Canada Line | Completed

[whatnext]

After several months, I have to say the worst station is Brighouse.

The platform is too small for the amount of people embarking/disembarking. There should be an alternative set of exit stairs, going away from the main stairs. And someone tell the people waiting at Brighouse to back off and let people exit the train.

[Locked In]

Customer traffic up modestly since Canada Line opened, Cambie Street merchants say

Station proximity is a factor as businesses closer to a stop report marked increase

By Brian Morton, VANCOUVER SUN - December 7, 2009



Caroline Boquist, co-owner of Walrus, a contemporary gift shop, says business is up, but not that much. She partly blames the fact that the two Canada Line stations are several blocks north and south of main Cambie commercial area, where she is on Monday, December 7, 2009 in Vancouver.
Photograph by: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun

METRO VANCOUVER - Customer traffic is up, but not by that much. That’s the word from merchants along the new Canada Line, many of whom anticipated a big hike in business when it opened in August but have yet to see it materialize.

“In the beginning, there was definitely an increase in traffic,” says Caroline Boquist, co-owner of the contemporary gift shop Walrus at 3408 Cambie St. “But since then, the novelty [of the Canada Line] has worn off a bit. Now, it’s pretty much returned to normal.”

Boquist, like many others in her commercial area near the 3400-block Cambie, believe the customer base would be much bigger if they weren’t located between the Canada Line’s Broadway-City Hall station and King Edward station — several blocks in either direction.

“To get off at King Edward, it’s a 10-minute walk. It would have been nice to have a station [closer].”

Brian Haneman, manager at Stella’s on Cambie in the 3300-block, agreed.

“We’re sandwiched between both [stations], so we haven’t felt it so much so far. Closer to the station, they’re doing better.”

Vincent Ng, an employee at Spices restaurant also in the 3300-block Cambie, said business is picking up, “but not a lot. The stations are too far apart. There’s not a lot of people from the stations coming here.

“I think the summer might be better.”

Although there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic in the 3300-3500 blocks of Cambie on Monday, that changed closer to Broadway and the Canada Line station located there.

Merchants in the area say they’ve noticed a marked increase in pedestrian traffic going to their shops.

Suban Dnana is an employee of Fresh Slice, a pizza shop about a block from the Canada Line station.

“I noticed an increase in the number of customers [when the line opened], especially in the evening.”

Henry Nguyen, an assistant team leader at Capers Whole Food Market, also a block from the new station, said there’s been a noticeable increase in foot traffic since August.

“There’s at least 10-to-20 per cent more [customer] traffic since it opened.”

Meanwhile, merchants at Oakridge Centre in south Vancouver appear to be gaining more customers from other parts of the Lower Mainland because of the proximity of the Oakridge Canada Line station.

“From a [foot] traffic perspective, it’s absolutely had a positive impact on the centre,” Oakridge marketing director Kimberly Macaulay said. “Traffic is up about nine per cent over last year, which is really a positive for us.”

Macaulay said the customer base has increased monthly since the Canada Line opened, and that Oakridge has hired more customer service staff to deal with it. “Our assumption is we’re attracting shoppers from other areas.”

Macaulay said the station’s proximity is a factor. “It’s so close to our front doors, they don’t have to cross any streets.”

However, reaction from individual Oakridge Centre stores to the Canada Line’s impact is mixed so far.

“At first, [the Canada Line] was a negative effect because a lot of people from Richmond just skipped us and went downtown,” said Tera Walker, manager of the women’s fashion store Aritzia. “But now, it has definitely improved. It’s a lot easier for people to come here, especially from Richmond and downtown [Vancouver].”

Stephanie Fraser, manager of Hennessey Spa, said the new station hasn’t impacted her store too much so far.

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© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: Vancouver Sun

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

there are the nightowl busses which are really good and run every 30 minutes fromd owntown to the outlying suburbs

The problem with NightOwl service is it also stops running after 3 am or 4:30 am (depending on N route), so there is a gap of several hours before regular service starts again.

Night staff (ie: office cleaners) who miss their last N bus either have to cab home (spending all that days' wage on cab fare) or bunk in the janitors' closet until the regular buses start running again.

If there isn't some form of 24 hour transit service (bus or train), this will clearly demonstrate to all our visitors that we are only pretending to be a world-class city.

[Metro-One]

I don't think that is very true. Even here in Osaka the majority of train service stops after midnight on weekdays.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

The problem with NightOwl service is it also stops running after 3 am or 4:30 am (depending on N route), so there is a gap of several hours before regular service starts again.

Night staff (ie: office cleaners) who miss their last N bus either have to cab home (spending all that days' wage on cab fare) or bunk in the janitors' closet until the regular buses start running again.

If there isn't some form of 24 hour transit service (bus or train), this will clearly demonstrate to all our visitors that we are only pretending to be a world-class city.

they usually run and once they finish the regular busses start at least in my drunken experiences - i mean it takes forever like 60 minutes to lougheed town centre alone - which is horrible but you get home safe

[delboy]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

they usually run and once they finish the regular busses start at least in my drunken experiences - i mean it takes forever like 60 minutes to lougheed town centre alone - which is horrible but you get home safe

that's interesting I never knew there was a late night bus service, i thought it was all done by around 1 am. Maybe it should be advertised more?

[SpongeG]

they are along howe well right now - they go to richmond, sfu, coquitlam, surrey with all the places in between - lots of night shift workers seem to use it - most got off along broadway and the bus was empty when it go to lougheed tc

[Waders]

Originally Posted by deasine

Probably not likely, unless they have to deal with a lot of lineups at stations.

At least Translink will be dealing with the frequent lineup at the ticket machine.

Source: http://www.kelowna.com/2009/12/07/portable-ticket-kiosks-scheduled-for-2010-games/

Portable ticket kiosks scheduled for 2010 Games
Monday, December 7th, 2009 | 12:41 am

Canwest News Service

TransLink will bring in portable ticket kiosks during the Winter Games and increase the number of ticket-vending machines at key SkyTrain stations to help manage a potential crush of commuters.

Spokesman Ken Hardie said the farebox kiosks, whose attendants can directly sell transfers to customers, are already used at stations such as Stadium when multiple sports and concert events are going on.

They will likely be used during the Games at Stadium as well as some downtown stations and the airport, where there are only four ticket-vending machines now.

Hardie said there is often a crunch at the airport now when several planes arrive at once. TransLink said it will also bring in more permanent ticketing machines, which will likely go to the airport.

"We get lineups now, so we could easily see it could be quite busy during the Olympics," Hardie said. "[The portable kiosk] is a strategy we'll have in our back pocket if we need it."

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[SpongeG]

man i had to line up at the city centre station the other day only 3 stuipid machines and close to a dozen people and some of them had no clue how to use the machines - one guy was looking for the cash button

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

I don't think that is very true. Even here in Osaka the majority of train service stops after midnight on weekdays.

That's what karaoke is for.

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by DKaz

That's what karaoke is for.

And 24h McDonalds with Wi-fi (a lot of people spend the night at McD's ), and Starbucks that stay open until 4AM, for when you need to catch the first train.

Though, closing at 4 and opening at 5:30 does seem exceedingly pointless.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

And 24h McDonalds with Wi-fi (a lot of people spend the night at McD's ), and Starbucks that stay open until 4AM, for when you need to catch the first train.

Though, closing at 4 and opening at 5:30 does seem exceedingly pointless.

You're right, there needs to be a kind of "seamless web" of transit covering the 24-hour cycle - at different frequencies, of course, depending on the time of day.

One problem is that it simply isn't publicized enough. If people knew it was always there, I suspect they'd be more relaxed about staying out late, and use the Night Bus more frequently.

They have a large system of Night Buses in Paris, and people use them, largely because they are listed in detail on all the Métro and bus route maps.

Paris has a fantastic transit system, with subway (the Métro), high-speed deep-level commuter subway (the RER) and various types of commuter trains and bus routes galore. It works terrifically . . . . . . . . . when there isn't a strike!

There are nevertheless many elements of it that Vancouver would do well to emulate.

[Yume-sama]

I don't think 24h transit service would do more than eat money in Vancouver...

Even Toronto shuts down at 1:30, and they have a slightly larger population.

In fact, NYC is the only major subway system in the World to run 24 hours a day. Tokyo, Moscow, Seoul, etc., all shutdown.

[nova9]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

I don't think 24h transit service would do more than eat money in Vancouver...

Even Toronto shuts down at 1:30, and they have a slightly larger population.

In fact, NYC is the only major subway system in the World to run 24 hours a day. Tokyo, Moscow, Seoul, etc., all shutdown.

And here I thought everyone knew that. When travelling in one of the world cities, you tend to forget that fact. I've been left behind (missed the last train) in so many places (London, Paris, Hong Kong, Taipei, etc) because apparently, I'm an idiot.

The major difference is that if you do get stuck after the last train in the world cities, there is something to do for a few hours until the first train.

[djh]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

I don't think 24h transit service would do more than eat money in Vancouver...

Even Toronto shuts down at 1:30, and they have a slightly larger population.

In fact, NYC is the only major subway system in the World to run 24 hours a day. Tokyo, Moscow, Seoul, etc., all shutdown.

There's a difference between having 24h transit and having 24h subways.
To run a bus or two every half-hour along a half-dozen key routes, from say 2am until regual service starts at 5am is not exactly a big financial investment in terms of paying a handful of drivers. That's basically the majority of the infrastructure needed for those hours, and the odd foreman or so.

Running a subway system is a totally different game, and yes that is unnecessary in Vancouver at this point.

[raggedy13]

I noticed those ticket kiosks at Van City Centre station the other day just before the Santa Claus Parade. They definitely need more permanent machines there.

I'm glad though not surprised to hear that business has picked up along the Canada Line. I myself have no work, school, friends, or family along the Canada Line yet I've been grabbing food at places around Broadway and Cambie a good 10 times (mostly for dinner) since the Line opened and have checked out Cambie Village for the first time since I was little. Now I have a growing list (3 currently) of places I want to check out (eat and drink) there.

The Line is still being discovered and will continue to attract new riders so I'm sure business will only continue to improve. I was riding the Canada Line from the airport to downtown yesterday (my first time checking out the airport stations) and there was a man and woman sitting across the aisle from me (work colleagues I believe) and it was clearly their first time riding it as they were commenting on it the whole time and telling each other how they should use it to commute from now on. They were most impressed by the views in Richmond and by how quick the ride downtown was. I'm glad the Line is still converting people.

[officedweller]

Lots of cool pics of wrapped trains here:

http://www.trans-continental.ca/vancouver/Canada%20Line/



Taiwan:


Olympics:


Job Action Plan:


River Rock Casino:


SONY:


Nature's Path - I like this one the best:

[deasine]

What I don't understand is why aren't the entire train vehicle wrapped and just the sides? This is the case for all modes of transport, except for buses, where the back is wrapped too.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by delboy

that's interesting I never knew there was a late night bus service, i thought it was all done by around 1 am. Maybe it should be advertised more?

The last buses after the bars close at 2 am are quite rowdy party buses.

More than a few times I've seen the TransLink Security cars following the last N9 Bus as it leaves downtown & heads down Broadway to Lougheed. I wonder how many passengers wake up on a not-so-comfy bed after partying too much on the bus home?

[officedweller]

There's equipment on the top of the trains and it doesn't look like they've wrapped over any of the windows - maybe so people can see out better.

***********

New sculpture has appeared outside the station house at Vancouver City Centre - looks like a big ball of tin foil. Very shiny - people are passing their hands over it a lot.