Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[AverageJoe]

Don't think the September changes have been posted yet. This is from another forum:

CONVENTIONAL BUS

Area Transit Plan:

· 096 Guildford/Newton Exchange (B-Line) – Introduction of New B-Line Service Linking Guildford and Newton Exchanges
· 320 Surrey Central Station/Guildford/Fleetwood/Langley Centre – Reduction in Service Levels (All Days)
· 321 Surrey Central Station/Newton Exchange/White Rock Centre/ White Rock South – Reduction in Service Levels (All Days)

Projects for Service Optimization Improvements:

· 010 Granville/Downtown – Introduction of Articulated Buses

Projects for Service Optimization Adjustments:

· 101 Lougheed Station/22nd St. Station – Routing Change
· 154 Braid Station/22nd St. Station – Routing Change and Numbering Change to "128"
· 159 Port Coquitlam Station/Braid Station – Routing Change
· 177 Coquitlam Station/Planet Ice/Braid Station – Discontinue Service
· 314 Scott Road & 96 Ave/Surrey Central Station – Discontinue Limited Trip Service to Scott Road Station
· 332 Guilford/Surrey Central Station – Discontinue Service
· 335 Surrey Central Station/Newton Exchange – Amalgamation of route with 332 with extension to Newton Exchange
· N24 Downtown/Lynn Valley – New North Vancouver Terminus at Lynn Valley Town Centre

Seasonal:

· U-Pass Seasonal: 9, 25 , 28 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 84 , 99 , 125 , 130 , 143 , 145 , 239 , 480
· 005 Robson/Downtown – Return to Regular Route
· 019 Metrotown/Stanley Park – Saturday Improvement
· 019 Downtown/Stanley Park - Discontinue Seasonal Diesel Shuttle
· 143 SFU/Coquitlam Station – AM Peak Improvement
· 150 White Pine Beach/Coquitlam Station – Discontinue Summer Service to White Pine Beach
· 620 Tsawwassen Ferry/Bridgeport Station – Discontinue Increased Seasonal Service
· N6 West End/Downtown – Return to Regular Route
· Granville Mall Weekend Detour Conclusion – 004, 006, 007, 010, 014, 016, 017, 020, 050

Other:

· 15 Cambie/Olympic Village Station – Reduce Off-Peak Service
· 17 Oak/Downtown – Reduce Off-Peak Service
· 20 Victoria/Downtown – Introduction of Peak Period Short Turns
· 33 29th Avenue Station/UBC – Reduce Off-Peak Service
· 50 Waterfront Station/False Creek South – Reduce Off-Peak Service
· 210 Upper Lynn Valley/Vancouver – AM Peak Improvements

COMMUNITY SHUTTLE

Projects for Service Optimization Adjustments:

· C1 Kootenay Loop/Hastings at Gilmore – Reduce Off-Peak Service
· C2 Kootenay Loop/Hastings at Gilmore – Reduce Off-Peak Service
· C98 Kingswood/22nd St. Station – Routing Change
· C99 Port Royal/Hamilton – Discontinue Service

Seasonal:

· C26 Buntzen Lake Special/Coquitlam Station Special – Discontinue Summer Service on Weekends to Buntzen Lake

Other:

· C36 Port Coquitlam Station/Port Coquitlam South – AM Peak Improvements
· C38 Port Coquitlam Station/Prairie/River Springs/Coquitlam Station – Midday Service Improvement

[Mac Write]

Does anyone know when Translink will order the next batch of buses? How many and which model? Would love to see another 50+ XDE60's. Hell would love to see 100+ more. Also any plans for more E60's as more routes are upgraded to E60's?

[Millennium2002]

As per the BC Ministry of Finance audit, there may be a number of trolleybuses sitting idle... not to mention that, as of this month, two trolley routes have been partly dieselized to deal with the Powell Street Overpass construction. Unless some unexpected expansion of either trolley overhead or service levels were to take place, they'll probably remain at their current numbers for some time.

Having said that, I believe there's still a fair number of buses (mostly the New Flyer D40LFs and D60LFs from the 1996s to the 2001s) that will need replacing within the next five years. Given that the incoming XDE60s were replacements for the oldest D40LFs, I expect that TransLink will probably end up ordering more XD60s or XDE60s, depending on cost, route profiles, and the performance of the hybrid fleet.

[st7860]

I hope whatever they order still has those thermo kings, like the buses that run on the 49, etc.

[LotusLand]

Here is a decent article explaining it. Sure someone here will be able to credit or discredit the findings on VanCity Buzz

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/07/why-is-skytrain-breaking-down-so-frequently/

[nname]

From the 2013 budget:

2014 Conventional Bus Replacement
Capital Cost = $34.00 M
Ann. Debt Service = $2.96 M
Ann. Budget impact = $2.96 M
In-Service Date = December 2014

Conventional buses have a life expectancy of 17 years or one million kilometres. This project is to purchase 52 forty-foot standard diesel buses to replace the same number and type of buses that have reached the end of their useful lives.


2013 Community Shuttle Replacements
Capital Cost = $14.94 M
Ann. Debt Service = $3.43 M
Ann. Budget impact = $3.43 M
In-Service Date = December 2014

Criteria for retiring Community Shuttle buses include the following factors:
• Age (life expectancy of six years for Community Shuttle buses)
• Mileage (400,000 km expected for Community Shuttle buses)
• State of repair/condition
• Severity of service duty cycle

This project is to purchase 55 diesel, high-floor Community Shuttle buses to replace the same number of buses in the existing fleet that have reached the end of their economic lives.

[DKaz]

Last week there was the faulty switch and that was the first train hiccup since I started working downtown back in April. Once in awhile we get those massive region wide traffic jams too. It happens.

[nname]

I read somewhere that the original power rail only supports operation up to around 11000 pphpd. Currently, the capacity for most of the Expo line is about 15000 pphpd during peak hours. So basically, we are over-driving the system by 35% for about 9 hours a day, 5 days a week.

[st7860]

here's a funny guy with 13 reasons why next years referndum is wrong.

http://www.biv.com/article/20130716/BIV0...nslink-funding-referendum-would-be-wrong

[Millennium2002]

All of this opinion against a TransLink referendum is nice, but until the people who are imposing this referendum on us change their minds for the better, TransLink will still suffer.

My guess is that given the surprises the Liberals have been pulling off of late, an option for either the smallest increase or none of the above will occur, and TransLink will have to either resort to 20% service level cuts or across-the-board salary/wage cuts the year after to fund the difference.

[Tfreder]

Originally Posted by AverageJoe

· 010 Granville/Downtown – Introduction of Articulated Buses

Thanks for that, averagejoe

Interesting. I'm assuming they'll be trolleys? I figured the 19 would be next in line to get articulated trolleys, but I guess the 10 was chosen because of bus stops on granville that are already suitable for 60' buses.

[nname]

19 is pretty far down the list to have articulated trolley.

10 currently runs 4-5min at peak, 9-10min off-peak. With articulated trolley, service will be reduced to every 6min peak and 12min off-peak.

Th 19 is only running every 10min peak and 15min off-peak. That's far less demand compared to the 10.

[Gordon]

Why does translink feel it's necessary to run the #19 shuttle in the summer when the route doesn't seem to have any capacity issues?

With the #4 (1\2 diesel ) and the #7 fully diesel will there be enough standard diesels for spares because the drivers seem to complain about there not being enough spares?

[Mac Write]

What routes are in line to get 60ft Trolley's? And why are they parking trolleys (excluding construction? It sounds like downtown needs an increase of switches for trolleys to re-route.

[Landmate]

Regarding the next order of "high-floor" minibuses for the community shuttles ...

I don't get why Translink doesn't operate intermediate-capacity minibuses like the old Escort REs from the early nineties. These were last used in Nanaimo after an unsuccessful run in Whonnock. They've long since been scrapped. Pic here on flickr, by Graham Johnson.

I think the whole community shuttle concept was less popular back then, since these original routes were brand new, but now would be a great time to reintroduce a similar vehicle on routes that have already been established and have justifiable ridership levels.

[Millennium2002]

I actually wonder if TransLink has any plans to try out the increasing number of midibuses that are entering the market...

[Landmate]

Victoria has a large fleet of 35 foot low floor midi's from Alexander Dennis. They seem to work well for the medium capacity routes, apart from operator complaints that the build quality and driving characteristics of that particular model suck.

[Gordon]

I think the original New flyer Low floors need to bel rplaced first?

The nova bus hybryds, I wish they would re-configurd the bak of the buses
and get rid of the facing seats. maybe 9inward facing seats.

[Mac Write]

I love the back facing seats. Feels like a commuter train. Very enjoyable. They should design the back section of the bus for people doing the long haul route would sure get people to fill up that section of the bus first.

Would be an interesting experiment to reconfigure some long haul buses (non Orion V's) to cattor to the person going the entire route and see how it changes where people sit on the bus etc.

[nname]

I hate those backward facing seats. Not because of the configuration itself, its just that people always put their feet onto the seats!

And... there's no such thing as "non-Orion V long-haul bus". Those buses you see on a long route could very likely be running on a community shuttle route at some other times!