Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[deasine]

I'm quite thrilled we are only running 14 trains and able to move so many people. From my experience as a Canada Line user during peak and non-peak hours quite often during the week, I would say the Canada Line is busy but not packed. Of course, during rush hours, it is standing room only, but the Expo Line is standing room only during rush hours as well!

And I definitely wouldn't compare the Canada Line with Scarborough's RT. While the RT definitely has capacity issues at times of the day, the big reason for that is because TTC have failed to make changes over the years.

[duener]

Man, this is such a great success story. It really shows how the line has been adopted as a major transportation artery. To hear that people now choose it because of convenience over taking their car, is massive.

[lightrail]

I recently rode Canada Line on a weekday

Airport to downtown
- no attendants at the airport station. Of all the stations, this one should have attendants.

- Tacky hand written signs next to the ticket machines stating that day passes and tickets can be bought in the 7/11 and Pharmasave along with their prices - but no directions. And why make people walk all the way down there, why not just sell them through the machines.

- Sign stating N10 bus runs when SkyTrain not running, but no directions to the bus stop to get the N10. Plus the sign was inside the station that is surely closed after the last train has gone.

- still no decent way-finding to Canada Line SkyTrain in the Airport.

- Beyond Bridgeport, train never got full - in fact, at most, half of the seats were taken. Really quiet.

- Same on the return trip - never got busy anywhere along the line

- Only attendants I saw were at Waterfront and I think they're were only there to guard the stored train.

- ugly metal traffic separating gates in the Waterfront Station passageway really detracts from the aesthetics of the station. Get rid of them or at least replace them with something that fits the station design.

- additional sandwich board way-finding signs to point to SeaBus, Expo Line and West Coast Express just shows how bad the installed way-finding signage really is. Way-finding on Canada Line really needs some work. Not terrible, but if you don;t know, the signage is hard to see and not ideally located for somebody getting off a train.

- Because Canada Line uses disc brakes, the trains are more cautious when slowing to a stop, and the longer cars make tight turns slower - unlike Expo and Millennium which use magnets and can stop on a dime and the shorter cars can take turns faster. The result is harder acceleration and braking on Expo and Millennium and higher speeds in tight turns.

[AlexYVR]

I hope my answers do really remind people that there are different opinions about all infrastructure - but that we should also be happy for whatever the hell we can get especially if it's not at-grade rail!

Originally Posted by lightrail

I recently rode Canada Line on a weekday

Airport to downtown
- no attendants at the airport station. Of all the stations, this one should have attendants.

Nothing to say.

- Tacky hand written signs next to the ticket machines stating that day passes and tickets can be bought in the 7/11 and Pharmasave along with their prices - but no directions. And why make people walk all the way down there, why not just sell them through the machines.

The handwritten signs are so welcome - hey, we realize we didn't cover everything! Here we are, making up for it. Go this way.

- Sign stating N10 bus runs when SkyTrain not running, but no directions to the bus stop to get the N10. Plus the sign was inside the station that is surely closed after the last train has gone.

Again, no comment.

- still no decent way-finding to Canada Line SkyTrain in the Airport.

False. Just the tunnel direction leads you there, and the signs are great. It's in line with every other major airport (especially SEATAC) if not better.

- Beyond Bridgeport, train never got full - in fact, at most, half of the seats were taken. Really quiet.

Can't comment.

- Same on the return trip - never got busy anywhere along the line

Can't comment.

- Only attendants I saw were at Waterfront and I think they're were only there to guard the stored train.

I take that train at least twice a week and at least one of those two times get asked for a pass, and then if I can use any help. They're there for a reason.

- ugly metal traffic separating gates in the Waterfront Station passageway really detracts from the aesthetics of the station. Get rid of them or at least replace them with something that fits the station design.

THANK GOODNESS for the ugly metal traffic gates. They really do help me (commuter, horrible person, in a hurry, hate tourists) to thread the needle amongst those who are busy stopping and staring at the great art in the tunnels, examining maps, and screaming at each other in tourist tongues. If they weren't there - I'd probably run someone over.

- additional sandwich board way-finding signs to point to SeaBus, Expo Line and West Coast Express just shows how bad the installed way-finding signage really is. Way-finding on Canada Line really needs some work. Not terrible, but if you don;t know, the signage is hard to see and not ideally located for somebody getting off a train.

Would love some more sandwich boards. If they have one every two inches, would still love some more sandwich boards. Are you pissed the Canada Line only cost 2 billion? Cause that's what it sounds like.

- Because Canada Line uses disc brakes, the trains are more cautious when slowing to a stop, and the longer cars make tight turns slower - unlike Expo and Millennium which use magnets and can stop on a dime and the shorter cars can take turns faster. The result is harder acceleration and braking on Expo and Millennium and higher speeds in tight turns.

I have only ever been in a Lotus once, and it was spectacular. One day, I hope to drive an Audi R8. Until I can do this, I'm with you. I hope Skytrain can accelerate faster and turn harder than your normal subway, if only for my own urban malaise. They're not bad, though, considering the tires they've got to work with

[deasine]

I find it very odd that you said there was no attendants at YVR as there are generally attendants during most periods of the day. As for the signs, I an told there are discussions of upgrading the Canada Line wayfinding but this can't be done over night.

[GeeCee]

I doubt that we'll ever see official signs telling people where they can go to buy FareSavers and get around the airport surcharge..

[SpongeG]

the hand written letters were probably put up by dogooders trying to help tourists who wouldn't otherwise know translink sure doesn't want them to know

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

I doubt that we'll ever see official signs telling people where they can go to buy FareSavers and get around the airport surcharge..

Does that work? There's a 7-11 in YVR...

[Waders]

Seventy-seven people were fined $173 Thursday for no tranist ticket at the West Coast Express ? This is a lot of cheaters IMO.

TransLink fare blitz reveals a few fake passes used
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun June 5, 2010

Transit police have found a new target in their crackdown on fare evasion: homemade counterfeit transit passes.

The passes, which range from realistic tickets created with a laser printer to photocopies and those that appear to have been "coloured in the basement," have been surfacing across the system, most recently during an enforcement blitz at the West Coast Express on Thursday.

Transit Police Insp. David Hansen said he didn't know how many people had been caught with fake passes Thursday, but said, "That's something we see across the line," noting most of the passes are individually produced.

Seventy-seven people were fined $173 Thursday, but most of them failed to produce a pass; only a few were carrying fake passes.

"It's nothing new for us," Hansen said. "We've actually gone after people for forging documents."

Hansen noted there have been past incidences of fake passes being mass-produced, but said this hasn't occurred as often since TransLink upgraded its passes to include a magnetic strip and other embedded security features.

"The newer system has made things a little more difficult [for the counterfeiters] but it's always a cat-and-mouse game," said TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie.

Hansen said if police are alerted to a potential mass-production of transit passes, they will investigate with an eye to prosecuting on a charge of uttering a forged document.

Although he personally hasn't seen any of the recently discovered counterfeit passes, he said his officers have noticed that some make use of the same technology as forged drivers' licences, while others are more amateurish.

"We're not quite getting napkins coming to us," he said, but added: "There are some on close inspection that are unbelievably fraudulent."

Doug Kelsey, president of the B.C. Rapid Transit Co., which operates SkyTrain, said TransLink has continually made changes to ensure the safety of the system since giving police officers the power to hand out tickets and enforce them a few years ago.

He would like to see the revenue collected from the tickets go into Trans-Link coffers for safety initiatives rather than into general revenue for the provincial government.

"The whole policing side has been very important to us," he said, adding that enforcement blitzes are carried out every day in the transit system.

He noted that TransLink's plan to install faregates at stations and issue smartcards by 2013 will also decrease fare evasion, though he notes it will never be eradicated.

The SkyTrain system operates under a proof-of-payment system. TransLink estimates that it loses $6 million to $8 million a year in revenue through fare evasion.

Total fare revenue for 2009 was $360 million, and it's expected to rise to $410 million in 2010.

"You still need good public vigilance," Kelsey said. "It's only fair that people who use the system should pay."

[email protected]
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/TransLink+fa...es+used/3117046/story.html#ixzz0q01i2N5X

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Does that work? There's a 7-11 in YVR...

I do it all the time.
Use my monthly pass to get to the Airport & pop into the 7/11 in the domestic arrivals basement to get a book of 2-zone tickets while waiting for my guests to arrive & find their luggage.

(sometimes I try to get there before they land so I have time to get my harveys fix ... but I digress)

They use the transit tickets to get on the C-Line with me (no $5 surcharge) to get to the condo, and I get a BIG BOTTLE of Duty-Free bubbly that more than covers the cost of the 2-zone book of tickets. Sometimes there's enough 2-zone tickets left in the book to get everyone back to the airport.
(and a stop at Swiss Chalet for me after they've gone through security .... )

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

....get a book of 2-zone tickets... ... use the transit tickets to get on the C-Line with me (no $5 surcharge)...

That's interesting. I knew the surcharge didn't apply to day passes, but I didn't realize it doesn't apply to ANY prepaid fare. Good info, thanks for the tip!

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

I do it all the time.
Use my monthly pass to get to the Airport & pop into the 7/11 in the domestic arrivals basement to get a book of 2-zone tickets while waiting for my guests to arrive & find their luggage.

(sometimes I try to get there before they land so I have time to get my harveys fix ... but I digress)

They use the transit tickets to get on the C-Line with me (no $5 surcharge) to get to the condo, and I get a BIG BOTTLE of Duty-Free bubbly that more than covers the cost of the 2-zone book of tickets. Sometimes there's enough 2-zone tickets left in the book to get everyone back to the airport.
(and a stop at Swiss Chalet for me after they've gone through security .... )

Don't let the transit police get ya ...........

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Don't let the transit police get ya ...........

The transit police have no say in what jsbertram is doing. What he/she is doing is not illegal. There is no rule that says person A can not buy prepaid tickets for person B or C or D or whatever.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Don't let the transit police get ya ...........

Not worried, because I'm following the Translink rules.

...
# The AddFare will only apply to anyone buying cash fare tickets at any Canada Line station on Sea Island, for travel from the airport to Richmond or Vancouver. (Said another way: the AddFare only applies to those buying cash fares for travel off of Sea Island.) Ticket machines at these stations will automatically charge the correct amount.

# Anyone using pre-paid fares will be exempt and will not be charged an additional fare for any trip on the Canada Line to or from the airport. Pre-paid fares include DayPasses, FareCards, FareSaver Tickets, U-Passes, Employer Passes and the BC Government Bus Pass Program.

Source: http://buzzer.translink.ca/index.php/201...re-coming-mon-jan-18-heres-how-it-works/


If you rarely use Translink, you can get a book of tickets on the way to the Canada Line station and use one for your trip to YVR and use the rest for bringing your guests back to the condo. Since you get 1 1/2 hours travel time, you may be able to get to YVR, pick up your guests & get back home on your single ticket.

Translink may HATE you for saving your money, but that is within their rules. You can travel in any direction on a cash-fare ticket before the ticket expires ie: hop the 99 to Cambie, do your shopping at Home Depot, Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Choices, London Drugs, & hop the 99 back home within 1 1/2 hours.

Sundays & holidays are even better: There is a rule that an adult with a monthly pass can include another adult and two kids on their trip. So I can meet my sister at the airport with her two kids & bring them all back to the condo on my monthly pass. That $81 monthly pass has just saved her over $25. And it will save her $5 again next weekend if I take them to the airport when they fly out the following Sunday.

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

the hand written letters were probably put up by dogooders trying to help tourists who wouldn't otherwise know translink sure doesn't want them to know

No, the signs are official as they're on dry-erase type big white boards - so somebody took the time and money to place them there and look after them.

Actually - I applaud Canada Line (Transklink?) for the addiitonal signage at the airport and Waterfront. My comment is that it's too bad the way it is done as it looks incomplete.

[cabotp]

Here is the APTA 1st Quarter report for 2010

http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2010_q1_ridership_APTA.pdf

80% increase in the skytrain boardings
12% increase in the commuter rail (West Coast)
-10% decrease in Demand based transit (handicap type)
55% increase in the Ferry Bus (Sea Bus)
5.37% increase in the regular Buses
-7% decrease in the Trolley Buses

There was 14.8Million people on the skytrain network in February 2010. Previous year there was 6.2Millon in February 2009. Of course we had both the Olympics and the new Canada Line running.

I do find the -7% decrease in Trolley Buses interesting. My only guess is that people in Vancouver who live along one of the Trolley Bus routes. Especially those that live near Main or Fraser. Who commute to downtown. May now be heading along 49th or 41st to the Canada Line to get downtown. Which has now put a higher strain on those routes. Which goes to show that people are willing to jump over a few streets just to catch a train that is much faster than the bus.

[deasine]

I have a few photos I'd like to share, which are photos of photos found in the SkyTrain OMC.









Rendering of Main Street Stn, something much cleaner and nicer.



Old Stadium Stn, with the Monorail platform transfer.

[GeeCee]

Awesome pics, thanks.

[jlousa]

Main and Terminal certainly looks better with no trolley/power lines and no traffic lights. There isn't even a stop sign. Probably a good thing they didn't build it exactly like the render.

[Rational Plan3]

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