Canada Line | Completed

[deasine]

Originally Posted by mr.x

^ lol, i was talking about the taxi's needing to improve their quality of service.

It's funny how your comment could apply to the article on the previous page. Someone get me starbucks... -__-

[Vonny]

Originally Posted by deasine

They have to or else they won't get paid. ProTransBC, at least the organization itself, is incredibly concerned about customer satisfaction not only from a profit stand-point, but they do want to make a good reputation. Most station attendants are quite helpful, yes there are a few that are like TransLink, but the training process that these staff has to go through is based a lot of delivering decent customer service. ProTransBC went further and properly trained the retail shop workers, something SkyTrain doesn't do.

They should work more hand to hand...
it is a pain to see there is lack of taxi stand either at Water-font, City Center or Broadway/City hall to name a few station where it could be market for them...

city or translink, or whatever concerned authority should tackle this issue, make room for a taxi stand, put proper signage in the station, and on street, make sure a cab is always readily available (by eventually passing a contract with cab company)...

I believe both businesses could benefit of the scheme, making moving around without car easier

[djh]

Actually there could be a beneficial side-effect of the Canada Line taking taxi business. Taxis will stop waiting way out at the airport for passengers, meaning there will be more cabs on the city's roads to serve regular intra-city customers. These are usually shorter trips than trips to YVR, so it would lead to a shorter wait-time and more taxis on the road for us when we need them.

[WarrenC12]

Last year they (taxis) were denying people long fares to Poco and other areas from downtown because of the drive back. And denying super-short runs because of the lack of money.

They were doing both of these because other more profitable business was plentiful.

Karma's a —.

[BCPhil]

Anyone else notice they say they only have to do 4 trips a day to make money? Like Vancouver to the Airport. In traffic, downtown to YVR is what, 30 minutes? So a taxi driver only needs to do 2 to 2:30 hours of actual work to make money?

[SpongeG]

has anyone seen the volkswagen art at king edward station?

it looks cool

someone needs to take a pic can't find any

its like a glass wall with small VW bugs inside it

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

Anyone else notice they say they only have to do 4 trips a day to make money? Like Vancouver to the Airport. In traffic, downtown to YVR is what, 30 minutes? So a taxi driver only needs to do 2 to 2:30 hours of actual work to make money?

Make money... in other words break even. I would imagine that's how it takes to pay their expenses.

Driving a taxi is one of those jobs that the more you put into it, the more you get out it.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

Make money... in other words break even. I would imagine that's how it takes to pay their expenses.

Driving a taxi is one of those jobs that the more you put into it, the more you get out it.

I've always been curious about the profit/revenue structure for cabs in the city. Does anybody have any inside info? I know some drivers own their cars while others don't.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

Anyone else notice they say they only have to do 4 trips a day to make money? Like Vancouver to the Airport. In traffic, downtown to YVR is what, 30 minutes? So a taxi driver only needs to do 2 to 2:30 hours of actual work to make money?

That's not really what they are saying. They are assuming that they will be getting the rest of their small trips as per usual, and they are saying that without the supplemental income of the long trips the small trips would not be enough to sufice.

I dont think anyone in thier right mind would assume cab drivers of making too much money.

[johnjimbc]

The posts actually came up in discussing the granville street upgrades, but apparently there is a bit of a grading / flooding problem with the entrances and areas around at least some of the Canada line stations.

Both I and djh commented on flooding during the heavy rain earlier this week. They noticed water streaming into the station at Broadway / City Hall, whereas I noticed flooding into the adjacent retail strip at the Yaletown station, both from the really beautiful new sidewalks around the new stations. Apparently they slope "into" structures instead of "away" from them. I was so busy watching the mini-flood on the retail along Davie that I didn't really pay any attention to the station itself. But the work along Davie there was all from putting in the underground station.

Wonder how widespread the issue is . . . anyone else ride Canada Line the other day, particularly any of the underground stations? Notice any poor water drainage?

[deasine]

I wouldn't be surprised. Honestly, I was originally expecting a step or two before the entrance, like the ones with the MTR.


Photography from Di-Footprint (from Google)

[officedweller]

Normally you'd expect a long grate drain in front of entances.

Originally Posted by djh

Actually there could be a beneficial side-effect of the Canada Line taking taxi business. Taxis will stop waiting way out at the airport for passengers, meaning there will be more cabs on the city's roads to serve regular intra-city customers. These are usually shorter trips than trips to YVR, so it would lead to a shorter wait-time and more taxis on the road for us when we need them.

On one of the news stories I saw when the line opened, I think they said that airport taxis are only licensed to pick and drop off at YVR - so they can't be dispatched elsewhere in the City.
But I agree - there is definitely a shortage of taxis elsewhere in the City - especially with the Xmas party season approaching.

[CLC]

Originally Posted by deasine

I wouldn't be surprised. Honestly, I was originally expecting a step or two before the entrance, like the ones with the MTR.

[img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ebmdM8JpTc/Sco5G5NWWQI/AAAAAAAABis/GDErElGkOhA/s400/IMG_2014.JPG[img]
Photography from Di-Footprint (from Google)

To be fair, it only stops water from entering the station, the deciding factor is still where the station entrance is built. If it is in a flood-prone location, then the area in front of entrance will still be prone to flash flood, i.e. your shoes will still be soaked

A more extreme case is in Taiwan's Coastal City Kaohsiung, which've seen world record rainfall at the rate of 300mm per hour! Their 2008-opened metro, the station entrances are obviously chosen to build in flat place and with 4-8 steps!

[SpongeG]

I think any taxi can drop off at YVR but only ones with the special license can pick up at YVR

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I think any taxi can drop off at YVR but only ones with the special license can pick up at YVR

Yeah, I think it's like Vegas like that.

In Vegas, you need to have a specific liecense to pick up from the hotels on the Strip, but any taxi can drop you off there, they just have to leave empty and go back to the town they are from. This keeps all the taxis from sitting around the strip waiting for rides from tourists, while people actually living in the city have no service.

Sort of like how it is here. If you need a taxi downtown, at the airport, or along Granville between the two, you are in luck. But anywhere else, it's hard. I've had taxi drive away from me after they ask where I'm going (which I know is illegal, but it happens to me and my friends a lot). "Burnaby? Nah!" VROOOOOM!

I had a cab stop for me, then drive off while I was giving someone a handshake goodbye. I have no sympathy for the cabies in the town at all.

[johnjimbc]

There's a difference between getting your feet wet from standing water, and water draining INTO a station or store front.

That is what was I saw on the retail along Davie street . . . the water was simply flowing along a slope and into the retail shops. In other words, the sidewalk was either poorly designed or badly constructed (or both). We do live in a rain forest.

I can't vouch for what djh saw at the City Hall / Broadway station, but if it were a similar issue, it was clearly a grading problem. Even on a hill, you can construct so water flows away from entrances.

[CLC]

Richmond News: Tale of a train, two buses and a car

Councillor recounts daily mission to get to work via Canada Line
Alan Campbell, Richmond News
Published: Friday, October 02, 2009

She drives her car to a bus stop at 6:30 a.m.; takes the bus to the Canada Line; takes the train to Vancouver; takes another bus to downtown eastside.

It's been almost a month since Richmond's bus transit system integrated with the Canada Line, but the rush-hour commute for Coun. Sue Halsey-Brandt sure isn't getting any easier, or quicker.

Halsey-Brandt, a music teacher at Strathcona elementary in Vancouver's Hastings district, was a fierce opponent of the loss of direct bus services from Richmond to Vancouver when the Canada Line opened.

She used to leave for work around 6:50 a.m., driving to the airport station bus stop near the Delta Vancouver Hotel, before taking the B-Line bus and then the Hastings bus to reach her school.

On a good day, she'd get there in 45-50 minutes -- almost an hour on a bad day.

Now she has to get out of bed 20 minutes earlier, drive from her west Richmond home to a bus stop at Blundell and No. 1 Roads, take the 401 to the Brighouse Canada Line station, before taking the train to Waterfront Station where she catches the Hastings bus.

An exhausting and inconvenient 65 minutes later, Halsey-Brandt gets to work.

"The train portion of the journey is wonderful. The Canada Line is superb, it's fast and efficient," she said.

"But there are not a lot of seats and lots of people have to stand. I get to Brighouse around 6:45 a.m. and it's always crowded. I think this is a problem for older people.

"The Canada Line is consistent, but it does take longer to get to work now. And people's Canada Line manners are shocking with all the pushing and shoving to get on before people have even gotten off."

With all the connections and jockeying for position aboard the trains, Halsey-Brandt is already using the car to get to work more often than ever before -- and is considering using it even more.

"I am taking my car more, as when I need to get to a special meeting or something I can't be waiting about on all these connections," she said.

"I've tried different routes and even tried walking to work from Roundhouse station. But it took me 45 minutes, and sometimes I'm carrying heavy loads. It's also going to be dark soon, and I don't want to walk through downtown when it's dark."

Halsey-Brandt said she still holds out some vain hope of a return of the B-Line bus service, which used to go directly from Richmond to downtown Vancouver.

TransLink revealed this week that the daily average ridership on the Canada Line since the bus integration system was launched Sept. 7 is 82,000.

Dave Zabel, TransLink spokesman, said the number of people using the new rapid transit system ranged from a weekday high of 93,000 to a low of 79,000.

"The original target is 100,000 within the first two years," Zabel said. "So we're doing quite well, but we'll continue to monitor it."

He added that the number of people using the bus system is currently the same as before it integrated with the Canada Line, but that TransLink expected this to rise once people get more comfortable with the new service.

Two people who have noticed a difference, for sure, are the managers of two of Richmond's biggest shopping centres, whose parking lots commuters have been trying to use as a free park and ride.

Leslie Mathieson, of Richmond Centre, said the towing of cars has definitely increased since the line opened. She said the centre has towed away more than 40 cars directly related to people parking in their lot and jumping on the Canada Line. "There's a three-hour parking limit, but people will get chalk warnings twice. The third time, they will get towed," Mathieson said.

"And if we see them walk straight to the Canada Line from the parking lot, then they will get towed without warning."
Over at the Lansdowne Centre, manager Barbara Phillips said they have resisted towing people's cars away.

"We're a private lot, not a public one and a lot of people don't realize this. We've been helping people find alternatives to parking here when they want to use the line," Phillips said.

Phillips said that since the line opened, they hired an extra security guard who cycles around the parking lot. "We've been helping people and giving them warnings, rather than have them towed," she said.

"We expected this to be a six-month learning curve, but, to be honest, it's not been too much of a problem for us. Towing is at the same amount as it usually is."

[Metro-One]

Could she not drive to the park and ride at Bridgehouse? I think that might be a better alternative than her current strategy, and it would eliminate one transfer.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by johnjimbc

There's a difference between getting your feet wet from standing water, and water draining INTO a station or store front.

That is what was I saw on the retail along Davie street . . . the water was simply flowing along a slope and into the retail shops. In other words, the sidewalk was either poorly designed or badly constructed (or both). We do live in a rain forest.

I can't vouch for what djh saw at the City Hall / Broadway station, but if it were a similar issue, it was clearly a grading problem. Even on a hill, you can construct so water flows away from entrances.

I think everyone forgets where we live, hence the strange lack of awnings/overhangs over sidewalks in many parts of the city and the peculiar practice of building flat highways where water pools and then painting dark yellow and white stripes on a black shinny surface. (I don't know if any of you have ever driven on the Island, but it's like the highways disappear when it rains).

Maybe we should pass a law stating architects and designers are only allowed to work on rainy days, just to make sure they are thinking of it.

[mrjauk]

Originally Posted by johnjimbc

There's a difference between getting your feet wet from standing water, and water draining INTO a station or store front.

That is what was I saw on the retail along Davie street . . . the water was simply flowing along a slope and into the retail shops. In other words, the sidewalk was either poorly designed or badly constructed (or both). We do live in a rain forest.

I can't vouch for what djh saw at the City Hall / Broadway station, but if it were a similar issue, it was clearly a grading problem. Even on a hill, you can construct so water flows away from entrances.

I was in City Hall station after they had mopped up most of the water, but did notice that the grates at the front of the entrance had been removed and were being checked. I think that they had been clogged with silt and/or dirt.