Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[SpongeG]

see the idea of getting out of the city and watching it on a TV from a warm locale isn't so bad now

[GeeCee]

I wonder if those with Olympic accreditation may get priority with regards to lineups for transit.

[SpongeG]

they get driven around in the VANOC traffic lanes

[GeeCee]

not quite true - those are only for certain people. every single person volunteering or working directly or indirectly for VANOC holds accreditation, but only a small portion get to ride in the special vehicles. everyone else has to take the bus.

[lightrail]

Opening Day of the Olympic Games 2010 in Vancouver. Below, VANOCs test run of the Canada Line proves that the Canada Line can handle the opening day crowds.

Canada Line crossing the Fraser River with a simulated Olympic Games crush load

[mr.x]

don't forget about...


http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/Tokyo_20subway_20pushers.jpg

[Metro-One]

Had a great experience today.

As i entered the platform level of Brentwood station both the inbound and outbound platforms had 4 car, new MK2 trains entering the station. It just looked so much more polished than having the 2 car old Mk2s of Mk1s.

the new MK2s are definitely my favorite cars on our metro system.

Then the C-line cars

Then the old MK2s

Then the old MK1s (although I will always like them because they look like they are from a 1980's sci-fi movie. Like the train on Mars from Total Recall.)

[DKaz]

I overheard that Stantec in Vancouver would have (optional) 6am-2pm working hours with shortened 30 minute lunch breaks. Absolutely no deliveries accepted after 12pm. My engineering firm may follow suit although in reality our bosses don't care as long as we get our projects done and keep the clients happy. I don't think I'll have to worry too much, the West Coast Express should be fine. I may have to stand outbound until I get into Pitt Meadows but meh.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by mooks28

Everyone I've talked to that works in an office environment has said they've been called in for staff meetings to discuss special arrangements during the Olympic period. I realize retail or service workers might be a different story, but I would hope most employers have put plans into place. Employers have no one but themselves to blame if they haven't been thinking about this -- it's only been on the news pretty much every night since Christmas.

Not only since Christmas, but VANOC and everyone else has been advising businesses to come up with plans for well over a year now. Any business that is not ready for this is only bringing the pain on themselves.

All companies should have emergency plans for what to do if there is a fire in the building or an earthquake, like how does business go on and where if the building is closed. The Olympics is like being told in advance that a fire or earthquake is 100% going to happen on February 12th. Companies should be ready for the unexpected, but when you have specifics everyone should be able to cope.

I've worked for some pretty small start ups, and all but 1 has had emergency plans, mostly involving telecommuting and where the backups of all the important data are kept (off site source control, database backups). The first step to prudent planning is to mitigate risk.

Also, all the tech based companies I've worked for use what they call "Core Hours". Meaning a company requires all workers to be present in the office during a certain time frame, like 10 to 4, your 8 hours just need to overlap those core hours.

But I'm sure many, if not most, office workers downtown already have somewhat flexible office hours and should be able to cope. On a nice summer Friday the exodus en mass from downtown seems to start no later than 2:30. So I bet many people already have plans to start early/late or work mostly from home and just show up for meetings.


WRT the 6 car MKI trains: Boy do they look grown up like that. From this point onward, especially for the Olympics, all MKI should all be 6 car trains. You just can't call a 6 car train a toy train.

[TransitFreak]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

WRT the 6 car MKI trains: Boy do they look grown up like that. From this point onward, especially for the Olympics, all MKI should all be 6 car trains. You just can't call a 6 car train a toy train.

I wish that Translink had activated the option for delivery of additional 24 new MKII's (or 6x 4-car sets). I read somewhere on either this thread or within this site that the max trainsets that they can run on E & M lines is 55 total. That would have given us 33 4-car MKII's, and 25 6-car MKI's, for a total of 58 trainsets. So 3 full trainsets to spare, and max train capacity based on current configuration. That would have been awesome!

Now, we'll still have to have some 4-car MKI's in circulation. After being on the new 4-car MKII's , I feel a little cheated...

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Had a great experience today.

As i entered the platform level of Brentwood station both the inbound and outbound platforms had 4 car, new MK2 trains entering the station. It just looked so much more polished than having the 2 car old Mk2s of Mk1s.

the new MK2s are definitely my favorite cars on our metro system.

Then the C-line cars

Then the old MK2s

Then the old MK1s (although I will always like them because they look like they are from a 1980's sci-fi movie. Like the train on Mars from Total Recall.)

i usually only see 4 car MKII's these days

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i usually only see 4 car MKII's these days

Me too. It's like I see less 5-car MKI's now than before the new MKII's started showing up.

But hey, I'm in the crazy minority of having max frequency before any bigger train sets.

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by TransitFreak

I wish that Translink had activated the option for delivery of additional 24 new MKII's (or 6x 4-car sets). I read somewhere on either this thread or within this site that the max trainsets that they can run on E & M lines is 55 total. That would have given us 33 4-car MKII's, and 25 6-car MKI's, for a total of 58 trainsets. So 3 full trainsets to spare, and max train capacity based on current configuration. That would have been awesome!

Now, we'll still have to have some 4-car MKI's in circulation. After being on the new 4-car MKII's , I feel a little cheated...

Instead of the ideal 33x4 MKII's and 25x6 MKI's (58 total), they have enough rolling stock to run 27x4 MKII's and 30x5 MKI's (57 total). Why not run all MKI's in sets of 5?

[officedweller]

MKIs are married pairs (one car carries some computer systems, the other car carries other systems) - you have to work in multiples of 2.

[TransitFreak]

Originally Posted by Zassk

Instead of the ideal 33x4 MKII's and 25x6 MKI's (58 total), they have enough rolling stock to run 27x4 MKII's and 30x5 MKI's (57 total). Why not run all MKI's in sets of 5?

The MKI's are paired together, so although the right number of cars, we really only have 75 pairs to make 4 or 6 car trainsets. Hence, the need for 4 car trainsets still in the mix.

I see Officedweller got it before me...damn my slow browser speed

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by officedweller

MKIs are married pairs (one car carries some computer systems, the other car carries other systems) - you have to work in multiples of 2.

I swear I've seen 5 car MKI trains. Am I crazy?

[CLC]

Translink's Olympic-sized mistake (Vancouver Sun blog article)

By BARBARA YAFFE 18 JAN 2010

When I boarded the Canada Line at the Oakridge Station at 8:30 am this morning, I inhaled deeply, exhaling only once before I exited the commuter car at the Terminus Station at Waterfront. That's how squished passengers were along that route.

Who was the brainiac who designed the two-car Canada Line vehicles and tiny stations to accommodate them?

As the Olympic Games approach and thousands of people start arriving in Vancouver, many planning to take public transit, it's becoming clear there's a major occupancy issue that no one will be able to address at this point. The stations and cars were designed for, perhaps, Squamish or Penticton -- certainly not a city the size of Vancouver, certainly not a city that would be hosting the Olympic Games.

But it's a bigger issue. The Olympics will come and go. Vancouver is poised to keep growing as an urban centre; indeed it's one of the top Canadian cities attracting migrants. Moreover, city planners want people to get out of their cars and take transit. How can we expect them to be attracted to a transportation mode that forces people to cram into such tight spaces, and get smacked in the head by knapsacks and speared by umbrellas?.

I recently wrote of my love for the Canada Line, which only began operations in August. It is truly a much-needed addition to a big municipality like Vancouver and in the early months, before it was 'discovered' by people, it was a dream to ride on. But it is now overcrowded and those who did the planning for our itty-bitty, teensy-weeny Canada Line must be called to account.

Read the comments if you have too much time:
http://communities.canada.com/vancouvers...8/translink-s-olympic-sized-mistake.aspx

[mr.x]

^ YES! I AM IN LOVE WITH HER!


They honeymoon is over...let the witch trials begin!




edit: I LOVE THESE COMMENTS:



e.a.f.

Who built this? People with no vision, specifically no vision of how Metro Vancouver will grow and look like in 50 years. It was also built by people who wanted to save money, Now. They were most likely motivated by the "bottom line" for as long as they will occupy their positions.

Short sightedness is a very common aliment in B. C.




Jack

The Canada Line was obviously built too small. Vancouver planners responsible for rapid transit say "no problem the stations can be enlarged and longer trains used". Sounds reasonable but at what cost after the project is finished and the obvious results are in.

Transportation planning in the metro region is a real amateur show. Ask Translink what the future transportation plan is for Metro Vancouver and you'll get an answer of complete fabrications because there is NO PLAN!

They don't understand that road pricing (plus REDUCING existing transport related taxes) is the only FAIR way out of this mess. Let the users pay for the majority of the cost (both transit and road users).

Then again, the provincial government is as much to blame because they step in and override whatever plans are made in the first place, it's called politics and we live with the results. It's a joke.




Glenn - Change the seating design

I think we should redesign the seating in the trains. Why not only have bench seating along (parallel to) the walls? That way there's more room in the middle for people to stand and move around. Capacity might only increase 10-20%, but this change is a lot cheaper than adding trains and making the stations bigger.




Jonathan

The design flaw of the short stations occured to me when I first rode it. Projects such as these should be built with the long-term future in mind; and retrofitting an underground tunnel will certainly be problematic.

That being said, the current problem isn't the length of the platforms, but shortage of trains. They could easily double the frequency of trains running which could accomadate twice the amount of users. Even adding a couple more trains on Brighouse route would solve the current overcrowding problems.





Chris Parry

I ride the Canada Line from end to end every morning and afternoon, and it's a nightmare. Even at the first station on the run, you have people physically fighting and shoving to get a seat, and others having to miss the train entirely because there's no standing room left. In fact, people are getting on the train going the wrong way at Lansdowne and Aberdeen because the only way they can get on the train at all is to take it a few stations the wrong way and be on it when it turns around. That's insane, and it's before the Olympics even begin. This isn't regular Expo Line pushing and shoving, the train is at capacity during peak hours every single weekday and on occasion, you see people getting in physical altercations over the squeeze. I personally get on at Brighouse, squeeze in until Bridgeport, then get off the train and wait for an airport train to come by. I just can't deal with being stuffed in that tight for an entire journey. Those claiming this writer is simply affronted at a busy train and somehow unwilling to hang with the little people need to do their own research and learn what a giant mess the Canada Line is on any day of the week.






Simone

I think the Canada Line is a victim of its own success. It's great to ride this train, and everyone literally is on board. So we just need more trains, or runs, that's all.




Donna

The people who get paid the big bucks to design transit systems have no idea what they are doing. When I moved here from Toronto and saw the little Sky Train chug into the station I laughed and so will all the visitors from the other countries.

Why don't you just try to get it right the first time????!!!!






Boolympics

I agree. Terrible planning.

If you are going to shut down a major traffic artery for years on end and ruin nearly every local business that was located along Cambie Street, don't you think you should do it properly? Make the stations bigger! Add more trains! You predict people will have to wait for up to 3 hours to catch a train during the olympics? Then do something about it. I sure hope the number of people using these trains didn't occur to you after the construction was completed.

Us taxpayers are on the hook for billions for these games that the majority of us won't be able to enjoy. What's a few more million dollars to make the Canada line actually useful to the city?

[The_Henry_Man]

^Errr.....Isn't the very same people who complained about the "smallness" of the C-Line would've been complaining about the lack of passenger demand to justify building the C-Line if the system were designed to 80m or longer?

There's not a lot of things I hate about Metro Vancouver (besides politics and the poor freeway infrastructure), but I do hate a signifcant population of professional whiners in our city. People, if the C-Line were designed to have 80m, a lot of people would've objected to the project from the very get go due to dramatically increased costs and the C-Line wouldn't have been built. The reason why it's built in it current configuration is because the C-Line project needed to control its costs in order to satisfy those whiners!!!

I mean, I agree, it would've been excellent to have the C-Line to 80m platforms but then I'm totally happy that the C-Line exists because if 80m platforms were chosen, it wouldn't have been built due to costs (I took the C-Line almost every time I went out (I almost went out everyday) with the exception of going out with my parents while I was back in Van for the Christmas break). Appreciate with what you have now. Do you guys realize what the folks at Haiti are suffering from right now?

But Bridgeport and Broadway-City Hall will need to have 50m platforms within the next 2-3 years. Do you guys think it's possible to extend the platforms of all stations even to 60m? It looks like it's possible with almost all stations. And the complaint with lack of frequency outside peak hours is perfectly legitimate. And the complaint about not having a bench seating configuration is a good one too (saves SO much room for standees). What about horizontal bars with ring holders hanging from those bars at the centre of the train?

BTW, every single time a train arrives at Richmond-Brighouse, even at 7.5min frequencies, they're always early, usually 3-4 min before it is scheduled to depart. So it's definitely possible to have train frequencies up to every 3min at the Richmond-Brighouse/YVR-Airport branches of the line.

[mooks28]

Just buy more trains. I really don't see what the big deal is right now.

We can argue about this thirty years from now, but right now it works just fine.