inane Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Parking+transit+cost+more/2311194/story.html Come Jan. 1, it's going to cost a lot more to drive and park your car as TransLink triples parking stall taxes and boosts gasoline taxes by three cents a litre. But if you switch to transit, be warned: fares are increasing too. TransLink is tripling the tax on the purchase price of parking rights. The tax, which will affect parking lots on the south coast, will most likely be passed on to motorists. "A $10 parking lot will probably cost you $12 now," TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said. The parking-stall tax jump from seven per cent to 21 per cent is part of a stabilization plan aimed at managing TransLink's $150-million annual "structural deficit." Hardie said the decision on how to raise the $150 million was made after broad public consultation in the spring of 2009. "The public told us they don't like paying more for anything," said Hardie, "but at the same time nobody was willing to look at cuts to the transit system." The parking stall tax increase will remain in effect until the harmonized sales tax (HST) is introduced in July 2010. Because the parking tax is a sales tax, it will be rolled into the HST when it is launched next July 1. Hardie said the government has promised the sales tax revenue absorbed by HST will be transferred back to TransLink in some way. Losing the tax would drain $57 million from the budget at the 21-per-cent rate. The increase in the cost of parking lot taxes is one of three revenue measures approved by the regional mayors' council on Oct. 23 that takes money directly out of taxpayers' pockets. The plan includes a three-cents-a-litre increase in gas taxes, and increasing the cost of Faresaver tickets and passes. Effective April 1, a one-zone pass will rise from $73 to $81 and one-zone Faresaver tickets will rise by 10 cents each. Cash fares will remain the same. Hardie said while no one likes to pay more, "when the cost of parking increases, we inevitably see a shift to transit." That helps with "farebox recovery" said Hardie. "Fifty-five per cent of our revenues come from farebox recovery, which is comparatively good. The other 45 per cent has to come from other sources." Hardie said the $150 million won't be providing any new services, but is needed just to keep things moving along without cuts. "The real issue is operating costs," said Hardie. "Buying and building is one thing; operating costs really mount up. That includes maintenance, repairs, storage facilities and upkeep." TransLink's debt has tripled since 2005, which diverts revenue to interest payments, and although ridership has increased, it hasn't increased enough to support the system. In a report released in September, TransLink's commissioner Martin Crilly warned that the region's transportation system lacked adequate funding, faces interference from senior governments and lacks an integrated approach to transportation and regional planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Why? Are you sure this mode of transit will revitalize the DTES? Streetcars can obviously travel much, much faster especially if they're on an exclsuive ROW. But since this is a "Demonstration Line," I might imagine those got carried away and wanted people to have a longer experience riding the train so that they would be "impressed"...while forgetting that speed also impresses people. OR that they want to maintain a frequency of every 8-mins and to reduce the operational costs of the line, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buggernut Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Streetcars can obviously travel much, much faster especially if they're on an exclsuive ROW. How many inner city streetcars running on exclusive ROW's do you know of? I highly doubt they can make room for it in our downtown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 How many inner city streetcars running on exclusive ROW's do you know of? I highly doubt they can make room for it in our downtown. That comment you quoted was about the ROW for the Olympic Line streetcar only. Fact is: streetcars can redevelop and revitalize neighbourhoods, not as much as SkyTrain but it's in between a bus and SkyTrain. You only have to look to Portland for an example. A Downtown Streetcar is not meant to do what SkyTrain does as a regional commuter train but rather complement it for travel within Downtown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opmac Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 METRO VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Two bomb-sniffing dogs will be joining Metro Vancouver's Transit Police. They'll be on the job before the 2010 Winter Olympic Games begin in February. The animals will help guard against potential terrorism, but won't be used to find drugs or chase suspects. You can expect to see the dogs on Skytrains, in the stations, on buses and at bus loops. The 2 year pilot project was approved by the Transit Police Board this fall. http://www.news1130.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20091207_232843_9096 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trek Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 http://www.news1130....207_232843_9096 So basically like walking around LAX then eh? aite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 http://www.news1130.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20091207_232843_9096 NOOOO FIDO!!! DON'T RUN INTO THE TRACKS!!! THE TRAIN IS COMING! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckyHermit Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 So basically like walking around LAX then eh? aite. I stepped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan... But in all seriousness, I think it's a smart move with the Olympics around the corner. Crazy things can happen at such events that nobody expects. Ask Munich. Ask Atlanta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 That comment you quoted was about the ROW for the Olympic Line streetcar only. Fact is: streetcars can redevelop and revitalize neighbourhoods, not as much as SkyTrain but it's in between a bus and SkyTrain. You only have to look to Portland for an example. A Downtown Streetcar is not meant to do what SkyTrain does as a regional commuter train but rather complement it for travel within Downtown. The thing I hate about streetcars from my experiences in SF and San Jose is their quite operation means that it's very easy to get run over by them. (I came very VERY close at least once). And although the dowtown streetcar following the water won't have this problem so much (at least for cars) is that you need to have significant time before the train gets there, the time while it's there, and then some time after it departs where often arms come down for the peds, red lights go up for the cars, and everyone that might want to cross the path of the train has to wait. Now, you can avoid all this by riding the train (though you can still get screwed trying to get to the right side to board/unboard) but bring a book. Having the fight all that traffic makes them no faster than a bus, despite all the rails and fancy train looks. As for the effect it can have on riding patterns, I dare any light rail enthusiast to compare the riderhsip of the 99 bline with any of the light rail lines in Portland. Now imagine we made bus only lanes for the 99 to run in (same ROW requirements of light rail, capital cost=paint and signage) or even spent a little bit more and made the lights co-ordinate with the buses, and you can bet times and ridership would gain an even further lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 ^ can't wait...but they're going to be driving those streetcars incredibly slow: two stations - Cambie St/Olympic Village and Granville St/Granville Island - will take 8-minutes! That's the default for streetcars. The faster they go the more lead lag time you have to give them for their windows that prevent all crossings, and the more horrific the crashes are when someone doesn't notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 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? If you can live/work in the city of Vancouver it's actually easier to get around with transit (no need to find parking spots). For those few road trips in the summer all the money you saved on parking will rent you a much nicer vehicle than you would own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/12/07/the-future-of-american-streetcars-are-they-coming-to-your-city/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opmac Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 http://www.infrastru...g-to-your-city/ So.....in the future all of the United States will be linked by street car with a couple of routes to Canada? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 So.....in the future all of the United States will be linked by street car with a couple of routes to Canada? No...they were just showing the cities have that street cars. I don't know why they linked them all up. Whatever style train be it streetcar, lrt, skytrain, subway, interurban, west coast express, whatever--we need more of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I stepped off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan... But in all seriousness, I think it's a smart move with the Olympics around the corner. Crazy things can happen at such events that nobody expects. Ask Munich. Ask Atlanta. Wrong thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaK Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 new seabus: BCIT posted a video with more of the drill on youtube as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtx_fMY3UXg I'm the guy staring at the underside of the Seabus at 1:22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Subway architecture Looks a lot better than Vancouvers drab tile fetish http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/8346/subway-architecture.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opmac Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Subway architecture Looks a lot better than Vancouvers drab tile fetish http://www.designboo...chitecture.html It's a rapid transit system....why waste your money on making it all sexy looking. Whose actually going to stop and admire the nice architecture? I'd be in a hurry to get home, not caring what the station looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 It's a rapid transit system....why waste your money on making it all sexy looking. Whose actually going to stop and admire the nice architecture? I'd be in a hurry to get home, not caring what the station looks like. Why would you cheap out on something you'll be using for another 50+ years? Done opportunity, architecture for rapid transit stations can also be a symbol of pride just like any landmark building. Not to mention that people do tend to respect, these same structures tend to age much better and are also well maintained. Stations I would like to have in this city....they're realistically within our price range and would bring the Canada Line to the same standard we created for the Millennium Line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stemm Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 What did ya do to get yourself suspended from SSP, nitronuts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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