One Tram Line Moving 250,000 Daily
On the radio last week I heard one of the SFU types go on and on about the Canada Line and how successful the mini-metro was.
Really?
Again, I have to remind everyone that the Canada Line has station platforms only 40m to 50m long and can operate 41m coupled sets of EMUs.
The official capacity of a Hyundai EMU is 163 persons per car or 326 per two car set.
At 3 minute headway’s, the Canada Line can handle traffic flows around 6,500 pphpd, roughly half of that of the Expo and Millennium Lines, which have 80m long station platforms.
Now let us compare with the six module Combino LRV, the longest single LRV’s in the world at 54 metres long. Each bidirectional tram with a welded stainless steel (!) frame, is capable of transporting 350 passengers. Due to the specific nature of route 4/6, where they will be used (250,000 passengers daily, with a rush-hour headway of 1.5 minutes), the vehicle has only 65 seats, and lots of standing space.
At 3 minute headway’s, the 54m long super Combino can carry 7,000 pphpd.
For added insult, it is cheaper to buy one long tram than two EMU’s.
So when you hear, self important types pontificate about SkyTrain, capacity and headway’s, just remember that in Budapest, one tram line, operating at 90 second headway’s during peak hours can move 250,000 passenger daily!
Parting Shots From Former TransLink CEO Doug Allen
Really?
Sorry Doug, your diatribe has fallen on deaf ears.
If TransLink really cared about the customer, like other transit agencies do, TransLink would not be held in such high odor by the taxpayer.
TransLink has had over a decade to improve service, but no, all you guys did was to blindly bleat on and on on wonderful TransLink is, while turning a blind eye to customer needs.
TranLink hated its customers and in turn, its customers greatly disliked TransLink.
It is not news that TransLink’s ridership is declining, your service is poor, your new fare system discriminatory and user unfriendly, and forced transfers from bus to mini-metro irksome.
I know you were in shock when the plebiscite failed, I wasn’t because I knew how out of touch you and your cabal running the show were.
Your self serving nonsense doesn’t fool anyone, if you really thought that mixing roads and bridges with transit was a bad thing, why didn’t you do anything about it?
You are the epitome of TransLink ponderous, out of touch and arrogant. The regional mayors areAi?? equally out of touch and remain ignorant about modern public transit practice, but you did nothing to educate them, instead catered to their insipid demands.
Adios Doug, you have left TransLink adrift in a sea of debt and not a whimper from you until now. It is one hell of a legacy.
TransLink driving away ridership: former CEO
Doug Allen says passengers should be priority, not roads and bridges
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver SunJanuary 18, 2016
Doug Allen, former interim CEO of TransLink, said in a report written upon his departure last August that more needs to be done to increase ridership on public transit. Allen is pictured speaking to media last July.
Photograph by: Wayne Leidenfrost, PNG
TransLink does not focus enough on boosting public transit ridership across Metro Vancouver because it is too distracted by road and bridge projects.
Thatai??i??s the crux of a confidential report written by former interim CEO Doug Allen when he left the transportation authority after a six-month stint last August.
The report, released under Freedom of Information, covers everything from TransLinkai??i??s tarnished reputation to its ai???confusingai??? governance structure and the controversial Compass card.
ai???TransLink is not focused on increasing ridership,ai??? Allen writes. ai???In recent years, ridership has been declining and this is a critical issue for a transit system that is planning expansion for a growing population.ai???
Allen said TransLinkai??i??s decision to focus on road and bridge improvements has created a ai???conflicting mandateai??? for the board, noting that as vehicle travel becomes more efficient, transit becomes less appealing. The Golden Ears Bridge, parking fees at park-and-ride lots and other decisions have deterred transit users, he said.
Even the Compass card was touted as a way to reduce fare evasion rather than boost ridership.
ai???The attempt to reconcile these conflicting mandates has resulted in an enterprise with vague goals about producing regional transportation plans,ai??? Allen said. ai???Because growing ridership is not currently identified as the organizational priority there are no projects, initiatives or strategies designed to increase ridership. Many decisions are actually counterproductive to this goal.ai???
TransLink has acknowledged it has seen a rolling decline in ridership over the past two years, partly because of a 2013 fare increase. A move last fall to make all bus fares one zone as part of the Compass card rollout did result in a 1.1-per-cent boost in bus ridership, TransLink said, but it is forecasting a $1.1-million decline in revenue next year as the Compass card takes full effect and the number of cash fares ai???dramatically drops.ai???
TransLink plans to review its fare structure for the first time in 30 years, which could potentially see its three-zone system replaced with a flat fare across the region or a distance-based fee, to boost ridership.
The move was recommended in a core services review by Allen, which also suggests that TransLink use mobility pricing, such as tolling all bridges, to get people out of their cars. It also suggests drawing up a business case to transfer its roads and bridges to another agency.
Regional mayors have touted mobility pricing as a way to fund transportation across the region, but Greg Moore, Port Coquitlamai??i??s mayor and chairman of Metro Vancouver, said he doesnai??i??t agree TransLink should hive off its roads and bridges. This would whittle down the long-range vision of getting more people walking, cycling or taking transit to work, he said.
ai???I feel a lot of effort goes into moving goods and people through the system,ai??? Moore said. ai???When you look at other organizations around the world, TransLink is the envy, in the sense that one authority is looking after transit and transportation. In most cases, there are multiple groups looking after roads and bridges. At TransLink, we have the best of all of it going on.ai???
Allen maintains the TransLink system is ai???safe, reliable, efficient and affordableai??? but insists roads and bridges shouldnai??i??t be included in core operations. He also maintains TransLink could improve its customer service, noting the public has been left with an impression of ai???detached indifference to their experience, opinions or requests.
ai???Customers need attention and TransLink as a service organization must respond,ai??? Allen writes. ai???For example, more proactive customer communications by SkyTrain attendants would set a positive tone for riders. Lessons can be learned from leading customer service organizations such as Disneyland or Nordstrom.ai???
He noted TransLink doesnai??i??t sell its good points. During the recent plebiscite, for example, the mayorsai??i?? council told TransLink to remain quiet and out of the public eye, which was ai???the worst possible approach,ai??? Allen said, as it resulted in more negativity around the agency and a ai???bunker mentalityai??? among employees.
TransLink is in the midst of developing a ai???customer service guarantee,ai??? Allen noted, but it must also look at realigning its structure, which consists of multiple boards for buses, SkyTrain and the Transit police who all report to the main TransLink board. This makes the system confusing, especially as it is overseen by TransLink, Metro Vancouver and the provincial government.
He suggests the TransLink board should be responsible for running the transit agency and making decisions around fares and operations, and be appointed in a similar fashion to those at YVR and BC Ferries.
The province should also show more support for TransLink, he said. ai???Openly criticizing a public agency on a regular basis simply reinforces uninformed views, particularly if the party doing the criticizing is responsible for the creation of the agency in the first place,ai??? he said.
At the same time, he maintains Metro mayors should step back and only focus on regional and long-term investment.
Moore argues this runs contrary to Metroai??i??s views that it have more authority, not less, over TransLink operations.
TransLink board chair Don Rose said in an emailed statement that TransLink appreciated Allenai??i??s ai???observations and advice.ai???
Broadways Subway – A Boondoggle In The Making
Subways are very expensive items and only built when there is no other alternative available.
SkyTrain ICTS/ALRT/ART, was supposed to mitigate the high cost of subway construction, but it didn’t as it proved to almost as expensive as a heavy-rail metro to build, with the capacity of modern light-rail.
The result: No one builds with SkyTrain anymore, in fact nobody ever really built with it except for Vancouver and six other cities.
Toronto is getting a “real time” education on the pitfalls of subway construction and Metro Vancouver politicians should take heed, subway construction is a Pandora’s box of financial troubles waiting to happen.
As always, in the real world, transit is built to economically deal with traffic flows on a transit route; ) to 5,000 pphpd – bus from mini bus to express bus; 2,000 to 20,000 pphpd – LRT/tram, from simple streetcar to modern light rail; 15,000+ heavy rail metro (subway). Light metro has been relegated as a niche transit mode not as a urban transit mode.
Traffic flows on Broadway are less than 5,000 pphpd, barely justifying modern LRT and certainly not a subway.
Those supporting a Broadway subway are supporting a financial boondoggle.
Please share with your local politicians and the mainstream media. Toronto’s reporters are doing their work it seems, certainly not Vancouver’s!
The cost of the Spadina subway is now in excess of $400 million/km.
Chris Selley: Spadina subway extension a classic Toronto transitAi??screwup
National Post, Chris Selley | January 16, 2016
Tyler Anderson/National PostTTC CEO Andy Byford: ai???The good news is, the TYYSE is 80-per-cent complete. The track is virtually all in, the tunnels were completed back in 2013, the six stations are well advanced,ai???ai???Look over there!ai??? TTC CEO Andy Byford pointed and shouted to reporters aboard a chartered city bus early Friday afternoon. He was jokingly averting our eyes from a disabled TTC bus being towed away. But it was basically what he had been doing in earnest all morning, as he and site manager Peter Boyce toured us around York University station, midway point on the late and over-budget six-stop Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYYSE).
What we saw was a loud, muddy, freezing-cold construction site, but one in which an objectively impressive subway station ai??i?? if you like that sort of thing ai??i?? is taking shape. It has a nifty wavy roof. It has a grand entrance through which natural light will filter down to the platform. Passengers will ostensibly look up and marvel at the ai???waffle slabai??? concrete roof.
All very nice, but we were there because of bad news. As we bussed northward, the project officially got considerably more expensive: A staff report anticipates up to $400-million extra will be needed to settle what Byford says are routine disputes with contractors ai??i?? 60 per cent to be borne by the city and 40 per cent by York Region. That brings the total price to around $3.2 billion for a subway line scheduled to open by the end of 2017 ai??i?? a significant departure from an original budget of $2.6 billion and an original deadline of 2015.
Broadway Subway Reality Check – Toronto’s 8.6 km Spadina Line Subway Now $3.2 Billion!
For those of you who have been pooh-poohing, Zwei’s cost estimate for the Broadway subway, the following news item from Toronto should send a not too subtle message that subways are very expensive to build and are only built when there is the massive traffic flows that demand long trains and large stations to accommodate the long trains.
The 8.6 km Spadina Line costs have soared from $2.6 billion to $3.2 billion and counting!
One can scale back construction costs by reducing the scope of the project, like the Canada Line, but then one is left with a very expensive subway, which will have less capacity than a simple streetcar at about a tenth of the cost. The Canada Line is the prime example of a political vanity project, which costs soared from the original $1.3 billion to now over $2.4 billion and still has pygmy 41 metre long trains and having stations platforms a puny 40 metres long, which greatly limits capacity.
Please forward to the metro mayors, the Premier and the Federal Liberals, that building subways, for the sake of building subways is a futile mistake which will cost billions of dollars more for future generations to put right.
Spadina subway extension could cost an additional $400 million
According to a TTC report, Toronto and York Region could be on the hook for an additional $400 million for the Spadina subway extension
Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star Order this photo
The dramatic, flying saucer design of the York University station on the Spadina subway extension is now clearly visible on campus. The three-dimensional shape is a signature element of the $118 million station. There are no straight edges at all, said construction site manager Peter Boyce.
By: Tess Kalinowski Transportation reporter, Published on Fri Jan 15 2016Toronto and York Region are facing an additional $400 million in construction claims and other expenses on the overdue Spadina subway extension.
The costs would be split 60/40, with Toronto on the hook for $240 million and York Region facing a $160 million cost for the 8.6-km transit line.
The extension, from Downsview Station to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre near Highway 7, is about 85 per cent complete. Testing will begin in April 2017 for an opening later that year, about two years after the originally scheduled launch.
Sobering Thoughts
The future may not be as transit friendly as many would have wished.
The preceding chart should send chills down TransLink’s collective spine.
Metro Vancouver’s transit system is based on the “Spoke and hub” theory of transit practice where major “transit hubs” are connected by light-metro and fed by a network of bus routes (spokes). This works fine if one lives near a ‘hub’ and wishes to travel to another ‘hub’, but if the transit journey is to somewhere not on the established hub system, then tedious and user unfriendly transfers must be made to and from various spokes, to get where one wants to go.
Our current transit model has extremely expensive light-metro spokes connecting major transit hubs, fed by expensive to operate bus spokes, which currently provides the ‘mass’ of passengers to justify the cost of light-metro.
But, what if there is a dramatic changes in transit customer’s travel habits and traffic flows on current light-metro spokes drop?
The example would be consumers changing buying habits would mean fewer shops at transit hubs, with fewer consumers traveling to transit hubs and fewer employees using transit to transit hubs, with the end result of fewer people taking transit.
If there is such a change and transit ridership drops, then the operating authority is left with a very expensive transit mode and routes that still requires much money to keep in operation. Unlike LRT or streetcars, operating at-grade or on-street, where changes of route are affordable to meet customer demands, light-metro is extremely inflexible. If transit customers abandon today’s expensive established transit routes in favour of more user friendly alternatives, what then? Cast in stone (well cement) transit decisions made two or threeAi?? decades ago may not meet tomorrows transit needs.
The key to success of today’s modern public transit system is the ability to adapt to the customer transit needs, which spoke-hub transit just cannot do.
So here is a very important question to ponder for the Vancouver Metro region; “Is it better to spend $5 billion plus on less than 40 km of rail transit including subway under Broadway and poorly planned for LRT (in reality a poor man’s SkyTrain) in Surrey or build over 300 km of light rail, connecting many destinations as possible from UBC to Chilliwack?”
Which would better serve future needs?
Is the modern tram and its many variants the key to transit success in the future?
Out of the Pan and Into the Fire Dept.
It seems TriMet, in Portland are playing the part of rubes by hiring former TransLink president and general manager of its subsidiary British Columbia Rapid Transit Company Ltd.,Doug Kelsey. I believe TriMet will soon have buyers remorse because under Kelsey’s leadership, Vancouver’s light-metro system suffered many shutdowns due to lack of maintenance and poor management.
TriMet has problems with reliability, just wait, the real screw-ups are yet to begin.
Well the joke is on them and yes, no refunds given; caveat emptor, let the buyer beware!
Please note: SkyTrain does not run to an advertised schedules, unlike MAX and stoppages of ten minutes or less are never reported in the media.
MAX hits new low for reliability in 2015
By Elliot Njus | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 09, 2016Tara Sager has been a daily MAX rider for seven years, for most of that time happily relying on the light-rail system as part of her commute between Hillsboro and Tigard.
So TriMet should be nervous when she says this: “Maybe I should start driving again.”
Plagued with delays and disruptions, MAX is coming off its worst year in at leastAi??a decadeAi??for on-time service. One in five trips were late, according to numbers obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive, and November was MAX’s worst month since 2003 ai??i?? the earliest records were available ai??i?? for reliability.
Even though TriMet promotes MAX as a faster, more reliable travel option, buses were more likely to show up on time in eight of the last 12 months. That marked a reversal, of sorts. From 2008 to 2014, there were only six months when buses were more reliable than MAX.
Old Yale Crossing
A photograph by Brent William Postlethwaiteai??Z
Old Yale Crossing
Shake Your Head In Disbelief Deptment
A snow broom in Sapporo Japan clears snow from the line. Yet in Richmond
a mere dusting of snow and a trace of freezing rain brought the Canada Line to a halt.
Really?
Now, freezing rain and ice storms can stop trams from running, when ice shrouded electrical overhead sags due to weight and is unusable or ice build up in flange-ways on on-street portions of track or at level crossings cause the wheels to rise up and break electrical contact.
Portland, Oregon is prone to such conditions and has had problems in the past, but cities with regular ice and snow storms are prepared to deal with such problems. Richmond had less than 0.5 cm of snow last night and a mere dusting of ice pellets and it caused the Canada Line to shut down.
Obviously there is more to the story, but if this is true, then the Canada Line has been built extremely flimsy and massive bills for repairs and retro-fitting are in order.
Ice on tracks blamed for Canada Line delays
By Bethany Lindsay, Vancouver SunJanuary 4, 2016 10:59 AM
A Richmond-bound Canada Line train crosses the Fraser River bridge. Ice buildup along the Canada Line is being blamed for problems along the rapid transit line during the Monday morning commute.
Photograph by: Ian Lindsay, PNG, Vancouver Sun
METRO VANCOUVER – Ice buildup along the Canada Line is being blamed for problems along the rapid transit line during the Monday morning commute.
The ice caused a train to stall on the track near Brighouse Station shortly before 5:30 a.m., according to TransLink. That impacted transit south of the Marine Drive station in Vancouver, and temporary bus bridges had to be set up to transport passengers to stations in Richmond.
By about 8:15 a.m., the problem train had been removed and de-icing solution was applied, allowing the Canada Line to return to normal service.
TransLink is telling commuters to expect some delays during their morning travels.
Meanwhile, trains along the Expo and Millennium SkyTrain lines were also experiencing delays because of problems with track safety alarms.
Ai?? Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
A Pricey Massey Tunnel Bridge Repacement Wonai??i??t Clear Up Congestion
As the local newspapers try to deal with the proposed Massey Tunnel replacement, Metro News has an interesting article.
In reality, the Massey Tunnel, replacement bridge will not alleviate congestion, rather just move it from Delta to Richmond.
Now Eric Chris may want to correct Zwie on this, but here is the problem.
There are presently four bridges that go from Richmond to Vancouver/New Westminster, near or at capacity throughout the day. Those four bridges are being fed, in part by six lanes of traffic, via the Massey Tunnel and the Alex Fraser Bridge. As the population of Richmond grows, adding more pressure to the existing bridges, adding one more lane, via the new Fraser Crossing, will cause major congestion on Hwy.99 and the existing bridges.
Unless there is an additional bridge built to Vancouver/Burnaby, congestion in Richmond will only increase and gridlock will be endemic.
The new bridge, being a toll bridge, will Balkanize Delta; put extraordinary pressure on the Alex Fraser Bridge and put undue financial pressure on struggling families, who have to ante up over $1,700 annually to commute to Vancouver.
An unintentional consequence of the Port Mann tolling, children from poorer families now cannot afford to play sports because monies that otherwise spent on children sports are now paying tolls. In fact, discretionary monies that once went to sports or education improvements are now going into tolls and the long term result will be, I think, disastrous.
That Delta council and especially the mayor, Lois Jackson support this nonsense only shows how out of touch with reality they are.
Maybe our politicians should have their stipends reduced by 50% to a point where financial reality overtakes gold-plated hubris.
What is even more shocking is that the one bridge that does need replacing, the Patullo Bridge is ignored by Victoria.
The replacement Bridge for the Massey Tunnel does show that regional planning does not exist, therefore there is no need for TransLink and and or metro Vancouver planning.
Give it all back to the province and tell the present Liberal government, “You created this mess, now deal with it!”
A pricey Massey Tunnel bridge wonai??i??t clear up congestion
Unfortunately, when it comes to thinking about the Massey Tunnel replacement bridge project, being thoughtful has been pushed aside in favour of simply thinking bigger ai??i?? at our collective expense.
By: Karen Quinn Fung Metro Published on Mon Nov 23 2015
Work smarter, not harder. We praise our leaders in government and business for thinking differently about what affects us ai??i?? and not turning a blind eye when we learn new things about what weai??i??ve already been doing.
Unfortunately, when it comes to thinking about the Massey Tunnel replacement bridge project, being thoughtful has been pushed aside in favour of simply thinking bigger ai??i?? at our collective expense. Earlier this month, Minister of Transportation Todd Stone explained the delay on the expected report on the replacement bridgeai??i??s business case by chalking it up to the projectai??i??s complexity. Soil conditions on the Fraser River mean the bridge will end up even larger than the Port Mann bridge ai??i?? itself already the second longest cable-stayed bridge in North America and, briefly, the widest in the world.
But this shouldnai??i??t have come to us as a surprise. As Nathan Pachal pointed out on the South Fraser Blog last week, in the 1950s we faced these same trade-offs and costs at the time of the original decision to build the Massey Tunnel. It was recognized that a tunnel was more cost-effective than a bridge then, and those same conditions are still posing a challenge for those of us hoping a bridge will solve our congestion woes.
Are the doubters just part of the ai???build nothingai??? party, as the Liberals accused Delta MLA Vicki Huntington of in legislature? Even if she was (which, her statements demonstrate, sheai??i??s not), sheai??i??d be in good company among those whoai??i??ve done a lot of digging into what building smarter for transportation actually means.
Many researchers have long doubted that building more lanes actually reduces congestion. Even California Department of Transportation, that cradle of car culture in North America, is copping to the fact that congestion doesnai??i??t go down the way we hope it does. Buying a bridge means pushing our congestion problem ten years down the line.
The Corporation of Delta has stated that a new crossing is needed. But does the magnitude of the problem warrant buying the priciest option ai??i?? and working harder to pay for it, instead of working smarter to make better use of our future tax dollars?
The early days of our new federal government have buoyed a feeling of optimism around a return to well-reasoned decision-making. It reminds us what true leadership is ai??i?? not presenting choices as inevitable, but using everyoneai??i??s perspectives to give us real alternatives. On this issue, it appears weai??i??re still waiting.
Oops! Canada Line Problems
Compass Card problems and now the Canada Line goes ka-put, not a good start to 2016.
Monday morning issues on TransLinkai??i??s Canada Line
Vancouver, BC, Canada / News Talk 980 CKNW | Vancouver’s News. Vancouver’s Talk
TransLink is reporting a problem on the Canada Line between the Bridgeport and Templeton Stations.
Due to a train issue, passengers are having to transfer to a shuttle train at Brighouse Station in order to continue the rest of their journey.
A bus bridge is also running between Bridgeport and Templeton.
January 04, 2016 07:06 am
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