Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[Alex Mackinnon]

25' lots in Strathcona with a basement suite and a laneway house = crowded street parking. Its a couple blocks sometimes. Big cord.

[Millennium2002]

Heh. Interesting problem right there regarding the charging of electric vehicles in places with lack of parking.

As for charging outside, maybe homeowners can install an outdoor box with the charge station inside?

Or maybe BC Hydro or the City can do something together and put metered charging stations on every lamp post. =P

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

Comparing Vancouver:

Something I've been thinking about lately. What would Vancouver look like if you transposed Toronto's Subway onto Vancouver, putting the lines into Vancouver perspective.

My thoughts:

I think you'd have the Broadway Line from Rupert to Arbutus (maybe to UBC?) (Danforth-Bloor Line)

The Expo Line would still go to Surrey, except there would be a spur (Sheppard) to Lougheed from New West and a separate LRT line to Coquitlam.

We'd have trams where we currently have trolleybuses.

The Canada Line perhaps would be part of the TTC "U"

The M-Line would be a future line and be along Hastings to Boundary instead of along Lougheed Highway. and would be a future line (The Downtown Relief Line)

I'm not completely familiar with Toronto's system, but what are your thoughts?

I think that, roughly speaking, that is a good parallel. For a city so large in surface area, it has always surprised me somewhat that Toronto doesn't have more subway lines, in fact. (They do have more commuter rail, but that is because there are commuter communities in the region; Toronto is relative flat whereas Vancouver is hemmed in geographically).

Also, we're one third the size of Toronto; give Vancouver 10 or 15 years and we'll have caught up to it in RRT / population, if everything works out correctly (like building the Evergreen Line and the UBC line)

[tybuilding]

http://www.globaltoronto.com/video/index.html?releasePID=j97krE9aGkoPulrUrRo4wyg2cVa4qhdK
Signal upgrades could soon mean driverless trains and 90 second headways.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by tybuilding

http://www.globaltoronto.com/video/index.html?releasePID=oGDoxggNkbEH9f2CQWxp6tLEu1Q6_l5s

Signal upgrades could soon mean driverless trains and 90 second headways.

Am I missing something? You've linked to the item on the success of the BIXI bike service in Toronto. What does that have to do with trains?

[tybuilding]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Am I missing something? You've linked to the item on the success of the BIXI bike service in Toronto. What does that have to do with trains?

Oops, I guess I did that wrong, I fixed the link.

[Mac Write]

When do we get Shiny new trains that allow users to walk the who length of the train (say a 5-car train would max out the platform length and max out capacity on the Expo/Millenium lines.

[cc85]

I dislike our system here. The TTC did things so much better for such a long time. They have a profound ability to look long-term for their anticipated needs. If only people here were smart enough (the electorate, politicians, and bureaucrats).

[SpikePhanta]

Originally Posted by cc85

I dislike our system here. The TTC did things so much better for such a long time. They have a profound ability to look long-term for their anticipated needs. If only people here were smart enough (the electorate, politicians, and bureaucrats).

Look at the Skytrain, they did exactly that, at the time it was built people said they had spent too much for a huge system at the time.

[Waders]

No sure whether this clip was posted before.

A clip showing the SkyTrain and gondola from Expo 86.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r-eiVewQaXI

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

One of the big problems with EVs in Vancouver is the charging infrastructure. Lots and lots of basement suites. Lots of people parking in front of their homes.

Hmm, I can see myself in a Fisker Karma. I wonder if it will fit in my garage and if I'll have to upgrade the electrical outlet.



From eXisTenZ_09's photobucket set.

[Alex Mackinnon]

The Karma definitely falls into the category of much win. Who knows, if I can somehow balance a mortgage on cheap/dumpy house in Van that would be high on my shopping list.

We'll see when it hits production though, a lot of people think it's largely vapourware.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

The Karma definitely falls into the category of much win. Who knows, if I can somehow balance a mortgage on cheap/dumpy house in Van that would be high on my shopping list.

We'll see when it hits production though, a lot of people think it's largely vapourware.

Yep, one can dream.

It begs the question: Translink has built a lot of its funding model on taxing gasoline. What happens as people move to EV's and other more fuel efficient cars?

[Alex Mackinnon]

Wait for critical mass and lower production costs, then when they've become mainstream start taxing electricity, new vehicle registration, insurance, tires, etc.

For now you should try to think like Edison. Make driving electric vehicles so cheap and effective compared to gas that only the rich will want to burn gas in classic cars. It will take a couple decades, and probably a few hundred billion in development costs, but thats how capitalism will make it work.

[logan5]

The infrastructure for EVs is mostly there it seems to me, so that's relatively easy to implement. And in labs there are batteries that act like capacitors and now there are capacitors with the same energy density as some batteries. Oil's days are numbered.

In China they are using capacitor powered buses on a few routes that have a 2 or 3 mile range. In the coming years the range will increase dramatically. These buses, because they are lighter and because of regenerative breaking, use 40% less electricity than our trolley buses here in Vancouver. So it seems very possible we could see all our unsightly trolley wires removed in the next 20 years.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by quobobo

Suicide at Joyce Station today around 5:30PM, the Expo Line is pretty much shut down and the #19 is way, way beyond capacity. I ended up catching a cab with some very disgruntled Canucks fans...

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

That's sad. Condolences to the family and everyone else affected. = \

Sort of freaked me out for a bit also because I know of a friend who just broke up and I don't know how well she's coping with it. ><"

EDIT:

Silly CTV... why post up photos of SkyTrains seemingly running normally for this incident!? There's only like two photos that have any sort of relevance. Bleh.

Originally Posted by SpongeG

5:50 sounds late - it happened around 5 or just before 5

I was trying to get downtown at 5:15 pm when it all happened - it got messy the trains sat at stations for longer than 5 minutes and canucks fans were freaking out that they were gonna miss the game and broadway and commercial drive was a mess

i was going from lougheed to comm drive...

they kept saying it was a "medical emergency" at joyce but we all knew it was a suicide

worst time for it to happen - surrey people going to the game must have got to metrotown and got turned around i guess - the station between metrotown and broadway were all closed

Originally Posted by Waders

I am sure some Canucks fans were freaked out and might have missed the game.

I was at Metrotown station at 6pm. Translink staffs directed people to take #19 bus to get to downtown. You can imagine how long the line up quickly became. Some Canucks fans eventually decided to take a cab to get to the venue. Other people in the line up commented about how much we depends on Skytain today to get around. When the system stops, everyone is stuck.

If the "medical incident" did happen around 5pm, then the service interruption would have lasted for about 3.5 hours as normal service was only restored around 8:20pm.
It is sad to have this type of incident happening from time to time(too often IMO). I still believe station platform door should be installed. The cost may look expensive but how much does a life is worth? Also the economic cost adds up.

Originally Posted by bardak

^^^
Installing the platform doors would not necessaries stop people from taking their lives it would only make them do it some other way.

On how to get downtown from metrotown wouldn't it be faster to take go 130>mell>expo

Originally Posted by deasine

Platform doors can't be installed until we get rid of the MK Is.

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

I think I remember reading that mirrors on the other side of the platform helped in preventing jumpers in Japan. I know train suicides have gone down there, but I don't know all the measures that were put into place.

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

Would stop them from inconveniencing the rest of the population, though.

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

I guess the mirrors confront the jumper with what they are doing, creating an emotional barrier of sorts?

This has become (or perhaps always was) a major issue in cities with subway systems. All I can say is that here in Paris, the whole Métro system is gradually being refurbished with - among other things - glass panels with glass doors which open only when a train stops, doors open.
"Incident grave voyageur" is the Parisian euphemism for a suicide, and it occurs with surprising frequency. (can't give you the stats, though).
But loss of human life, through suicide or other means, is a serious issue, and IMHO, has to be mitigated as much as possible.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by cc85

I dislike our system here. The TTC did things so much better for such a long time. They have a profound ability to look long-term for their anticipated needs. If only people here were smart enough (the electorate, politicians, and bureaucrats).

They aren't.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by cc85

I dislike our system here. The TTC did things so much better for such a long time. They have a profound ability to look long-term for their anticipated needs. If only people here were smart enough (the electorate, politicians, and bureaucrats).

I think the operative word is "did". Excerpt from the TTC website:

Buying Tickets, Tokens and Passes

There is a number of ways you can purchase TTC Tickets, Tokens and Passes.

Collector Booths
Located at every subway station, this is where you can pay your fare, and purchase tickets, tokens and passes. Tickets, Tokens and Weekly Passes can be purchased by cash only.
•Adult tokens are sold in multiples of five.
•Senior/Student tickets are sold in multiples of five.
•Child tickets are sold in multiples of ten.

Buying a monthly Metropass is now easier. Pay by debit card or credit card (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express) at selected locations:
•Pay by debit card at Finch, Kennedy, Kipling and Downsview stations.
•Pay by debit card or credit card at Union, Dundas (east side only), Bloor-Yonge (north side only), and Davisville stations.

Authorized TTC Fare Media Sellers
Tickets, tokens and passes are also available at over 1,200 Authorized TTC Fare Media Sellers in Toronto. For the locations of Authorized TTC Fare Media Sellers, call Customer Information at 416-393-INFO (4636) and select "0" for Operator Assisted Service - available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except statutory holidays.

Token Vending Machines
Token Vending Machines are available in many stations and dispense tokens in quantities of one, four, or eight. Token Vending Machines accept cash only.

Pass Vending Machines
Located in select Subway Stations, the Pass Vending Machine offers a variety of passes for purchase by debit card.

All passes dispensed through the Pass Vending Machine do not have a validation sticker - passes are valid and ready to use.

Airport Vending Machine
You can purchase single fare tickets at Toronto Pearson International Airport. There are two TTC ticket vending machines in Terminal 1, located at the Public Transit area of the Ground Transportation Level, just inside from where the TTC buses stop.

Use cash or major credit cards anytime of the day or night to purchase Adult, Senior/Student and Child tickets. Detach and deposit the ticket portion into the farebox on the bus - retain your receipt portion. Ask the Driver for a transfer if you are planning to continue your trip on another connecting TTC route.

http://www3.ttc.ca/Fares_and_passes/Prices/Buying_tickets_tokens_and_passes.jsp

[bardak]

Has translink released any bus ridership numbers since the Canada line opened because I'm really would like to know how much the 351 has gained. For such a suburb route it has really good frequency.

[SpongeG]

from twitter:

translink TransLink BC
Due to crowds downtown VPD closed Seymour, any bus using Cambie or Granville bridge not operating in the downtown area at this time ^ud