Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[xd_1771]

Chances are that B-shuttle ride will be much more comfortable than a bus on route 43. My experience riding on KPU's inter-campus shuttle, for example, is a far quieter and smoother ride than most TL buses and comparalbe to (if not superior to) an Orion coach.

[Mac Write]

I really desperately hope that by 2024, we have
•SkyTrain UBC > Langfore open
•Skytrain Waterfront > Langley City Centre open
•Burnaby Gondola open
•Skytrain > Port Coquitlam extension shover ready
are my expectations too high for all of that?

[SpongeG]

yes, we will be lucky to see the broadway train constructed and running. It's almost 2019 now and I don't see how they can even get that done in under 5 years.

If surrey scraps the LRT now won't they go back to square one to get funding for the more expensive skytrain?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

yes, we will be lucky to see the broadway train constructed and running. It's almost 2019 now and I don't see how they can even get that done in under 5 years.

Right - the most optimistic prediction for the Broadway opening is 2025. Everything finished by 2030 might be a better target.

Originally Posted by SpongeG

If surrey scraps the LRT now won't they go back to square one to get funding for the more expensive skytrain?

Not necessarily. So if we're still getting the pre-approved funding, then that should be more than enough for a Fleetwood extension and BRT; the Langley extension can come attached to the UBC one.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Right - the most optimistic prediction for the Broadway opening is 2025. Everything finished by 2030 might be a better target.



Not necessarily. So if we're still getting the pre-approved funding, then that should be more than enough for a Fleetwood extension and BRT; the Langley extension can come attached to the UBC one.

x2.

Also the planning for the expo line extension is very, very basic. Literally nothing complicated and the construction of it would probably be even less disruptive than the Evergreen extension. The stations don't need to be fancy (like I'm anticipating that UBC's will be; read: over-the-top), they just need to function with maybe some having basic bus bays like at Joyce Collingwood or Bridgeport Station.

The biggest problem that I see right now with our system is over-crowding issues on the Expo line. I predict that we will need short-term and long-term solutions.

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by scryer

The stations don't need to be fancy (like I'm anticipating that UBC's will be; read: over-the-top), they just need to function with maybe some having basic bus bays like at Joyce Collingwood or Bridgeport Station.

So basically how the original Expo Line stations were built: Small footprint with no frills and modular components such as lighting, framework and panels that are interchangeable between stations.

The biggest problem that I see right now with our system is over-crowding issues on the Expo line. I predict that we will need short-term and long-term solutions.

There's nothing we can do regarding overcrowding on the line short of adding more trains and tweaking the headways. The ultimate fix would be twinning the Expo Line, which is on nobody's radar for financial reasons.

[Migrant_Coconut]

The Expo's only at 60% capacity, so crowding shouldn't be a problem for the near future.

That said, perhaps TransLink could run a second WCE along the BNSF or Expo down to the Surrey interurban? It plus a Willingdon and/or South Van SkyTrain could take a lot of pressure off the Waterfront-Surrey route.

[Mac Write]

Expo relief line is simple. Coquitlam station > Port Coquitlam > over the bridge and replace the 96 B-Line.

Would that work?

[roger1818]

Or how about extend the Expo line from waterfront, along Powel and E. Hastings to Kooteny Loop and then down boundary to the Milenium line. They could then split the Milenium line to have most trains from the east use the new route downtown. That way you are using the existing track and stations in the Dunsmire tunnel. The station exits would probably need to be upgraded to support additional foot traffic but the platforms themselves should be fine as you are just getting better utilization of the ones that are currently conta-flow.

[Mac Write]

How much "down time" to put switches in to connect to the millennium line? to put a switch in at Columbia for the outbound was a 3 month shutdown and single tracking New Westminster > King George.

I like the idea. Maybe the Hasting line can meet up in Coquitlam with the milenium line their.

all 3 lines we both hugged would create relief lines as well as allow more and more access to SkyTrain.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by roger1818

Or how about extend the Expo line from waterfront, along Powel and E. Hastings to Kooteny Loop and then down boundary to the Milenium line. They could then split the Milenium line to have most trains from the east use the new route downtown. That way you are using the existing track and stations in the Dunsmire tunnel. The station exits would probably need to be upgraded to support additional foot traffic but the platforms themselves should be fine as you are just getting better utilization of the ones that are currently conta-flow.

Honestly we'll get a bigger difference once the Millennium Line crosses the Canada Line at Broadway and Cambie.

[finalcoolman]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

How much "down time" to put switches in to connect to the millennium line? to put a switch in at Columbia for the outbound was a 3 month shutdown and single tracking New Westminster > King George.

I like the idea. Maybe the Hasting line can meet up in Coquitlam with the milenium line their.

all 3 lines we both hugged would create relief lines as well as allow more and more access to SkyTrain.

It would take 18 months down time to put in a junction with switches in an elevated guideway.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

The Expo's only at 60% capacity, so crowding shouldn't be a problem for the near future.

50%.

60 was assuming they didn't go with 5-car trains. So, I don't know why people here are so worried about Expo capacity...

[Mac Write]

We are worried when non peak hours trains come every 5-10 minutes. trains every 3-4 minutes top during off-peak would make people feel more relaxed.

[BirchTrain]

I’m just wondering when we will get real time displays on the Expo and original Millennium lines just like on the Evergreen extension and the Canada Line


By SRE.K.A.L.24 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canada_Line_001.JPG)

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by nname

50%.

60 was assuming they didn't go with 5-car trains. So, I don't know why people here are so worried about Expo capacity...

Originally Posted by Mac Write

We are worried when non peak hours trains come every 5-10 minutes. trains every 3-4 minutes top during off-peak would make people feel more relaxed.

Bearing in mind that we're already near the halfway mark after 33 years; Chicken Little rhetoric notwithstanding, even with 5-car trains every 75 seconds, the Expo probably is going to start running into problems in the '40s and '50s. Better to start thinking about relief lines now than later.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Bearing in mind that we're already near the halfway mark after 33 years; Chicken Little rhetoric notwithstanding, even with 5-car trains every 75 seconds, the Expo probably is going to start running into problems in the '40s and '50s. Better to start thinking about relief lines now than later.

It should actually last much longer than that. It started with about 25% capacity in the 80s, so realistically, I'd say it'll reach capacity sometimes between 2070 and 2120.

Back in 2010, the Expo line upgrade strategy predict a demand of 25,700 pphpd (86%) by 2041 for high-growth scenario, or about 23,000 pphpd (77%) for low-growth. However, right now we're far below even the low-growth case due to a period of no growth or even decline in the 2010s. Both scenario assume a peak of 17,500 pphpd by 2018, but in 2017, the peak was only 14,100 pphpd.

And don't forget, once the Broadway extension opens, it's expected to take some load off the busiest segment, as people no longer have to go through downtown to connect between Canada Line and Expo/Millennium Line.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by BirchTrain

I’m just wondering when we will get real time displays on the Expo and original Millennium lines just like on the Evergreen extension and the Canada Line


By SRE.K.A.L.24 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canada_Line_001.JPG)

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but there is a LCD screen at Waterfront at the bottom of the escalator that has this, it's not a LED board.

I've been through there every week for the last few months and only noticed it last Sunday. So clearly they do have a means to do this.

But it could be like the LED maps inside the Mark III's, they only add them with new equipment, and the existing equipment is likely still good for now.

[Mac Write]

I want RealTime Train info for my phone and also train number destination so we can all plan what try type we want to catch .

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I want RealTime Train info for my phone and also train number destination so we can all plan what try type we want to catch .

wat