Is the Mainstream Media “Getting It”?

It seems Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s disastrous showing of its public transit service is beginning to raise eyebrows within the TransLink friendly mainstream media.

SkyTrain did work, my god it should, there was hardly any snowAi??to speak of to impede service, but it was the failure of the buses that was embarrassing. TransLink’s entire transit philosophy is to force feed the SkyTrain light-metro with tens of thousands of commuters and if the buses fail to do their job, then the transit system collapses and collapse it did.

Unlike other cities transit systems like Seattle and Portland, TransLink does not have a snow plan, except forAi??management toAi??run in circles exclaiming; “shock and disbelief”.

Buses servicing SFU, which is located on top of a mountain, are not chained; there is no coordination with city engineering departments to ensure cleared snow routes for buses; abysmal management abounds! Where is the TransLink board? Nothing but silence from the so called Board of Experts.

TransLink is an embarrassment and it is time that the province fix it or get rid of it!

Barbara Yaffe: No other transit system in Canada plays dead at the first lick of snow

TransLink’s bus company is expensive, inefficient and dysfunctional in inclement weather

VANCOUVER ai??i?? Take a public transit system that delivers mediocre service at the best of times, sprinkle some snow and a dash of wind and what you get is a recipe for chaos.

Thatai??i??s exactly what got served up Wednesday to bus riders in Metro Vancouver who, in too many cases, were left to fend for themselves.

The simple truth is, Coast Mountain Bus service let its customers down in meteorological circumstances that would be considered no big deal in Montreal or Toronto.

Transit spokesman Derek Zabel blamed accidents, road and intersection closures, fallen trees and branches, one fire and two bridge closures. He might have added poor snow-clearing operations.

Zabel added that the staff ai???is focused on delivering service for our valued customers as best we can in the conditions we face.ai???

I waited one hour for a No. 41 bus Wednesday, even as non-bus vehicles whizzed past on a road which, at that point, had turned slushy.

A friend taking the same bus two hours later wound up walking an hour to get home, witnessing not one passing bus during her ordeal.

This, despite the fact TransLink has a ai???Snow Planai??? it implements at the first sign of the stuff.

When things get slippery, particular problem areas for the company include the North Shore, Coquitlam, Simon Fraser University and Victoria Drive.

Chains arenai??i??t used on bus tires because they are inappropriate on bare roads, says a company statement that warns: ai???Customers themselves need to be prepared for any eventuality, including longer than usual waits for buses or SkyTrain and the possibility of having to walk if a bus is … rerouted.

ai???One should dress appropriately for the elements and wear proper footwear.ai???

But surely, when weather turns harsh, thatai??i??s when citizens most need transit. It might be reasonable to argue that services might falter in a hurricane or blizzard, but Wednesdayai??i??s fluffy snowfall?

Metro Vancouver should be able to keep its $1.28-billion transit company functioning when some snow falls ai??i?? as it does most every year; this is Canada.

The situation grew more absurd Wednesday afternoon when a spanking new $3.3-billion Port Mann Bridge started raining down ice chunks on cars, forcing its closure.

Both taxpayers and transit users, who incidentally are facing a Jan. 1 hike in transit fares, have reason to feel thoroughly fed up. Half of Coast Mountainai??i??s budget comes from citizensai??i?? taxes; another 35.6 per cent is derived from fares.

The truth is, in both bad weather and good, Coast Mountain ai??i?? when set against counterparts in Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto ai??i?? scores poorly on a host of measures.

A March 2012 report on Coast Mountainai??i??s operations by Shirocca Consulting revealed: ai???compared to Canadian peers, the bus division exhibits an abundance of equipment and staffing levels that help to explain its generally higher costs and lower cost efficiency and effectiveness than most of the peers, even after taking into account its large service areas.ai???

The report noted ai???two disturbing trends [in] the rising cost per passenger carried and decline in the number of passengers carried per hour.ai???

It further reported outsized administrative costs as well as the highest fares when multi-zone pricing is factored in.

Shirocca Consulting called on Coast Mountain to improve ai???productivity in both bus service delivery and maintenance.ai???

While the transit company bears blame, governments need to own some of the mess on display Wednesday.

In an October 2011 report, A Blueprint for a National Transit Framework, the Mowat Centre pointed out that efficient transit is crucial to the success of ai???large city regionsai???.

Canadaai??i??s cities lack resources to expand and maintain their transit systems, and ai???there has historically been insufficient financial support from other levels of government, particularly the federal government.ai???

Canada is the only G7 economy failing to provide predictable, dedicated funding for transit systems.

That said, itai??i??s hard to believe transit systems elsewhere in Canada would collapse under the weight of a few centimetres of snow as Coast Mountain did this week.

byaffe@vancouversun.com

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