Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

Normally since its summer, I would have said that 'new bus smell" would immediately be replaced by sweat and body odor smell but the buses have A/C now? Why oh why can't they put A/C in the old Mark 1 Skytrain cars!

No room. At best for each linked two car train you have one empty closet. Sure you can stuff an AC in there but you would have no way to properly circulate the air much less get it to the other car where the identical closet would be holding the VOBC.



At best we repurpose the top two vents and strap an AC unit to the middle of each car at the expense that the train gains a foot in overall height at worst.

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by MIPS

At best we repurpose the top two vents and strap an AC unit to the middle of each car at the expense that the train gains a foot in overall height at worst.

This sounds like a wonderful solution. Lets to that!!!

[Millennium2002]

Yeah there are air-conditioned articulated buses based out of Richmond now... so you'll see them on the routes where such buses are normally used: the 49 and 480 on weekdays, the 620, and the 403 on weekends.

[nname]

And air-conditioned shuttles based out of New Westminster, Langley, and Port Coquitlam.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by MIPS

At best we repurpose the top two vents and strap an AC unit to the middle of each car at the expense that the train gains a foot in overall height at worst.

I don't know what the exact clearance in the Dunsmuir tunnel is, but I suspect it's small enough to make this a no-go...

[Millennium2002]

Yeah that is not going to work in the low-clearance Dunsmuir tunnel.

[nname]

Originally Posted by nname

And air-conditioned shuttles based out of New Westminster, Langley, and Port Coquitlam.

Just learned that, apparently, all the new shuttles from Port Coquitlam were pulled from service. No wonder it was a gong show yesterday at Coquitlam Station and all along Pinetree Way

[Meraki]

Originally Posted by nname

Just learned that, apparently, all the new shuttles from Port Coquitlam were pulled from service. No wonder it was a gong show yesterday at Coquitlam Station and all along Pinetree Way

Apparently exhaust fumes are leaking into the interior.

[WarrenC12]

New BC Transportation Minister.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Stone

Does it mean anything negative for big Metro Van projects when the Minister is from the interior? I hope not.

[officedweller]

Maybe the ability to issue an unpopular decision (whether on funding, gas taxes, or expansion plans) without direct impact come election time.

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

I don't know what the exact clearance in the Dunsmuir tunnel is, but I suspect it's small enough to make this a no-go...

There is always *something*, isn't there.....

P.S. Not directed at you aberdeen, but the rather the hopeless situation of finding solutions to these stupid problems that seem to plague our transit systems.

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

New BC Transportation Minister.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Stone

Does it mean anything negative for big Metro Van projects when the Minister is from the interior? I hope not.

WRT to the new Transport Minister, the best Transport Minister we ever had was Blair Lekstrom, who ultimately made the nearly impossible task of making the two decade long delayed Evergreen Line happen, and he was also from the Interior (Peace River South).

[Tfreder]

Translink has released their 2012 bus performance review here

It includes updated summaries of all bus routes.

[xd_1771]

New results are interesting here, and it looks like the counting methodology changed in some instances. The service cost and boardings have changed for just about every line. In the case of the 99-B, the 2011 numbers reported in 2011 were 16.642 million boardings for an annual service cost of just over $10 million; the 2011 numbers reported in this report were 16.384 million boardings for an annual service cost of $8.75 million.

I'm willing to believe that these new numbers are a result of methodology improvements, given they are used internally to keep expenses controlled, and since it seems a lot of erroneous reports from last year were fixed. For example, it looks like there was a huge mistake in 337 boarding counts in 2011. It was reported at 250,000 boardings and $5.69 per boarded passenger, in this report it is 672,000 boardings and $1.92 per boarded passenger in 2011 and with a significant decrease to $1.62 in 2012 - revealing that the 337 recorded the best cost-efficiency improvement of all the South of Fraser routes between 2011/2012 (outshadowed only by the 595, which had a huge portion of its route removed to result in a significant cost-efficiecny improvement).

The new 555 is still not in this report.

[nname]

The cost/hour used for conventional bus in the 2011 report was $117, compared to $100 for 2012. For CS, it was $52 in 2011 while $62 in 2012.

And the data collection was made in fall 2012, so the 555, which started in December, is not included.

Anyways, here are the top 25 weekday from 2012:

1	99	54,100
2	20	27,700
3	9	27,200
4	41	25,550
5	22	21,400
6	16	21,050
7	25	20,550
8	3	20,550
9	49	20,350
10	135	20,050
11	8	19,050
12	410	16,600
13	106	16,100
14	19	15,600
15	10	15,150
16	14	15,050
17	7	12,750
18	319	12,550
19	321	11,850
20	97	11,200
21	130	10,550
22	145	10,200
23	5	 9,950
24	502	 9,950
25	239	 9,800

Interestingly enough, this year's king of inefficiency is route 259 to Lions Bay, which cost $31.47/boarding. The runner up is route C12 to Lions Bay, which cost $22.08/boarding.

[xd_1771]

Interestingly enough, this year's king of inefficiency is route 259 to Lions Bay, which cost $31.47/boarding. The runner up is route C12 to Lions Bay, which cost $22.08/boarding.

I remember wandering up there back in September just for fun and being pretty much the only guy on the C12, save for one other person

I wonder how funding is allocated to that. Does Lions' Bay pay more of their share, or do they rely on us.

[Tfreder]

Originally Posted by xd_1771

For example, it looks like there was a huge mistake in 337 boarding counts in 2011. It was reported at 250,000 boardings and $5.69 per boarded passenger, in this report it is 672,000 boardings and $1.92 per boarded passenger in 2011 and with a significant decrease to $1.62 in 2012

That's an interesting point. By comparing the 2011 data with the new 2011 data, it reveals some mistakes that were made last year. Like, they somehow overcounted 600,000 riders on the 312

This report also reveals that in Surrey, ridership on the 319 has now surpassed ridership on the 321 by 100,000 annual riders.

Regarding the 555, I guess they chose not to include it because they only had a few weeks of data.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Tfreder

Thanks for that list nname

So out of the 30 routes with the worst performance that haven't received any "optimizations" yet, 7 out of 11 are in South Delta (606, C88, C84, C87, C89, 603, 608). When translink finally decides to start optimizing routes there, it's going to be a complete massacre. If Lois Jackson is currently complaining about the lack of service in South Delta, I can't wait to hear her reaction once translink is done "optimizing" those routes..

We now know her reaction:

Possible cuts to TransLink service worries mayor of Delta
Lois Jackson is frustrated by a lack of understanding

DELTA (NEWS1130) – TransLink‘s Bus Service Performance Review has found routes in Delta and Ridge-Meadows are under-performing, and that has some people concerned over possible cuts.

The mayor of Delta admits it is frustrating.

Lois Jackson says few of the transportation decision makers actually live south of the Fraser and fewer understand what it’s like to get around in places like Ladner or Tsawwassen.

“I think that board of directors should come from a cross-section of people from across the Lower Mainland and right now it does not.”

TransLink’s review says the cost per rider is higher in Delta than Vancouver because of population base.

The corporation will now have to analyze the data and to try and find ways to make the system run more efficiently.

The system is still struggling to find ways to come up with cash.

Jackson thinks service cuts would be a huge step backwards and it would make it a lot harder for people to get around. ”There is no doubt that we don’t have the population base in Tsawwassen and Ladner that other cities have, but does that mean they should get no service?”

She says there are few transportation decision-makers that live south of the Fraser and even fewer that understand the complications of getting around in places like Delta.

So she is calling unfair because she think very few planner live South of Fraser so it is unfair to cut underforming service in Delta, while complaining how inefficient TransLink is when there are other inefficient routes elsewhere?

[xd_1771]

Huh. I thought that senior planner guy for TransLink lived in Fleetwood?

[Millennium2002]

I'm not sure whether the route to Lions Bay and Brunswick Beach should be like cut entirely despite their inefficiency... Maybe a reduction in peak hour services is warranted, though.

In any case, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the suburban services should be heavily subsidized by the urban folks or vice versa, but some acceptable balance / medium has to be found. Railing against one or the other is simply unhealthy for the region's collective future.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by nname

So she is calling unfair because she think very few planner live South of Fraser so it is unfair to cut underforming service in Delta, while complaining how inefficient TransLink is when there are other inefficient routes elsewhere?

If she want to support those inefficient routes then she needs to support an enhanced funding mechanism for Translink, plain and simple.