Millennium Line - Evergreen Extension | Completed

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by CLC

While I agree the bus service should be ideally at least every 15 minutes day time, most Surrey bus routes will never have the ridership demand near that of the Vancouver proper

A trick to get on some of the busiest bus route in Vancouver at the busiest time is to first ride on the opposite direction, then you can surely get on

I wouldn't say Surrey will never have the ridership demand of Vancouver proper. It comes down to how they zone and densify. Surrey is supposed to have a bigger population than Vancouver in the future. Really its problem is those 30 min and 60 min routes. Who would want to take transit when your bus only comes every 60 mins.

[usog]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I wouldn't say Surrey will never have the ridership demand of Vancouver proper. It comes down to how they zone and densify. Surrey is supposed to have a bigger population than Vancouver in the future. Really its problem is those 30 min and 60 min routes. Who would want to take transit when your bus only comes every 60 mins.

The surrey central bus loop is pretty damn busy during rush hour nowadays. You see a lot of the buses leaving/coming in fully packed, and the lineups at some bus bays are getting quite long...

[BCPhil]

It's like the chicken and the egg. Which comes first?

Do the buses come by only every hour because no one rides the bus? OR does no one ride the bus so they only come by every hour?

It's something of a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵, what if Translink used a huge portion of their budget to improve bus service in all of Surrey.... and no one came? Buses and their drivers are expensive. If X amount of buses currently moves Y amount of riders, is it worth increasing X at a significant cost if Y doesn't increase significantly too?

I really think Translink and Surrey should use the BCER ROW as a test for light rail ridership in Surrey. Lease a few Bombardier Talents (or something similar) and do some cheap track upgrades and extend the tracks to Scott Road Station. Run it as a peak hour service to start and see how it goes.

Coquitlam and Port Moody have had the WCE for years to demonstrate there is interest in rail transit (and at a premium cost too) and the 97B is also somewhat successful (even though it's a horrible service) so it is logical to assume that a Skytrain will do well.

[cabotp]

Of course it is a chicken and egg problem. But it seems to me that neither side is willing to budge. We have a stubborn chicken and a stubborn egg.

I don't live out there and never have and probably never will. But based on the timetables on a quick glance it would seem that some areas have somewhat frequent bus service. Where as others don't.

So why not concentrate growth in the areas that have good service and not in areas that lack that kind of service. Although it is easier said than done, and things do not change over night.

[Zassk]

I like the idea of using the existing rail corridor through Surrey. It may turn out that nothing more is needed than this.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by cabotp

Of course it is a chicken and egg problem. But it seems to me that neither side is willing to budge. We have a stubborn chicken and a stubborn egg.

I don't live out there and never have and probably never will. But based on the timetables on a quick glance it would seem that some areas have somewhat frequent bus service. Where as others don't.

So why not concentrate growth in the areas that have good service and not in areas that lack that kind of service. Although it is easier said than done, and things do not change over night.

In a lot of areas, major corridor service is pretty good, you just need to get there. And if you live down some of the darker roads, or down some of the newer roads, they might not be close to any bus service at all.

Like if you live over at Grandview Corners, there is no bus service anywhere near there yet, and there are thousands of brand new homes (really high dense too). But if you are leaving from White Rock Central (the mall) a bus heads north out of town every few minutes, with buses to the Canada Line running every 15 minutes... it's just getting to the mall that's the problem for most.

[SpongeG]

i thought the plan was to tunnel under lougheed and pinetree - did that change?

[officedweller]

I think that was the LRT version.

Coquitlam Centre - Global Air Photo July 1, 2009
- look at all that parking lot space ready for a future station.

[GeeCee]

It may have been the plan during the LRT days. I'm not aware of any intentions of doing so since it became SkyTrain again..

[Zassk]

^ Looking at that overhead picture, it's weird, this is supposed to be the big focus for growth in the region, but it looks way lower density than Richmond... looks more like Lonsdale in fact. Is the city waiting for the Evergreen Line?

[LeftCoaster]

Lonsdale?? I dont get it, how in any way does that look like Lonsdale?

[Zassk]

^ By that I meant a few sparse highrises surrounded by parking lots and low buildings. I apologize if it sounds denigrating to either city when I wrote of it that way - but I recall recent discussions on this site about Lonsdale's lack of density, and the overhead picture of Coquitlam Centre reminds me of the overhead pictures of Lonsdale. I assume Coquitlam Centre is planned to be dense like Metrotown in the near future, it just looks like there is a lot of work remaining to get to that point.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by Zassk

I assume Coquitlam Centre is planned to be dense like Metrotown in the near future, it just looks like there is a lot of work remaining to get to that point.

Metrotown: 1985

[mr.x]

^ wow....that's unbelievable. I believe the mall was built in 1989?

[Millennium2002]

I'm completely taken by surprise at how much progress has happened since the Skytrain's opening. =O

[cabotp]

The first section to be built was the one that goes currently from sears/toys-r-us to Zellers/T&T. Although before it was Woodwards at the Zellers end. Was the first section to be built. And it opened in 86 just in time for expo. Which makes me think this picture was taken just before construction started. It is too bad the picture wasn't a bit further to the north as you would clearly see where sears is.

Infact Sears was there long before the mall. I remember as kid going shopping at sears with my parents. We would drive along 49th to imperial make the left at sussex and drive into the parking lot andthat was one massive parking lot. With a super value in the corner where kingsway and nelson meets. My dad told me stories of going into that parking lot with his car and his friends car. In the snow and just run up and down and do peel outs and donuts. There was not one lamp post or curb in the entire parking lot. The two condos where the word "photos" is was not there as well as all the buildings beside it and the street, plus where bonsor park is just below. That was all one big parking lot


I must say that housing seriously looks ghetto and run down.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I must say that housing seriously looks ghetto and run down.

Most of that housing (the portion behind the station) is still there and hasn't changed.

[tom_g]

Coquitlam town centre is a large, flat area full of high density development potential similar to the city central area in Surrey - many run down houses, old apartment blocks, vacant land, and surface parking lots. There are lots of neglected properties seemingly waiting for new developments. The towers you see in that picture have all been built in the last few years.

Looking at the picture, it really would be a shame to not build a station at Lincoln. The highest density currently sits around Glen and the northeast corner of the mall property, almost half way between the two proposed stations at the bus loop and Douglas College.

[twoNeurons]

Coquitlam Station / Lincoln / Douglas College seem to me to be similar to Gateway/Surrey Central/King George in both distance apart and function.

[mooks28]

I remember being in Coquitlam Centre a few years ago and seeing some "potential" development ideas. I know they definitely have plans to put buildings where the parking lots now are -- even a hotel.