Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Oh is translink working on that? I've always thought that they would just have the routes heading south terminate at Bay 4 on Saba Road (although people have complained about the noise from the buses before), and the ones heading north end at Bay 2 (or 3) then park on Saba Road. As an interim solution, at least.

Yeah there was a lot of construction for a few months, and by that I mean every day I would go there, there would be more changes, then it suddenly stopped. I then saw an article that said it stopped because they were doing design work.

I mean, they have years to do that while they were waiting for the property to be acquired. Couldn't they do that while they wait?

[ilikeredheads]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

Yeah there was a lot of construction for a few months, and by that I mean every day I would go there, there would be more changes, then it suddenly stopped. I then saw an article that said it stopped because they were doing design work.

I mean, they have years to do that while they were waiting for the property to be acquired. Couldn't they do that while they wait?

I wouldn't be surprised if the situation is similar to Metrotown Stn's pedestrian overpass where city hall is delaying the bus loop due to some misguided belief that the bus loop is not "pedestrian friendly" or some kind of similar BS.

Splitting the 410 is easy. 410 will terminate at Brighouse and just bring back the 406 which will run between Steveston and Brighouse.

[nname]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

bring back the 406 which will run between Steveston and Brighouse.

They will. And the 408 too.

[Dengler Avenue]

What’s next? 407 and 420? I think translink’s also splitting that route.

After all, ridership’s growing along Gilbert Road but remains stagnant after Richmond Centre.

The caveat for passengers though is to not confuse 430 with the 420.

[jollyburger]

Translink is taking over the Horseshoe Bay express route:

“The change is going to be seamless for our customers. In fact, there is going to be increased capacity, consistency and frequency of service on the 257,” said Chris Bryan, TransLink spokesman.

Right now, the route is served by two articulated buses and three 40-foot buses. When Coast Mountain takes over, 257 riders will have a little more elbow room on five articulated buses.

The Blue Bus is the last municipally owned bus service in operation under the TransLink umbrella. Its staff are District of West Vancouver employees, although the municipality is reimbursed fully by TransLink for their costs. Operational decisions about routes and schedules are still made in collaboration with TransLink as they are in other municipalities.

Unlike TransLink though, Blue Bus has its own depot and maintenance yard on the North Shore. But that facility on Lloyd Avenue no longer has the capacity to deal with the articulated buses, according to the district.

“It was never built to maintain the number of buses that we currently have in operation,” said Donna Powers, District of West Vancouver spokeswoman. “The more complex the buses get and the bigger they get, the more of a challenge it puts on the size of our operation. This is really about making Blue Bus sustainable when there is just more than we can operate and maintain properly to the highest level that we would like to.”

All the 257 buses will be based and serviced at the Burnaby Transit Centre off Boundary Road when the change comes into effect, the same depot that houses all of the North Vancouver buses since TransLink closed the Third Street bus depot in 2016.

“We certainly have more maintenance resources available to us so we’re able to turn around that maintenance more quickly, which in turn ensures better reliability of service,” Bryan said.

http://www.nsnews.com/news/west-van-gives-257-blue-bus-run-to-translink-1.23328905

[dpogue]

Next round of transit service changes are coming on June 25th: https://www.translink.ca/Schedules-and-Maps/Transit-Service-Changes.aspx

Of particular note, they are changing the platform designations at Lougheed station to avoid wrong-railing trains at Burquitlam:

Starting June 25, Millennium Line trains will use different platforms at Lougheed Town Centre Station.

• To board a Millennium Line train heading towards VCC-Clark Station, your train will stop at platform 3, which is on the north side of the station and closest to the mall.
• To board a Millennium Line train heading towards Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station, your train will stop at platform 1, which is on the south side of the station and furthest from the mall.
• Expo Line platforms will not change.

[Dengler Avenue]

Sadly enough, nothing for Richmond.

[Colin4567]

Originally Posted by dpogue

Next round of transit service changes are coming on June 25th: https://www.translink.ca/Schedules-and-Maps/Transit-Service-Changes.aspx

Of particular note, they are changing the platform designations at Lougheed station to avoid wrong-railing trains at Burquitlam:

Even if it does make it harder to get from Coquitlam to Surrey, it makes it a heck of a lot less confusing. Really happy with this.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by dpogue

Next round of transit service changes are coming on June 25th: https://www.translink.ca/Schedules-and-Maps/Transit-Service-Changes.aspx

Of particular note, they are changing the platform designations at Lougheed station to avoid wrong-railing trains at Burquitlam:

i seem to remember this was disussed here when evergreen was under construction, but it was dismissed as 'too complicated' by a few naysayers.

now it seems the wrong-railing that has been done since Evergreen opened was too hard or too complicated (or too hard on the switches?)

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

i seem to remember this was disussed here when evergreen was under construction, but it was dismissed as 'too complicated' by a few naysayers.

now it seems the wrong-railing that has been done since Evergreen opened was too hard or too complicated (or too hard on the switches?)

I suspect it's due to the issues they've had with switches. The current routing requires 8 switches (including the ones between Production Way and Lake City) moving frequently. The new routing would only involve 6.

In retrospect, if one switch were positioned further west, they could have the centre platform handle both outbounds and the side platform handle all the inbounds. Unfortunately, that switch was roughed in during the original M-Line construction and it would have been hugely disruptive to change it and likely involve rebuilding part of the guideway

[Mac Write]

I don't see the roughed in switch you speak of west of there station, can you show the location please?

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I don't see the roughed in switch you speak of west of there station, can you show the location please?

It's labelled Switch DC155 on the guideway. It was roughed in during the original Millennium Line construction, leading to the side platform. It was fully built as part of the Evergreen extension, and is used now for trains coming from Production Way to switch from the inbound track over to the side platform.

[Mac Write]

There is room for Expo to use the side platform. The switch is still before the side platform.

[dothediu]

Originally Posted by dpogue

I suspect it's due to the issues they've had with switches. The current routing requires 8 switches (including the ones between Production Way and Lake City) moving frequently. The new routing would only involve 6.

In retrospect, if one switch were positioned further west, they could have the centre platform handle both outbounds and the side platform handle all the inbounds. Unfortunately, that switch was roughed in during the original M-Line construction and it would have been hugely disruptive to change it and likely involve rebuilding part of the guideway

I notice inbound train usually waited at Burquitlam for outbound train to crossover. And also sometimes inbound train waiting outside station bunching with Expo trains when they get towards Lougheed. This should eliminate the wait times.

Also they probably did this so Expo Line passengers switching to Millenium westbound are now forced to switch at Production Way. This will even out the passenger in/out distribution and make Lougheed westbound less busy but probably much tougher for those Expo Line folks to get a seat now!

[officedweller]

So does the change at Lougheed mean that trains to VCC-Clark are split between 2 platforms? Millennium Line trains at Platform 3 and Expo Line trains at Platform 2.

The whole purpose of the wrong-railing was to combine trains to one platform so passengers wouldn't miss the "next" train to VCC-Clark.

I suppose if the Millennium Line frequency is high enough, it won't matter so much and that would be the "go-to" platform if headed to VCC-Clark.

[ilikeredheads]

Originally Posted by officedweller

So does the change at Lougheed mean that trains to VCC-Clark are split between 2 platforms? Millennium Line trains at Platform 3 and Expo Line trains at Platform 2.

The whole purpose of the wrong-railing was to combine trains to one platform so passengers wouldn't miss the "next" train to VCC-Clark.

I suppose if the Millennium Line frequency is high enough, it won't matter so much and that would be the "go-to" platform if headed to VCC-Clark.

Expo line doesn't goto VCC Clark. It terminates at Production Way.

[ClaytonA]

Interesting report on electric buses; https://web.archive.org/web/201806112349.../27_Green_Bus_Technology_Plan_Update.pdf

A summary is provided by slides starting pg 31.

Has a bus comparison starting on pg 15, garage issues, bus standardization issues, charging profiles, discussion of required electrical upgrades (e.g. new substation), key performance indicators (e.g. 15% lifecycle cost saving), and 10 year procurement plan. They plan for 900 electric buses in the next 10 years. Interesting trial with CUTRIC.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by ClaytonA

Interesting report on electric buses; https://web.archive.org/web/201806112349.../27_Green_Bus_Technology_Plan_Update.pdf

A summary is provided by slides starting pg 31.

Really interesting, thanks for posting!

[Olden Retreiver]

Other than the long lost opportunity of designing and building Lougheed Station properly in the first place, this new configuration seems the best workaround solution to a botched mess.

Originally Posted by dpogue

Next round of transit service changes are coming on June 25th: https://www.translink.ca/Schedules-and-Maps/Transit-Service-Changes.aspx

Of particular note, they are changing the platform designations at Lougheed station to avoid wrong-railing trains at Burquitlam:

[Mac Write]

What would have been the best way to build Lougheed Station?