Canada Line | Completed

[mr.x]

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.

It reminds me of the whole "24/7 SkyTrain" debate we had a year or two ago when that Facebook group, which now has something like 30,000 people, made some noise.

I believe the consensus was it would be possible to extend SkyTrain hours slightly, but 24/7 would simply be too costly given the lack of late night demand and late night maintenance required. However, there certainly needs to be a 24/7 artery bus system that could parallel SkyTrain routes.

[Yume-sama]

Not related to Canada Line, BUT, on the way in to Manhattan I saw a genius ad for New Jersey Transit.

"Reason #28 to take NJ Transit: Most People Don't"

[deasine]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

"Reason #28 to take NJ Transit: Most People Don't"

Maybe they should use that for the LINK LRT. Anyways... snowing, not hard, but it is. Don't be surprised to see a few changes on the Canada Line, particularly with the platform signs, because the snow plan is in effect.

[CPE]

whats the snow plan?

[deasine]

Originally Posted by CPE

whats the snow plan?

The speed of the trains is decreased slightly. This is to prevent trains from slipping. Now, trains run approximately every four minutes instead of three. The usual NextTrain information isn't present: the signs indicate the next three trains but don't have the time information (don't ask me why).

Edit: ProTransBC installed a software update. NextTrain Information back up and running soon.
Edit2: nname posts indicate that info will be up on Monday.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by CPE

whats the snow plan?

InTransitBC: Go home and call it a holiday.



I actually wouldn't mind seeing a huge dump of snow in Richmond. I would really like to see how the exposed sections of the Canada Line will handle snow. But I couldn't imagine it being too different from what Translink does for the other two lines.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by deasine

The speed of the trains is decreased slightly. This is to prevent trains from slipping. Now, trains run approximately every four minutes instead of three. The usual NextTrain information isn't present: the signs indicate the next three trains but don't have the time information (don't ask me why).

Yea, I was on the train yesterday...found that a bit odd that it wasn't showing, rather they were flashing "Trains arrive about every 4 minutes" messages instead.


Personally, I quite dislike how those electronic boards are used to both flash messages and the time...I would much prefer if it only showed the time only.

[kylemacmac]

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.

A UBC student who lived on Campus once told me, with a straight face, "The reason why Vancouver doesn't have good nightlife is because the skytrain shuts down so early."

Really? As if the nightlife of Vancouver would somehow flourish if skytrains ran for another 4 hours a day?

Cough.

People really need to get over this and start taking cabs, or live close to the action. The system shuts down for maintenance, and the fact that hardly anyone will be on the trains at 4am, and because trains full of post-club drunks = major police/safety hassle. NYC can pull it off because they have express tracks, and it's somewhat the biggest city in the world, etc.

[nname]

From the current conditions:

Due to an upgrade on Friday, December 11, Canada Line reader boards will not be displaying train arrival times until approximately Monday morning.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

Not related to Canada Line, BUT, on the way in to Manhattan I saw a genius ad for New Jersey Transit.

"Reason #28 to take NJ Transit: Most People Don't"

I think I saw in Chicago, on a bridge over the Kennedy Expressway just after leaving downtown, the message: "If you had taken the 'L', you would be home by now".
There was also a train wrapped with "We'll be home in 20 minutes, but you'll still be stuck in traffic".

I'm not sure how effective it was on commuters who were used to traffic jams.

[canucks23]

Why does the canada line have to be sooo loud between King Edward and Oakridge? I know it has to make turns and stuff, but is the amount of noise it makes normal or comparable to other trains?

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

I think I saw in Chicago, on a bridge over the Kennedy Expressway just after leaving downtown, the message: "If you had taken the 'L', you would be home by now".
There was also a train wrapped with "We'll be home in 20 minutes, but you'll still be stuck in traffic".

I'm not sure how effective it was on commuters who were used to traffic jams.

That'd be a great sign for the Port Mann... except that the SkyTrain is at capacity across the river. We don't really have much of a problem with ridership, we just need the trains to keep up with it.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

That'd be a great sign for the Port Mann... except that the SkyTrain is at capacity across the river. We don't really have much of a problem with ridership, we just need the trains to keep up with it.

No doubt, more trains, more frequency.

However these signs are a little more effective when there is a train right beside you. I know in Chicago the metro runs in the freeway median between downtown and the O'Hare airport. You don't need to say much when you watch the train fly by.

However there is no train on the PMB. Assuming some future world where there is LRT across the new PMB, there could be very effective marketing for LRT where you are saving both time and money (vs the toll).

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by canucks23

Why does the canada line have to be sooo loud between King Edward and Oakridge? I know it has to make turns and stuff, but is the amount of noise it makes normal or comparable to other trains?

Expo Line was brutally loud on curves in its first several years, especially around Science World. Today it is a small fraction of the noise that it was in the beginning. This was the first thing that I thought of when I heard the noise on the Canada Line along those curves near Q.E. I would guess that there is a lot of fine-tuning and noise mitigation possible on the Canada Line, just like there was on the Expo Line, and it will come eventually.

[twoNeurons]

Expo line was also using new technology and had steerable axles, which are meant to reduce the noise around corners.

Not sure about the Canada Line. Pretty sure it's fairly conventional... in every way.

[djh]

Originally Posted by kylemacmac

A UBC student who lived on Campus once told me, with a straight face, "The reason why Vancouver doesn't have good nightlife is because the skytrain shuts down so early."

Really? As if the nightlife of Vancouver would somehow flourish if skytrains ran for another 4 hours a day?

Cough.

People really need to get over this and start taking cabs, or live close to the action. The system shuts down for maintenance, and the fact that hardly anyone will be on the trains at 4am, and because trains full of post-club drunks = major police/safety hassle. NYC can pull it off because they have express tracks, and it's somewhat the biggest city in the world, etc.

There's some truth in what the UBC student said. I think you're not seeing the world through his perspective. Maybe you're fortunate enough to be able to take the advice you're offering - to "live close to the action" , or you can afford a cab. But I'd bet many students live where they can afford to, on a small budget, and a weekly cab journey from downtown to the sticks is just not affordable for them. So for these guys, the public transport network is their only affordable way to get downtown. If they go to a club or bar or late cinema, they have to hustle to leave before public transit stops or they're stranded.

[Zassk]

^ The wikipedia article about ICTS says "The braking system was too powerful and caused the wheels to rub flat in spots, which led to noisy running, the opposite of the design goal." So there may have been multiple unique noise issues with Expo Line, that were eventually rectified, although I recall that it took years to do so.

[zivan56]

There are two braking systems on the ICTS system. The first is the LIM motor itself, which can slow down the cars pretty fast. This causes no wheel/track damage. The other is the emergency brake which actually uses the wheels to slow down...which would cause wheels to grind flat if it was applied at a significant speed. However, these are only applied when the train is going a few km/h before stopping and during emergency braking IIRC.

The Canada Line is noisy for many reasons. First of all, the wheels are used to traction. These wheels slip, especially when going uphill on curves...and creates a horrible screetching noise. Likewise, going downhill and braking on those areas causes the same noise. Just like any heavy metro, pressure on the outer rail in a turn causes the noise due to more friction due to inertia as well.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by djh

There's some truth in what the UBC student said. I think you're not seeing the world through his perspective. Maybe you're fortunate enough to be able to take the advice you're offering - to "live close to the action" , or you can afford a cab. But I'd bet many students live where they can afford to, on a small budget, and a weekly cab journey from downtown to the sticks is just not affordable for them. So for these guys, the public transport network is their only affordable way to get downtown. If they go to a club or bar or late cinema, they have to hustle to leave before public transit stops or they're stranded.

If they can afford to go drinking they can afford a cab.

[nova9]

are there not night buses that go westward to UBC? if there are, then, well, tell them to 🞵🞵🞵🞵 it up and quit whinging.