ai???Pass-ups,ai??i?? overcrowding lead to litany of complaints aimed at TransLink
Pass-ups and over crowding of buses all point to one thing, extremely bad management of the transit system.
TransLink’s endemic bad management is easy to understand once one investigates the tiers of bureaucracy that operate our regional transit system. West coast Mountain Bus (WCMB) actually operates the buses, with TransLink setting the routes and operating frequencies. This ‘agency gap’ means that complaints are firstAi??delivered to TransLink, only to beAi??funnled to WCMB at a later date, there is no connectivity.
Customer service was never part of TransLink’s mandate and the transit service provided today shows it. It must be remembered that the then NDP government only created TransLink to save their failing Millennium Line SkyTrain projectAi??after their well orchestrated flip-flop from LRT to SkyTrain. Alienating many in the NDP membership, the political party was desperate to gain some credibilityAi??for the project coerced then GVRD Chair, George Puil, to sign the TransLink Deal (at the same time giving the green light to the Millennium Line) by promising to pay two thirds of SkyTrain only construction west of Commercial Drive in Vancouver! No niceties about customer service were ever mentioned!
Today, TransLink only cares on the amount of bus passengers force fed onto the SkyTrain/Canada Line metros, so they can score political points with the politicians and media.
In the 21st century, for a transit system to be deemed successful, it must be customer friendly, which our system is not and until TransLink puts the customer first and have contingencies in place to ensure customers good service, taking the car will just be a better bet.
ai???Pass-ups,ai??i?? overcrowding lead to litany of complaints aimed at TransLink
By KELLY SINOSKI, Vancouver SunDecember 14, 2011TransLink is being bombarded with complaints by passengers unhappy about being passed up by overcrowded buses or having to wait for drivers who donai??i??t arrive at the stop on time.
A third-quarter report by the transportation authority said the number of complaints from TransLink passengers is higher than it was during the same period last year, partly as a result of expanded channels ai??i?? such as social media ai??i?? on which to log their concerns.
The top two categories of complaints continue to be ai???overcrowding and pass-upsai??? as well as ai???early and late bus arrivals,ai??? according to the report. But TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said passengers are also voicing concerns on everything from fare disputes to the way theyai??i??re greeted by an operator or the behaviour of another passenger.
ai???We can certainly see when weai??i??re having a bad day … it could simply be because of a traffic snarl somewhere,ai??? Hardie said. ai???When you consider that weai??i??re again going to set a ridership record but doing it with the same fleet [as last year] we anticipated there would be more issues with pass-ups and crowding.ai???
Preliminary year-to-date results to the end of October show just over 192 million transit trips on the system ai??i?? five-per-cent higher than for the same period in 2010, which included the Olympic Games. TransLink said trends indicate that by yearai??i??s end, it will record its 10th annual ridership record in a row.
TransLink said the increase in riders is partly due to reallocating underused buses to routes and time periods where passengers had experienced crowding and pass-ups.
Hardie couldnai??i??t provide the specific number of complaints Wednesday, but said passengers are expressing their grievances in a variety of ways, ranging from emails and phone calls to Twitter. The complaints usually concern buses because they carry about 80 per cent of Metro Vancouverai??i??s transit passengers, but are also rising among HandyDart users.
If TransLink can isolate a particular issue, Hardie said, extra buses can be sent to that area to pick up passengers.
Certain routes, such as the 99B Line, the No. 20 and No. 25, often bear the brunt of the complaints. ai???Those are very long and very complex routes and itai??i??s very easy for buses to get overrun or behind schedule because of traffic conditions,ai??? Hardie said.
The West Coast Express also saw an increase in complaints, mainly due to cancellations, train schedule changes and requests for additional train runs. According to the report, complaints on the Canada Line were down as a result of a commitment to improve customer service
