Common sense Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 So now that theres no more 488é492, whats gonna happen to the Sexsmith ParknRide... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) Well, that is just balls. I guess they didn't really do too many time savings/additions studies before deciding on that boneheaded move then. How are they going to attract more people to public transit when they're increasing commute time, when they're increasing the number of transfers in order to get anywhere, and with overloaded trains and buses? (I'm not even going to mention the fare prices... yet.) Oh they definitely know. It actually has to do with the fact that if the Canada Line does not meet ridership guarantees of 100,000/day, Translink will have to pay InTransitBC for operational cost losses and for profits. 100,000 is needed to break even for the Canada Line. So, that's basically why they're cramming everyone onto the Canada Line. It shouldn't be too bad, considering every second train at Bridgeport heading northbound to Vancouver is from the airport - and these airport trains will be quite empty, perfect for the crowds at Bridgeport. They'll eventually reintroduce some express buses, I'm quite sure of that. As for fare prices, still beats the price of driving a car. Edited December 8, 2008 by nitronuts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Oh they definitely know. It actually has to do with the fact that if the Canada Line does not meet ridership guarantees of 100,000/day, Translink will have to pay InTransitBC for operational cost losses and for profits. 100,000 is needed to break even for the Canada Line. So, that's basically why they're cramming everyone onto the Canada Line. It shouldn't be too bad, considering every second train at Bridgeport heading northbound to Vancouver is from the airport - and these airport trains will be quite empty, perfect for the crowds at Bridgeport. They'll eventually reintroduce some express buses, I'm quite sure of that. As for fare prices, still beats the price of driving a car. Too young to remember this, being only 13 or so at the time, but how long did it take for Translink to introduce the 4xx expresses after the 98 B-Line was created? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 So now that theres no more 488é492, whats gonna happen to the Sexsmith ParknRide... Probably will close, considering the Bridgeport park and ride is 10x bigger.....all-day parking for $3.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckyHermit Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Oh they definitely know. It actually has to do with the fact that if the Canada Line does not meet ridership guarantees of 100,000/day, Translink will have to pay InTransitBC for operational cost losses and for profits. 100,000 is needed to break even for the Canada Line. So, that's basically why they're cramming everyone onto the Canada Line. It shouldn't be too bad, considering every second train at Bridgeport heading northbound to Vancouver is from the airport - and these airport trains will be quite empty, perfect for the crowds at Bridgeport. They'll eventually reintroduce some express buses, I'm quite sure of that. As for fare prices, still beats the price of driving a car. So they're screwing us on purpose for monetary reasons. Yep, sounds like TransLink. (They'll be forced to reintroduce the express buses... If not, then there'll be hell to pay.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Too young to remember this, being only 13 or so at the time, but how long did it take for Translink to introduce the 4xx expresses after the 98 B-Line was created? I believe 2003. With the introduction of the B-Line, almost all other local bus services traveling between Richmond and Vancouver were eliminated, resulting in most commuters having to transfer from a local service to the B-Line. As a result of the added transfer and quicker travel times of the B-Line that did not materialize, commute times for passengers increased even though a commute time savings of several minutes had been promised. Within a few years, rush hours routes were created which effectively restored direct rush hour service from most urban areas of Richmond to Vancouver. Trust me, deja vu for Canada Line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 So they're screwing us on purpose for monetary reasons. Yep, sounds like TransLink. (They'll be forced to reintroduce the express buses... If not, then there'll be hell to pay.) Consider that it'll cost $24-36-million to operate the Canada Line each year.....that operational cost would have been much lower had the Canada Line been part of the publicly run SkyTrain network rather than a separate system, using new incompatible vehicles, operated privately, with technology unfamiliar to the region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckyHermit Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Consider that it'll cost $24-36-million to operate the Canada Line each year.....that operational cost would have been much lower had the Canada Line been part of the publicly run SkyTrain network rather than a separate system, using new incompatible vehicles, operated privately, with technology unfamiliar to the region. That's another problem with how they did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Probably will close, considering the Bridgeport park and ride is 10x bigger.....all-day parking for $3.00. You're kidding me, right?? $3.00, and then a 2-zone bus pass to go along with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckyHermit Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 You're kidding me, right?? $3.00, and then a 2-zone bus pass to go along with it? Poverty, here we come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 You're kidding me, right?? $3.00, and then a 2-zone bus pass to go along with it? $3.00 is pretty good if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtzfan Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 You're kidding me, right?? $3.00, and then a 2-zone bus pass to go along with it? Charging us too much money. It is for the Sexsmith ParknRide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) Charging us too much money. It is for the Sexsmith ParknRide No, it's for the new 1,200 space Bridgeport Station car park and ride. Anyhow: http://www.yvr.ca/latestinfo/index.asp?id=550 Observation Deck at YVR - Your Input Requested [Last updated on 12/5/2008 at 7:10:43 PM] Vancouver Airport Authority is developing an observation and information area at YVR that will be open to the public in 2009. Along with a large space to view activity on the airfield, we are considering a number of additional elements for this area, with the goal of informing, educating and entertaining our customers and those who live in the local community. We are asking for your input regarding what you would like to see, do or learn about in a viewing area. Please take a few moments to complete our online questionnaire. We will collect responses until December 31, 2008. Thank you for participating. Your valuable input helps keep Vancouver International Airport as one of the best airports in the world. Edited December 8, 2008 by nitronuts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtzfan Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Charging us too much money. It is for the Sexsmith ParknRide It is free fore the Sexsmith ParknRide. I have been having running nose and coughing these three days >< I would not miss out a word if I am healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckyHermit Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 It is free fore the Sexsmith ParknRide. I have been having running nose and coughing these three days >< I would not miss out a word if I am healthy. As long as you don't sneeze or cough all over this clean forum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 $3.00 is pretty good if you ask me. Pretty good, if it was a one-zone thing. This is two-zone, where it costs $3.75 just for a ride across a bridge. I can understand why people would drive their cars to work if they had to cough up $3.00+$4.95 everyday for park-n-ride. note: the 4.95 was derived from the following: 2-zone monthpass = $99. Using it 40 times in a month = $99/40 uses OR about $2.48/use. Using it twice a day is about 2.48 x 2 = 4.95. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePointblank Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 That's another problem with how they did it. Then quit whining about public tenders... when you put things out on a public tender, ye who has the best package put together wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckyHermit Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Then quit whining about public tenders... when you put things out on a public tender, ye who has the best package put together wins. From what I heard, it wasn't even the "best package" to begin with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) Actually, the whole public tendering with RAV was deeply flawed. First of all, the people who run the bidding process and set the requirements should be interested in saving money AND building a quality system. Bombardier did just that, and presented RAVCO a $1.85-billion proposal that would have been an extension of our SkyTrain network. A new railyard/OMC would not have been built making significant cost savings, and it would have been a Translink operated system utilizing the same staff and the same train vehicles. But RAVCO rejected it, wanting a fair playing field in the bidding process. I believe six consortiums submitted a bid, and two were shortlisted: Bombardier and SNC-Lavalin. Bombardier's new bid was reportedly $2.5-billion, with no cost savings allowed by merging with the existing SkyTrain system. SNC-Lavalin's bid was the lowest at $1.75-billion....but since then, the project cost has risen to $2.05-billion with the overruns on the shoulders of SNC-Lavalin. Secondly, one has to question whether or not a privately designed, built, and operated system for 35 years is cheaper than a publicly designed, built, and operated system. Perhaps in the short-term, it's all cheaper for all three things but it's definitely much more expensive in the long-term. Eventually, over the 35-year operation contract, the public will have to repay SNC-Lavalin for their $700-million contribution to the Canada Line. We also need to pay them the annual $24-36-million needed to operate the Canada Line each year. And we also need to assure them a profit from their $700-million contribution to this project. But you can't blame them - a business is obviously in it for a profit, they would be retarded to get into this if they knew it was going to go into the red. Not to mention, the completion date of the Canada Line. It was originally set for November 30, 2009. But all indication and reports are coming in is that the new line will open for service between August-September 2009, in time for rescheduling and introduction of new and existing bus routes. SNC-Lavalin would never have signed on to a date they knew was risky or couldn't make it, so they basically signed on a date 3-4 months later on their internal schedule and then the media, public and Premier and Minister Falcon can unravel their "On Time and On Budget" banner with that ribbon cutting and thumbs up photo opportunities. The whole point of this second point is that the private-public/P3 system is flawed. It passed on way too much financial responsibility to the private sector, thus allowing them the right to weight heavy in on how the Canada Line is designed. I mean, if Vancouver were Hong Kong this would have been fine: there they'd be sure to build big, build for the future, and build quality with that monstrous demand for public transit. But Vancouver is simply different, and why the market systems don't always work for the best depending on where they are applied. We basically handed over the keys to the project to SNC-Lavalin. This was not the case with the Millennium Line, an enormous amount of public input was given to that project and the growth and development in the design of that rapid transit line was very fluent. With the Canada Line, it was very structured....all the decisions were already made when they had public consultations as the Canada Line had already been contracted to a private enterprise to design and build. At that point, the only thing the public may have made an input to would be the colour of the benches in the stations. On the other hand, certain P3 systems would have obviously worked with the Canada Line. We could have had the owners of Aberdeen Centre, Fairchild, contribute to the funding of Aberdeen Station. In fact, Aberdeen Station could have been incorporated into Aberdeen Centre's latest mall expansion and new hotel - both of which are under construction. And Aberdeen Centre could have been given the responsibility of maintaining Aberdeen Station. This could have also been applied to Lansdowne Mall, Richmond Centre, Oakridge Mall, and Pacific Centre. Just one of my ideas. Not to mention, the real estate industry was booming when we were designing the Canada Line. It was an enormously lost opportunity to not have developed the Hong Kong MTR redevelopment business plan earlier. Translink could have bought the land adjacent to Canada Line stations and sold them at a higher price to developers, and ensuring the developers that they can build density on these sites - midrises and condo towers. The profits could have gone towards funding the construction of the Canada Line. At the same time, with increased density around stations it would have also helped increase ridership on the line...and it forces the City of Vancouver to allow densification in these NIMBY-sucked single-family neighbourhoods. But obviously, such opportunity has come and gone with the recent market collapse. Any hopes of doing this sort of thing is futile until the real estate industry resumes its boom, and sadly the SkyTrain Evergreen Line might miss this opportunity to cash in on land sales and developments. I lied, I have a third and last point. We could have made huge cost savings on top of all this had we built the Canada Line elevated down Cambie starting from ~King Edward/Queen Elizabeth Park rather than starting way down south at Marine Drive. The tunneling is perhaps one of the worst choices made, it's completely pointless. Tunneling is meant for areas that are dense; no space on the ground. Yet, there's a green median throughout half of Cambie and we're building this in mainly a single-family neighbourhood. Not to mention, the train ride is through a tunnel....I'm pretty sure we'll miss having those panoramic views from above on the elevated guideway....at least, until we hit Marine Drive. - end rant - Edited December 8, 2008 by nitronuts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitronuts Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 Translink's 2009 budget and capital plan Our 2009 budget and capital plan was released to the media over the weekend, and it’s resulted in some prominent news stories today. I thought we’d take a little time to talk about the highlights and answer some questions you might have. Here’s the official press release that was sent out, if you’d like to read it as well. What the budget and capital plan mean for 2009 The budget and capital plan outline what we’ll be spending in 2009, and just what projects we’re planning to spend on next year. We’ve adopted a $1.3 billion budget for 2009, which delivers on projects we committed to in the 2005–2007 Three-Year Plan and 10-Year Outlook. The 2009 Capital Plan will invest nearly $28 million to add seven more cars to the West Coast Express by September of 2010, to meet ever-growing demand for service. The budget also forecasts a gap of $103 million between revenues and expenditures that TransLink will cover from its reserve. The reserve was created over the last four years to sustain road and transit expansion and operations while TransLink seeks additional funding. There will be $268 million remaining in the reserve at the end of 2009. Major projects will be delivered in 2009 It’s a big year for us in 2009, what with many major projects reaching completion. So the budget and capital plan will stay the course from past years and support the delivery of the following major projects: * Opening the Canada Line rapid transit service linking Richmond the Airport to and downtown Vancouver * Opening the new Golden Ears Bridge between Langley Township/ Surrey and Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge * Adding 48 more SkyTrain cars to the current Expo and Millennium Lines * Launching the third SeaBus serving North Vancouver * Increasing the bus fleet by 129 more vehicles, including more trolleys and new electric/diesel hybrids, and replacing 220 buses Where our funds will be going in 2009 Here are the specific funding commitments that we’ve made for 2009: * $781 million for transit service including the launch of the Canada Line, the third SeaBus, increases to the conventional bus fleet as well as improved HandyDART custom transit services for the disabled * $33 million to municipalities to operate and maintain major arterial roads in TransLink’s Major Road Network * $81 million in funding for municipalities to support TransLink’s 2009 contribution toward major new road projects: - $11 million for the next phase of the Fraser Highway Widening project - $21 million for the Coast Meridian Overpass in Port Coquitlam - $2.5 million in cost sharing for bicycle infrastructure projects - $3 million toward preliminary work on the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor - $4 million toward work on the Murray-Clark Connector in Port Moody - $40 million in cost sharing for Major Road Network improvement projects * $28 million for the Transit Police, an increase of almost $5 million, which will fund new programs and an estimated 15 more officers. * $55 million for TransLink’s functions, including financial and transportation planning and the management of capital projects to expand and improve the road and transit networks. This is a slight reduction over the 2008 budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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