Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[dpogue]

The problem I have with almost all existing in-station retail is that it's very obviously constrained by being in-station:
The Waves and Stadium Smoke Shop at Stadium are tiny, the Starbucks at Main was tiny, the convenience store at Braid is tiny and cramped, the little shops at Lougheed are tiny.

Sometimes you're running early, or need to wait half an hour for the next bus. It would be nice in those cases to have somewhere to sit and enjoy your food/drink while you wait. Instead, you're just left to awkwardly stand around in the station area trying to keep out of the way of people catching trains.

[Mac Write]

Hmm if Starbuchs, Tim Hortons, Blenz, etc setup shop at Bus exchanges, people waiting 30 minutes or so for a bus would have a place to get a something to eat/drink and even use the "Facilities." and stay warm in the winter and cold in the summer. Add a "Real Time Departures" display in these places and these coffee shops would be very busy.

I am talking about bus exchanges outside of Skytrain stations (Coveth(SP), Ladner, etc).

[WarrenC12]

Remember when most Canada Line stations had a Jugo Juice? Ya... that didn't last long.

[memememe76]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

Hmm if Starbuchs, Tim Hortons, Blenz, etc setup shop at Bus exchanges, people waiting 30 minutes or so for a bus would have a place to get a something to eat/drink and even use the "Facilities." and stay warm in the winter and cold in the summer. Add a "Real Time Departures" display in these places and these coffee shops would be very busy.

I am talking about bus exchanges outside of Skytrain stations (Coveth(SP), Ladner, etc).

How busy can these bus exchanges be if they have to wait 30+ minutes for a bus?

I don't quite understand the examples being given. So, is that store in Munich within the transit zone? How friggin' long a walk would I have to take from the time I stamp my transit ticket to actually get to the Skytrain if such a store existed?

[Millennium2002]

Originally Posted by memememe76

How busy can these bus exchanges be if they have to wait 30+ minutes for a bus?

I can see a coffee shop or fast food place gaining some business if they set up shop at or next to some of the busier park and rides...

Also, I don't see the Jugo Juice failure as being a great example of retail at SkyTrain stations... I mean, the franchise was certainly nice, and there was that novelty factor that drew me in for the first few months after opening, but after that? The price and type of goods sold made it seem rather out of touch vs the majority of budget-conscious transit customers that just wanted a quick drink or bite on the go.

[theKB]

Originally Posted by memememe76

How busy can these bus exchanges be if they have to wait 30+ minutes for a bus?

I don't quite understand the examples being given. So, is that store in Munich within the transit zone? How friggin' long a walk would I have to take from the time I stamp my transit ticket to actually get to the Skytrain if such a store existed?

Its a mini mall that connects under the roadway where the station is. None of the shops are in the fair paid zone but there are various escalators/stairs/elevators that take you to the platform and of course those are in the fair paid zone. Also because that station is one stop from the main station most of the trains run on the same track and split off down the line to wherever they are going. The other thing that passageway is used for is to cross the intersection and to access a massive parking lot.

This is what the street looks like... https://www.google.ca/maps/@48.139334,11...3m4!1e1!3m2!1sGXhAZh7gp68-vzmM8pwg9w!2e0

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

I can see a coffee shop or fast food place gaining some business if they set up shop at or next to some of the busier park and rides...

Also, I don't see the Jugo Juice failure as being a great example of retail at SkyTrain stations... I mean, the franchise was certainly nice, and there was that novelty factor that drew me in for the first few months after opening, but after that? The price and type of goods sold made it seem rather out of touch vs the majority of budget-conscious transit customers that just wanted a quick drink or bite on the go.

That was a complete and utter failure. Whoever decided to award all those spaces to Jugo Juice wasn't thinking. A starbucks or some form of coffee shop would have been far more successful but I wouldn't have been surprised if someone like a starbucks didn't want to take the space because the locations within the stations were just awful. Look at the OV stations location. I would say 50+% of the people passing through the station don't even pass by the location.

[Millennium2002]

Originally Posted by theKB

A Starbucks or some form of coffee shop would have been far more successful but I wouldn't have been surprised if someone like a starbucks didn't want to take the space because the locations within the stations were just awful. Look at the OV stations location. I would say 50+% of the people passing through the station don't even pass by the location.

I do have to agree with you that whoever decided the retail unit locations at the Canada Line stations did a pretty poor job of it as if it was an afterthought.
Like... stores at the exits and inside the fair paid zones? Surely that respects the no food and drink policy that TransLink has, but that's not going to draw customers in at all...

[madog222]

Burnard Otter II arrived a few days ago.

http://buzzer.translink.ca/2014/07/the-burrad-otter-ii-is-here/



20140730-CWC_1468 by BusShots, on Flickr

[casper]

Originally Posted by theKB

Its a mini mall that connects under the roadway where the station is. None of the shops are in the fair paid zone but there are various escalators/stairs/elevators that take you to the platform and of course those are in the fair paid zone. Also because that station is one stop from the main station most of the trains run on the same track and split off down the line to wherever they are going. The other thing that passageway is used for is to cross the intersection and to access a massive parking lot.

This is what the street looks like... https://www.google.ca/maps/@48.139334,11...3m4!1e1!3m2!1sGXhAZh7gp68-vzmM8pwg9w!2e0



That was a complete and utter failure. Whoever decided to award all those spaces to Jugo Juice wasn't thinking. A starbucks or some form of coffee shop would have been far more successful but I wouldn't have been surprised if someone like a starbucks didn't want to take the space because the locations within the stations were just awful. Look at the OV stations location. I would say 50+% of the people passing through the station don't even pass by the location.

It is not unusual to have an entire commercial area attached to the station in the lobby or ticketing area. That works well. Waterfront station is a good example of where that has worked out. Even the Sea bus terminal on the North Shore is lined with commercial leading up to the entrance.

The space under some of the elevated lines could be converted into that type of retail.

As gar are retail within the fair paid zone I think it is a tough sell. You could see a convenience store, starbucks or flower stand but that is about it and only at the bussy stations.

[teriyaki]

Heres something from left field. Pay to use bathrooms. I notice the lack of public washrooms along the line, could it work as an additional source of revenue, or atleast pay unto itself so its not subsidized.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by casper

The space under some of the elevated lines could be converted into that type of retail.

It looks as though the Maywood area (Metrotown south of Beresford) is going to be entirely redeveloped. With that much density, the area underneath the Skytrain line should be developed with retail. It would give Metrotown a much more urban vibe.

Who owns that land by the way?

[Mac Write]

Isn't the area under Metrotown station going to be the new bus loop?

[logan5]

I was thinking like Willingdon to Dow.

[memememe76]

Anyone take advantage of Free Transit Day? I did. It wasn't too bad. Although I have seen the news about the hour long waits for Seabus (I did not go there). That shows how North Vancouver and Lonsdale Quay have not done enough to take advantage of the Seabus. Whenever I have visitors, I take them to the Seabus to the Quay. Their favourite part of that trip is always the Seabus, not so much the Quay.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by teriyaki

Heres something from left field. Pay to use bathrooms. I notice the lack of public washrooms along the line, could it work as an additional source of revenue, or atleast pay unto itself so its not subsidized.

I remember seeing portables like that in the UK years and years ago when I last visited. I always wondered what would happen if you paid went in. Then had a some "problems" and couldn't finish before the timer was up. Would the door just open up.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

if you start selling things that create garbage the trains will get a lot messier. yes there are garbage bins and what-not but people are generally pigs when you get into things where there are groupings of people.

And has that ever stopped people from eating McDonalds or A&W on the Skytrain? (both of these are at Broadway)

My point at the least is that when translink says it doesn't have enough money, yet misses many opportunities to use empty or wasted space in near and inside the stations.

Like in most cases you can put a set of cold drink vending machines in the ticketing area, and that will have zero impact on the garbage already floating around. Look at how many 24hrs and The Metro get left behind. Coffee kiosks would do well for morning rush hours, but they might only reasonably recover their costs if they were in or immediately outside the ticketing area.

Also I agree on the point that why didn't they integrate the Skytrain station with the Via Rail station, but clearly there is a land use impracticality (that store beside Via Rail ( http://www.aycre.com/commercial167.html ), used to be the Greyhound station at some point IIRC before it was BC housing, and the "cloverdale paint" I think has been there for a while.

Proposed Office Development
14-storeys (170 feet in height)
250,175 sf (6.04 FSR)

Maybe the developers could integrate it instead. Not likely given the drawings.

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by memememe76

Anyone take advantage of Free Transit Day? I did. It wasn't too bad. Although I have seen the news about the hour long waits for Seabus (I did not go there). That shows how North Vancouver and Lonsdale Quay have not done enough to take advantage of the Seabus. Whenever I have visitors, I take them to the Seabus to the Quay. Their favourite part of that trip is always the Seabus, not so much the Quay.

Free transit day was just complete BS. So you inconvenience thousands of commuters twice during the work week, and in return offer a "free transit day" on a non-commute LONG WEEKEND holiday when everyone is out of town.

Way to go Translink, way to say sorry to the life blood of your SkyTrain network.

They should have had the free transit day tomorrow and Wednesday. Or next weekend Tuesday and the following Tuesday.

[logicbomb]

Originally Posted by jhausner

Free transit day was just complete BS. So you inconvenience thousands of commuters twice during the work week, and in return offer a "free transit day" on a non-commute LONG WEEKEND holiday when everyone is out of town.

Way to go Translink, way to say sorry to the life blood of your SkyTrain network.

They should have had the free transit day tomorrow and Wednesday. Or next weekend Tuesday and the following Tuesday.

Not even that, it was still awful. Especially since you had buses and Skytrains running on Sunday service.

Mostly 4 car MK I cars were out today. Skytrain was absolutely packed from Surrey Central to Downtown @ 9:00am. The buses were absolutely packed. Parents brought their kids out; so you had to contend with hundreds of toddlers+ strollers jumping all over the place.

To me, this was another **** you.

[ninjakafi_81]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

Not even that, it was still awful. Especially since you had buses and Skytrains running on Sunday service.

Mostly 4 car MK I cars were out today. Skytrain was absolutely packed from Surrey Central to Downtown @ 9:00am. The buses were absolutely packed. Parents brought their kids out; so you had to contend with hundreds of toddlers+ strollers jumping all over the place.

To me, this was another **** you.

Their were some increased service on the routes, but I honestly think all the FTN routes should of been on a Saturday service level or a modified weekday service. All the FTN routes were packed AF, like I was on the 319 headed to Scott Rd Stn and it was packed from 80th to Scott Rd Stn. All the buses and the skytrains were packed all day and Waterfront Stn was just a gong show. I would of probably taken the 240 and then transfer to the 239 to get to Lonsdale Quay and that would of probably been faster as well.

Really, spotted lots of 6 car MK I trains on the Expo Line today, rode several of them throughout the day as well. But the kids man, holy. Every single bus and train you would have a out of control kid going bananas and the parents not even trying to calm their kid down.

Honestly, they shouldn't have even done this. They should of just reduced the monthly bus pass maybe by $10 - $15 for the next month or two. That would of made the passengers who were trapped in that gong show somewhat happy. Today was a pretty much a free day that people who never use the transit and don't give a sh*t about it.

[GlassCity]

I'm just surprised to hear that free transit day got so many people to come out. Was the $3 fare really an obstacle before this? It's not like taking the bus is a fun activity for most people, although it is for me