Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by The Buzzer Blog

-A moment of silence at 11 am
The SkyTrain, SeaBus and buses will observe a moment of silence at 11 am (or the stop reached closest to the hour).

Well that's rather nice.

[gillty]

I didn't get a photo, but I noticed the 25 UBC bus bay at Brentwood Station is now equipped with a round "SkyTrain Bus Bridge... Board Here" sign. Probably for the best, but I hope not a sign of things to come.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by tGill

I didn't get a photo, but I noticed the 25 UBC bus bay at Brentwood Station is now equipped with a round "SkyTrain Bus Bridge... Board Here" sign. Probably for the best, but I hope not a sign of things to come.

I noticed the same at one of the bus stops at VCC-Clark. I suspect it's purely to help alleviate confusion for those times when bus bridges are necessary.

[Meraki]

It's probably the first in changes/additions we'll see as TransLink goes through their "Improving Communication with People" project that came out of the recent SkyTrain problems.

[Millennium2002]

Anyone have a quick photo of what it looks like?

[dpogue]

The report on the service outages earlier in the summer was released today:
http://www.translink.ca/~/media/document...95_independent_review_booklet_final.ashx

TransLink has agreed to all 20 recommendations, at an estimated cost of $71 million.

[officedweller]

In a somewhat related story - passengers on a TTC subway train in Toronto suffered for nearly an hour inside the train
- which stopped just 10 feet short of the Museum Station platform.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transpor...live_before_evacuation_was_complete.html

[st7860]

Originally Posted by dpogue

The report on the service outages earlier in the summer was released today:
http://www.translink.ca/~/media/document...95_independent_review_booklet_final.ashx

TransLink has agreed to all 20 recommendations, at an estimated cost of $71 million.

I read the report. It mentioned the control centre was blind for a while. Not even phone service was working. So what that means is they didn't even have one or two emergency landlines - all phone systems were digital...

[MIPS]

[rant]
WorkSafe complaining about an improperly insulated screwdriver.

Pfft. Screw WorkSafe.

So what that means is they didn't even have one or two emergency landlines - all phone systems were digital...

I never understood this. Most places always have a few analog lines in case of exactly this. Why phase those out?

They also state the guideway intrusion system needs upgrades. It is kind of a hack and they've been constantly tacking more parts onto it. Still, more cameras? Most stations already have 24 on average.

Edited: I'm still skimming through this thing. Full coverage of the guideways with CCTV? Are they crazy? That would look hideous AND that's $10 million (plus another $5 million), the second most expensive projected cost in the report next to a new PA system and even MORE digital signage (because those screens they put up do nothing but flutter ads, the weather and the odd transit report. Do they even show the time?)

— off TransLink. Nobody wants to end up paying for half of this garbage. Go back to your little faregate pet project.
[/rant]

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by MIPS

They also state the guideway intrusion system needs upgrades. It is kind of a hack and they've been constantly tacking more parts onto it. Still, more cameras? Most stations already have 24 on average.

I thought it was interesting that they mentioned specific issues with the intrusion detection plates on the Expo line, but not the issues the affect the Millennium line. Millennium Line uses several lasers at track level and trigger when something blocks the laser. In fall, they frequently trigger due to leaves, and in some cases heavy rain. Pigeons are also a problem. When it snows, all Millennium Line trains must have an STA on board because the laser sensors are so unusable that they're just shut off.
Canada Line uses the same style of laser sensors as Millennium Line.

[st7860]

Originally Posted by MIPS

[rant]
WorkSafe complaining about an improperly insulated screwdriver.

Pfft. Screw WorkSafe.


I never understood this. Most places always have a few analog lines in case of exactly this. Why phase those out?

They also state the guideway intrusion system needs upgrades. It is kind of a hack and they've been constantly tacking more parts onto it. Still, more cameras? Most stations already have 24 on average.

Edited: I'm still skimming through this thing. Full coverage of the guideways with CCTV? Are they crazy? That would look hideous AND that's $10 million (plus another $5 million), the second most expensive projected cost in the report next to a new PA system and even MORE digital signage (because those screens they put up do nothing but flutter ads, the weather and the odd transit report. Do they even show the time?)

— off TransLink. Nobody wants to end up paying for half of this garbage. Go back to your little faregate pet project.
[/rant]

the report says that during one of last summers outages, the trains were still running but when the operations centre got cut off they didnt know that so when they rebooted stuff to fix their network the trains went down too.

and when the seltrac system was last upgraded the automatic entry option wasn't purchased so everytime the system is restarted the trains have to be entered manually one by one, taking several hours.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by dpogue

I thought it was interesting that they mentioned specific issues with the intrusion detection plates on the Expo line, but not the issues the affect the Millennium line. Millennium Line uses several lasers at track level and trigger when something blocks the laser. In fall, they frequently trigger due to leaves, and in some cases heavy rain. Pigeons are also a problem. When it snows, all Millennium Line trains must have an STA on board because the laser sensors are so unusable that they're just shut off.
Canada Line uses the same style of laser sensors as Millennium Line.

An IR camera would be the most cost effective. Calibrate the camera to pick up "warm" objects bigger than a pigeon.

That said, a determined suicide/murder would wait for the train to be within 20 meters and jump/push, and nothing is going to stop that due to the emergency stopping distance (which is pretty short, but will hurt everyone on the train.)

PSD (Platform Screen Doors) would be a larger expense that requires integration and synchronization with the train's doors. I'm not sure if there's really a business case for PSD anywhere except at Broadway and Metrotown where the crowding has potential for accidents.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by MIPS

Full coverage of the guideways with CCTV? Are they crazy?

I believe that right now their operating rules are that if there is reason to suspect a guideway intrusion then someone has to walk the track segment to verify that it's clear before trains are allowed to run on it. If a CCTV system means they could do that remotely then it would make a huge difference to the amount of time it takes them to get running again after those kinds of incidents.

[ninjakafi_81]

Sorry to disrupt the conversation but our brand new 2014 NFI XN40 buses entered service this afternoon. P14001 was doing a 190 tripper and P14002 is doing a 555 PM tripper.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by st7860

the report says that during one of last summers outages, the trains were still running but when the operations centre got cut off they didnt know that so when they rebooted stuff to fix their network the trains went down too.

and when the seltrac system was last upgraded the automatic entry option wasn't purchased so everytime the system is restarted the trains have to be entered manually one by one, taking several hours.

In the report they said that they knew a breaker had been tripped. What they didn't know was which breaker since there is no light on the panel to signal a tripped breaker. As well by looking at the panel you couldn't tell which breaker had physically tripped. Add on to that the panel is not clearly labeled and thus they had no idea what circuits the tripped breaker controlled.

Even though each VCC was still communicating with each train the system was still running. The control room did not have power and thus they assumed the whole system was down. Based on this they decided to reset the main power breaker thus shutting the entire system down even though before that it was running.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

Sorry to disrupt the conversation but our brand new 2014 NFI XN40 buses entered service this afternoon. P14001 was doing a 190 tripper and P14002 is doing a 555 PM tripper.

Any pictures? Or at least descriptions?

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by Kisai

PSD (Platform Screen Doors) would be a larger expense that requires integration and synchronization with the train's doors. I'm not sure if there's really a business case for PSD anywhere except at Broadway and Metrotown where the crowding has potential for accidents.

Everyone always suggests these, but the reality is that these are not possible without replacing all the Mark I trains. The two types of trains have different door positions.

[ninjakafi_81]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Any pictures? Or at least descriptions?

This picture isn't mine, it's a CPTDB user named Orion P9217

[GlassCity]

Thank you so much!

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by dpogue

Everyone always suggests these, but the reality is that these are not possible without replacing all the Mark I trains. The two types of trains have different door positions.

I'm aware of that. That's why I said there's no business case for most of the line. They would need to have "doors" with the same spacing as both the Mark I and Mark II cars. If they add C cars to the Mark II's then that adds another complication.

Like any PSD would need to be of the "vertical door blinds" variety that clears the entire length.