Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[vanman]

I just stumbled upon this:

Lamar Gearing Up for Olympics

By the time the 2010 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Vancouver launch next February, Lamar Transit Advertising Ltd. expects to have 46” LCD screens on every platform station of Vancouver’s existing 31 station Skytrain line and the city’s new nine station Canada Line subway line due to open later this year.

Further, following a recent pilot project with digital signs on the side of one city bus, Lamar is hoping for approval to similarly equip between 10 and 25 buses by the start of the Olympic Games – part of a plan to eventually have digital signage on 100 buses of the Vancouver Transit System.

And Lamar’s plans don’t stop there. Under its 20-year contract with the BC Transit system, it is also planning for in-bus screens by 2011, and digital bus posters on double deckers in Victoria and Kelowna in the unspecified future.

“In Vancouver, we plan to have a total of 165 screens on all Skytrain and Canada Line station platforms by the opening of the Games,” says Byron Montgomery, Lamar’s vice-president general manager in Vancouver. “We’ll have Canada’s only full system rapid transit network, the Lamar Commuter Digital Network.”

There are currently about 52 screens up or going up in about 11 stations. The screens use Omnivex software provided by NEC, and commuters see content that’s a combination of transit information, Global BC’s news, and advertising.

As far as the buses go, “We believe digital bus screens will be the future,” says Montgomery. While the pilot project used the UK’s Litelogic LED screen, “We’re looking at a variety of vendors,” says Montgomery.

“All this is costing an investment in the high seven figures over a two year period, but Lamar firmly believes that now is the time to invest,” he says.

In 2005, Lamar, a 107-year-old company with head office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, took over Obie Media Group which had the contract for transit advertising services with BCTransit, the transit authority serving Vancouver, Victoria and more than 30 smaller municipal systems in BC. Its contract runs to 2020.

“In the first 11 years of the contract, we’ve increased revenue for the transit company by 290% and, with our digital offerings, we have a firm goal to double that,” says Montgomery,

Gail Chiasson
http://www.dailydooh.com/archives/8493

[mr.x]

^ great news.....but there are 16 stations on the Canada Line, far from just 9.

[officedweller]

But Squamish is more interested in having a passenger ferry service between Vancouver and Squamish, he added.

Apparently the Coastal Link service from Bowen Island has shut down.

[deasine]

I think Commercial Drive Station has a screen installed... not the ones at the platform, but above the entrance.

[CBeats]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

^ great news.....but there are 16 stations on the Canada Line, far from just 9.

I think it said "in the city" somewhere - maybe they aren't putting them in the Richmond and YVR stations and a few others?

[vansky]

Tech talk again...

let me tell you an interesting story about Vancouver. a few years ago people use to say how civilized vancouverites are in terms of getting on and off the skytrain. It turns out that’s because there were lesser people back then than there are now, so nobody rushed into the train before the doors were going to close. Around that time, cities in China had installed lcds on their buses. And people there behaved in subways like the way people today do here. We haven’t got the lcds yet. And we haven’t even got the e-fare gates yet!! And the excuse use to be that people were so civilized and highly self-displined so security wasn’t even a problem. I see people get caught everytime when police are around the stations. Let's face it, we are growing, and we need some technologies fast. At last, this city is the "show off"...

And dont expect people from other cities to praise us at skytrain stations, that is the past, chaos is coming!

[metroXpress]

LEARN AND DISCUSS
Transportation 2040

We want to know how the goals of Transport 2040 align with your values, so that when we draft our plans, they deliver what you need. Take a look at the discussion area on this site and share your thoughts.

At the beginning of June, we'll have the first draft of the 10-year plan that sets out how we'll move toward the vision of Transport 2040.


If current trends continue, our cars will be producing about eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2040. TransLink can help reverse this trend by helping people make smart transportation choices



To create a region where driving a car is an option not a necessity, we need real transportation solutions that encourage more walking, cycling and transit.



Transit systems were built to serve commuters heading downtown. Now workplaces are dispersed and people travel from everywhere to everywhere.



How we choose to support our growing and ever changing population is vital for the long-term livability of our region. With safety and security in mind, our roads and transit systems can help us meet social needs and support a healthy economy




Our transportation infrastructure is key to a healthy economy. Our region must make smart choices now to meet the demands of a growing economy and population.




Current funding streams will not provide sufficient resources to even sustain basic operations. We’re adding more and better buses, the Golden Ears Bridge, Canada Line, a third SeaBus, and investing in major roads. To maintain, improve or expand our transportation system, new and stable revenue sources must be developed.






Transit is just a part of what we do.

© 2009 South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority. All rights reserved.

For more information: http://www.bepartoftheplan.ca/

[djun]

If you're coming/going to UBC (like me) and have been facing chaos (due to closure of 41st and Camosun) and rerouting of 41, 43, 49, 480 onto Dunbar, here's the story:


Body found near UBC Endowment Lands
Police commenting within the hour
Erin Loxam VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) | Friday, April 3rd, 2009 5:19 pm
Bookmark

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A body has been found near Camosun Street and 41st Avenue in the UBC area. RCMP are not saying what has happened at the southeast corner of Pacific Spirit Park near the UBC Endowment Lands where the intersection and the edge of the park are covered in yellow tape.

Investigators are focusing their attention on the wooded area where it's believed the body of a woman may have been found. There are two ambulances within a yard of the police tape as well as about a dozen cruisers but there are only a few homes that actually neighbour this area.

Police have dog teams searching the park. It's unclear how the body got there and how the person died.

RCMP are expected to update the media within the hour.

[metroXpress]

Transit Police finding few SkyTrain cheats

By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader

Published: April 02, 2009 10:00 AM
Updated: April 02, 2009 1:49 AM

SkyTrain fare blitzes conducted by Transit Police are continuing to turn up low rates of cheating by those who don't pay to ride.

Officers checked 57,923 passengers in February and found a fare evasion rate of just 2.6 per cent.

It was a similar story in January, when 33,349 passengers were checked and 1,011 tickets were issued – a three per cent fare evasion rate.

The recent numbers are even lower than the 5.4 per cent SkyTrain fare evasion rate found last year by auditors.

Most passengers TransLink has polled in the past believe fare cheating is much more widespread and that perception has fed calls to install turnstiles on the currently open access system.

Transportation minister Kevin Falcon has also said he believes fare evasion is much worse than detected and believes turnstiles are key to cutting fears of crime on the transit system.

TransLink's board is keen to introduce a smart card payment system and intends to sign a contract with a provider by this summer, but it has not yet decided whether it will also install turnstiles over the next two to three years.

The province has promised to cost-share the project and Falcon has hinted a further funding announcement is coming.

A smart card system is thought to cost at least $100 million, but turnstiles could add $60 to $100 million.

Staffing the turnstiles could also cost a further $10 to $20 million a year.

That's significantly more than the $6.4 million in lost annual revenue auditors attribute to fare evasion.

NDP MLA Adrian Dix supports installing turnstiles and says capturing all possible fare revenue isn't the only benefit.

"I think turnstiles would make things safer," he said, criticizing the slow pace of plans to install them since Falcon's 2007 announcement they would be coming.

"In the ensuing 18 months nothing – with a capital N – has happened," Dix said, noting the Canada Line is being built without turnstiles.

Dix also favours placing more attendants and police at SkyTrain stations.

Transit Police say they have ramped up their visible policing presence in recent months to reassure riders.

Officers issued nearly 18,000 tickets last year to fare evaders, down 26 per cent from 2007.

"One of the main reasons for the decrease in fare enforcement has been the increase in Transit Police patrols of the areas surrounding SkyTrain stations, including bus loops," according to the force's year-end report.

It said several operations last year near SkyTrain stations aimed to disrupt open dealing and use of drugs nearby.







Cheats still aren't paying


When Transit Police do write a $173 ticket to someone for fare evasion, the fine is rarely paid.

Latest stats compiled by ICBC show barely 10 per cent of fare evasion tickets issued last year were paid – almost identical to the fine payment rates in 2006 and 2007.

Auditors last year concluded tougher sanctions are needed, and called on the province to require fines be paid up to renew a driver's licence or tap other government benefits.

[dreambrother808]

but will they listen to such reason even when translink is financially struggling and cannot afford faregates? hopefully. put that $160 million plus the millions in maintenance every year to new lines, etc, rather than cutting back on those to needlessly spend money allaying irrational fears.

[ravman]

^^^

they are always checking fare at Production/SFU...... all of the pple have UPASS.... start checking at Surrey Central or Broadway or Main or elsewhere

[metroXpress]

^ You know what? If they can't afford to add turnstiles at all stations...they can add them at selected ones.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by ravman

^^^

they are always checking fare at Production/SFU...... all of the pple have UPASS.... start checking at Surrey Central or Broadway or Main or elsewhere

I have been checked at all of those stations.

[SpongeG]

i was on skytrain the other day and i saw numerous attendants on the platform - none of them checked anyone

some got on a train and just stood there by themselves - not checking

they don't seem to care about checking

[dreambrother808]

that's because transit attendants don't check fares. that's the job of transit police.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

that's because transit attendants don't check fares. that's the job of transit police.

It's actually in their job description, except none of them do it.

[mr.x]

They do it, and when someone is found not having a proper fare they lead the violators off the train at the next station and radio in the transit police to give tickets OR they give the violator another chance by forcing them to pay the fare.

[Spork]

Didn't the attendants used to write tickets before the transit police?

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

that's because transit attendants don't check fares. that's the job of transit police.

really?

all I have ever seen t he transit police do is drive around in their fake police cars

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by Spork

Didn't the attendants used to write tickets before the transit police?

I did a job shadow with the transit attendants back in high school in 1999... they would give these IOU slips but wouldn't actually write tickets which was odd to me. They were just general transit attendants but I heard they were being phased out eventually... not in a sense of firing anyone just not hiring people anymore and just let the remaining staff eventually retire. These guys were different from Skytrain Attendants who at the time did write tickets I think.