Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[MIPS]

The demonstration line is unlikely to survive a large earthquake. While like all the columns in the area they are all built on piles the actual supports that hold the beams are reinforced concrete. Prior to the rollout of the Mk II if memory serves, those columns needed to be reinforced to support the weight of the heavier trains.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by dpogue

Expo Line phase 3 (Surrey) and Millennium Line (including Evergreen extension) should be fine in terms of earthquakes. Canada Line should also be fine.

The biggest concern with the Expo Line is to original demo segment running along Terminal Avenue from Main Street station. That was build in the early 80s, to slightly different standards than the rest of the Expo Line. When we had the earthquake in December a few years back, the VP of Maintenance ordered them to stop service and do a visual sweep along the guideway for any issues, with particular concern to that demo segment.

As for a rebuild, I think it's extremely unlikely until at least the Broadway extension is completed to connect to the Canada Line.

Pretty concerning to have our regions busiest transit line at risk of failing in the case of an inevitable large Earthquake. Especially when it's extended a failure at any point in Vancouver or Burnaby would be catastrophic. Any ideas on how long it would take to get the line back in service if parts of the oldest section collapsed?

On another note is there any plan to replace the express buses used on the 555 and 351 routes? They are both using quite old iirc and every time I ride these lines they were packed full, do we have Enviro 500s in our future?

[nname]

Originally Posted by Bdawe

Page XVI of the Surrey Rapid Transit study Phase 2 lists RRT1 as having 115,000 rides in 2041 and RRT1A having 202,000 rides, with 17,000 and 24,500 New Regional daily Transit Trips on the average 2020-2049 weekday.

Some of these riders are already taking SkyTrain from King George or Surrey Central... So they will not increase the boarding count for the system.

I don't really think we'll have 500k just for the Expo Line even with Langley extension... However, we might be able to see 500k SkyTrain system-wide ridership even before Broadway and Langley extensions are built. The 2016 number should be around 430-470k (and this does not even include the growth from Evergreen for the most part!)

[madog222]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

On another note is there any plan to replace the express buses used on the 555 and 351 routes? They are both using quite old iirc and every time I ride these lines they were packed full, do we have Enviro 500s in our future?

The most recent bus procurement rfp issued by Translink was posted in this thread, within the past month or so. Included are suburban configuration busses, full order is for 80ish iirc, all NG fueled.

EDIT: Here

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Pretty concerning to have our regions busiest transit line at risk of failing in the case of an inevitable large Earthquake. Especially when it's extended a failure at any point in Vancouver or Burnaby would be catastrophic. Any ideas on how long it would take to get the line back in service if parts of the oldest section collapsed?

Well you have to take into account that the damaged columns and beams would have to be removed and replacements would need to be cast, transported and installed. I would assume that a service disruption between Main Street and Commercial Broadway would take no less than two months to repair assuming the cities and government pour money into rebuilding it as fast as they know how.
I mean, if it's only that section it's going to hurt to lose the downtown line for that kind of a time period but between shuttle buses and other alternatives something could be done to keep the rest of the system online.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by madog222

The most recent bus procurement rfp issued by Translink was posted in this thread, within the past month or so. Included are suburban configuration busses, full order is for 80ish iirc, all NG fueled.

EDIT: Here

Interesting though a little disappointed that highway buses are getting the standard livery, I think it's good to differentiate services through different liveries to some degree.

[Large Cat]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Interesting though a little disappointed that highway buses are getting the standard livery, I think it's good to differentiate services through different liveries to some degree.

I actually disagree. To me it adds unnecessary confusion for people when vehicles have different liveries, especially if this is based on type of service (suburban, urban, etc). It can lead people new to the system to think there might be different fare policies or procedures for these buses.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by Large Cat

I actually disagree. To me it adds unnecessary confusion for people when vehicles have different liveries, especially if this is based on type of service (suburban, urban, etc). It can lead people new to the system to think there might be different fare policies or procedures for these buses.

Well in a sense I suppose that's the reason I prefer the different livery, it shows that the bus is an express service.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Well in a sense I suppose that's the reason I prefer the different livery, it shows that the bus is an express service.

That's what the LED sign is for.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

different livery would be a terrible idea. it would just complicate and confuse people thinking they are different companies providing the service. if it is the same organization, it should be the same livery to make things simple. there are LED boards, route maps, phone apps, and bus drivers if needed, to let people know about the route. SeaBus, SkyTrain, and Buses should all use the same livery to denote they are the same service by the same organization.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

different livery would be a terrible idea. it would just complicate and confuse people thinking they are different companies providing the service. if it is the same organization, it should be the same livery to make things simple. there are LED boards, route maps, phone apps, and bus drivers if needed, to let people know about the route. SeaBus, SkyTrain, and Buses should all use the same livery to denote they are the same service by the same organization.

IMO, I hate the grey color in the Translink colors currently used.

With the Skytrain I was not fond of the original color scheme or the MK II's scheme, and when they went for grey with the newer MK II's and the MK III's I kinda was like "really?"

For a transit vehicle you really don't want white (which was the problem with MK I and MK II) and the MK I and MK II both used colors from BC's flag(Yellow, Blue, White, Red) But the current scheme's grey color makes people anxious or depressed. I'd have suggested going back to the green color that BC Ferries used to have to give it that "green, eco" feel, with the blue water.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Kisai

IMO, I hate the grey color in the Translink colors currently used.

With the Skytrain I was not fond of the original color scheme or the MK II's scheme, and when they went for grey with the newer MK II's and the MK III's I kinda was like "really?"

For a transit vehicle you really don't want white (which was the problem with MK I and MK II) and the MK I and MK II both used colors from BC's flag(Yellow, Blue, White, Red) But the current scheme's grey color makes people anxious or depressed. I'd have suggested going back to the green color that BC Ferries used to have to give it that "green, eco" feel, with the blue water.

I'm not fond of the white livery(s) either due to the constant cleaning needed to keep it from looking dingy. But your reason for not liking the grey colouring is pretty subjective. I quite like the grey colouring and if anything find it calming - and I have seasonal depression and so have every reason to not like the darkness of it.

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'm not fond of the white livery(s) either due to the constant cleaning needed to keep it from looking dingy. But your reason for not liking the grey colouring is pretty subjective. I quite like the grey colouring and if anything find it calming - and I have seasonal depression and so have every reason to not like the darkness of it.

I think it would be cool if the various first nations bands designed different skins for the trains or if translink partnered with the VAG or Emily Carr for alternating artist designs for individual train cars.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Kisai

IMO, I hate the grey color in the Translink colors currently used.

With the Skytrain I was not fond of the original color scheme or the MK II's scheme, and when they went for grey with the newer MK II's and the MK III's I kinda was like "really?"

For a transit vehicle you really don't want white (which was the problem with MK I and MK II) and the MK I and MK II both used colors from BC's flag(Yellow, Blue, White, Red) But the current scheme's grey color makes people anxious or depressed. I'd have suggested going back to the green color that BC Ferries used to have to give it that "green, eco" feel, with the blue water.

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'm not fond of the white livery(s) either due to the constant cleaning needed to keep it from looking dingy. But your reason for not liking the grey colouring is pretty subjective. I quite like the grey colouring and if anything find it calming - and I have seasonal depression and so have every reason to not like the darkness of it.

regardless of what livery they choose since that is highly subjective, the idea is all their vehicles should have the same livery across the whole system. it prevents overly complicating things for people.

i personally quite liked the waving flag BC logo on all the various BC Government things in the 80s. i miss that logo myself that was found on absolutely everything. the white base colour is a pain to keep clean, which is why painting the green tubular frames on stations white is stupid.

[Reecemartin]

Since Ive been trying to better understand what future construction will be needed to maintain the Expo Line I found this page on the concrete guideway structure used in the Millenium Line: http://www.cement.ca/en/Public-Transit/Skytrain-Millennium-Line.html

It turns out the guideway are designed to last 100 years (not sure where things would stand after that long). Would be interesting to see longevity estimates for the Expo Line to get an idea of the improvements made.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

the white base colour is a pain to keep clean, which is why painting the green tubular frames on stations white is stupid.

As I've told them multiple times when they've had online surveys. Stand on the inbound platform at New West Station and look down at the fairly newly painted white roof covering said platform entrance - it's already turning light grey (and I doubt it's going to be cleaned anytime soon).

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'm not fond of the white livery(s) either due to the constant cleaning needed to keep it from looking dingy. But your reason for not liking the grey colouring is pretty subjective. I quite like the grey colouring and if anything find it calming - and I have seasonal depression and so have every reason to not like the darkness of it.

UTDC assumed that there would be a routine cleaning of the cars so they would not get as nasty as they did, mainly from the rails.
It was the same problem they had with the MK I's having carpeting. It was simply taking too much time every day to clean the cars and keep them presentable.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by MIPS

UTDC assumed that there would be a routine cleaning of the cars so they would not get as nasty as they did, mainly from the rails.
It was the same problem they had with the MK I's having carpeting. It was simply taking too much time every day to clean the cars and keep them presentable.

In the early days, they probably were cleaned more regularly because there were fewer trains to wash. There were also probably fewer water restrictions, and they weren't using the de-icing solution yet.

Nowadays, the wash track is pretty much only available in spring and fall. If it's too cold, they don't wash due to the potential for ice, and in the summer they aren't allowed to wash because of water usage restrictions. With the wash track being out of service for repairs/upgrades for part of last year, they were scrambling to try to get all the trains through before the water restrictions came in to effect.

[Sheba]

...and when have they ever (power) washed any of the stations - and now they're painting the green elements white.

[Waders]

Originally Posted by Express691

Since was the minimum stored value load for adult cards $5?

Was loading my mom's adult card at Waterfront and I saw an option for $5

Compass Stored Value Minimum Load Drops to $5!