Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[SpongeG]

well something should be done - i've seen so many cars holding up the transit busses cause some idiot driver wants to make a left hand turn from granville to georgia - I saw three busses stuck behind a car (BC Plate) one day at that intersection not one of them got through at the light they had two sit through two lights that can't be good for schedules

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

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'.

update:
Jugo Juice at Olympic Station is shuttered.

This isn't the Orange Crush we've been hearing about all last week.

[officedweller]

WRT drivers on Granville Mall -
It's the green arrow in a circle on intersecting streets that drivers don't understand.
That means "go straight only". It would be more effective to post the prohibitions - "no right turn and no left turn"

[jlousa]

Think a Timmys would do better then Jugo, not sure if anything would do great business but they would probably do enough to stay open.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by jlousa

I don't think the lack of signage is an issue, every cross st is pretty clear that you can't turn onto Granville as are the lanes that lead onto Granville. Think a couple of beat cops walking the strip could make a killing for the city writing tickets.

Instead of the signs on Granville Mall that say "No Turns (Except Transit)", maybe the signs should say "MUST Turn RIGHT (Except Transit)" so dimwitty drivers will get the hint they aren't welcome here.

Maybe the left-turn bays to turn onto Granville should be painted with BUS ONLY within the left-turn bays.


A sure sign of spring for me is seeing a Winnebago on the Granville Mall with a stressed-out driver and a confused map-reader in the passenger seat.
Extra points given for arguing and map flailing around while the bus behind is honking.

[DKaz]

Unfortunately with drivers, you have to tell them what they can't do, not what they are allowed to do.

[SpongeG]

those no left turn signs are useless - i have seen so many cars on cambie making a left turn onto broadway they either ignore the signs or aren't paying attention and no matter how much the car behind them honks they just sit there waiting to make their turn

happens all over the place, like on robson street or burrard, I see drivers ignoring the signs - they really need to be lit up like the ones they used at train intersections... they are very visible

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I see drivers ignoring the signs - they really need to be lit up like the ones they used at train intersections... they are very visible

You're making the very generous assumption that the drivers simply didn't see the signs - but the fact that they just sit there even after being honked at suggests that they're just ignoring them. In that case it doesn't matter how obvious they are.

Cars still manage to get hit by trains even in the face of flashing lights and crossing gates...

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Think a Timmys would do better then Jugo, not sure if anything would do great business but they would probably do enough to stay open.

I think a mix of businesses would be best. I think it was the dumbest business plan, on both the part of the Canada Line and Jugo, to put identical businesses in all these stations. First, fresh juice drinks is sort of a fringe product, so having a fringe product saturating the retail at all the stations is just asking for disaster. Second, people in stations are usually in a hurry, and having every station sell something expensive that takes a long time to prepare makes no sense at all.

When you have the same business at all locations, that means that many passengers end up walking past your business 4 times a day. So even if they buy just once, that's well over half waste of your locations. And spending too much on locations will sink an otherwise successful business.

Tims would do well in some stations, but not in all of them. Again, many people would be walking past them twice in one trip, it's a waste of locations. I would offer some variety: Tims in some locations, express gourmet coffee in others, and some corner stores.

[SpongeG]

yah it was pretty much laughed at when they won the bid to be the drink provider in the stations - they chose to add coffee to the station locations but i've never seen them advertise that fact, they only push the juice

[WarrenC12]

^^^^^

Agreed. Especially with the Yaletown station, where there is basically the flagship Jugo location right upstairs. Makes no sense at all.

[Zassk]

The choices of stations were questionable too - an obvious location for a franchise would be Bridgeport Station, which has a captive market of commuters, and no competition in the area.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by Zassk

The choices of stations were questionable too - an obvious location for a franchise would be Bridgeport Station, which has a captive market of commuters, and no competition in the area.

The funny thing too is that there is room on the mezzanine, isn't there? Is it a city of Richmond policy that they didn't want retail in the stations?

[officedweller]

The Vancouver City Centre emergency exit (near Robson) has some new artwork on it - a wrap of photos of Vancouver garbage can openings and recycling racks. Took me a second to figure out whether they were 3D or just a wrap.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

I think a mix of businesses would be best. I think it was the dumbest business plan, on both the part of the Canada Line and Jugo, to put identical businesses in all these stations.

Probably just easier administratively on InTransitBC's part (or would it be TransLink controlling it?). Now they'll have to put more effort into it with different retailers at each station.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Probably just easier administratively on InTransitBC's part (or would it be TransLink controlling it?). Now they'll have to put more effort into it with different retailers at each station.

I wonder how the coffee shop at Commercial Station is doing. Seemed like a good idea in a good location, but I rarely see a lineup there. Admittedly I'm hardly there during rush hour.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Probably just easier administratively on InTransitBC's part (or would it be TransLink controlling it?). Now they'll have to put more effort into it with different retailers at each station.

If Jugo is shutting down locations in breach of their contract, even more time and $$ has to be spent by TransLink / InTransitBC / ProTrans on their staff and their lawyers while sorting this out.

[CLC]

There is a follow-up story of the $173-fined Ontario man:

Ticketed tourist calls on TransLink to increase fare signage

By Frank Luba, The Province May 3, 2011 4:02 PM
Ken Beaune’s first ride on the Canada Line cost him $173.

The 58-year-old from London, Ont., was forced to pay the $173-fine because he hadn’t validated his FareSaver ticket when he took the rapid-transit connection recently between Vancouver International Airport and downtown Vancouver.

Beaune alleges the 7-Eleven store at the airport where he purchased the ticket didn’t tell him he needed to validate the ticket before riding the train or that he needed a two-zone ticket, not the one-zone fares he purchased.

When his ticket was checked by transit police, they asked for identification and found out he was from out of town. Beaune said he was told he could be jailed for his contravention of the rules.

“I think it was unfair,” said Beaune, who had come to Vancouver March 18 to visit his ailing brother.

“I felt like I was being targeted because I was from out of town and didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.

“I think they should put some signage up at the airport to make it clear tickets have to be validated before you enter the fare-paid zone. I had already paid for the ticket, it just wasn’t clear to me I had to stick it in a machine before I got on the train.”

The only break Beaune got was that the transit cops didn’t ticket his sister, Marlene Jermyn, who had committed the same transgression.

Beaune has paid his fine because he didn’t want his credit affected by having a collection agency after him.

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie is aware of the situation and said the transportation authority is looking into more signage at the airport.

Hardie was surprised the customer didn’t get enough information from the 7-Eleven because “that outlet is pretty good.”

“We will work with the airport and the Canada Line folks and everybody else to do an audit so we can prevent it [from reoccurring],” said Hardie.

Some of the confusion over ticket validation may end in 2013 when fare gates and SmartCards are in use. But in the meantime, seeing confused tourists or baffled newcomers to the system is common for anyone travelling regularly on the SkyTrain or Canada Line.

Transit police spokesman Const. Jim Biring was reluctant to comment on the case because he didn’t have the specific details. But he did admit Beaune couldn’t have been arrested for his non-validated ticket.

But people can be arrested for things like failing to produce identification or trying to mislead police.

Biring said police answer questions regularly about how to use the system.

“We’re in the customer-service business,” he said.

Beaune doesn’t think much of that service but he’s not letting it affect his opinion of B.C.

“I love Vancouver,” he said. “B.C. is the best place in the country.”

[email protected]

twitter.com/frankluba

[CLC]

Originally Posted by Zassk

The choices of stations were questionable too - an obvious location for a franchise would be Bridgeport Station, which has a captive market of commuters, and no competition in the area.

I remember a quote from Translink spokesman before C-Line open that says all elevated stations will not have store , but there is no rationale of "why" in that article.

Another mystery is why 49th-Lanagara was being left out. It is so easy to expect that the station would become one of the most used because of Langara college, and #49 is becoming a quasi #99-b (with articulated buses needed as late as 8pm). The food cart outside Langara station has renewed lease so I assume the business is okay.

[officedweller]

WRT the elevated stations - I recall that most of the retail spaces were to be built around the backside of the station under the guideway - so that would entail additional construction costs (i.e. building a structure versus just leasehold improvements) and may not be visible to commuters - so I suspect that those locations won't be built out until the area around each station densifies (or a retailer is willing to pay for the additional costs).

Originally Posted by jsbertram

If Jugo is shutting down locations in breach of their contract, even more time and $$ has to be spent by TransLink / InTransitBC / ProTrans on their staff and their lawyers while sorting this out.

Not necessarily. If inidvidual operators had become bankrupt at the locations, then there would have to be separate settlement negotiations. In this case, one settlement could cover all of the closed locations.