Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[xd_1771]

THIS JUST IN:
2 skytrain passengers blinded by the new superbright LED lights accidentally fall onto platform in front of moving train!

Nah this didn't actually happen but it's a serious possibility now

[Millennium2002]

I think people will get used to it... heck... I doubt a simple LED headlight on a SkyTrain would hurt at all... and besides, there are many more cars with headlights...

[golog]

why are the skytrain tunnels illuminated? seems like a waste

[Millennium2002]

It's a safety requirement. All tunnels used for transport generally have to be lighted in fact.

Having said that, they used to have two whole continuous rows of fluorescent tube lighting in the twin Millennium Line tunnels from end to end which was a complete waste. Recently it seems they've scaled that back down to something more spaced out and reasonable.

[tybuilding]

Good CTV story
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local..._110401/20110401?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

[Mac Write]

Of course like in the 60's saying we would have flying cars etc. The future will be like it is today the same. not much will change.

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by xd_1771

THIS JUST IN:
2 skytrain passengers blinded by the new superbright LED lights accidentally fall onto platform in front of moving train!

Nah this didn't actually happen but it's a serious possibility now

This also in, 2 passengers at a bust stop blinded by a bus driver who leaves his high beams on all the time fall onto the road in front of the moving bus.

Good news, the West Coast Express Trainbus is not getting any service reductions after all! So weekend Trainbuses will still be running and all buses will go all the way to Mission. Not that I live there anymore but lol.

[Waders]

This thread is too quiet!

If you like classic bus, check out the 2 photos taken in 1969 at the Buzzer page. http://buzzer.translink.ca/index.php/201...n=Feed%3A+TLBuzzer+%28The+Buzzer+blog%29

It is interesting to know from a comment that trolley buses didn’t have license plates at that time because they were still classified as railway cars.

[TransitJack]

Originally Posted by teriyaki

Speaking of Headlight upgrades.

Has anyone noticed some old buses with retrofitted xenon projector headlights in them instead of the stock halogens? I should have taken a picture when I saw one last time in Richmond.

I noticed a CLine Train also has HID's. Very blue light and much brighter than the others. Not sure of the train #

[CLC]

Vancouver Sun: Ontario visitor stung by transit fine
An Ontario man hit with a $173 fine on the Canada Line says TransLink should make it clearer to out-of-town visitors that they need to validate their transit tickets at the airport before boarding the train.

BY CHAD SKELTON, VANCOUVER SUN APRIL 28, 2011 1:33 PM
METRO VANCOUVER - An Ontario man hit with a $173 fine on the Canada Line says TransLink should make it clearer to out-of-town visitors that they need to validate their transit tickets at the airport before boarding the train.

Ken Beaune, who lives in London, Ont., said he and his sister travelled to Vancouver to visit their brother, who was in hospital in a diabetic coma.

When they arrived at the airport March 17, they asked visitor's services how to get downtown on rapid transit and were advised to buy a book of transit tickets at the 7-11 convenience store.

"They said, 'One zone or two zone?' and I told them I was going downtown and they said that's one zone," Beaune said.

It was midday on a weekday, which meant the full two-zone fare was in effect.

Beaune said the 7-11 staff member who sold him the tickets didn't mention anything about having to validate the tickets before boarding and it wasn't obvious as he got on the train. "There were no signs anywhere saying you have to validate these tickets," he said. "I got on the train thinking maybe they'll take them on the train."

Instead, at the next station, a transit police officer boarded the train and pulled Beaune and his sister off.

Beaune said the officer then gave him a $173 fine and noted, in passing, that he had the legal authority to arrest them for fare evasion if he wanted to.

"He said he was giving us a break and he was just going to write me a ticket and not my sister a ticket," he said.

Beaune said he thinks the officer should have given him a warning instead.

"I had the tickets in my pocket. I wasn't trying to rip the system off," he said. "I just didn't know the steps ... I thought it was pretty unfair, considering it's not very well marked. I've been on transit systems in London and Paris and New York and they make it a lot more obvious."

Transit police staff sergeant Ken Schinkel said he doesn't know the details of Beaune's case. But he said officers are encouraged to use their discretion when dealing with tourists unfamiliar with how the system works, and shouldn't mention their authority to arrest people unless absolutely necessary.

"I don't tell them: 'If it's a guy from out of town don't give them a ticket.' But you have to rely on everyone using a bit of common sense," he said. "People who make an honest mistake — cut 'em some slack."

TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said there is a large "Fare Paid Zone" sign at the airport station and it should be clear to visitors that they need to do something with their blank tickets.

"Pretty much any [transit] system, you have to have something that indicates the time and date you get on," he said. "If I were new to town, I'd be looking at those things really carefully to see if there was something I had to do with my ticket."

Snider also noted TransLink had hundreds of thousands of tourists board the Canada Line during the Olympics and the ticket-validation issue wasn't identified a problem.

Emeldi Cruz, a staff member at the airport 7-11, said she and her co-workers sell two-zone tickets to tourists heading downtown unless it's after 6:30 p.m. or a weekend, when a one-zone ticket is sufficient.

Cruz also said they make a point of reminding people they have to validate their tickets before boarding.

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© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

[cabotp]

I have to admit to someone who doesn't use the system. It can be a bit ambigious on what type of ticket is needed. But at the same time the same could be said for anyone who travels to any other place they don't live in. There is always that chance that a traveller will not buy the proper ticket.

Should the officer have possibly given a warning, perhaps. But from the officer's point of view I would only assume that others have used the "excuse" that they were told to buy the wrong ticket. Not saying that was the case this time. But I could see that kind of excuse being used when it shouldn't.

I will say once they have the fare gates up that hopefully will check you on the way out and not the way in. That way if someone buys a ticked at the airport for one zone they would get on the C-Line. But when they got off downtown the gate would not let them out. And so then they would go to a machine on the platform side to pay the necessary difference.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I will say once they have the fare gates up that hopefully will check you on the way out and not the way in. That way if someone buys a ticked at the airport for one zone they would get on the C-Line. But when they got off downtown the gate would not let them out. And so then they would go to a machine on the platform side to pay the necessary difference.

And how will the single machine at the end know how far you've travelled assuming you're using a pass of some kind (Faresavers/Month pass/etc)? Faregates need to be at minimum upon entry (like Paris) and at best, both in and out.

[Zassk]

I agree with the article. I took transit daily from 1986 to 1997, and in those days the only ticket validation was that sometimes a bus driver would punch a hole. Then I didn't take transit for 12 years until the Canada Line opened. I had never heard of validating tickets and had no idea that I needed to do so. I only discovered it by chance because I noticed the little unmarked machines and wondered what they were for. It seemed almost like entrapment to me. There was no instruction on the tickets and I saw no signs saying "DO NOT PASS HERE WITHOUT PUTTING YOUR TICKET IN THE MACHINE". To me, the word "validating" meant a human might want to look at it.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by invisibleairwaves

That's too bad. Doesn't bode well for all the Jugo Juice franchises along the Canada Line.

...

I just noticed today that the Jugo Juice locations at Canada Line Waterfront Station (Hastings mezzanine) and Yaletown Station have closed.

These are the only Jugo Juice locations along the Canada Line I've seen shut down. I'm not sure how long they've be shuttered, since I've rarely used the Canada Line this year.

We'll see if someone else moves in, or if those areas become 'spare rooms'.

[DKaz]

It has to be a coffee shop of some sort. Jugo Juice never made sense in the first place, I wonder how much they paid for these locations.

[officedweller]

The inside cover of the Faresaver Booklet has explicit instructions on how to use a Faresaver -

"HOW TO USE YOUR FARESAVERS
ON THE BUS - Validate ticket with time and date stamp by inserting into electronic farebox.
ON THE SEABUS AND SKYTRAIN - validate ticket with time and date stamp by inserting into ticket validator in the stations and terminals PRIOR to entering the Fare Paid Zone. Keep validated ticket for duration of trip. Ticket may be validated only once.
..."

It then then mentions adding zones, etc.

The ticket itself also says "VALIDATE - insert this direction"

The back of the ticket also says "Ticket must be validated prior to use and produced for inspection on request....
EXPIRES AT TIME PRINTED. NON-TRANSFERABLE ONCE VALIDATED."

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by DKaz

It has to be a coffee shop of some sort. Jugo Juice never made sense in the first place, I wonder how much they paid for these locations.

Poor franchisees actually. Horrible locations, even if you think a location within a station is a good idea. They are a total afterthought.

The City Center location is not bad.

[DKaz]

Not many people are willing to splurge $6 often for a fruit smoothie, but coffee and pastries are morning necessities.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The inside cover of the Faresaver Booklet has explicit instructions on how to use a Faresaver -

"HOW TO USE YOUR FARESAVERS
ON THE BUS - Validate ticket with time and date stamp by inserting into electronic farebox.
ON THE SEABUS AND SKYTRAIN - validate ticket with time and date stamp by inserting into ticket validator in the stations and terminals PRIOR to entering the Fare Paid Zone. Keep validated ticket for duration of trip. Ticket may be validated only once.
..."

It then then mentions adding zones, etc.

The ticket itself also says "VALIDATE - insert this direction"

The back of the ticket also says "Ticket must be validated prior to use and produced for inspection on request....
EXPIRES AT TIME PRINTED. NON-TRANSFERABLE ONCE VALIDATED."

Exactly. Ignorance of the law is not a defense.

He bought the tickets, he had them in his hand. All he had to do was look at the inside flap of the book or the ticket itself to see he had to validate it before using transit. Or read the information boards at the stations. There are also signs on the ground and on the walls saying it is a paid fare zone. All he had to do was take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with the way things work. He could even ask someone on the platform "what do I do with these?"

The airport station is also one of the best station in terms of layout, clearly defining the separation between fare paid platform and general areas. The glass walls and narrow entrance to the platform are there for a reason, to show new people to the area that you should pay to be on the train (and no luggage racks!).

What did he expect, old-time-y conductors on the trains with little hole punchers and change belts? I know people from Ontario have a backwater opinion of BC, but please.

[Canadian Mind]

Good lord, I just go up to the machines, stick in the 4.50 required to get me downtown from surrey, it shit's out a ticket, and I'm on my way. I've never done this validating crap.