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Posted Mar 11, 2009, 5:20 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Stockholm
Posts: 12,805
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Quote:
Nine major downtown routes to close for Olympics
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
March 11, 2009 9:57 AM
VANCOUVER - Vancouver will face one of its most ambitious tests during the 2010 Olympic Games as it attempts to move Super-Bowl-sized crowds around already-congested city streets and into the mountains in the dead of winter over 17 days.
To deal with the crush, Vanoc partners revealed this week they plan to close nine major routes in and out of the downtown core, convert 32 city blocks into pedestrian-only corridors, develop 170 Olympic bus lanes and increase the fleet of buses and SkyTrain to get more people using transit.
Cited as probably the largest single event ever held in Vancouver, the Winter Olympics will host up to 135,000 spectators a day in Vancouver, 58,000 in Whistler and 60,000 per day at Vancouver celebration sites.
With 10,000 accredited media, 5,500 athletes and a 55,000-member workforce, the daily number of people roaming the downtown core for Olympic entertainment on any given night would be equivalent to the crush after a summer fireworks night coupled with a Madonna concert, TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said.
The Olympics is considered a major challenge for both Vancouver and Whistler, which are restricted in size and are losing road capacity in their main centres because of geography; Vancouver is bound by bridges and water and Whistler by mountains.
Compared with Salt Lake City, which had five Olympic venues within a nine-kilometres radius of its downtown, Vancouver will have 10 venues within the same radius. Four of those are within one kilometre of the downtown.
While downtown residents will be encouraged to walk or cycle to the venues, and athletes, spectators and Olympic officials will have access to a Vanoc transit system running along priority Olympic bus lanes, others coming into the city won’t be able to leave unless they hitch a lift in a taxi or hop on a TransLink bus or SkyTrain.
This is because major routes in and out of the downtown core — including the Expo and Pacific boulevards, Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts and Renfrew Street between Hastings Street and McGill — will be fully or partially closed during the Games to limit the number cars on the road.
Extended parking restrictions, some of them in effect for 24 hours, will be in place along 650 city blocks. Another 32 blocks — along streets such Robson, Granville and Hamilton — will be converted into pedestrian-only corridors from noon to midnight every day.
In Whistler, people won’t be allowed to drive into the village subdivisions without a permit as parking will be restricted to residents. A northbound checkpoint will also be established to discourage “unnecessary trips during peak periods.”
A new Olympic Express route will be added along Highway 99 with community bus service on five neighbourhood routes.
The aim, according to the Olympic transportation plan unveiled today is to reduce gridlock in the downtown core and in Whistler village during the two-week Games by reducing traffic by 30 per cent and boosting transit ridership by 33 per cent. This would see the number of transit users jump from 730,000 today to 960,000 by February 2010.
The cost of a return trip — offered by Vanoc — to Whistler for an Olympic spectator on the Olympic Bus Network is $25; a return trip to Cypress is $12. Departure points, such as Capilano and Simon Fraser universities and park and rides, will be set up around the region.
A two-zone transit pass — about $200 — will allow spectators total access to TransLink transit as part of their Games ticket. Regular transit buses will also have access to the Olympic lanes, which will be open 24 hours and run along routes such as Burrard and Granville and the approaches to the Lions Gate and Ironworkers Memorial bridges.
The surcharge on the ticket will cover administration costs, with $17.3 million going to TransLink.
The Olympic transportation plan is expected to kick into gear two weeks before the Games to ensure Metro Vancouver residents are prepared to take transit, walk or cycle around the city and into the mountains.
To keep people moving freely, Vanoc expects to have more than 950 buses and minibuses on the road to move athletes and other Olympic officials.
By then, TransLink will also have added another 200 buses, the Canada Line and 48 new SkyTrain cars, a third SeaBus, as well as another 180 buses on standby, for any added commuter crunches.
The West Coast Express will also add 80-per-cent capacity — or up to 2,000 people per day — with extra trips during the week and weekends, while temporary cycling routes will be added in the downtown core.
A free streetcar connecting Granville Island and the Canada Line will also be offered in January and February.
The closure of Metro Vancouver universities is expected to free up space on the transit system. Taxi capacity will be also be increased during the Games.
A Know Before You Go campaign will urge residents and commuters to plan ahead to get to events because of potential waits for transit, walks to the venues from transit dropoff points and the time it will take to clear security.
A trip from Surrey to Vancouver usually takes 40 minutes on SkyTrain, for instance, but travellers should probably give themselves an hour and a half to ensure they clear security and get to their seat on time.
The City of Vancouver is also preparing for potential problems in case of heavy snowfall.
The city plans to borrow or buy snow removal equipment to ensure the main roads will be clear in the wake of a heavy dump.
The Ministry of Transportation will also boost its snow removal equipment and plans to upgrade the Duffy Lake Road as a back way into Whistler in case of emergencies. An emergency ferry from Horseshoe Bay or Porteau Cove to Squamish is also in the works.
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Quote:
TransLink expecting nearly a million passengers a day during 2010 Games
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
March 11, 2009 10:06 AM
VANCOUVER - TransLink’s transit system will face the ultimate challenge during the 2010 Olympic Games when its daily ridership is expected to swell by 33 per cent to close to a million people.
But even though TransLink is confident it can meet the demands of the extra passenger load by adding capacity to its fleet of buses, SkyTrains and Seabus, it is calling for patience by residents and visitors, saying they will likely face long line-ups and delays to access transit during the two-week Games.
TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie warned travellers to allow extra travel time no matter what route, whether it’s along rapid transit or a key bus line — or time — they plan to travel.
With events on all day downtown, a commuter crush could occur at any time, while people going to Thunderbird Stadium, Hastings Park or the Olympic Oval should consider the time it takes to walk to transit.
At any given time, Hardie said, there could upwards of 100,000 people in the downtown core.
“All things considered it would like having the fireworks and a Madonna concert in one night,” Hardie said. “We’ll be telling people to expect crowding; it will take awhile to get on a train or bus because there are so many people wanting to get on at the same time.”
Under the Olympics transportation plan, TransLink will provide public transit services throughout Metro Vancouver during the Games, while Vanoc will offer the connections to Whistler and Cypress for the main Olympic events.
Under the deal, TransLink would receive about $17.3 million from the sales of Olympic Games tickets, which roll in the cost of transit with a Games pass. A two-zone souvenir pass for the two months will cost about $200, about the same as a regular transit pass, and will allow unlimited access to TransLink services.
Hardie said the money from Vanoc would cover overtime for bus drivers and other incremental costs and TransLink hopes to recover the rest of its Olympic costs through increased ridership.
TransLink is counting on another 230,000 people per day — besides ticket holders — to use transit during the Games, which would bring in $1.3 million in revenue and allow the transportation authority to break even, Hardie said.
The passenger estimate is based on population at the venues, the expected crowds going in and out and the conversion of people from other modes of transit — such as vehicles — to buses and SkyTrain.
“If it doesn’t occur, some of that [money] would be at risk,” Hardie said, but added: “We don’t want the Olympics to be a net cost to us.”
TransLink doesn’t consider its new Canada Line or the expansion of its bus and SkyTrain fleet as Olympic-related costs because they’re included in TransLink’s transportation plan and provide a legacy for the future.
He’s also optimistic people will use transit during the Games, mainly because most major roads leading into the downtown core will be fully or partially closed and rush hour parking restrictions will be in effect for most of the area to allow priority Olympic bus lines.
Starting this fall, TransLink will also ramp up a campaign to get people to get out of their cars and take transit. Three hundred people have already registered with TransLink to get information on specific venues and options to get there and a paid media campaign will urge businesses to shift working hours, encourage people to work from home, rideshare or take transit.
Hardie said he didn’t know the cost of the ad campaign, which will also urge passengers to buy a two-month souvenir pass and buy into the Know Before You Go message, which encourages travellers to factor in the time it’s going to take them to reach their destinations.
He added it’s important that people factor in the time it will take for security searches at the venues, which could add an hour or two to their travel time.
“Whatever trip you’re making it’s going to take longer than normal. As we get more information on the logistics, we’re going to do some of these calculations [on travel times],” Hardie said. “If you’re going to an event, allow this much travel time from your front door to your seat.”
Hardie said the majority of people participating in the Games live close to frequent transit corridors and TransLink will be running extra buses along the priority Olympic routes all day as well as more frequent SkyTrain services to ferry people to and from downtown, BC Place and Canada Hockey Place.
SkyTrain, which now runs about every two to 2.5 minutes on the Expo line and three to five minutes on the Millennium line, will be able to provide service at just under two minute intervals. It will also be extended for another extra hour to 2:15 a.m.
“Because of the flexibility of the system, let’s say we have a big hockey game and ceremonies and BC Place. We can reconfigure all the trains they can whisk a lot of people away very quickly,” Hardie said.
“One thing we have to accommodate is sudden change ... we have to basically turn on a dime to make sure the transit capacity is there.”
TransLink is also in negotiations with Surrey shopping centres to about using their parking lots for overflow SkyTrain parking, and the New Westminster parkade, which provided space to commuters during the closure of the Pattullo Bridge earlier this year.
The West Coast Express will also offer six additional trips on weekdays, nine new trips on Saturdays and seven new trips on Sunday, while a third SeaBus will be added. Hardie said another 180 buses will also be on standby for use on overloaded routes.
He expects there shouldn’t be a problem providing drivers, as Coast Mountain is recruiting 500 new bus drivers and is looking into luring back some of those drivers who recently retired to work during the Games. It has also put a holiday blackout in place during the Games to ensure drivers are available.
The HandyDart fleet will also be expanded by 30 vehicles and will be available to visitors.
“It’s going to be a challenge; public transit has been critical in every Games,” Hardie said, adding that bus drivers went on strike in Torino. “It should give people some comfort that we’re one of the largest cities to ever host a winter Games. During the Games we would probably be moving passengers similar to Toronto’s transit system.”
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