The Official Transit Thread

[nitronuts]

One thing that bugs me about the MK II trains is that their too short when they operate at 2-car. Why can't Translink operate all MK IIs at 4-car sets? Especially on weekends.

There aren't enough Mark II cars to do that, and if they did it would mean frequency would have to be decreased significantly.

However, the batch of 48 additional Mark II cars that are coming next year will result in all Mark II trains being 4-car sets.

[nitronuts]

That was the concept train they were going to use for the M-Line SkyTrain.

Yup, until they realized it wasn't very practical and the black windows weren't that great for security. Looks nice though.

[Buggernut]

Perhaps we'll see something like that for the future, but I highly doubt it. Translink is going to be in a huge financial hole if it keeps up with its capital infrastructure spending plan with annual deficits as much as $500-million if they don't find additional revenues. On top of that, the Canada Line is mightily expensive to operate. Had the province built it as a public project as an extension of SkyTrain, there could have been massive cost savings to construction costs and operational costs.

In fact, $1.85-billion for SkyTrain built by Bombardier and an annual operational cost of ~$20-million utilizing the same SkyTrain rolling stock, maintenance facilities, staff, administrative resources, command centre, operations and maintenance centre, etc.

It's for Translink's own benefit to pack the Canada Line trains like sardine cans, so any alternate north-south Vancouver-Richmond bus route simply won't do for the forseeable future.

Abolishing the Richmond-Granville connection to pack people onto the Canada Line makes about as much sense as abolishing the #160 to pack people onto the Millenium Line and West Coast Express. Granville and Cambie are far enough apart to warrant separate routes serving completely different uses.

I imagine most downtown bound passengers will take the CL anyways.

[nitronuts]

Abolishing the Richmond-Granville connection to pack people onto the Canada Line makes about as much sense as abolishing the #160 to pack people onto the Millenium Line and West Coast Express. Granville and Cambie are far enough apart to warrant separate routes serving completely different uses.

I imagine most downtown bound passengers will take the CL anyways.

The difference is that Translink has a lot more at stake with the Canada Line.

[Buggernut]

The difference is that Translink has a lot more at stake with the Canada Line.

By that reasoning, would it also make sense to abolish parallel bus routes along Oak and Main to make their passengers walk several blocks and funnel them onto the CL?

[nitronuts]

By that reasoning, would it also make sense to abolish parallel bus routes along Oak and Main to make their passengers walk several blocks and funnel them onto the CL?

Well there are obviously limits......the parallel trolley routes from Granville to Main will all be terminating at the new Marine Drive Station bus loop.

[Buggernut]

Well there are obviously limits......the parallel trolley routes from Granville to Main will all be terminating at the new Marine Drive Station bus loop.

I think a Richmond-Granville route can still work--provided it's slower than the CL.

[BuckyHermit]

Does anyone know when drivers' route rotations occur, this winter?

[nitronuts]

Vancouver City Centre Station:

emergency staircase

main entrance

main entrance elevator

[ronthecivil]

By that reasoning, would it also make sense to abolish parallel bus routes along Oak and Main to make their passengers walk several blocks and funnel them onto the CL?

I was under the impression that they were going to increase the frequentcy of the trolley buses on those routes, and route the 10 to go up marine drive to the RAV line station at Marine and Cambie.

[Common sense]

I think a Richmond-Granville route can still work--provided it's slower than the CL.

But if it's slower, then what's the point? Won't people from DT just hop on the RAV and come back down to Richmond. This Richmond-granville rote will ony benefit those who commute west of the Granville corridor, or a bit east.

Some food for thought.

[Buggernut]

I was under the impression that they were going to increase the frequentcy of the trolley buses on those routes, and route the 10 to go up marine drive to the RAV line station at Marine and Cambie.

They should just build new trolley lines going to Richmond and extend the #10 that way instead, and have it hook up with the Canada Line at Richmond Center or at least Bridgeport Station, which would make for a more convenient connection with buses to/from Delta, White Rock and the like.

But if it's slower, then what's the point? Won't people from DT just hop on the RAV and come back down to Richmond. This Richmond-granville rote will ony benefit those who commute west of the Granville corridor, or a bit east.

Some food for thought.

My suggested route would mainly be a replacement for the #10 for those travelling between Granville and DT, and for those travelling between Richmond and Granville. Not the whole way through between Richmond and DT.

[MikeGillis58]

So if I want to connect from Granville Station to Robson Station, I have to walk pass "The Bay" department store? Or would Waterfront Station be better?

[nitronuts]

So if I want to connect from Granville Station to Robson Station, I have to walk pass "The Bay" department store? Or would Waterfront Station be better?

Roughly the same.....Vancouver Centre Mall has a underground entrance to the Canada Line. Go through that, and then through to the Bay.

[Prosthetic Conscience]

Memo to the folks at Metrotown: I'm sure in whatever country you're from people start to mosh their way into train car like they're at a Slayer concert, but here you're supposed to wait until people have left the f**king car before getting on yourself. See, that way there's actually space for you to get on, right? All those other people standing beside are going to on too, so you saving yourself a whopping big ten seconds by shoving past guys like me (who are getting very close to punching you) doesn't amount to s**t as you must still wait for your fellow passengers to embark and roll their eyes at what an idiot you are.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Prosthetic Conscience

[nitronuts]

Test train arriving at Marine Drive Station, traveling south bound on the north bound track after exiting the tunnel portal:

Edited November 20, 2008 by nitronuts

[ronthecivil]

They should just build new trolley lines going to Richmond and extend the #10 that way instead, and have it hook up with the Canada Line at Richmond Center or at least Bridgeport Station, which would make for a more convenient connection with buses to/from Delta, White Rock and the like.

My suggested route would mainly be a replacement for the #10 for those travelling between Granville and DT, and for those travelling between Richmond and Granville. Not the whole way through between Richmond and DT.

Trolley lines over the bridge wouldn't be cheap (would need a way to anchor them to the bridge). Also, there is the issue of bridge traffic, it's still probably faster to take the RAV even if it's only for one stop and you get another transfer. I doubt it would serve all that many people as well.

[ronthecivil]

Test train arriving at Marine Drive Station, traveling south bound on the north bound track after exiting the tunnel portal:

How far is the mainline track done up to now?

[nitronuts]

^ mostly done.

For Immediate Release

2008TRAN0028-000862

June 5, 2008

Ministry of Transportation

B.C. CHOOSES SNC-LAVALIN TO DESIGN HWY 99 BUS LANE

RICHMOND – A contract has been awarded to design a bus-only lane that will enable northbound buses on Highway 99 in Richmond to bypass traffic congestion, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon announced today.

SNC-Lavalin has been awarded a $649,000 design and engineering contract for the northbound bus lane, which will extend from Westminster Highway to Bridgeport Road. Design of the lane is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2008.

“People using public transit should be able to avoid traffic jams whenever possible and should be rewarded for making an environmentally conscious decision,” Falcon said. “This bus lane will shorten commute times, making the bus a more attractive option.”

“I’m delighted to see we are building on our provincial transportation network, particularly in Richmond,” said Linda Reid, MLA for Richmond East. “This will foster economic growth in our region and promote green travel options.”

“This contract proves our government is forging ahead with its visionary $14-billion Transit Plan,” said Olga Ilich, MLA for Richmond Centre. “By adding a bus-only lane to this high-density route, we are increasing the efficiency of our bus service, and making public transit more attractive to commuters across metro Vancouver.”

“This project will help improve the speed of commuter bus services, which will encourage increased usage of public transit, which in turn will get more people out of their cars and benefit our environment,” said John Yap, MLA for Richmond-Steveston.

The new bus-only lane SNC-Lavalin is designing will be available first for current northbound bus service, and will eventually be used as part of the route for RapidBus BC. This new express transit line will offer frequent, reliable service and priority movement in traffic for much of the length of the route.

The Province is working with TransLink to improve service along Highway 99 in both directions between White Rock and the Canada Line’s Bridgeport Station in Richmond. Commuters will enjoy faster bus trips and an efficient connection with the new Canada Line, to be open in fall of 2009.

The improvements to Highway 99 and RapidBus BC are part of the Provincial Transit Plan, which aims to double transit ridership provincewide by 2020 by increasing choices for travellers. The $14-billion plan also focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars by 4.7 millions tonnes cumulatively by 2020.

-------------------------------------------------------

The design is now done, and ready to be bidded on.

Here is the link for the official bidding process:

http://www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca/open.dll/showDo..._search_by=Tend

This Bus Only/HOV lane will by pass bridge traffic and quickly get buses into the train station bus loop. The alignment of the new lane and off ramp should look similar to this. When the Canada Line opens all HWY99 suburban express buses will terminate at Bridgeport station in Richmond instead of Burrard station downtown like they currently do.

[Common sense]

Memo to the folks at Metrotown: I'm sure in whatever country you're from people start to mosh their way into train car like they're at a Slayer concert, but here you're supposed to wait until people have left the f**king car before getting on yourself. See, that way there's actually space for you to get on, right? All those other people standing beside are going to on too, so you saving yourself a whopping big ten seconds by shoving past guys like me (who are getting very close to punching you) doesn't amount to s**t as you must still wait for your fellow passengers to embark and roll their eyes at what an idiot you are.

I take it the elbow didn't work too well, eh?