Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[bloomtronzero]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Yeah hopefully we get some new highway coaches, I know I've mentioned before but, double Deckers really would be great. Most routes running the current ones are overcrowded.

I can see using double deckers on the Aldergrove route being a horrible idea... it's a pretty colourful crowd on that route. Basically all my transit horror stories involved the 502(Aldergrove)/503.

[bloomtronzero]

Originally Posted by flipper316

Don't really see the need to expand the 555 to Aldergrove if that's what you're getting at. Aldergrove has their own 503 express bus that goes to Surrey Central using those comfy Orion highway buses.

Expanding the 555... I really wish they hadn't made the offramp towards Lougheed Station so... final. I'd love to extend the 555 further West, to Hastings or something. Maybe the North Shore if there were ever bridge improvements.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by bloomtronzero

Expanding the 555... I really wish they hadn't made the offramp towards Lougheed Station so... final. I'd love to extend the 555 further West, to Hastings or something. Maybe the North Shore if there were ever bridge improvements.

Yeah that off ramp is pretty problematic, how much would it cost to reconfigure? I to have imagined the 555 being extended and become a regional Highway 1 Connector.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by bloomtronzero

I can see using double deckers on the Aldergrove route being a horrible idea... it's a pretty colourful crowd on that route. Basically all my transit horror stories involved the 502(Aldergrove)/503.

How about a B-Line from the new Skytrain to Langley to Abbosford instead?

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by fredinno

How about a B-Line from the new Skytrain to Langley to Abbosford instead?

Harder to justify, the nice thing about double Deckers is that you have a ton of capacity and they are better for commuters than artics, just look at GO Transit, I believe they've placed an order for more than 300 double decker buses. The viability of such a service would come down to cost and offering B line frequency requires more drivers which is very expensive. Ideally you would have a large bus go back and forth once or twice an hour instead.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Harder to justify, the nice thing about double Deckers is that you have a ton of capacity and they are better for commuters than artics, just look at GO Transit, I believe they've placed an order for more than 300 double decker buses. The viability of such a service would come down to cost and offering B line frequency requires more drivers which is very expensive. Ideally you would have a large bus go back and forth once or twice an hour instead.

BC Transit and Tranlink just need to get together of bus orders. Many of the buses in Victoria are double decker.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by casper

BC Transit and Tranlink just need to get together of bus orders. Many of the buses in Victoria are double decker.

Maybe an agreement can be made so that BC transit can operate a route from Abbotsford to Pemberton. Serving and getting lots of fare revenue from Metro Vancouver residents.

[Pinion]

CNV Mayor is officially asking Translink for a skytrain to Lonsdale (10+ years from now):

One North Shore mayor says it’s time to take a serious look at building a rapid-transit tunnel underneath Burrard Inlet.

Traffic gridlock is a common site on the North Shore. A $130-million upgrade to the Upper Levels Highway was recently announced, but the City of North Vancouver’s Darrell Mussatto thinks more drastic measures are in order. He is proposing a third crossing between the North Shore and Vancouver.

“We’ve seen a lot of gridlock on the North Shore here,” he said. “So why not consider a better link between the waterfront in Vancouver and the Lonsdale Quay?” he said.

North Vancouver has approached TransLink about looking into a three-kilometre SkyTrain tunnel under Burrard Inlet.

READ MORE: Could high-speed rail linking Portland, Seattle and Vancouver become a reality?

“You could have a train leaving every three or four minutes as opposed to every 15 minutes right now,” Mussatto said. “And it might be something that could really encourage people to get out of their automobile and instead of driving over one of the two bridges, taking a SkyTrain link.”

The deepest part along the current SeaBus route, which currently transports commuters across the Burrard Inlet, is about 70 metres deep. However, according to tunnel expert Dean Brox, today’s technology could make a tunnel feasible.

“Tunneling methods have become (so) innovative today that they are able to build very sophisticated and more challenging tunnels,” Brox said.

“The Canada Line that was completed back in 2010 for the Olympics, passes under False Creek for a distance of just less than a kilomtere and that was successfully constructed as everyone knows.”

In addition, construction costs could be offset somewhat by money saved in wages, fuel and maintenance to the SeaBus.

“In terms of timeline, this is something that is quite longer-term – maybe eight to 10 years out – but we need to start having those discussions now and doing the investigations now to see really what can we work into the budget,” Mussatto said.

There's a good video at this link too: http://globalnews.ca/news/3280023/north-...tunnel-linking-north-shore-to-vancouver/

They say the inlet depth is not a problem.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Pinion

CNV Mayor is officially asking Translink for a skytrain to Lonsdale (10+ years from now):



There's a good video at this link too: http://globalnews.ca/news/3280023/north-...tunnel-linking-north-shore-to-vancouver/

They say the inlet depth is not a problem.

No need to tunnel it, just snake it up Boundary and across the Second Narrows to Lonsdale.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

No need to tunnel it, just snake it up Boundary and across the Second Narrows to Lonsdale.

Ironworkers bridge is already at capacity, and nowhere near Lonsdale.

edit: although I think most of us would gladly take that (in the northbound lane) if it is the only realistic option. Direct access to downtown would be far more popular though.

[GeeCee]

I could see it happening, but not in 8-10 years.

[Reecemartin]

It's obviously an idea with some merit, but you just have to love the reporting....

Twe can save on maintenance for Seabus!
This tunnel will probably cost at least 2 billion, looking at the depth and the complexity of the connections as well as station expansions etc, a 2 stop line alone is going to be very expensive.

We built the Canada Line tunnel under False Creek.
Pretty sure Burrard inlet is SIGNIFICANTLY deeper than false creek, at this point in time we can make incredible tunnels of course just look at the Chunnel or the Hokkaido tunnel in Japan, but it all comes down to $$$$.

[Genauso]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

I could see it happening, but not in 8-10 years.

Vancouver needs affordable housing, has 250 affordable housing sites / $1 billion in property sitting idle.

Sell it, invest in Skytrain to North Van where it will do some good for both cities.

Call it Greenest City 2017 Action Plan, or the no more roads plan. It's a better idea than outlawing natural gas out of the blue.

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

It's obviously an idea with some merit, but you just have to love the reporting....

Twe can save on maintenance for Seabus!
This tunnel will probably cost at least 2 billion, looking at the depth and the complexity of the connections as well as station expansions etc, a 2 stop line alone is going to be very expensive.

We built the Canada Line tunnel under False Creek.
Pretty sure Burrard inlet is SIGNIFICANTLY deeper than false creek, at this point in time we can make incredible tunnels of course just look at the Chunnel or the Hokkaido tunnel in Japan, but it all comes down to $$$$.

I don't think it would be that bad, but I definitely doubt it would be more cost effective than a line going over the Second Narrows.

Anything looping Eastward would provide a lot more ridership and reduce dependency on the Expo Line for Downtown access. Those benefits would be hard to replace.

[Reecemartin]

Perhaps selling property could be justified, but selling affordable housing units? Has the tax on foreign property transfer really fixed the entire housing crisis to the point where these can't be used? If there are units idle we should be trying to fill them - any anyways, why would Vancouver spend a billion dollars on this line when Broadway is the clear priority.

[Aroundtheworld]

I'm guessing for this North Shore Lonsdale link it would make sense to extend the Expo Line across. Although the Canada Line would be more suitable in terms of capacity, I don't it's Waterfront terminus is deep enough to be extended northwards.

[Reecemartin]

Originally Posted by Aroundtheworld

I'm guessing for this North Shore Lonsdale link it would make sense to extend the Expo Line across. Although the Canada Line would be more suitable in terms of capacity, I don't it's Waterfront terminus is deep enough to be extended northwards.

I think creating a new Line probably makes more sense, in terms of the Line serving a different area and new corridors that aren't in alignment with the current Expo Line alignment.

However, I do expect the track tie ins to indeed link the the Expo Line though there are a couple places that might make sense.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

We built the Canada Line tunnel under False Creek.
Pretty sure Burrard inlet is SIGNIFICANTLY deeper than false creek, at this point in time we can make incredible tunnels of course just look at the Chunnel or the Hokkaido tunnel in Japan, but it all comes down to $$$$.

False Creek's maximum depth is 11.5 metres [source, page 11], under the Cambie Bridge. Burrard Inlet's maximum depth is about 70 metres [source]

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Harder to justify, the nice thing about double Deckers is that you have a ton of capacity and they are better for commuters than artics, just look at GO Transit, I believe they've placed an order for more than 300 double decker buses. The viability of such a service would come down to cost and offering B line frequency requires more drivers which is very expensive. Ideally you would have a large bus go back and forth once or twice an hour instead.

It would be better for commuters if you had service every 20-30 minutes than 1 hour...

Originally Posted by Genauso

Vancouver needs affordable housing, has 250 affordable housing sites / $1 billion in property sitting idle.

Sell it, invest in Skytrain to North Van where it will do some good for both cities.

Call it Greenest City 2017 Action Plan, or the no more roads plan. It's a better idea than outlawing natural gas out of the blue.

You do realize those are essentially welfare programs for the poor?

[bardak]

Originally Posted by Reecemartin

Yeah hopefully we get some new highway coaches, I know I've mentioned before but, double Deckers really would be great. Most routes running the current ones are overcrowded.

lets see what routes that coaches are used on

• 555 - Still at only every 30 minutes outside of peak. Lets spend more money on running more service not on bigger buses
  
• 351 - frequent and heavily used. Would probably benefit from double deckers but currently can't use them because of the tunnel.
  
• 601 - only every 30 minutes off peak (though oddly better on weekends at every 20 minutes). Would benefit more from increasing frequency and wouldn't be able to use them until the tunnel is done anyway.
  
• 301 - low frequency and ridership. would benefit from more bus service.
  
  

There will hopefully be a time for double deckers but probably not until the next order of highway coaches after the tunnel is replaced. By then with any luck most of the routes will be part of the FTN and the Tunnel will be replaced. Then double deckers could help reduce excess spending on these routes.