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nitronuts

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I find it annoying when a sign reads

9 MERRY CHRISTMAS

Where are you suppose to go? Boundary or Commercial-Broadway?

99 GO CANUCKS GO

I like to Canucks too.

25 SORRY, BUS FULL

The bus is half empty.

Pfft...it's not like the bus driver's gonna skip your stop because the sign's on and there's still sitting room :P

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i havent read through this thread or anything, but i'm curious

do any of you not drive (at all) in vancouver? how do you find the public transportation is for you? obviously its got some flaws, but how does not owning a car (or at least not driving it as often as some others do) work out for you?

Most of my traveling is between my home in suburban Richmond and UBC, where I am a student.

I get the upass, which is about $23/month for 8 months, as a standard deal with my tuition, etc. Bussing takes about 70 minutes; on a bad day, driving in to UBC takes 35 minutes (this includes rush hour traffic).

It still works out for me because I don't have to pay the high parking fees that are wit UBC Parking.

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i havent read through this thread or anything, but i'm curious

do any of you not drive (at all) in vancouver? how do you find the public transportation is for you? obviously its got some flaws, but how does not owning a car (or at least not driving it as often as some others do) work out for you?

My mode of transportation varies on what the end result will be. If I'm going to work for my regular shift, I'll take transit. However, if I have to close, I drive, just based on hours. If I'm going downtown, it's a no-brainer to take skytrain.

I find for what I need out of this system, it works for me.

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i havent read through this thread or anything, but i'm curious

do any of you not drive (at all) in vancouver? how do you find the public transportation is for you? obviously its got some flaws, but how does not owning a car (or at least not driving it as often as some others do) work out for you?

Too lazy to get even my L, but I plan to do that soon. I take the Canada Line to Langara everyday, and I haven't had any problems with it. Saves me the extra 10-20 minutes or so if I had to take the 98 B-Line and then transfer at 49th. I find that I've centered the places I go to nowadays so that they're close to the Canada Line, so I can maximize the use of my U-Pass, which is $163?/3 months. I find transit in general very handy, and quick. No more No. 3 road nightmares.

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how can someone be lazy enough to not get their L?

i was pressured to get mine and it took me, about 25-30 minutes for everything to happen

11 min for the test, and then getting set up and all that

more like 20 min

Edited by deadmau5
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how can someone be lazy enough to not get their L?

i was pressured to get mine and it took me, about 25-30 minutes for everything to happen

11 min for the test, and then getting set up and all that

more like 20 min

Get your L. Then wait another year, two, three, five or whatever to take your Class 7 Road test. Why waste the time between now and whenever you will need to drive.

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Translink will be shutting down the Expo and Millennium Lines at 2:15 am during the Olympics. It has pleaded to InTransitBC to do the same for the Canada Line, but they are refusing to do so "to save money".

Unfortunately, the Canada Line shut down time is not up to Translink. It's up to InTransitBC as the operator of the line under the agreement. The Canada Line will shut down at its normal time of 1:15 am.

So much for an integrated transit system...

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Translink will be shutting down the Expo and Millennium Lines at 2:15 am during the Olympics. It has pleaded to InTransitBC to do the same for the Canada Line, but they are refusing to do so "to save money".

Unfortunately, the Canada Line shut down time is not up to Translink. It's up to InTransitBC as the operator of the line under the agreement. The Canada Line will shut down at its normal time of 1:15 am.

So much for an integrated transit system...

What if Translink gave IntransitBC more cash to keep the operation hours for a bit longer during those 2 weeks? Yes...there's no cash, but this is a major backbone of transit we're talking about...

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Translink will be shutting down the Expo and Millennium Lines at 2:15 am during the Olympics. It has pleaded to InTransitBC to do the same for the Canada Line, but they are refusing to do so "to save money".

Unfortunately, the Canada Line shut down time is not up to Translink. It's up to InTransitBC as the operator of the line under the agreement. The Canada Line will shut down at its normal time of 1:15 am.

So much for an integrated transit system...

Sucks for those living south of the Fraser......

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More info on the street cars:

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - It'll be another transportation option for people trying to get around the city during the 2010 Winter Olympics. New streetcars are being shipped to Vancouver from Brussels.

The two Bombardier trams have been loaned to the city from Belgium and will connect the Athletes Village and Granville Island.

Steve Hall with Bombardier Transportation, says it'll be a free service to the public starting January 21st. "We're very excited about this. These are two state of the art, modern streetcars, European design. Technically their unique feature is they're 100 per cent low-floor streetcars, the very first ones in North America. They are easily accessible all the way through the whole car for everyone."

Hall says this streetcar model has been successfully used in cities like Seattle, Portland and Tacoma.

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20091206_114513_4420

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So when should the New Westminster Station upgrade be done? Next year? The 3 towers are completed now and they have put down steal polls in the ground, I'm guessing the next thing they have to do is take down that old Salvation army building?

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Revolt of the HandyDart Riders

http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/12/04/HandyDartRevolt/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=041209

More than 50 HandyDart riders from all over the Lower Mainland flooded TransLink's Metrotown head office yesterday to protest in support of striking drivers.

So many came that while protesters met with TransLink communications director Ken Hardie in a board room, more than 20 waited outside in the small waiting area on the 16th floor of the Metrotower II building. Office workers looked on as elevator after elevator unloaded people in wheelchairs, on walkers and on foot.

Afterwards in the company waiting room, HandyDart user Candice Larscheid delivered a speech to acting TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis and Hardie demanding they "help the elderly, sick and disabled get back their mobility."

The daughter of long-time B.C. sports commentator Tom Larscheid, she shared his oratory skills.

"What's going on around here is uncalled for," said Larscheid, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

"Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of staying home," she said.

"Since HandyDart has been on strike, I've spent over $700 to get around," she said. "Half of us are spending our life savings to get out or not getting out at all."

Many HandyDart riders have had to take taxis over the last month, she said.

Service said to drop under MVT

Larscheid said TransLink did not take riders into account when it signed an agreement with MVT Canada Bus, a subsidiary of MV Transport, an American company based in California who bid successfully on the contract to run HandyDart last year. They took over HandyDart operations in January of this year.

The quality of the service plummeted when they took over, Larscheid said.

"From the bottom of my heart and the bottom of my gut, MVT sucks," she said. "You never asked us what company or service you wanted HandyDart to [be]."

"You people have done nothing. Because of you we're stuck at home twiddling our thumbs. We are human beings," Larscheid said. "We have every right to get out in the community.

"This whole thing going on has to stop."

Other riders present were also vocal about the situation. "They want us to stay home and die quietly," said Lower Mainland resident Sheila Baxter, who suffers from arthritis and uses a wheelchair to get around.

Vancouver resident Jeannette Parrish has been riding the HandyDart service since 1993 when she became blind. After MVT's takeover in January 2009, "everything changed. It all went to hell in a hand basket," she said.

According to Parrish, HandyDart pickups became erratic and a few times she wasn't picked up from Mount St. Joseph Hospital, where she gets treatment. She said after the takeover some dispatchers made impossible schedules and became rude.

One time her ride didn't come. She verified the meeting time with a hospital secretary, and then was asked "how much did you pay her," by a dispatcher who then hung up on her.

Translink pushing mediation

"A lot of people are getting frustrated and upset having to use Vancouver taxis," said Alison Peyman, who has cerebral palsy and has been using the service for 28 years.

"It's been quite difficult. A lot of people are homebound because of it." When MVT came in, drivers' schedules got much busier, and drivers started to arrive late, she said.

Bet Tuasen, who just ran the Olympic torch in Chilliwack, said he usually volunteers at rehab clinics, but cannot with the strike. "We're stuck," he said.

Hardie said he understood the riders' concerns, adding that his own daughter has mobility issues. "I have heard everything you've said," he said. "If it was my money to give I would."

"What we got were two messages. First, the strike has to be over. The second, there's problems. This isn't working as well as you guys want and we have to fix that too," he said.

But TransLink has its hands tied, as it is not the employer. Legally the dispute is between MVT and the union.

Martin Lay, TransLink director in charge of accessibility, said TransLink has "some limitation" on what it can do, but is doing what it can to bring the parties together. "I think the best option to take here is one of negotiation."

He recommended mediation again, but this time within a framework where parties cannot leave. Previous mediation early in October ended when the mediator decided the two sides were irreconcilable.

MVT refuses binding arbitration

Union representatives said they were trying to push for binding arbitration, a motion that saw some support from Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs Tuesday in a motion on notice, which said the mayor should urge TransLink, MVT, and the union to "resolve the dispute through binding arbitration as soon as possible."

However, MVT spokeswoman Zdenka Buric simply said "no" when asked if the company would agree to binding arbitration.

"In early October, the union agreed not to ask for binding arbitration," she said, producing documents from Oct. 6 in which the union agreed not to seek binding arbitration based on section 55 of the B.C. Labour Code.

According to that section, binding arbitration can be forced on the company by a union but is rarely used.

According to the Labour Relations Board, there are other avenues towards binding arbitration.

Union representative Tyler Felbel said the union is seeking binding arbitration based on both parties consenting to submit to an arbitrator, which the union has not agreed not to seek.

Buric replied by reiterating that the union agreed not to seek arbitration and declined to comment further.

Pension a key issue

The strike entered its second month last week, with the union and MVT remaining deadlocked over negotiations. MVT wants to roll back union municipal pension plans and put all employees on a modified RRSP plan into which MVT pays six per cent.

Paul Bains, a member of the union's negotiation team, said MVT would not budge on the pension. "They said at the negotiations if the pension's on the table, we're walking out."

"I don't know why they aren't happy with the profit they are getting. They just want to get more profit," he said.

Buric denied that MVT refused to negotiate if the union did not agree to their proposal on the pensions, but acknowledged it was a main issue. "MVT welcomes the union back to the table for discussion," she said.

The union is also demanding MVT guarantee full time hours for full time workers. According to Felbel, MVT is guaranteeing 7.5 hours per workday, but not a five day work week.

Buric said she "didn't know" about the work hours.

What a crock. Another prime example of why a service that people with special needs use shouldn't be contracted out to an American for-profit company.

And I don't buy Buric's crap. She seems to have all the paperwork at her fingertips when it is something she wants to show the press but didn't know about the full-time hours issue? Come on.

Edited by old_time_hockey
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