Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[deasine]

There are a lot of transit agencies, but definitely not 33. Heck, even Hong Kong doesn't even have 33. Sound, Metro, Community Transit, and Pierce Transit provide public transportation around the Greater Seattle area.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

I think its because in Seattle they have so many county, city and regional bus services that don't even try to coordinate schedules with each other. I read somewhere there are 33 different transit agencies providing services in the greater seattle area. Don't bother looking for a 'Seattle Area Transit' website to get route diagrams or timetables, or to figure out how to get from A to B using different services, because it doesn't exist. You can spend more time on the phone tracking down transit info from the different services than the time it takes to do the actual trip.

I thought of that. Either way whether it is one agency or multiple agencies. Having multiple buses running parallel to their new line is a waste of money.

Its funny as much as people complain about how Translink is a monopoly and blah blah blah. The one benefit to having one agency that controls everything. Is that everything is usually in sync.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I thought of that. Either way whether it is one agency or multiple agencies. Having multiple buses running parallel to their new line is a waste of money.

Its funny as much as people complain about how Translink is a monopoly and blah blah blah. The one benefit to having one agency that controls everything. Is that everything is usually in sync.

Good points. What you are discussing works on a macro level, too. In the UK, when they privatized British Rail, there have been snarl ups and a number of serious accidents, including a deadly head-on collision in 1999 between two high speed trains approach each other on the same track.

In France, the SNCF owns everything, trains are on time, fares reasonable, and everything works in relative sync. The only problem is the unions that strike two or three times a year, paralyzing the country. - - - - oh well, nothing's perfect.

[Waders]

Typical reaction from residents. But development density always increase around rapid transit route.

Cambie corridor development plans shock locals
By: Andrew Weichel and Bethany Lindsay, ctvbc.ca
Date: Sunday Jun. 13, 2010 3:00 PM PT

Residents living near the King Edward Canada Line station are fuming over city plans to construct apartment buildings in the area, fearing they will block sunlight, decrease property values and obliterate scenic views.

Long before the Canada Line opened last August, the City of Vancouver was at work planning developments along the Cambie corridor between 16th Avenue and Marine Drive to capitalize on the pricey transit line.

Clive Bottomley and his wife, who live a block off Cambie Street on 26th Avenue, attended a June 3 open house meeting to learn more about the project, and were shocked to learn about a proposed six-storey apartment building right across the lane from their single-family home.

"I certainly feel like we've been kept in the dark. It just doesn't feel like they're being completely up front in their literature," the 48-year-old technician told ctvbc.ca in a telephone interview.

The Cambie Corridor Planning Program website outlines plans and maps for four-to-eight storey apartment buildings along King Edward going two blocks off Cambie in either direction.

But those plans weren't online before the meeting last week, so Bottomley and his wife went door-to-door informing their neighbours about them. At the next meeting on June 5, they confronted city staff about the apparent lack of pertinent information available online.

All of the plans were uploaded this week and are available on the project website.

Bottomley says he stands to lose a view of the North Shore Mountains he recently obtained by adding an extra floor to his house as part of a $400,000 renovation, and that there are dozens of other families who will lose property value and sunlight in the shadows of the apartments.

City staff say there is still plenty of time for neighbours to give input on the plans for the Cambie corridor, and the final plan won't go before council until next year.

"We plan on having at least one or two more meetings," Jim Bailey, team leader for the Cambie project, told ctvbc.ca.

Director of Planning Brent Toderian said that the open houses on June 3 and 5 were well attended, with about 600 people in the audience, and the input the city has gathered from the meetings could result in changes to the draft plan,

That input included complaints about new apartment complexes blocking views and sunlight, he added.

"In the case of the King Edward area, we've heard commentary about slope and shadowing -- good commentary that will allow us to go back and look at the plans," Toderian said.

But the city does believe that multi-unit housing should be priority close to the new Canada Line stations.

"It just makes sense to put density along this important piece of infrastructure," Toderian said.

The city's documents suggest "shadow studies" exploring the impact on neighbouring residents will be conducted before any development begins, and the project has a long way to go before becoming reality. It is currently in Phase 2 of development, set to end in fall 2010. Phase 3, in which plans will be finalized, is scheduled to end in fall 2011.

Source: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local..._100609/20100613?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

[WarrenC12]

^^^^^^

Told you so.

[mr.x]

I say from now on, do densification behind doors.

[bulliver]

I have a question for the development/real estate guys here...has a development along a skytrain line ever actually decreased property value in the surrounding area? Has a development anywhere in Vancouver ever decreased property values in the area?

[jlousa]

Not in general no, but there will obviously be lots of examples where one could point to if they are trying to make the case. For instance if there is a home zoned RS-1 abutting a station or the line and it remains zoned RS-1 it will become less desirable then the same RS-1 home a couple of blocks away. The first lot might not actually drop in value but will increase over time at a slower pace then the other. But most of the time the first lot will end up with preferential zoning which will more then make up for it.

Exact same thing with a large development, if you had a sfh and directly next door they built a tower, and your lot were to remain sfh you could bet that it would become less valuable, but it's extermely rare for that to happen as most probable you'd get upzoned as well which would increase your value. But in such a large region there will always be an example somewhere to point to where values have dropped. Hope that helps.

[bulliver]

Thanks jlousa. I was just wondering if there is any validity to that, as it seems to contradict the fact that value goes up over time no matter what, in Vancouver anyway.

[BCPhil]

The funny thing is I bet that Clive Bottomley's neighbours across the street on the North Side of his property were not amused when Clive Bottomley put an extra story on his house. What goes around comes around. What makes him think he can add a floor to his house, and nothing else in the entire — city will ever change? The gall of some people makes me sick.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

The funny thing is I bet that Clive Bottomley's neighbours across the street on the North Side of his property were not amused when Clive Bottomley put an extra story on his house. What goes around comes around. What makes him think he can add a floor to his house, and nothing else in the entire — city will ever change? The gall of some people makes me sick.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

The old classic don't do as I do, just do as I say.

Also notice how in that last article they talked about one person's story. It's as if this one person is speaking for the entire area. I've never liked new stories for the one simple reason that you never hear from everyone. Whose to say maybe his neighbours are looking forward to the changes.

[jlousa]

Translink is looking at acquiring another new seabus, while they might need to replace the olds ones, it does look bad when all we hear them say is they can't afford to run the 3 and now they are buying a new one. Guess they won't be updating the old ones anymore, and I don't think we'll be seeing three in action anytime soon, let alone all 4 in this case.

1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 The SeaBus service began operating between downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver in 1977 withtwo aluminum catamaran vessels, the Burrard Beaver and Burrard Otter, providing service every 15minutes. In December 2009, the 3rd SeaBus (M/V Burrard Pacific Breeze) entered service. This 3rd vessel allowed for service to be provided every 10 minutes during the 2010 Olympic Games. On completion of the games, SeaBus returned to 2-vessel operation, with one of the 1977 vessels being used as maintenance spare.

1.2 As the 1977 vessels are approaching the end of their service lives, another new vessel will need to be built so that both end-of-life vessels will have been replaced. TransLink would like to have this Replacement SeaBus in service by the spring of 2012.

[Waders]

By year 2012, the original seabus will be 35 years old. Translink must have evaluated and concluded they are no longer cost effective to be upgraded.
IMO, Translink may draw the same conclusion for some of the 114 MKI skytrains that are now 26 years old. The brake caliper from one of them had recently broke loose and fell onto the track. I wonder what else can come loose or start to malfunction.

BTW, one of the APTA rail conference attendees has posted a photo album from the SkyTrain technical tour at http://picasaweb.google.com/113879629835241365016/SkytrainTechnicalTour#.

[Alex Mackinnon]

That one sounds like a pretty big screw up by the maintenance department. I'm not sure about skytrain disk brakes, but I'd imagine after 26 years they wouldn't be running original calipers. Since they're running linear induction motors there thankfully aren't all that many moving parts that can actually break.

[Mac Write]

I see in one photo 245 has it's lights on in the shop but no third rail. Is there a "Plug" port to power the systems for testing (without of course being able to move the trains).

[Waders]

I don't think a car can last 26 years without any part replacement, but may be skytrain is different...

The brake caliper was one of the original pieces on the SkyTrain, which has been operating since 1995.

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/SkyTrain+der...d+track/3087081/story.html#ixzz0qzxzBoem

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Waders

I don't think a car can last 26 years without any part replacement, but may be skytrain is different...

There's a difference between the caliper and the actual brake PADs. The caliper holds the break pads - the pads wear out over time and are replaced but the caliper itself isn't a wear item and wouldn't normally need to be replaced.

[Alex Mackinnon]

It really depends on the cycling and the caliper design I'd imagine. I'm more familiar with smaller disk brakes, but occasionally both Calipers and rotors need replacement.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

It really depends on the cycling and the caliper design I'd imagine. I'm more familiar with smaller disk brakes, but occasionally both Calipers and rotors need replacement.

A calliper in theory could last for quite a long time. Although if debris gets inside they can start to seize up or leak. The pads are going to be changed regularly. The rotors can last a long time if the brakes do not over heat. Heat kills rotors. Considering most of the braking is done by the Linear induction motors and the calliper braking is only for a the last bit. I don't see how they could over heat all that much.

But a calliper shouldn't just fall off. The only way for that to happen is if the bolts were loose or they snapped off. There might have also been a crack in the mounting. But anything like that should have been easy to spot on the previous service. I'd be interested to know whether the pads had been recently changed and someone didn't torque down the calliper bolts enough.

[TransitJack]

EDIT: news release on Translink's website, and on Buzzer Blog (formatted )



* Media

Canada Line System Performance Test

June 17, 2010

Starting Monday, June 21, 2010, the Canada Line will initiate a 15-day System Test relating to higherfrequency of train service, which is scheduled to come into effect late next year. The Canada Line willremain in revenue service and welcome its passengers’ patronage while conducting this test.During this test period, the train headway during Peak Service periods will be reduced from the current 3minutes 45 seconds to 3 minutes 10 seconds along the main branch of the Line between WaterfrontStation and Bridgeport Station, and from 7 minutes 30 seconds to 6 minutes 20 seconds on the Bridgeportto YVR-Airport and Bridgeport to Richmond-Brighouse spurs. Dwell times (the time that trains arestopped) in each station will be slightly extended as a result of the increased train frequency.Peak Service periods are Weekdays between 7:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M., Saturdays between 9:00 A.M. and6:00 P.M., and Sundays, as well as statutory holidays, between 10:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M.All Canada Line stations will remain open and accessible during regular revenue service hours, and trainservice during non-peak periods will remain unchanged. Headways and dwell times at stations will revertback to the current levels after the completion of the System Performance Test.

http://www.translink.ca/en/About-TransLink/Media/2010/June/Canada-Line-System-Performance-Test.aspx