Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion - Page 790

Geof · #**15781** Posted **Dec 10, 2016, 7:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatnext

Putting the university there in the first place was stupid. Total reinforcement of the ivory tower cliche and utterly impractical.

Yup. Though I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, when many people thought that cities were bad and getting back to nature was trendy. But it's water under the bridge; complaining about it now achieves nothing.

I would question the university's choice to proceed with exams so late in the day. This is hardly the first time this has happened; I remember years ago when hundreds of students had to camp out in the gym following an unexpected snowfall. This snowfall wasn't unexpected. As I recall, conditions in north Burnaby were questionable long before 3:00. It should have been obvious that going ahead was risky.

casper · #**15782** Posted **Dec 10, 2016, 9:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geof

Yup. Though I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, when many people thought that cities were bad and getting back to nature was trendy. But it's water under the bridge; complaining about it now achieves nothing.

I would question the university's choice to proceed with exams so late in the day. This is hardly the first time this has happened; I remember years ago when hundreds of students had to camp out in the gym following an unexpected snowfall. This snowfall wasn't unexpected. As I recall, conditions in north Burnaby were questionable long before 3:00. It should have been obvious that going ahead was risky.

That sounds like the university does not have its act together and it should.

Many years ago, I was with the University of Saskatchewan when a massive snow storm hit Saskatoon the entire city that shutdown the airport, most routes in the city. The UofS did not have its act together at that time, the result was a major overhaul of how it handled shutting down campus in an emergency. A key feature of that was looping in the local transit authority into the process and the realization that it may have students and staff staying on campus for a day or longer. For a mountain top university it would be even worse.

Aroundtheworld · #**15783** Posted **Dec 10, 2016, 11:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kisai

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/hundreds-stuck-on-burnaby-mountain-after-sfu-cancels-exams-1.3197661

Gee if they only had a Gondola...

There's a saying that you should never let a crisis go to waste. Now would be a great time to lobby for the gondola.

nname · #**15784** Posted **Dec 10, 2016, 11:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geof

Yup. Though I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, when many people thought that cities were bad and getting back to nature was trendy. But it's water under the bridge; complaining about it now achieves nothing.

I would question the university's choice to proceed with exams so late in the day. This is hardly the first time this has happened; I remember years ago when hundreds of students had to camp out in the gym following an unexpected snowfall. This snowfall wasn't unexpected. As I recall, conditions in north Burnaby were questionable long before 3:00. It should have been obvious that going ahead was risky.

I think its just the university trying to squeeze in as many exams as possible. Postpone an exam will always result in a big mess, as there will be exam conflict, travel plan distruption, etc. There may end up have to administer 3 or 4 different sittings for one exam.

Postpone too many exam will end up pushing the exam period as late as 23rd or 24th, and prof and TA will have to scramble to get grade ready before next semester begin. I don't think anyone would want that to happen, but there may be a big possibility happening this year if there is another storm coming next week or the week after...

And... it happen again today.. SFU closed at 3:30 and a whole bunch of people stuck on the mountain... Let's see if they would postpone tomorrow's exam right away, or wait till the last moment like today and yesterday...

Bdawe · #**15785** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 12:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatnext

Putting the university there in the first place was stupid. Total reinforcement of the ivory tower cliche and utterly impractical.

Well, SFU opened in 1965. What would have been a better site of sufficiently central location (for car commuters) and large enough size for planners at the time?

MIPS · #**15786** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 1:07 AM**

Lmao. What did TransLink change recently that suddenly caused the spike in people being caught catching a ride on the exterior? There was three reported incidents this week.

WarrenC12 · #**15787** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 2:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by casper

That sounds like the university does not have its act together and it should.

I blame Burnaby. The roads up to the University are the problem. And now that there is far more up there than just the school, the city needs to take it seriously.

Sheba · #**15788** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 3:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I blame Burnaby. The roads up to the University are the problem. And now that there is far more up there than just the school, the city needs to take it seriously.

All the area of development up there is university land and ultimately their responsibility - just like the developments on UBC land.

nname · #**15789** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 5:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheba

All the area of development up there is university land and ultimately their responsibility - just like the developments on UBC land.

Everything below the intersection of Gaglardi and Burnaby Mountain Parkway is Burnaby's responsibility... But that's often the section that's most problematic...

trofirhen · #**15790** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 7:29 PM**

There, the central squares and main city roads are heated by underground geothermal piping. Of course, steam heat is abundant in Iceland. How much more would it cost in Vancouver?
Now, I'm not thinking of doing all of Gaglardi way, or the SFU ring road, or the Lougheed, but / bus loops, major intersections, limited stretches of road, parking, Of value or too $$$?
This is not Iceland, and such a program would only need to be switched on, in Vancouver, anywhere from 5 -15 days a year or thereabouts. Is such infrastructure worthwhile or just luxury?

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**15791** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 7:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trofirhen

This is not Iceland, and such a program would only need to be switched on, in Vancouver, anywhere from 5 -15 days a year or thereabouts. Is such infrastructure worthwhile or just luxury?

nope, not necessary. plowing, sanding, salting are enough. the problem is SFU and Burnaby let it get snow covered. it needs to be cleared. we aren't the only city with hills and snow, the difference is we don't do anything about it except act surprised and "investigate" to better prepare next time, so that when it happens in 1,000 days we have forgotten that investigation, to do it all over again; the cycle continues.

another thing that could be looked at is groved pavement on the problem areas. it would be cheaper and not require nearly as much maintenance.

hell, in the snow they could have 2 buses that just go up and down the hill that have chains on them if they are that desperate. use it the a SFU Snow Shuttle.

the real problem is NOT BEING PREPARED! they know they get snow, they know the forecast, they know busses cant do the grade in the snow, yet they keep the campus open until all-of-a-sudden. it was bad planning.

BCPhil · #**15792** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 8:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIPS

A roof has not stopped the leaves.

Image courtesy of MIPS

The entire use of IR and laser intrusion monitoring was always an afterthought on the SkyTrain and the system is simply not designed to use it. We've band-aid fixed it at least half a dozen times now since it rolled out in the 90's.

Yeah, the lasers seem very temperamental. I'm surprised they haven't started a pilot program at a station to supplement the intrusion detection system with an visual based AI system.

Technology is at a stage where they could just buy an off the shelf Kinect and write a program to detect objects that enter the guide way, and it would probably be more reliable. With the advances in AI for picture recognition, you could probably even write the program to tell you exactly what fell on the tracks.

Meraki · #**15793** Posted **Dec 11, 2016, 9:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCPhil

Yeah, the lasers seem very temperamental. I'm surprised they haven't started a pilot program at a station to supplement the intrusion detection system with an visual based AI system.

Technology is at a stage where they could just buy an off the shelf Kinect and write a program to detect objects that enter the guide way, and it would probably be more reliable. With the advances in AI for picture recognition, you could probably even write the program to tell you exactly what fell on the tracks.

The Evergreen Extension stations have platform edge cameras to supplement the lasers, probably for heading in such a direction.

MIPS · #**15794** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 5:18 AM**

Supposedly the Evergreen Line's system is a bit more advanced when it comes to snow, rain and leaves which make up the bulk of the false alarms currently. If it works there then it's likely to be rolled out with the rest of the system in the future.

SpongeG · #**15795** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 5:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trofirhen

There, the central squares and main city roads are heated by underground geothermal piping. Of course, steam heat is abundant in Iceland. How much more would it cost in Vancouver?
Now, I'm not thinking of doing all of Gaglardi way, or the SFU ring road, or the Lougheed, but / bus loops, major intersections, limited stretches of road, parking, Of value or too $$$?
This is not Iceland, and such a program would only need to be switched on, in Vancouver, anywhere from 5 -15 days a year or thereabouts. Is such infrastructure worthwhile or just luxury?

people in ft mcmurray have driveways that do that, very fancy.

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**15796** Posted **Dec 12, 2016, 6:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

people in ft mcmurray have driveways that do that, very fancy.

common in Whistler to and they are around in West Vancouver on some homes.

casper · #**15797** Posted **Dec 13, 2016, 2:51 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

common in Whistler to and they are around in West Vancouver on some homes.

Does SFU not operate with a district heating plant of sort. (Given how all the buildings are connected, not even certain if a district heating is the correct work to use).

Waders · #**15798** Posted **Dec 13, 2016, 3:57 AM**

Eastbound West Coast Express delayed 80 hours over last 47 days, says TransLink

Quote:

... CP Rail's lease agreement with TransLink ends in eight years, and if CP does not wish to renew, the region may have to make a decision on some sort of transit infrastructure for the northeastern municipalities: perhaps more train track but maybe light rail or even SkyTrain.

LRT? Skytrain?

Bdawe · #**15799** Posted **Dec 13, 2016, 5:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waders

Eastbound West Coast Express delayed 80 hours over last 47 days, says TransLink

LRT? Skytrain?

Ask Ottawa to threaten to expropriate the CP Mainline and sell it to Translink unless they abide by the trackage agreement?

(Yes I know that'd never happen)

SpongeG · #**15800** Posted **Dec 13, 2016, 5:48 AM**

I heard the weather caused chaos today down there. Someone on facebook that i know said people were still waiting after 3 hours for a bus near her place in new west, and the alex fraser was shut again and traffic in new west wasn't moving for a few hours.