Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[Tfreder]

Translink is/was just waiting for the Government St. HOV offramps to be completed before moving the terminus of the 555 from braid to lougheed. When it eventually is rerouted there, nothing else will change.

But there definitely aren't any plans for the 555 to go to Vancouver. Translink is moving away from the old system of direct buses from the suburbs to downtown. Buses that terminate at Skytrain stations are favoured now (hence the 555 ending at braid).

[nname]

Originally Posted by Kapten

For example, the Expo Line power rail replacement project kicks off at 8 PM Sunday through Thursday nights.

The power rail replacement is different from regular maintenance though. The replacement only need to work on 130m segment per night so only a small section need to be shut off. The maintenance need to close off a much longer segment.

Originally Posted by Tfreder

The only difference between the current rapid bus and the full rapid bus (At launch) would've been 10 min frequencies off-peak in the full version. There aren't really any other rapid bus routes that have been proposed; they're just speculation and concepts (ie: not happening any time soon).

Actually, the original plan is TWO Hwy 1 routes - one new route to Lougheed and another (improved and re-branded 509) to Surrey Central via Guildford. Both of these routes would get 10min peak service, but less frequent service off-peak. Only the first route is implemented as phase 1.

[Mac Write]

Ok when the Terminal is moved from Braid to Lougheed, will the bus still stop at Braid? That's my confusion. Also couldn't they go even further in Vancouver to make for a faster connection? Maybe Renfrew since the highway passes by there? Just trying to figure out which transfer point would make for the fastest connection to downtown.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

Ok when the Terminal is moved from Braid to Lougheed, will the bus still stop at Braid? That's my confusion. Also couldn't they go even further in Vancouver to make for a faster connection? Maybe Renfrew since the highway passes by there? Just trying to figure out which transfer point would make for the fastest connection to downtown.

No. Braid is purely interim until the bus/HOV Goverment Street ramps at Highway 1 are complete. Once the terminus of the #555 is complete in Burnaby/Coquitlam, it will end to connect with the Millennium Line there.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

Ok when the Terminal is moved from Braid to Lougheed, will the bus still stop at Braid? That's my confusion. Also couldn't they go even further in Vancouver to make for a faster connection? Maybe Renfrew since the highway passes by there? Just trying to figure out which transfer point would make for the fastest connection to downtown.

I can't imagine that they'd still stop at Braid - it would completely defeat the purpose of the dedicated freeway ramps being built to allow the buses to access Lougheed.

When you factor in rush hour traffic between the freeway and any of the other Skytrain stations, I strongly doubt a longer bus run would be any faster - especially if it also stops at Lougheed. And a lot of people coming over the bridge aren't heading downtown. It's hard to find a more strategic place to drop people off than Lougheed, since it lets them head in pretty much any direction they want to. And with the dedicated freeway exit so close to the station it should be very fast.

[Mac Write]

Is this the original route map?

[deasine]

Yes it is, but those diamonds are not indicative of bus stops.

[WarrenC12]

Has there been any indication of "future stops"? Would it be worthwhile for somebody from Abbotsford to get on a bus, even a rapid bus like this?

[Metro-One]

If they need to access somewhere on near skytrain it would, but such a route extension would have to coincide with the construction of HOV lanes out to Abbotsford IMO.

[Mac Write]

What would be faster Skytrain or HWY 1 from Lougheed to Rupert station? Could a Rapid bus using the HOV lanes do it faster (I know the HOV lanes end at Ganview). Or how about Brentwood which the HOV lanes already goto? Lougheed to Brentwood is a 10 minute Skytrain ride.

I can't remember how long the 99 took from Brentwood to Lougheed. Anyone remember? I know sometimes the 99 would take the highway (and it was really cool when it did). Anyone remember the time it took via the highway?

[nname]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

What would be faster Skytrain or HWY 1 from Lougheed to Rupert station? Could a Rapid bus using the HOV lanes do it faster (I know the HOV lanes end at Ganview). Or how about Brentwood which the HOV lanes already goto? Lougheed to Brentwood is a 10 minute Skytrain ride.

Most likely slower via Hwy 1 during day time, but slightly faster at night. AFAIK, it takes about 5min drive to go from the Willingdon interchange to Brentwood station. Traffic is quite bad there.

But why would TransLink even want to extend service westward? It cost them nothing if people take skytrain for that segment as there are still plenty of space available on the Millennium Line. However, a one way bus trip would add about $35 in operation cost per run assuming it takes 15min and the operation cost is $130/hour. Base on the current schedule, that's $4500 per day, $26,000 per week, or $1.35 million per year without any getting additional revenue in fare. To the rider, the trip is exactly the same unless their final destination is Brentwood or Rupert, since they have to transfer anyways.

[Tfreder]

Originally Posted by nname

Actually, the original plan is TWO Hwy 1 routes - one new route to Lougheed and another (improved and re-branded 509) to Surrey Central via Guildford. Both of these routes would get 10min peak service, but less frequent service off-peak. Only the first route is implemented as phase 1.

There's been ideas thrown out about that route, but so far has there been any confirmation of the rapid-ization of that route? (Between surrey central and carvolth)

Originally Posted by Mac Write

What would be faster Skytrain or HWY 1 from Lougheed to Rupert station? Could a Rapid bus using the HOV lanes do it faster (I know the HOV lanes end at Ganview). Or how about Brentwood which the HOV lanes already goto? Lougheed to Brentwood is a 10 minute Skytrain ride.

I can't remember how long the 99 took from Brentwood to Lougheed. Anyone remember? I know sometimes the 99 would take the highway (and it was really cool when it did). Anyone remember the time it took via the highway?

Lougheed is the best terminus for the 555 in my opinion. If you were to move the terminus to a station farther west, riders who currently take the millennium line to waterfront would be forced to transfer at lougheed when the evergreen line opens.

Not to mention that by extending the route, it will cost much more for translink to operate the 555. It takes the bus 23 minutes to run the route in it's entirety; the driver gets a 7 minute lay-over. With this timeframe, translink only needs 2 buses on the route during off-peak hours. Extend the route to Brentwood or even Renfrew, and the bus wouldn't be able to make it in under 30 minutes. This would mean translink would need 4 buses, or double the amount of buses, which means it would cost double the ammount of money just to run the route. And the frequencies wouldn't improve.

You need to remember that money means everything to translink, since it's in the middle of a funding crisis.

[Mac Write]

I am just trying to figure out how to get people into Vancouver faster with only 1 transfer. True Lougheed has the M-Line to Waterfront but that takes 12 minutes longer then transfering at Broadway (purely guessing).

I am just throwing out ideas. It would be really cool to see a long route express with like 30+ minutes between a single stop

Braid really needs a Park and Ride on that empty land (and use a robo car park to get double the capacity). That would sure increase Skytrain users.

[Tfreder]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I am just trying to figure out how to get people into Vancouver faster with only 1 transfer.

This right here is the problem: it's not about trying to get people downtown faster, it's about providing as many transit options as possible. While it's true that a large number of people commute downtown, many other people commute to coquitlam, metrotown, new westminister, SFU, and places in between.

If you move the terminus farther west, you're screwing all of these people, while maybe saving people who commute downtown 4-7 minutes, at best.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I am just throwing out ideas. It would be really cool to see a long route express with like 30+ minutes between a single stop

Check out the 352 and 354. Its a 30min ride during PM peak between Steveston Hwy and South Surrey P&R with no intermediate stop in between.

And if you want a more "urban" option, try the 190. Its officially 24min between stops from the schedule, but quite often it takes more then 30min when the traffic is bad on Hasting and Barnet Hwy. Also, if you get on at downtown, you're not allowed to get off until you ride it for a good 45min

Originally Posted by Tfreder

There's been ideas thrown out about that route, but so far has there been any confirmation of the rapid-ization of that route? (Between surrey central and carvolth)

That's the "official" TransLink plan. The map from the previous post is actually the provincial plan. They are actually different

TransLink's plan can be found in page 17 of this document.

[officedweller]

and on page 12 - first time I've seen a render of the 3rd platform at Broadway Station.
Looks like there's a whole new bridge across the Cut to Commercial Station.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
http://www.geoffmeggs.ca/wp-content/uplo...aterials-for-Oct-7-Municipal-Update1.pdf

[deasine]

I can't believe I missed that. I always wondered how that bridge will look like. Pretty interesting.

[officedweller]

I had expected the new platform passarelle to end with an escalator on the south side of the Cut (with passengers using the existing bridge) rather than the passarelle bridging the cut to Commercial Station - but I guess the existing bridge is too narrow for future growth (?)

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I had expected the new platform passarelle to end with an escalator on the south side of the Cut (with passengers using the existing bridge) rather than the passarelle bridging the cut to Commercial Station - but I guess the existing bridge is too narrow for future growth (?)

It can get pretty busy during peak hours, with lots of traffic going both ways. Widening the bridge makes much more sense than what appears to be a separate crossing.

[s211]

Originally Posted by Kapten

When I lived in Chicago the red and blue line trains (elevated/subway) operated 24/7 service; they still do. NYC's entire subway system is 24/7. I think that Skytrain should be capable of 24/7 service on Friday & Saturday nights and 4 AM to 2 AM service on other nights. As the city grows there will be more people working later shifts and it is important to serve this population (and others) with rapid transit.

And Paris shuts down quite early, as does London. Nice cherry pick of data there.