Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[GeeCee]

Software licensing is probably a big chunk of that bill.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Sociopolitics, more like. Both transit and city planners wanted to encourage people to ride the new train instead of "gating it off," or something to that effect. It seems to have worked.

The real mistake was sticking to the three-zone system well past its obsolescence. That and having Cubic as a subcontractor; they've royally screwed up in Ontario, (England's) London, Brisbane, Sydney, L.A., San Fran, Miami and Chicago as well.

Referring to the subject of 'zones' Paris is an interesting example.
The Paris region was designed in five zones, or rings extending outward from the central city, Paris "intramuros" with the usual process of charging more for people travelling over more zones.
However, it was fellt that this was financially punitive to commuters living in Zone 5, so, Voilà ! the entire Île de France region is ONE ZONE now, and a monthly pass price is uniform.
France is usually a complicated, over-administered, "Kafka-esque" mess, but sometimes those classic values of "liberté fraternité and égalité" work well in certain circumstances.

[jollyburger]

Found it.

The Authority has a contract with Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. (“Cubic”) to operate its
transit fare system. The contract expires in January 2026 with the Authority having the option
to extend the term of the contract for an additional 5 years.
Base payments to Cubic under the contract terms for operations and maintenance are
adjusted periodically based on a CPI index.

https://www.translink.ca/-/media/Documen...End_Financial_and_Performance_Report.pdf

[ilikeredheads]

The zone system is part of the problem, but I think the biggest issue is that the 90min free transfers has pinned themselves into a corner. If they want to go distance-based fares on everything, they have to remove the transfer window or else the fares becomes an over complicated mess. Obviously this would create major backlash from the public, resulting in a PR nightmare, so the only way to "ease the pain" is to lower the base fares, which I highly doubt Translink is willing to do.

Lose lose situation either way.

[Sheba]

Transit Service Changes

TransLink makes bus service changes every April, June, September, and December to reflect seasonal changes in demand and deliver more permanent service where customers need it most.

For the first time ever, increases across Bus, SeaBus, and SkyTrain are happening in a single service change.

[Express691]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Transit Service Changes

SkyTrain:

New SkyTrain cars will be added to increase capacity during peak periods:

5% on Expo Line
9% on Millennium Line

2018 set 449-452 entered service this evening, bringing the total of mk3 sets entering this year to 6 sets, 24 cars. I think they will send the remaining Coquitlam Mk2s (IIRC there are 2 4-car sets on peak hour) back from Expo.

502/503:

The 503 Fraser Hwy Express is a frequent and limited-stop service, which means less waiting and more moving!

Get on and off at any 503 stop along the route
Longer buses for some trips between Surrey Central Station and Langley Centre
More service:

Every 8 to 9 minutes during weekday peaks
Every 10 to 15 minutes outside of peak
Every 30 minutes late into the evening
Traveling to Aldergrove? Please check the destination sign! Some 503 Fraser Hwy Express trips end at Langley Centre while some go all the way to Aldergrove.

The PDF schedule is here:

502
http://infomaps.translink.ca/Public_Timetables/155/tt502.pdf

503
http://infomaps.translink.ca/Public_Timetables/155/tt503.pdf

-The 503 will use bay 10 at Surrey Central. I was really hoping that bay 12 would be used instead.
-Front door boarding only at all stops, which is kind of a disappointment.
-I have my own opinion about using EB 160th instead of EB 159th which sees substantially more unloading than 160th. The stop at 160th is mixed industrial compared to 159th which is commercial/residential.

Despite the 502 losing a bulk of its peak frequency to the 503, there are improvements to late evening service; at most every 20 minutes until midnight throughout the week.

143/145:

Three doors are better than one! All customers with a valid Compass Card will be able to tap and board the 143 and 145 at any door (front, middle, or back). Customers paying with cash should continue using the front door.

246/249:

To make this route easier to understand, the 246 is changing to the 246 Downtown / Highland and 249 Lonsdale Quay / Delbrook.

Customer traveling through the Montroyal Blvd. at Glencanyon Dr. bus stop can remain on the bus.

Hidden changes:

43 to Hamilton Transit Centre, in preparation for transition to R4.
301 to Richmond Transit Centre, in preparation for double deckers.

Speaking of double deckers, here are my photos of the decker at the PNE:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/little-transitboy/albums/72157710410640182

These buses are intended for the highway runs (Yes, we checked that they fit under the Massey Tunnel). Here are some explanations as to why they will not be appearing on some highway routes

351/352/354: Subject to 2019 Transit Network Review with concerns over efficient use of resources
601/602/603/604: There were residual height issues left over from the 2017/2018 demonstration. Also, these routes are under the Southwest Area Transit Plan.

[ilikeredheads]

I still think it's a mistake they are only using the double deckers for highway routes. They are better served on high demand routes like the B-line.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Isn't there some rule about trolley wire minimum clearance heights that they'd violate?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Xerx

Isn't Ontario's Presto Card done by Thales and Accenture?

So it is. Mea culpa.

[ilikeredheads]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Isn't there some rule about trolley wire minimum clearance heights that they'd violate?

If there were, they wouldn't be able to drive it to PNE. The Enviro500 sold in NA market has a height of 4.1m. (Massey tunnel's height clearance is 4.15m) Judging from the pics I don't think they went with the SuperLo model which is only 3.9m tall.

[Bdawe]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

I still think it's a mistake they are only using the double deckers for highway routes. They are better served on high demand routes like the B-line.

I don't think they're a good fit for the b-lines. They have longer dwell times IIRC

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

I still think it's a mistake they are only using the double deckers for highway routes. They are better served on high demand routes like the B-line.

3 door loading/unloading is a definite advantage of the current B-line buses vs double decker.

Ron.

[Express691]

Originally Posted by NewfBC

3 door loading/unloading is a definite advantage of the current B-line buses vs double decker.

Ron.

And as far as I know, the North American version of this particular model is restricted to one staircase.

I believe the capacity is the same as an articulated bus since there are no standees upstairs: 87 seats + 20/30 standees.

[Migrant_Coconut]

It's true, unloading takes forever at time. I suppose double-deckers are better suited for quiet routes that have one or two very busy stops.

[ilikeredheads]

anendotal evidence, but my experience living in Hong Kong (and commuting by bus almost daily) says the dwell time isn't any longer than 99 B-Line in most cases. 3 door boarding is kind of overrated because at a busy stop, you would still need to wait for people to get off first.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Try Singapore - getting off the upper deck is a real PITA sometimes, even on "suburban" routes.

[jollyburger]

Down escalators at Waterfront seabus are being replaced so you need to walk down the new staircase starting tomorrow.

https://buzzer.translink.ca/2019/08/were...of-our-ongoing-terminal-upgrade-project/

[Firebrand]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

anendotal evidence, but my experience living in Hong Kong (and commuting by bus almost daily) says the dwell time isn't any longer than 99 B-Line in most cases. 3 door boarding is kind of overrated because at a busy stop, you would still need to wait for people to get off first.

I wonder if the HK deckers have another staircase for the upper deck? You could add another staircase to reduce the dwell time for passengers entering/leaving the upper deck, but it reduce the seating capacity of the bus, which defeats the purpose of a high-capacity express bus with limited stops. In NA they're only allowed one staircase, so it doesn't matter anyway.

[Dave2]

>2018 set 449-452 entered service this evening, bringing the total of mk3 sets entering this year to 6 sets, 24 cars.

I was on 452 yesterday, around 4 PM. Boarded at Metrotown outbound, interestingly its destination was VCC-Clark

[Xerx]

Originally Posted by Firebrand

I wonder if the HK deckers have another staircase for the upper deck? You could add another staircase to reduce the dwell time for passengers entering/leaving the upper deck, but it reduce the seating capacity of the bus, which defeats the purpose of a high-capacity express bus with limited stops. In NA they're only allowed one staircase, so it doesn't matter anyway.

I'm pretty sure pretty much all of the HK deckers have a single staircase, the only doubledecker with 2 staircases that I'm aware of are the New Routemasters.