I found some notes I made of my impressions of the C-Line during the week it was opened. On this 3rd month anniversary, I have cleaned up that file, and present it for discussion. I know some of this has been brought up before, but it surprised me how much hasn't changed.
A. All the underground stations are the same bland beige & darker beige tiles with some swipes of colours. Why can't the underground stations have their own colour accent on the platform walls, so even if you can't see the name of the station as you're arriving, you know you're at Yaletown (Green), VCC (Red), Broadway- City Hall (Blue), Langara (Yellow), &tc. The elevated open-air stations may not have the same problem, because you can look around outside the station for familiar surroundings as you're arriving ("There's the Home Depot - this is my station coming up")
B. There is room on the Mitron LED displays to include the day under the time ie: "Thu 20 Aug". When you're a commuter drone, it's easy to forget what day it is. Especially way too early in the morning before the sun is up and the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.
C. Have Mitron displays at, or near, the fare machines so you know how soon your desired train is arriving. "Do I have enough time to get my ticket & rush down to the platform before the train departs? Oh- I see it's 10 minutes before the Brighouse train arrives - plenty of time to get a paper, coffee & muffin at 7-11 first.
D. At the terminals, have a display showing "Train to (end terminal name) departing in xx min.". You'd be surprised how many people are scrambling at the fare machines & rushing to jump on a waiting train - only to sit there for 5 or 10 minutes before the train starts the trip.
E. Have the station name on a sign above the Mitron LEDs on the platforms. This may be moot if the platform-level walls get proper signage
F. I'm wondering if the people crowding around the C-Line ticket machines understand that if they are connecting from a bus or E-Line / M-Line and have a valid ticket (or daypass or monthly pass), they don't need to buy a C-Line ticket. Too many people believe that C-Line isn't part of TransLink, so they think it requires a separate fare (like West Coast Express does).
G. Exterior Signs beside each door "LET PASSENGERS EXIT THE TRAIN BEFORE YOU ENTER". Some people DIDN'T learn courtesy in kindergarten.
H. Platform-level signs on the walls at shoulder- or head-height so they can be read from inside the train. When quickly trying to get information, most people first look forward or left & right - not up or down. This is especially true when they are in new & unfamiliar environments. At present when you're in the train at the underground stations, you can't look up and see the platform signs attached to the overhead lights. You might be able to see the platform signs above the other track, but only if there isn't another train in the station. These platform signs should have the station name with "Inbound Platform" or "Outbound Platform" below (at the same type size); "(direction arrow) Way Out (direction arrow)"; "(direction arrow) Escalator (direction arrow)"; "(direction arrow) Elevator (direction arrow)"; "(direction arrow) Stairs (direction arrow)".
Some ideas I knocked off in MS Paint:
I. Elevators need more than the generic symbols on them. "Elevator Up to Street"; "Elevator down to Mezzanine"; "Elevator Down to Trains"; "Elevator up to Mezzanine". These signs should be at head-height (not above the elevator). They should also be on the same side of the door as the button. I wonder how many times the emergency RED intercom button been pressed this week by someone trying to get down to the mezzanine from the street - they saw the bright RED button instead of the stainless steel elevator call button that blends into the door jamb?
J. Similarly, Escalator signs should have more than the generic symbols: "Escalator Up to Street"; "Escalator down to Mezzanine"; "Escalator Down to Trains"; "Escalator up to Mezzanine". This signage also should be at head-height.
K. Pick up the speed! I get the impression that the electric trolleys have faster acceleration & a higher top speed. Some of the speed issues are because of the slow speeds needed to get through the flat curves in the tunnels without squealing. Flat curves are cheaper to engineer and build in tunnels, but in this case cheaper also means slower running speeds. Notice that the E-Line and M-Line SkyTrain tracks have banked curves so those trains don't need to decelerate as much before the curve and accelerate again afterwards. There is already squealing in the curves around QE Park, so this isn't a good omen. Tell me again why P3s are better?
L. Exterior signs on the 3rd and 4th doors of the train showing "stickman with luggage" so passengers using YVR know what doors to use to get to the luggage storage area of the trains. Paint a "stickman with luggage" on the platforms floors at the 3rd and 4th door position.
M. All C-Line signage should also include the SkyTrain 'swoosh' logo and be identified as "Skytrain - Canada Line". Similarly, the original lines and should be identified as "Skytrain - Expo Line" and "Skytrain - Millenium Line" with the SkyTrain 'swoosh' logo too. Why brand the C-Line as different from the E-Line and the M-Line, and have the C-Line appear to be not part of the SkyTrain system? I see the trains themselves are covered with all the sponsors' logos, so why not continue that SkyTrain branding into the stations?
N. The street-level buildings should have the SkyTrain 'swoosh' logo, the station name and "Skytrain - Canada Line" on the exterior. This should be visible from all sides of the building so you can easily tell it's a station entrance as you approach it, not just from the entrance frontage.
O. Is the fare machine level "Mezzanine" or "Concourse"? Different signs use either name.
P. A back-lit sign on the door jambs inside the cars that lights up "EXIT THIS SIDE" when you're half-way to the next station, so you know which side of the train to use for exiting, and you can start shuffling towards that side of the train. Daily commuters won't need this, but occasional users and the out-of-towners coming from YVR would find it helpful.
Q. Exterior signs on the 3rd and 4th doors of the train so bikers know where to roll their bikes on (and exterior signs on the remaining doors to tell bikers "no bikes allowed"). Because the trains are automated & stop at the same position on the platforms, paint a green bike symbol on the platform floor at the 3rd and 4th door position and red-slash bike symbol at the other door positions.
R. Simplify the Train interior LED display.
In the station:
(Display) Yaletown
(1/4 second Blank)
(Display) to Waterfront
(1 second Blank)
Going to the next station:
(Display and scroll) Vancouver City Centre
(1/4 second Blank)
(Display) to Waterfront
(1 second Blank)
S. When a train is sitting at a platform and Not In Sevice, have the interior and exterior LEDs display "This train is Not In Service" or "Not In Service". Also, have the interior lights turned off so people see the train is not ready for passengers.
T. Instead of having a Not In Service train at Waterfront sitting at the platform, why not store it right up at the bumper-block so it's (mostly) hidden & even more obviously a Not In Service train. It can be positioned so that one door can be left on the platform so attendants can access the train.
U. When a train arrives at Bridgeport (or some other station) and is then going out of service, have the interior and exterior LEDs display "Going Out of Service" along with the announcement "This train is going out of Service" - Please exit the train and wait for another train to continue your journey", while blinking the interior lights off and on a few times. Then leave the lights off as the door-closing chime rings.
V. Is it necessary to announce every inbound train as a Waterfront train? Aren't ALL inbound going to Waterfront trains unless something unusual is happening? People will 'tune out' these arriving train announcements, so when there is an important announcement about the arriving train that they SHOULD know about (something has changed in the service - this ISN'T a Waterfront train), they'll miss it. A rarely heard announcement like "The arriving inbound train will be going out of service at Olympic Station. You will need to exit at Olympic Station and change to another train to continue your journey." will have more of an impact since you're not used to hearing train announcements.
W. The biggest missed opportunity of the whole C-Line system is a showcase station at YVR that should have been built as part of "The Link" building. Since "The Link" building (between the Domestic [old] terminal and the International [new] terminal) was being built around the same time as the C-Line, it shouldn't have been too hard to incorporate the C-Line station into "The Link" building. "The Link" building and the C-Line station were designed by the same architect, so I'm surprised that this wasn't done - if not considered by all involved. The 4th floor in "The Link" building that connects to the C-Line pedestrian causeway is otherwise dead space with nice views of the masses on the 3rd floor walking between the Domestic and International terminals. This 4th floor space could have been the fare machine mezzanine, and the platforms could have been located above (on the 5th floor), with panoramic views of the airport, Georgia Strait and the North Shore Mountains to take your mind off the flight you just arrived on (or the flight you're about to take.)
X. Move the YVR station ticket machines into "The Link" building 4th floor so tickets are purchased there before using the pedestrian causeway to get to the C-Line train platform. There's a lot more room there to let people bunch up while purchasing tickets. You can also space out the machines, so a frazzled & jet-lagged family (with their luggage and reception committee) crowding around one machine while figuring how many fare zones they need to pay for & how many tickets to get, doesn't block the next machine with it's own stressed out family surrounding it.
Y. More ticket machines should be on the mezzanine below the YVR station platform where the International terminal pedestrian causeway connects to the C-Line station. Or the ticket machines can be moved inside the international terminal so customers can get them before crossing the pedestrian causeway to get to the C-Line mezzanine.
Z. More overhead grab-handles down the spine of the car. Cover them in the same grippy yellow coating (so they are noticeable), or have them made with a diamond-cut gripping surface & leave them chromed.
AA. I'm impressed to see cleaners at the stations at all times the day, but all of the underground stations need to have their tiles wiped with Swiffer Wet cloth for a few months to clean up the concrete dust being blown into the stations by the trains. Hopefully as the concrete dust is shaken out, cleanup will be easier.
BB. The elevator at Waterfront in the CPR station screams "Lazy architect / technical draftsman who was just following the cookie -cutter design of all the other C-Line stations." Aside from the bland ugly open-steel & glass show-me-how-the-elevator-works design that is becoming too common in new construction, when you stand on the CPR Station floor level at the magazine stand, and face west to the C-Line station's entrance under the two arches, you realise that the stairs and two escalators (one up & one down) could have been placed under the left (south) arch, and the elevator could have been nicely centred under the right (middle) arch and a replacement terrazzo floor installed surrounding the elevator shaft so the station entrance to the stores behind the elevator could be used again
CC. Has anyone noticed the Waterfront stations' south elevator on Granville & Hastings? It's built right up to the property line of the UK Building, effectively blocking half of that building's front staircase to Granville. You can just-barely squeeze between the railing at the lower steps & the elevator building. How did they manage to get away with this, given that the RAV Project Management office (aka RAVCO; aka CLCO) is located in the UK Building? How hard would it have been to move the elevator shaft closer to the street curb, or over to the east side of Granville (beside Birks)? The mezzanine floor is already as wide as the street (between the Birks property line and the UK Building property line), so it shouldn't have been too difficult. With a design fault like that literally under their noses, it makes me wonder what other design shortcuts made by RAVco and SNC-Lavalin will start showing up.
DD. Since the trains stop at more or less the same spot, paint hash marks on the platform floor with "NO STANDING" or "KEEP AREA CLEAR" so people exiting the train have a clear path to get through the waiting crowds. The easier people can exit the trains, the faster people waiting can board the trains.
EE. It's nice to see that some stations are herding the sheeple into separate lines for "Brighouse" and "Airport". Do we want to let them in on the Dirty Little Secret that both "Brighouse" and "Airport" trains stop at all of the C-Line stations in Vancouver? I'll keep my mouth shut & join the shortest line.
FF. Looking at the construction photos, I see that at the location of the future 33rd and 57th stations, only the tunnel box was built. This means that when the decision is made to build these stations, the east side of Cambie (the northbound traffic lanes) will have to be dug up and an open pit dug down around and below the tunnel box to build the station & cut into the tunnel boxes. Just as the locals are forgetting the 4+ years of open-trench construction & traffic chaos on Cambie, now the street would have to be dug up again for several years to add a new station. Wouldn't it have been smarter to build the unfinished bare concrete box containing the station at the same time as the tunnels? You could have walled off the platforms from the tracks (so the unfinished station isn't noticed as the train goes by) and leave the street portals as camouflaged stumps until you're ready to finish & open the station. When the time arrives to finish the station, the construction work could have been done while the trains are running below and the street traffic above - with everyone oblivious to the work being done to open the station. I would have spent a few million $ now to partially build the station to be completed later, instead of having to spend $50+ million for each new station in the future and having to deal with all the community complaints of another open construction pit fouling up Cambie street again.
GG. CelTel, but no WiFi? Even the Main St bus is getting WiFi. But then there wouldn't be any CelTel airtime billing.
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