in san francisco - slow as it was it was a good way to travel

same with portland - it may be slow but its good and gets you where you wanna go

people need to slow down a little more - thats not such a bad thing

Cable cars are fun too, but I don't want to ride one from Coq Centre to UBC.

The streetcar around Granville Island/downtown will be great though.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by city-dweller

I think the growth of ridership along the Broadway corridor is under represented in a lot of peoples discussion here. The City of Vancouver is focusing a lot of growth in its planning along that corridor. Anyone who takes the 99B-line has seen plenty of 1-2 story buildings which are all within zoning (or easy rezoned) for much higher FSR, predominantly between Yukon and Arbutus. This does not even take into account translink's goal of realigning and re-scheduling local transit to the proposed route. This proposed route has density along its route and high demand at each hub. (UBC - Commercial) Numbers will go up more from new development and local transit than students.

No doubt about it. The Broadway corridor (and UBC) is the transit elephant in the room. Now that we will have 2 (technically 3) north-south lines intersecting Broadway and nothing connecting them other than buses, it's a bit silly not to have rapid transit from at least Commercial to Cambie.

However, if you thought the Canada Line had NIMBY problems, I think any talk of a Broadway line will have the NIMBYs out even more. We need benevolent dictator Campbell to "just do it". Even Rav "Che" man would support that right?

[deasine]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

SkyTrain does make sence to some degree if they hook it up properly with the MLine so it has no transfers from Coq to UBC. Its expensive but thanks to Clark we are stuck with it. The MLine should never have been SkyTrain but LRT or even Monorail.

The thing that scares me is that Bombardier seems to be really pushing SkyTrain tech but to no avail. If 20 or more years when Toronto has closed its SRT and Detroit's has died a slow death, I'm afraid of what will happen if Bomardier considers it not worth the expense as it is yesterdays technology and decide to scrape ALRT. Vancouver will be in a real pickle.

The gov't says it wants a "skytrain-like" technology but as far as I know it is the only manufacturer. There are some linear-inductions but they are subways and high-speed which is complitly uncompatable. Either way, the cars are going to cost a fortune and Vancouver will have no option but to pay it. that's the main problem with proprietry technology.

Paragraph 2 is incorrect as many have pointed out.

Paragraph 3 is also incorrect. I swear we had this discussion over three times at SSC. There are other manufacturers out there.

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

try going to work every day at ubc or along the broadway corridor and then talk to me about what kind of system should be installed.
sounds like ssiguy has some personal connection to the hastings corridor, which is obviously far less used than the b-line.
do you have any idea how busy transit is along broadway????? seriously, the other lines are being built first because of political reasons, not because of ridership.
maybe if i lived in coquitlam i wouldn't care, or if i lived somewhere else where skytrain is being built even though the ridership will not match broadway's.
broadway DESERVES skytrain. installing LRT along broadway would become the most regretted embarrassing decision in translink history!!! no exaggeration there.
look at the facts and the genuine needs.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by nname

Note, the Broadway corrider already have 72,000+ passengers a day.

Thanks for pointing this out. Over 72 000 passengers ride along the Broadway Corridor.

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

what the hell happened to the 95 b line down Hastings to SNFU??

seems like it has been back burnered for a while now.......I assume they are waiting for the 98 B to shut down when the Cline starts up and shift the bus stock to the new route?

anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/95_B-Line

I believe 95 and 91 B-Lines will be on hold for a little bit. They might directly label these two "express buses" as RapidBus instead. I'm guessing there are some talks between the Provincial Government and TransLink.

[DKaz]

I think the 106 should be converted to trolleybus as a natural extension of the 19, afterall it is a well use route.

Actually I'd rather see it converted to streetcar especially the New West to Edmonds portion but I guess I'm just daydreaming.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by deasine

Paragraph 2 is incorrect as many have pointed out.

Paragraph 3 is also incorrect. I swear we had this discussion over three times at SSC. There are other manufacturers out there.

With ssiguy2, it goes in one ear and comes out on the other.....either that, or he's covering his ears and going "LALALALALALA" as we tell him the real facts and truth.

Thanks for pointing this out. Over 72 000 passengers ride along the Broadway Corridor.

I thought it was 100,000?

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

they could make broadway one lane in either direction - devote the middle lanes to the LRT

people using broadway as a drive through route could use 10th which most people do now if they are coming from 12th

LOL... yes, we'll just one-lane a major arterial.... i'm sure the folks on 10th won't mind their residential street picking up all the traffic.

seriously, how much time do you spend in this area?? obviously not much, otherwise you'd know that 10th is a BIKE ROUTE and has those circular roundabouts in the intersections.
http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/pdf/CTVAN_BikeRoute_MAP_2007.pdf

[Gordon]

The way I see it The Evergreen Line can only be Bombardier because it will be operated as 1 line from it's Coquitlam Terminus to VCC Clark, so thetrains have fit in to the Millenium Guuidways.

also I think there is a fairly limited number of companies that make fully automated systems like Skytrain and of course Canadaline (Rotem)

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by nname

Top Maple Ridge bus come in 34th with 6000, it has to be the 701.

I wonder what about the 791.

[David]

Originally Posted by DKaz

I wonder what about the 791.

as far as i know the 701 is still significantly busier than the 791

[deasine]

Not Vancouver related again... but I wonder when we will have these displays on bus stops. And I'm not talking about the stupid useless 98 B-Line Siemens ones... but instead the new init GPS system on buses.

TTC wait times on texts, screens
AARON HARRIS/TORONTO STAR
The first screens in a $5.2 million GPS-based system show when the next Spadina streetcars will arrive Dec. 15, 2008.

Dec 16, 2008 04:30 AM
Tess Kalinowski
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER



If information is power, then the TTC is about to put a little bit more of it into the hands of riders.

A new $5.2 million GPS-based screen system means TTC patrons will have access to next-vehicle-arrival information on streetcar and bus platforms by early 2010.

But even before that system is fully installed, riders will be able to get information about when the next bus or streetcar will arrive via text messages on their cellphones.

LCD displays inside stations will show when the next several vehicles are due to arrive and map where other streetcars and buses are located down the route. LED screens, which are less susceptible to weather conditions, will announce next-vehicle-arrival information on platforms.

By late next year, similar information will be available on LED screens at about 350 outdoor transit shelters across the city.

Giving riders the ability to learn how far down the line the next vehicle is means they can grab a cab instead or take time to get a coffee, depending on their schedule.

"It will give people more information to make intelligent decisions about how they travel and move around the city, and that's critical," said TTC chair Adam Giambrone, who showed off the new screens at the 510 Spadina streetcar platform yesterday.

The system is expected to become increasingly accurate as it records data based on variations in the vehicles' travel pattern and calculates the differences, he said.

Also coming to the TTC next year is a text-based system that will allow riders to receive next-vehicle-arrival information for the more than 10,000 bus and streetcar stops in the city via text messaging. Each stop will post a number that riders can use to access that information.

About 6,000 of the TTC's surface stops have shelters. The new shelters being installed as part of the city's street furniture project are wired to work with the LED signs. But it's not clear yet which shelters will get the displays, said TTC spokesperson Brad Ross.

"There's a criterion that needs to be established with respect to which shelters those go in. There are about 3,000 stops that are fairly major intersections," he said.

A next-train arrival system for the subway will be installed on subway platforms around the city early next year.

"No matter where you are, you will have access to real-time information at your stop," Giambrone said.

The same information will be available on the TTC's web page.

More is coming in the next year, including the opportunity to sign up for email alerts on problems in the system. Next summer, the TTC hopes to launch a trip planner that will help riders map and time a route anywhere on the system.

source: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/554383

[nname]

Originally Posted by DKaz

I wonder what about the 791.

791 has about 600 riders per day according to that graph.

[van-island]

Theoretically speaking...

If the Canada Line's rolling stock was narrow enough to fit the Skytrain guideway, couldn't it be used if Bombardier stopped manufacturing rolling stock? (or maintenance on the LIM was deemed too expensive)

The track gauge is the same, correct? So couldn't the LIM just be taken out and the track used as a regular railway?

[jlousa]

Heck you can use a diesel powered locomotive on the tracks if the gauge is correct, the maintenance cars (bright yellow and sometimes visible at Stadium station) have onboard engines that they use when they have to shut power down to do repairs.

Creating new rolling stock if needed is an easy task, just expensive.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Cable cars are fun too, but I don't want to ride one from Coq Centre to UBC.

The streetcar around Granville Island/downtown will be great though.

you'd be pretty lame and insane if you went to ubs and lived in coquitlam

you may as well just go to douglas

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

LOL... yes, we'll just one-lane a major arterial.... i'm sure the folks on 10th won't mind their residential street picking up all the traffic.

seriously, how much time do you spend in this area?? obviously not much, otherwise you'd know that 10th is a BIKE ROUTE and has those circular roundabouts in the intersections.
http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/pdf/CTVAN_BikeRoute_MAP_2007.pdf

i spend a lot of time there - currently broadway is 2 lanes plus 1 for parking

when you exit off hwy #1 to go to ubc you go along the grandview hwy, west 12th than turns into west 10th and straight into UBC which is now University Blvd - you never get onto broadway - there is no need to

as for running down broadway - if we have the blessed skytrain we will no longer need car capacity along broadway - duh

[nname]

oops.. double post..

[nname]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

you'd be pretty lame and insane if you went to ubs and lived in coquitlam

you may as well just go to douglas

I know a few people who do that and commute everyday. It takes about 2 hours per direction, or 1.5 if they take WCE.

Actually, some of them live even furthur than Coquitlam... (poco, maple ridge, etc)

Oh, and I know a few who commute between Mission and SFU too...