I thought that would be how it works, while I will always support local companies, I would love for translink to use these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hino_Poncho as community shuttles. Hmmm maybe Hino could open a small plant in Richmond
I heard our shuttles only last for a few years... is that true? If it is, I don't know why we are investing in shuttles from ford, instead of buying 30 ft. buses from newflyer or w/e.
Translink would only run the Fords (E-450s not F-450s sorry) to 400,000 km or something like that which roughly 4 years of service, too unreliable after that. The GMCs should run a lot longer.
Translink would only run the Fords (E-450s not F-450s sorry) to 400,000 km or something like that which roughly 4 years of service, too unreliable after that. The GMCs should run a lot longer.
Why aren't Tranlink buying Japanese vehicles (even some European marques like Volvo)? Ford/GM/Chrysler are known to be some of the most unreliable car-maker companies in the world.
^ buy American = buy Canadian. I'm guessing our vehicles may have come from Ford/GM plants in Eastern Canada.
The jobs may stay here, even though it's not local, but it's the quality of transit service that should really matter as that's Translink's #1 mandate - and it suffers because of this attitude.
Ford/GM/Dodge trucks are built to higher quality standards though compared to their passenger vehicles. The old GM fishbowls were great buses.
I liked the community shuttles we had in the mid 90s that ran the 102, 103, and 108 routes, but drivers were sufferring from carbon monoxide poisoning because of one bad design flaw that BC Transit didn't bother fixing even though there was a fix for it. I think the unions didn't want to drive the buses anymore whether or not it was fixed.
Can't find any of the BC Transit photos but here's one from Mississauga.
There are a lot of very nice small buses used as airport shuttles all over the world.
In Europe they have short buses that are battery powered. Some even use induction plates at bus stops to charge the bus so it never needs to go into the shop or plug in to recharge. Experimental, but Cool Stuff.
By using battery power, it's very easy to make very short, 100% low floor buses.
There are a lot of very nice small buses used as airport shuttles all over the world.
In Europe they have short buses that are battery powered. Some even use induction plates at bus stops to charge the bus so it never needs to go into the shop or plug in to recharge. Experimental, but Cool Stuff.
By using battery power, it's very easy to make very short, 100% low floor buses.
Very nice! How much more do these cost than the ones we're using now?
I have no idea, it was pretty hard to find even that picture. My parents told me about them when they went through there.
Bordeaux also has a neat tram that is powered by a third rail in the ground instead of overhead wires. Only the part of the track directly under the train gets charged so people don't get electrocuted when they cross the street.
Bordeaux also has a neat tram that is powered by a third rail in the ground instead of overhead wires. Only the part of the track directly under the train gets charged so people don't get electrocuted when they cross the street.
Incredibly expensive system and had many problems when it first debuted.
Incredibly expensive system and had many problems when it first debuted.
Yes, but it's neat. They were willing to pay because it was important to them to not have overhead wires in certain historical parts of the city.
Bombardier has a more promising new system for its trams that uses induction to feed electricity to the trains, so there is no need for the train to be in direct contact with an electrical source (overhead wires or third rail).
It might be expensive to install, but because it's contact-less would need virtually no maintenance. And combined with new power saving technologies results in lower operating costs. Bombardier says the extra cost of the trains can be recouped in as little as 6 years.
While probably not for Vancouver, it would be nice for cities that don't want to deal with frozen power lines in the winter or unsightly power lines in their historical areas.
Why aren't Tranlink buying Japanese vehicles (even some European marques like Volvo)? Ford/GM/Chrysler are known to be some of the most unreliable car-maker companies in the world.
Ford's reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers.
- Consumer Reports
Probably why they are not in the same boat as the other 2.
ford is starting to bring their much better european models over here, euro focus rs (not the garbage chasis they use here) in 2012 !
I agree; I remember when I lived in Europe and my company rented a Ford Focus for me. I couldn't believe it was a Ford Focus, given my prior experiences with the North-American produced version.
I agree; I remember when I lived in Europe and my company rented a Ford Focus for me. I couldn't believe it was a Ford Focus, given my prior experiences with the North-American produced version.
offtopic. yea the interior is on par with any japanese car,not too mention that focus rs is faster than the m3 and honda nsx on the top gear powerboard
i luv my gti and pretty much any volkswagen or audi but this ford is just sexy
No, sorry, no matter how they improve their interiors, it will never be as fine as Japanese cars. I've been in the European Ford ones and while they are amazing (and the new Ford ones are pretty good as well), it isn't up to level of Japanese cars JUST yet.
A quick look at the Korea Urban Transport thread at SSC: Subways turned out this photo.
Photography by ds8789 of Flickr
See those cables running on the edge of the platform?
Photography by ds8789 of Flickr
See them again? Those cables act as a platform door. So in other words, if SkyTrain needs platform doors, we could install cables/glasses that move vertically upwards and we wouldn't have to figure out door location issues with the MK I and MK II vehicles.
No, sorry, no matter how they improve their interiors, it will never be as fine as Japanese cars. I've been in the European Ford ones and while they are amazing (and the new Ford ones are pretty good as well), it isn't up to level of Japanese cars JUST yet.
have you seen the new honda/acuras lately? lexus and most nissans are slightly better than euro fords, but honda has been putting like a gazillion buttons and hard plastics all over their cars lately plus acuras grill/new styling IS butt ugly. eitherway volkswagen interiors are king especially since the audi/bentley stuff gets shared internally with vdub.
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Hmmm maybe Hino could open a small plant in Richmond
plus acuras grill/new styling IS butt ugly. eitherway volkswagen interiors are king especially since the audi/bentley stuff gets shared internally with vdub.
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