Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion - Page 1024

jollyburger · #**20461** Posted **Oct 3, 2019, 1:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanc...-1QXnwQMeutV7k

There's already one at Granville/West Pender

jollyburger · #**20462** Posted **Oct 3, 2019, 7:42 PM**

West bound of Pender and Granville was also painted.

Sheba · #**20463** Posted **Oct 3, 2019, 9:39 PM**

Bright red curb lanes in Vancouver remind drivers there is no stopping in the bus zone

Quote:

High-volume bus stops in Vancouver are getting red painted curb lanes aimed at reminding drivers there is no stopping in bus-only lanes.

The red zones are a pilot project between the City of Vancouver and TransLink — and have already popped up at several busy intersections.

"The brightly painted red zones act as a visual deterrent and are becoming an industry standard in North America as municipalities and transit agencies work to keep buses moving amid increasing congestion," TransLink said in a statement.

...

Over the next few weeks, red zones will be installed at five busy bus stops:

East and westbound stops at Cambie Street and Broadway.
Northbound on Commercial Drive at Broadway.
Westbound on Broadway at Commercial Drive.
East and westbound on Pender at Granville Street.
East and westbound on Georgia at Burrard.

Translink said those stops were chosen because of the high volume of passengers and the frequency of bus-lane violations in the areas.

The pilot project will run through the winter and will be evaluated by the City of Vancouver and TransLink in the spring.

s211 · #**20464** Posted **Oct 3, 2019, 9:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheba

Bright red curb lanes in Vancouver remind drivers there is no stopping in the bus zone

The Broadway/Cambie paint job is already getting trashed by the buses.

officedweller · #**20465** Posted **Oct 3, 2019, 11:04 PM**

B.C. government selects firm to study North Shore-to-Vancouver rapid transit line
https://globalnews.ca/news/5987376/b...rapid-transit/

BC government selects firm for Vancouver-North Shore rapid transit study
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/nort...mott-macdonald

jollyburger · #**20466** Posted **Oct 4, 2019, 5:10 AM**

They should paint the curbs as well.

jollyburger · #**20467** Posted **Oct 4, 2019, 6:06 AM**

I guess it depends on the condition of the concrete pad when they painted it. Supposedly cost $200K for the initial set of bus stops.

jollyburger · #**20468** Posted **Oct 4, 2019, 6:37 AM**

DIY transit signs.

• Video Link

GMD · #**20469** Posted **Oct 6, 2019, 4:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Compared with Seattle, a metro area over 1,000,000 bigger than Vancouver, our system does us proud. If I recall Sound Transit is at 85,000 per day.
Perhaps add 4,000 if looking at the other Seattle statistic in the table immediately posted beneath.
At over 500,000 Vancouver outperforms every city except New York, Chicago, Boston and DC. It surpasses Los Angeles, Philadelphia, even SF, if those numbers are accurate!
The city is doing something right, and pax# will no doubt take a leap - if not "quantum" - then at least very significant, worthy of study, when the Broadway>Arbutus line is finished

Even though you know that transit ridership is higher in Canada than in the United States, the stats are still pretty shocking when you look at it. Translink has more transit ridership that L.A., even though there are more people in L.A. metro than all of B.C., Alberta, Sask and Manitoba put together. And ridership in L.A. is better than a lot of other places in the U.S.

In many ways, Canada and the U.S. are similar, but in this one, very different.

It is also interesting, how much of an outlier New York is in the United States. The transit ridership in New York is enormous, and then there is a huge dropoff, so that the lived experience of people in New York is qualitatively different vs. other cities in the U.S. But in Canada, there is no such outlier, Toronto is the highest, but ridership tracks population reasonably well as you go from larger cities to smaller ones.

officedweller · #**20470** Posted **Oct 8, 2019, 9:36 PM**

Construction on Canada Line's new Capstan Station could begin in a year
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/caps...line-translink

Dengler Avenue · #**20471** Posted **Oct 8, 2019, 9:39 PM**

Please reroute 403 onto Capstan Way afterwards to make service frequent on that road. 407 can just stay on Garden City Road.

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**20472** Posted **Oct 9, 2019, 12:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by officedweller

Construction on Canada Line's new Capstan Station could begin in a year
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/caps...line-translink

Richmond did it right with this station. both a developer cost, and then good investing. more cities should do this.

Vancouver should be doing this with 57th & 33rd.

Migrant_Coconut · #**20473** Posted **Oct 9, 2019, 3:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

Richmond did it right with this station. both a developer cost, and then good investing. more cities should do this.

Vancouver should be doing this with 57th & 33rd.

IIRC they tried for both and couldn't raise enough money. Remember that elevated is cheaper than underground.

Sheba · #**20474** Posted **Oct 9, 2019, 4:54 AM**

TransLink bus and SeaBus employees to hold strike vote

Quote:

Metro Vancouver’s public transit system is entering a period of uncertainty, as the labour union representing over 5,000 bus and SeaBus workers has called a strike vote.

Unifor announced Thursday that its negotiations with Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC), the TranLink subsidiary that operates and maintains the region’s bus and SeaBus ferry services, broke off after months of discussions. Its members are scheduled to hold a strike vote in Surrey on Thursday, October 10.

SkyTrain and West Coast Express workers are unaffected.

According to the union, its members have been working without a contract since March 31, claiming CMBC has not satisfied their key issues on wages, benefits, and working conditions.

...

“Coast Mountain is also failing to address a serious understaffing issue, with overcrowded bus trips increasing 36% between 2016 and 2018.”

...

Buoyed by a strong economy, changing commuter patterns, densification, soaring fuel costs, and service improvements, the region’s transit ridership increased by 18% in the period between 2016 and 2018.

To meet ridership growth and achieve the Mayors’ Council’s Phase One transit expansion plan, TransLink has been on a hiring spree for four consecutive years. With bus operators alone, it hired 365 drivers in 2016 and 470 drivers in 2017, and has a goal of hiring over 500 drivers from 2018 to 2019, making this the largest bus driver recruitment initiative since the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

As with other sectors of the economy, the labour pool is in short supply due to positive economic conditions and the severe constraints with housing affordability.

...

Metro Vancouver’s bus and SeaBus workers last went on strike in 2001, with labour action crippling the public transit system for four consecutive months. The strike only ended when the provincial government enacted legislation that forced over 3,000 workers to return to work.

...

Migrant_Coconut · #**20475** Posted **Oct 9, 2019, 5:18 AM**

Quote:

“TransLink won this award in part because of the on-time service of our members, but what the company isn’t recognizing is that level of service was achieved due to lack of proper breaks and recovery time between trips,” said McGarrigle in a statement.

“Coast Mountain is also failing to address a serious understaffing issue, with overcrowded bus trips increasing 36% between 2016 and 2018.”

TransLink officials stated earlier this year that they have been struggling to keep up with ridership demand, despite the introduction of new services and significant additional service hours.

Of all the problems TransLink's had, I doubt anybody expected "doing so well that demand has outstripped driver recruitment."

Express691 · #**20476** Posted **Oct 9, 2019, 3:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Of all the problems TransLink's had, I doubt anybody expected "doing so well that demand has outstripped driver recruitment."

1) Until last year, I have not seen a bus with a full-wrap advertisement for bus driver recruiting (speaking to how desparate they are for drivers).

=====

2) CMBC should really look into increacing capacity, if they are short on drivers: It's being achieved with the double deckers and the 503/Fraser corridor. Then you have problems in PoCo (same can be said about route 23) where shuttle routes are becoming overcrowded in places that are un-navigable by a standard 40' bus.

jsbertram · #**20477** Posted **Oct 10, 2019, 1:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

The Broadway/Cambie paint job is already getting trashed by the buses.

which may be an indication of how many buses are in use on Broadway.

scryer · #**20478** Posted **Oct 10, 2019, 3:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsbertram

which may be an indication of how many buses are in use on Broadway.

Exactly. Building the Broadway extension ALL the way to UBC will free up vehicles and drivers to make it worthwhile. This will indirectly increase the quality of service on other bus routes as Translink will have "new" costless resources to re-direct.

Migrant_Coconut · #**20479** Posted **Oct 10, 2019, 5:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by s211

The Broadway/Cambie paint job is already getting trashed by the buses.

It's either paint or retrofitting every 99 with cowcatchers. I believe this is the cheaper option.

Dengler Avenue · #**20480** Posted **Oct 10, 2019, 12:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

It's either paint or retrofitting every 99 with cowcatchers. I believe this is the cheaper option.

Cowwatcher might be an overkill. Ever notice those push bars installed in front of police cruisers? Those would do.