trek Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I paid $300/sem for parking at SFU + gas + insurance and still had to pay the UPass fee as well. I was ok with that since everyone pays into the pot and helps subsidize the program for people with no cars/parking. What really pisses me off is those people who are selling their UPasses to make a profit. I can understand how Translink wants to stop this. It should definitely be part of the student ID with a RFID when they have the new payment systems in place. Sell your student pass, try to take an exam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I paid $300/sem for parking at SFU + gas + insurance and still had to pay the UPass fee as well. I was ok with that since everyone pays into the pot and helps subsidize the program for people with no cars/parking. What really pisses me off is those people who are selling their UPasses to make a profit. I can understand how Translink wants to stop this. It should definitely be part of the student ID with a RFID when they have the new payment systems in place. Sell your student pass, try to take an exam. Why on earth didn't you try to sell your pass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Well, there's no reason the more local traffic should have to take the freeway just to cross the river. If anything we need MORE minor crossings like the Putello (ditto highway overpasses). There most certainly should be a parkade at Scott Road. Doesn't the lot fill completely? I would think there's a business case that would actually make money to put in a secure park and ride! And yes, there needs to be a way to figure out how to run the skytrain 24 hours a day. It's rather insane that it's not. Even if you have to do transfers while they do maintance like they do when a track is shut down during regular hours so be it. yes it does 110ave is used as parking as well maybe they should develop the giant mud pit between there and home depot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 yes it does 110ave is used as parking as well maybe they should develop the giant mud pit between there and home depot. I would put it immeadiately south of the station where there is existing parking. Perhaps even put in a direct connection to the station itself. Even at 2-3 dollars a day it would be competitve with downtown parking rates (even if you include the train fare) with enough money to probably have it patrolled (there are legitimate safety/vandalism/theft gripes for that lot) and still make a PROFIT and encourage ridership. If you put cheap parking near a skytrain station rest assured customers will come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I would put it immeadiately south of the station where there is existing parking. Perhaps even put in a direct connection to the station itself. Even at 2-3 dollars a day it would be competitve with downtown parking rates (even if you include the train fare) with enough money to probably have it patrolled (there are legitimate safety/vandalism/theft gripes for that lot) and still make a PROFIT and encourage ridership. If you put cheap parking near a skytrain station rest assured customers will come. Pipe dreams all pipe dreams trans link isn't that smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Surrey Rapid Transit Study The design guide with 10 options from rapid bus to light rail to skytrain and different combinations. Tons more info on the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 (edited) Surrey Rapid Transit Study The design guide with 10 options from rapid bus to light rail to skytrain and different combinations. Tons more info on the site. Go with a hybrid skytrain to Langley/rapid bus to Whiterock prolly 2.7 billion. Edit: Do LRT4 AND RRT1 for 2.8 billion. Connects all the major centres except for whiterock which could just bus up while maintaining excellent expandability (LRT on both ends and Skytrain further into the valley) and would have very high ridership. The total impacts to Surrey would be excellent and without looking too hard the C/B ratio would no doubt be impressive. Edited May 27, 2011 by ronthecivil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trek Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Taser, rubber bullets fail to subdue sword-wielding man Date: Monday May. 30, 2011 7:10 PM PT Vancouver police were forced to tackle a man who was allegedly waving a sword near Burrard and Georgia streets Monday afternoon after a Taser and non-lethal anti-riot gun failed to subdue him. The man was first seen at around 1:30 p.m. near the Metrotown SkyTrain Station, where he was allegedly acting irrationally and repeatedly unsheathing a sword. Const. Lindsey Houghton said he eventually turned up in downtown Vancouver at the Burrard SkyTrain Station, but was quickly intercepted by Transit Police. He made his way to Georgia Street, Houghton said, refusing to comply with commands to drop his sword or cooperate with negotiators. Witness Christina Jansen said he appeared determined, "like he had something to say." Emergency Response Team members eventually fired multiple rubber bullet rounds from an anti-riot gun, but were unable to subdue him. "The man continued to wave the sword. Officers then deployed the Taser, which was also ineffective," Houghton said in a release. He then ran across Burrard towards Melville Street, where officers tackled him, seized his sword and took him into custody. He is not believed to be injured, but will be examined by ambulance attendants. No bystander or police injuries have been reported. Houghton said the man faces possible weapons-related charges and police will be recommending he undergo a psychological examination. Source: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110530/bc_sword_arrest_110530/20110530/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome (with video) Immune to rubber bullets, cops should've tried the beanbag shotgun lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj_coolcat Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Transit in many locations is at capacity. The lack of capacity is keeping cars on the street. If there was more money from fares (three zone far vs. a pittance from UPass in your example) then they could provide more funding. Why increase a discount program when you're not taking in enough money? And while it might not change your mind having to pay the full three zone fare might influence the change the housing decisions of some people since living on/near campus where you can walk/bike in for free would save over a hundred per month that could go into accomidation. 100 bucks a month is not going to make people move closer to campus when they can live with their parents rent free (I'm assuming nobody chooses to rent in Langley and go to UBC.) I doubt that 3 zone commuters make up a large proportion of U-PASS users. Most live probably live within one zone. But even a one zone pass is 80 bucks a month. Doesn't sound like a lot but that would have been a huge drain on me when I was student. And you make it sound so easy to find accommodation within walking distance? Maybe Vancouver is different, but I tried for 4 years in Victoria to live close enough to campus so that I could walk and was completely unsuccessful. Those places go so fast they're nearly impossible to get in to. The U-PASS was a godsend for me. As for U-PASS fraud, why don't they just make people scan their U-Passes rather than merely showing them to the driver? I'm pretty sure we didn't have this problem (or at least not on the same scale) in Victoria as your U-PASS was also your student card and it had a magnetic stripe on it that you swiped whenever you got on the bus. So if you're not a student anymore, it's de-activated and it won't work on the bus. And you can't really go sell your student card while you're a student since you need it for things other than the bus! I guess the only issue here is that our ticketing machines are sooo slow that everyone scanning their U-Passes when they got on the bus would take forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trek Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 As for U-PASS fraud, why don't they just make people scan their U-Passes rather than merely showing them to the driver? I'm pretty sure we didn't have this problem (or at least not on the same scale) in Victoria as your U-PASS was also your student card and it had a magnetic stripe on it that you swiped whenever you got on the bus. That's the difference. They are separate cards here. I definitely think the UPass should be integrated into the student cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 That's the difference. They are separate cards here. I definitely think the UPass should be integrated into the student cards. I think it would be too flimsy for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trek Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I think it would be too flimsy for that. My SFU card is hard plastic... Just like a credit card. Once Translink sticks an RFID in there for their new Compass system, no wear and tear at all on the card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 100 bucks a month is not going to make people move closer to campus when they can live with their parents rent free (I'm assuming nobody chooses to rent in Langley and go to UBC.) I doubt that 3 zone commuters make up a large proportion of U-PASS users. Most live probably live within one zone. But even a one zone pass is 80 bucks a month. Doesn't sound like a lot but that would have been a huge drain on me when I was student. And you make it sound so easy to find accommodation within walking distance? Maybe Vancouver is different, but I tried for 4 years in Victoria to live close enough to campus so that I could walk and was completely unsuccessful. Those places go so fast they're nearly impossible to get in to. The U-PASS was a godsend for me. As for U-PASS fraud, why don't they just make people scan their U-Passes rather than merely showing them to the driver? I'm pretty sure we didn't have this problem (or at least not on the same scale) in Victoria as your U-PASS was also your student card and it had a magnetic stripe on it that you swiped whenever you got on the bus. So if you're not a student anymore, it's de-activated and it won't work on the bus. And you can't really go sell your student card while you're a student since you need it for things other than the bus! I guess the only issue here is that our ticketing machines are sooo slow that everyone scanning their U-Passes when they got on the bus would take forever. I made it through University witthout a U pass just fine and so can anyone else. The system is loosing money which translink doesn't have and is being abused. Also, many people that live on campus are being punished for living on campus by having to pay for transit to a place they are already at to and very rarely will need (or probably even want) to leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I made it through University witthout a U pass just fine and so can anyone else. The system is loosing money which translink doesn't have and is being abused. Also, many people that live on campus are being punished for living on campus by having to pay for transit to a place they are already at to and very rarely will need (or probably even want) to leave. I lived on campus for the first year and the u-pass was great--bus downtown, bus to the ferry, etc... There's a generation of people growing up with transit, it's a good thing. We now just need to get real service so those people don't disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainly Mattias Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 does anyone know if faculty who take courses can qualify for a UPass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I lived on campus for the first year and the u-pass was great--bus downtown, bus to the ferry, etc... There's a generation of people growing up with transit, it's a good thing. We now just need to get real service so those people don't disappear. Unless the UPass is actually bringing in $$$ more than conventional fares to provide this service then really it's not helping to get real service for those people. In good news there's talk of giving some of the money from the carbon tax to translink which would be pretty good news for those that would like to see a complete transit network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Surrey Rapid Transit Study The design guide with 10 options from rapid bus to light rail to skytrain and different combinations. Tons more info on the site. If they plan on running anything other than buses down Fraser hwy in the future there drunk as that should have been done 10 years ago before all the road upgrades were done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 If they plan on running anything other than buses down Fraser hwy in the future there drunk as that should have been done 10 years ago before all the road upgrades were done. I was also thinking that. Didn't they JUST finish re-doing most of that from like 152 to Langley/200th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violator Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I was also thinking that. Didn't they JUST finish re-doing most of that from like 152 to Langley/200th? yes they did and there waiting for the ground to settle so they can finish putting in two lanes in either direction were Fraser hwy meets pacific hwy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj_coolcat Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I made it through University witthout a U pass just fine and so can anyone else. The system is loosing money which translink doesn't have and is being abused. Also, many people that live on campus are being punished for living on campus by having to pay for transit to a place they are already at to and very rarely will need (or probably even want) to leave. How can you possibly never leave campus?? Okay so I admit that I've only been to UBC campus a couple of times, but is it it's own city or something? Don't you need to leave campus to get groceries at least? Is there enough housing on campus or within walking distance of campus to house the entire UBC student population? I'm guessing not. Even less so if you go to SFU. Why not instead of abolishing the U-PASS just raise the price of it and make it optional so students have to opt in? And obviously take steps to reduce or eliminate U-PASS fraud (like I said, should be pretty simple if they follow the Victoria model of having the student ID and U-PASS be one card.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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