Canada Line | Completed

[Smooth]

Originally Posted by officedweller

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.

I noticed that sculpture yesterday. It was getting a lot of attention from people. In the brief time I was there, several people posed for pictures infront of it.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by 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.

billboards are usually square and these are designed like that cheaper easier to do you can modify existing campaigns to fit them better
it would be really hard to wrap the entire train i think as well

[deasine]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

billboards are usually square and these are designed like that cheaper easier to do you can modify existing campaigns to fit them better
it would be really hard to wrap the entire train i think as well

Probably, but entire transit vehicles are wrapped in other parts of the world, with the exact same model as what we have here.

[lightrail]

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.

When visitors are here, this is what they'll see:

Skytrain Expo and Millenium) running every 4 minutes with last trains from downtown Vancouver at 2:15am;

Canada Line running every 10 minutes, last train at 1:15am

West Coast Express trains leaving Waterfront at 9:30pm, 11:00pm and 12:15am

SeaBus operating every 15 minutes until 1:15am, then every 30 minutes with the last SeaBus om Waterfront at 2:15am

24 hour bus service on many Vancouver main routes (Night Owl routes) as follows:
* N9 Coquitlam Centre (parallels Millennium Line and 97 B-Line)
* N10 Granville, YVR, Richmond
* N15 Cambie (parallels Canada Line to Marine Dr)
* N17 Broadway to UBC
* N19 Surrey Central (parallels Expo Line)
* N24 North Shore (via Lonsdale)
* N35 SFU via Hastings

Other night owl routes with last buses at 3:10am from Vancouver

24 hour service to the Internaitonal airport (train until 1:15am, then night owl buses)

So they're not likely to complain about lack of late night transit service and consider it on par (or better) with similar sized world cities.

[SpongeG]

sounds good - in london the tube stops runnign really early like i think 1 am or there abouts

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

sounds good - in london the tube starts runnign really early like i think 1 am or there abouts

Nope. Generally around 04:30-05:30, depending on the line, with last trains surprisingly early, between midnight and 01:00..
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1129.aspx

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Nope. Generally around 04:30-05:30, depending on the line, with last trains surprisingly early, between midnight and 01:00..
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1129.aspx

I don't understand why something like the Skytrain doesn't have it's last run about 15 mins past the bars and clubs closing on Fri/Sat nights. Same deal in London, although I don't know what time bars are open until, or if there is even any law around closing.

[paradigm4]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I don't understand why something like the Skytrain doesn't have it's last run about 15 mins past the bars and clubs closing on Fri/Sat nights. Same deal in London, although I don't know what time bars are open until, or if there is even any law around closing.

Agreed. It's such a pain living in outside downtown - at least IMO, there's little point to going out if you have to rush out by 12:45 to catch the last train. Nightbuses are a pain, and I'm not paying for a taxi back to the burbs.

This maintenance excuse makes sense for avoiding 24/7 service, but extending the operational hours on Friday and Saturday nights should not be a problem. Do they really have to check the tracks every single day? I thought it was done piecemeal anyways... Does track examination actually take a full 4 hours?

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Nope. Generally around 04:30-05:30, depending on the line, with last trains surprisingly early, between midnight and 01:00..
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1129.aspx

i meant stops running early like stops around 1 am

i wanted to go out but i noticed the tube stopped so early and i didn't want to figure out the busses so i went in early and didn;t stay out

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

Agreed. It's such a pain living in outside downtown - at least IMO, there's little point to going out if you have to rush out by 12:45 to catch the last train. Nightbuses are a pain, and I'm not paying for a taxi back to the burbs.

This maintenance excuse makes sense for avoiding 24/7 service, but extending the operational hours on Friday and Saturday nights should not be a problem. Do they really have to check the tracks every single day? I thought it was done piecemeal anyways... Does track examination actually take a full 4 hours?

Get a car and DD. Or crash on a friends couch downtown.

I wouldn't mind improved late night bus service if it was 100% pay per use (no passes) where the fees were set independent so night buses recover their cost. I don't see why people with a monthly pass they use to commute should get a subsidized ride because they want to be out late and party.

If you don't have the money for a $40 cab ride to the burbs (that's how much it used to cost me to get to Coquitlam) maybe you should be saving your money and not spending it on drinking. Or better yet, find a local establishment and support your community.

Night bus service is more than fine for most people. I go out drinking with the best of them, but I don't expect the public at large to subsidize my night out on the town.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

Get a car and DD. Or crash on a friends couch downtown.

I wouldn't mind improved late night bus service if it was 100% pay per use (no passes) where the fees were set independent so night buses recover their cost. I don't see why people with a monthly pass they use to commute should get a subsidized ride because they want to be out late and party.

If you don't have the money for a $40 cab ride to the burbs (that's how much it used to cost me to get to Coquitlam) maybe you should be saving your money and not spending it on drinking. Or better yet, find a local establishment and support your community.

Night bus service is more than fine for most people. I go out drinking with the best of them, but I don't expect the public at large to subsidize my night out on the town.

What an absurd view.

First of all, the whole business of deciding what is or isn't a worthwhile transit trip is a non-starter. Shall we start interviewing people as they get on the bus during the day to see if they're doing something deemed insufficiently valuable?

Next, everybody pays in taxes. If you go out drinking you pay ridiculous liquor taxes in particular. More than enough in Vancouver bars to run a few more buses at night.

Finally, there are the regular benefits of transit and none of those simply go away because it's 4 in the morning. If anything, they are greater because the alternative is temptation for some to drive home drunk, hang around in the streets, or whatever.

[BCPhil]

It's not that absurd. It costs a fixed amount to keep stations open, regardless of the number of riders. In fact, it would probably cost more at night because you would need extra security than normal to deal with crime and public drunkenness. So I don't see the social value of paying more to carry less people for a couple hours on Rapid Transit.

Using Transit to baby sit drunks is sad state of affairs. People should have more sense than be tempted to break the law because that's what's easy. I mean, the car I drive can go faster than 120km/h, I don't remember the last time I saw a speed limit higher than that, and a lot of bars have parking lots, so I guess they trust us enough not to pin our mittens to our sleeves.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

This maintenance excuse makes sense for avoiding 24/7 service, but extending the operational hours on Friday and Saturday nights should not be a problem. Do they really have to check the tracks every single day? I thought it was done piecemeal anyways... Does track examination actually take a full 4 hours?

Ya I brought this up a while back. The Skytrain starts later on Sunday mornings, (I know this because my gf can't make it to her 7am shifts on Sunday morning downtown) but doesn't end later on Saturday nights. It's BS frankly.

Using Transit to baby sit drunks is sad state of affairs. People should have more sense than be tempted to break the law because that's what's easy. I mean, the car I drive can go faster than 120km/h, I don't remember the last time I saw a speed limit higher than that, and a lot of bars have parking lots, so I guess they trust us enough not to pin our mittens to our sleeves

Are you kidding? The sad fact is drunk driving kills a lot of people in Vancouver every year. If you don't think extending Skytrain hours to say 2:30am on Fri/Sat night wouldn't save people's lives, I've got some land in Florida you might like.

[twoNeurons]

Instead of running trains later. Run a couple of "SkyTrain Bus" which stops at many of the stops.

EXPO Bus travels down Georgia
Stop at Granville
Stop at Beatty (Stadium)
Cross the Viaduct to Quebec
Stop at Main on Terminal
Down Terminal on Clark
Stop at 7th
To Grandview/12th
Stop at Commercial

And so on...

Wouldn't be too difficult.

The trip wouild probably take 1:15 but especially on weekends, I'm sure it would be popular if it left every 30 minutes.

[SpongeG]

the night busses they run are excellent and give great coverage and run every 30 minutes

but i don't think people know they exist - we only ever heard that the regular busses were stop late night service - i know back in the early 90's i could leave burrard station at 3 am and get back to coquitlam easily - it involved a transfer at the kootenay loop - there were two from there - one went to poco and the otehr towards lougheed mall

the media never really mentioned that the old services were being replaced by the night owl service - the one that goes to coquitlam bascially follows the m line all the way to lougheed tc and than goes onto coq centre, the surrey one goes via kingsway and metrotown, new west and into surry

anyway the service is great more people just need to know about it

i think the last ones are at 4 am and than the regular service kicks in soon after that

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

Agreed. It's such a pain living in outside downtown - at least IMO, there's little point to going out if you have to rush out by 12:45 to catch the last train. Nightbuses are a pain, and I'm not paying for a taxi back to the burbs.

This maintenance excuse makes sense for avoiding 24/7 service, but extending the operational hours on Friday and Saturday nights should not be a problem. Do they really have to check the tracks every single day? I thought it was done piecemeal anyways... Does track examination actually take a full 4 hours?

I watched a show on the night crew on London Underground. Watch that, and you'll wonder how they get it all done int he hours they have. Keep in mind that they need to get the trains off the lines, shut down the power before staff can enter the tunnels, then they need an all clear procedure before the first train can run - this includes ensuring nothing is left in the tunnel, like a lose bolt fouling the points, for example.

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

Instead of running trains later. Run a couple of "SkyTrain Bus" which stops at many of the stops.

EXPO Bus travels down Georgia
Stop at Granville
Stop at Beatty (Stadium)
Cross the Viaduct to Quebec
Stop at Main on Terminal
Down Terminal on Clark
Stop at 7th
To Grandview/12th
Stop at Commercial

And so on...

Wouldn't be too difficult.

The trip wouild probably take 1:15 but especially on weekends, I'm sure it would be popular if it left every 30 minutes.

Not needed - the night buses already do this. There's even a Friday/Saturday night short-turn on the N19 to Metrotown to handle the crowds and extra buses to UBC. Given the lack of traffic, an express at that time of night is really not needed.

[CLC]

Richmond Review EDITORIAL: Big city, big city problems

It’s a sign of a rapidly growing city: complaints.

Neighbourhoods made of half-acre lots can be happy places, since neighbours only see enough of each other to offer an occasional greeting. Traffic is light, noise is faint, disruptions are minimal.

Communities filled with rows of townhouses and blocks of high-rises are a different story, and Richmond has plenty of them. An island city, by nature yes, but one look down No. 3 Road would have any graphic designer replacing the heron on the city’s logo with a residential tower.

Richmond is fast becoming a big city with big problems.

Take the residents of Saba Road. With the introduction of the Canada Line and the rerouting of buses to link with Richmond stations, 800 daily buses were thrust upon the neighbourhood. Ridiculous. Residents couldn’t sleep, so they complained, and now transit officials have agreed to reduce the number significantly. But for residents who’ve never lived with bus squeals, hums and gushes, 232 is still too many.

Residents elsewhere in the city are also being forced to live with new bus noise due to changed routes.

There’s also the case of True World Foods, an industrial operation next to a townhouse complex in South Richmond that has created a fan-buzzing din that’s ruining residents’ quality of life.

Considering noise is nothing new for city planners. They have plenty of experience in monitoring its effects before introducing applications to amend liquor licences or make recommendations about developments in high aircraft noise zones.

But officials in all levels of government, including city council and brass at Vancouver Coastal Health and TransLink, need to listen a little bit harder to residents on the ground—or 16 storeys from the ground.

For all its merits of sustainability, density brings its own share of problems. Light, noise, vibrations and views are all things that must be carefully considered before any development or transportation plan is rubber-stamped.

And when the unexpected happens (wasn’t 800 buses foreseen as a problem?), officials should consider it a wake-up call.

[ryanmaccdn]

Originally Posted by lightrail

Not needed - the night buses already do this. There's even a Friday/Saturday night short-turn on the N19 to Metrotown to handle the crowds and extra buses to UBC. Given the lack of traffic, an express at that time of night is really not needed.

The N19 veers right away from 22nd Street Skytrain and would take me 30 mins to walk to from the nearest N19 stop on Kingsway....... so?

[mr.x]

Take the residents of Saba Road. With the introduction of the Canada Line and the rerouting of buses to link with Richmond stations, 800 daily buses were thrust upon the neighbourhood. Ridiculous. Residents couldn’t sleep, so they complained, and now transit officials have agreed to reduce the number significantly. But for residents who’ve never lived with bus squeals, hums and gushes, 232 is still too many.

800 buses cut down to 232? Are they talking about rerouting the buses?