Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[SpongeG]

on the news one of the woman stuck in the viaduct mess said she will be using skytrain on monday and for the next few weeks

i guess people are just listening to the olympic people and leaving their cars at home

[TransitJack]

Originally Posted by mr.x

Well, I'm just saying...generally and functionally speaking. The north staircase always gets the brunt of the passengers, as it's in the middle of the platform, so you end up with a huge lineup for the escalator while few climb the stairs next to it. While the north staircase/escalator is being used, nobody's going up the south staircase/escalator because it's on the south end of the platform!

I agree, and note a lot of the stations are bad for this. Also of note is Yaletown and to a certain degree Broadway. That being said, I cannot figure out why everyone crams into the one door nearest the stairs, even as the door bell rings, while 5 remaining doors are devoid of people.

It seems no one wants to move down and board another door. LOL

[SpongeG]

I was down at granville station tonight around 6:15 and some street old man was harrassing people at the ticket machines trying to sell them used tickets - the lineups were really long too and he was pushing his way up to them at the screens

anyway there was no security no transit police in sight so I called the number and made a complaint and than my phone died

anyway passing stadium, broadway and main and even 29th - they all had at least half a dozen security and police standing around checking people watching over stuff

and not a single soul doing it at Granville! it was so busy and the guy was being really aggressive some people looked uncomfortable - at the heart of the city and no one around to help

[Waders]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I was down at granville station tonight around 6:15 and some street old man was harrassing people at the ticket machines trying to sell them used tickets - the lineups were really long too and he was pushing his way up to them at the screens

anyway there was no security no transit police in sight so I called the number and made a complaint and than my phone died

anyway passing stadium, broadway and main and even 29th - they all had at least half a dozen security and police standing around checking people watching over stuff

and not a single soul doing it at Granville! it was so busy and the guy was being really aggressive some people looked uncomfortable - at the heart of the city and no one around to help

The police must have been changing shift, having tea break or doing other thing around 6pm.
I saw 2 polices at the Granville station yesterday checking ticket.
Police presence was quite heavy today on skytrains and at Metrotown station.
2 attandents and a police was standing at the ticket machine level. 2 other polices were on the platform level and 2 more polices were on a train that passed by.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I was down at granville station tonight around 6:15 and some street old man was harrassing people at the ticket machines trying to sell them used tickets - the lineups were really long too and he was pushing his way up to them at the screens

anyway there was no security no transit police in sight so I called the number and made a complaint and than my phone died

anyway passing stadium, broadway and main and even 29th - they all had at least half a dozen security and police standing around checking people watching over stuff

and not a single soul doing it at Granville! it was so busy and the guy was being really aggressive some people looked uncomfortable - at the heart of the city and no one around to help

When people get that aggressive with me. Lets just say I turn into the biggest ass-hole ever. My voice will raise and I will tell that person where to take a hike in a not so friendly manner. I will be so loud that generally everybody just stops and just looks at me like I've gone nuts.

Generally I'm a very quiet person, but piss me off and I turn into something completely different.

Thank fully I give off the impression that I'm an asshole so most people just leave me alone

[Metro-One]

Police presence was huge tonight on skytrain.

Also, this past week I have been fair checked on skytrain 5 times.

3 times on the Millenium Line, once on the Expo Line and once on the Canada Line.

That is by far the most I have been fair checked ever riding sktrain

Also note I have only been on skytrain 3 days this past week, so I have been checked every day I have ridden in the past 7 days (on one day 3 times! Once on M-line, once on E-line, and then on the C-line, it was crazy!)

Also I saw 2 more 6 car trains today!

[SpongeG]

well they were failing at granville station tonight

I was embarrassed for the tourists not knowing what to do when this grubby aggressive man comes up and tries to sell you illegal tickets and no one in the station at all to ask for help or to do something

[Waders]

I was at Expo Line Waterfront station today around noon.
An attendant took a picture of the train from outside(D***, I was in the picture!), 2 attendants went inside the train and checked every seat, looking for "thing"? Then the attendant would radio Control to release the train to leave.
They did the same thing for 2 trains when I was there.
I wonder what they were doing. Is this a new security measure?
Also police seems to be everywhere, at Skytrain stations and on the street.

[SpongeG]

maybe they were practising a lot of that has been going on

[Waders]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

well they were failing at granville station tonight

I was embarrassed for the tourists not knowing what to do when this grubby aggressive man comes up and tries to sell you illegal tickets and no one in the station at all to ask for help or to do something

Where was skytrain attendant? I don't understand why attendant is not permanently located at each station. If an attendant was there, I don't think anyone would want to create trouble.

I was at Stadium station last month and saw a girl laying on the stairs between the ticket machines and the platform. She was bleeding from the nose and had blood all over her clothes. Her mother and sister were besides her, somewhat shocked and did nothing to ask for help! Quite a few people walked by but no one stopped to help.
I asked the mother what happened? Apparently the girl slipped and fell down the stairs. I picked up the red emergency phone on the platform and tried to get help. 1st try, no tone. 2nd try no one answered. 3rd try a guy answered and said someone will be coming. But I had to wait for more than 5 minutes before an attendant exited from a skytrain to help. That showed that the station was unattended around noon. It took another 5 minutes before 2 transit polices appeared from another skytrain.
Not good for any emergency situation.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by Waders

Where was skytrain attendant? I don't understand why attendant is not permanently located at each station. If an attendant was there, I don't think anyone would want to create trouble.

I was at Stadium station last month and saw a girl laying on the stairs between the ticket machines and the platform. She was bleeding from the nose and had blood all over her clothes. Her mother and sister were besides her, somewhat shocked and did nothing to ask for help! Quite a few people walked by but no one stopped to help.
I asked the mother what happened? Apparently the girl slipped and fell down the stairs. I picked up the red emergency phone on the platform and tried to get help. 1st try, no tone. 2nd try no one answered. 3rd try a guy answered and said someone will be coming. But I had to wait for more than 5 minutes before an attendant exited from a skytrain to help. That showed that the station was unattended around noon. It took another 5 minutes before 2 transit polices appeared from another skytrain.
Not good for any emergency situation.

Just to be fair it could have been a fact that the sky train attendant and transit police were at stations that were about 5 and 10 minutes from where stadium. Also taking into account how long they had to wait for a train as well. So it is all well a good that someone should be there immediately. Reality usually prohibits that. I would actually consider 5 minutes to be a very good response.

[racc]

Originally Posted by Waders

Where was skytrain attendant? I don't understand why attendant is not permanently located at each station. If an attendant was there, I don't think anyone would want to create trouble.

I was at Stadium station last month and saw a girl laying on the stairs between the ticket machines and the platform. She was bleeding from the nose and had blood all over her clothes. Her mother and sister were besides her, somewhat shocked and did nothing to ask for help! Quite a few people walked by but no one stopped to help.
I asked the mother what happened? Apparently the girl slipped and fell down the stairs. I picked up the red emergency phone on the platform and tried to get help. 1st try, no tone. 2nd try no one answered. 3rd try a guy answered and said someone will be coming. But I had to wait for more than 5 minutes before an attendant exited from a skytrain to help. That showed that the station was unattended around noon. It took another 5 minutes before 2 transit polices appeared from another skytrain.
Not good for any emergency situation.

Next time, try 911.

[Waders]

Originally Posted by racc

Next time, try 911.

I will dial 911 next time in similar situation. I am also surprised that Skytrain Control didn't seem to actively monitor the CCTV system on the platform. The stair should be covered by at least one of the camera.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Waders

I will dial 911 next time in similar situation. I am also surprised that Skytrain Control didn't seem to actively monitor the CCTV system on the platform. The stair should be covered by at least one of the camera.

There are tons of cameras, but there are never enough eyes to watch all of them...it's only when there's actually an incident that those cameras will be useful, staff will pull out the digital files for investigations.

[deasine]

New Canada Line transfer signs at Granville Stn along with Jugo Juice signs (with a food icon) at the Canada Line ones.

[Millennium2002]

it's unfortunate that there's no one around looking after the SkyTrain stations...

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by Waders

I wonder what they were doing. Is this a new security measure?

It takes a lot of effort to spend $1 billion on the games security, so of course there will be ridiculous "security" procedures on Skytrain too.

Actually, I'm fine with security that isn't an harassment of the travelling public. I was watching something on the London Underground which has more CCTV cameras than any other metro in the world. They can track a person from entering the system to exiting. At Hamstead Station, which is 192 feet below the street and accesible by lift or stairway, there are 26 CCTV cameras in the stairway alone (of course there are 350 steps in the stairway).

[cabotp]

A neighbour of mine who is a bus driver. Was telling my parents that apparently before he starts his day someone at the bus depot will sweep the bus for a bomb. Then during his route which is the #5 and #6 there are certain designated points or at certain times someone will scan for a bomb again.

[WarrenC12]

I was coming home from the west side (to East van) yesterday afternoon and Broadway was about as empty as I'd ever seen it on a weekend. The Olympic Lanes were bare of course, but even the 2 remaining lanes were light traffic and free flowing.

I'm sure the #9 and #99 must be flying down the road these days. Have any regular riders noticed a much faster trip? Is the #99 delaying to keep up with it's "schedule", or does that even matter with service being so frequent.

[The_Henry_Man]

^I bet most people don't even bother to go out the past few days.