Bus Stops

From the well duh department, that getting rid of some bus stops can improve service, has been well known for decades.

In Europe bus stops tend to be 350m to 400m apart, but in Vancouver bus stops tend to be 250m to 300m apart, with some examples no more than 100m apart. It is easy to see why TransLink’s bus service is ranked as a “loser cruiser”, which stops at every lamp post. Simple logic dictates longer distances between stops increase commercial speed and increases capacity at no cost.

The question is: Why does Translink still operate buses with stops so close together?

By comparison tram routes in Europe have stops averaging every 400m to 500m apart and LRT with stops every 500m to 600m apart.

The bus stops in your court TransLink!

Getting rid of some bus stops can improve service: study

Suggests it reduces travel time without too much of an impact on travelers

Mike Lloyd and Dean Recksiedler January 10, 2014

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) ai??i?? As Translink continually struggles to find more funding, a recent study out of the US may have found a very simple way to cut costs, improve service, and boost bus ridership.

The researchers suggest getting rid of some bus stops reduces travel times significantly without drastically affecting the number of people served along a route.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but that is what happened when they cut out 43 per cent of the stops along a university bus route in Fairfax, Virginia; travel times were reduced by 23 per cent and operating costs were reduced by almost a quarter.

Study co-author Edmund Zolnik, a public policy professor at George Mason University, says one of the reasons bus service is unpopular is it is slow, and one of the reasons it is slow is because bus stops are densely placed.

In this particular case, the study found riders didnai??i??t have a problem with walking a little farther to a bus stop when a one-way trip on the route dropped from 2 hrs, 4 min to 1 hr, 36 min.

As travel times drop, Zolnik believes it encourages more people to use the system since it could be more useful for them.

ai???Time is often a reason people will cite for not using public transportation. This is not inconsequential; thatai??i??s a big difference in time for people using the bus,ai??? Zolnik tells News1130. ai???Itai??i??s ironic that by limiting some stops, we might get more people on the bus in total.ai???

Would it work for Translink?

The 99 B Line ai??i?? serving one of the busiest transit corridors in North America ai??i?? uses a similar principle, but Zolnik suggests it could also be used on less busy routes to improve efficiency.

ai???The results seem to indicate there would be a net benefit for any system that did try this,ai??? he says, but adds more studies need to be done. Not everyone can easily walk a longer distance to their bus stop.

ai???It would be difficult to translate this to other kinds of communities where you have more people aging in place, more seniors. The system may benefit, but there would be people who would not be happy with losing their stops,ai??? says Zolnik. ai???How do you balance the efficiency of the system with very, very local demands for service?ai???

Zolnik notes savings could be used to fund things that might encourage transit use, such as cheaper fares or added capacity on other routes.

TransLink Referendum Mayhem

Welcome to the BC Liberal world of transit, where transit or should I say transit mega-projects are a means for winning elections, nothing more.

The Canada Line is a good example, where ten BC Premier wanted to showcase a transit P-3, but the problem arose that SkyTrain, being a proprietary railway, made near to impossible to have a real P-3.

The project soon went “South” when the SNC Lavalin (also was on the Bombardier bid) lead consortium underbid Bombardier and SkyTrain to win. The problem was, the consortium were never allowed to do any real engineering before the bid process and TransLink’s incompetence over the subway section of the Canada Line, lead to costs spiraling ever upwards.

The concessionaire of the Canada line then “reneged” on assuming risk on the project, leaving the provincial government hold the bag, so to speak for cost overruns. Real P-3’s, the concessionaire assumes risk on the project.

As the Canada Line’s costs increased ever upward, the scope of the project was reduced; single track construction was used in Richmond and YVR; stations were made smaller, excluding escalators and elevators and some even omitted; station platforms were designed with a length of only 50 metres (some stations only have 40 metre platforms); a switch was made from bored subway construction to cheaper cut-and-cover subway construction; and no compensation was to be paid to merchants and businesses disrupted by cut and cover subway construction.

Still the final cost of the Canada Line was in excess of $2.5 billion a far cry from the original budget of $1.3 billion. No one really knows the real cost of the Canada Line though media reports put the cost from $1.9 billion to $2.3 billion depending which politician or bureaucrat they were interviewing. It is interesting that the Susan Heyes (losing) lawsuit against TransLink for compensation had evidence that the final cost of the Canada Line was in excess of $2.7 billion! The presiding judge, the Honourable Judge Pittfield, called the Canada Line P-3 a charade!

And a charade the Canada line was, the only heavy rail subway in the world, built as a light metro and having less capacity than a simple streetcar line.

Enter the TransLink referendum, which is supposed to extort more money from the taxpayer to fund Liberal transit mistakes and even maybe a SkyTrain subway under Vancouver. Enter transportation Minister Todd Stone, from the “Hurtlands”, who hasn’t a clue about regional transit issues, hasn’t a clue about SkyTrain; hasn’t a clue for what is needed for transit to improve, leading the charge for a “yes” vote in a referendum that we still don’t know what the question or questions will be?

It certainly looks like the current premier wants a no vote so she can continue the great BC practice of highway and new bridge construction. BC politics at its best!

 

Vaughn Palmer: Will transit referendum sink like a Stone without the bossai??i??s support?

Transportation minister Todd Stone is committed to success; but it sounds like the premier is hedging her bets on vote outcome

By Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun columnist January 9, 2014

Cuiaba, Brazil – new LRT won’t be ready for World Cup

Light rail in Brazil not ready for World Cup

The Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO — The head of World Cup projects for Brazil’s far-western Mato Grosso state has acknowledged a light rail system in the city of Cuiaba meant to help football fans move around the city during World Cup matches there won’t be ready in time for the tournament.

Mauricio Guimaraes has said the 13 mile-long train lines won’t be completed until December, more than five months after the end of the World Cup.

Speaking Monday in an interview with TV Centro America, the Globo television network’s local affiliate, Guimaraes blamed “various delays” for the setback, adding that “from now on, it will be fast.”

Brazil has faced harsh criticism from world football’s governing body FIFA over delays in delivering the 12 stadiums that are to host World Cup matches.

The Future through Zwei’s (not so) Crystal ball

There is not much detail given as about the proposed referendum or even if a “no” vote will be allowed and it may be condemned prisoners Hobson’s choice of death by firing squad, electrocution, or hanging. In other words we may get choice of road pricing, higher property taxes or an auto levy or a combination of all three.

Zwei believes the referendum is merely a funding formula for the $3+ billion Broadway SkyTrain subway as there are no more schools, hospitals and such left to be closed as what happened coincidentally with the past SkyTrain lines built. The cupboard is bare for transit.

What I do think will happen is that the Millennium Line will be extended to Arbutus then an enhanced B-Line will continue to UBC. A shorter subway would suit the likes of Bombardier and SNC Lavalin for now. If this option is chosen, it spells a transit disaster for the region; a very expensive and user unfriendly transit service to TransLink’s top transit destination.

Nothing is going to happen in Surrey unless the present mayor. Dianne Watts, flexes her political muscle and gives TransLink and the province an ultimatum, either fund our LRT or we will split. Dianne Watts is seen as a future Liberal Premier and as the love affair with our current Premier, Christi Clark is waning thin, there well may be a another Liberal coup d’etat with Watts dumping Clark over transit, in the not too far future. With the City of Surrey overtaking Vancouver in population by the end of the decade, there just may well be enough political muscle to build light rail.

Out of this mess we may get some sound transit planning because the south of the Fraser can only afford LRT (seeing that SkyTrain as a Vancouver/TransLink debacle) and with LRT will come real P-3’s as well as other funding options building affordable light rail and hopefully a realized Vancouver to Chilliwack TramTrain.

New Prague streetcars reverse noise pollution

An overlooked benefit of streetcars is the reduction in noise pollution associated with bus and car traffic. In fact, some pedestrians in Prague say the newest streetcars from Skoda are too quiet!

Latest streetcars in historic Prague.

An article from iDnes, a Czech news portal, describes the experiences of operators of the new 15T streetcarsbuilt by Skoda for the Czech capital’s tram system. Operators of the new streetcars have to be alert to pedestrians who may not hear them approach.

http://tinyurl.com/nju9g4f

Other improvements include cruise control and the addition of an electric motor for each wheel. Operators can also now control each motor individually.

Tram Train

A summary of the latestAi??EuropeanAi??Tram Train developments at the end of 2013.

UK – Manchester:

What $536 Million Will Buy You, Part 2 – A Rail for the Valley TramTrain

What $536 Million Will Buy You – A UBC to BCIT LRT!

Mr. Haveacow made the following important observation; “I am also surprised that few have picked up on that the LRT portion of the contract is only $536,000,000 for 19 km of surface route.”

Zwei, referring to his ‘Google’ maps found that 19km of LRT would stretch from UBC, down 10th Ave. onto Broadway, then along Broadway and the Lougheed highway to past Willington in Burnaby. BCIT is only 1.5 km from the Lougheed Hwy., on Willington.

Why a BCIT to UBC LRT makes sense? Light rail would replace TransLink’s busiest transit corridor with a transit line connecting the University of Vancouver to the BC Institute of Technology, providing a far better service (which in turn will attract more transit customers) with much cheaper operating costs. Much smaller construction costs, means less tax burdens on the local taxpayers.

By using Broadway and other streets for LRT, would greatly improve capacity along this transit corridor at a far cheaper cost than a subway. As most of the Broadway route previously operated with streetcars, much of the infrastructure is in place for the OHE, thus further reducing the cost of construction. The most expensive piece of engineering would be a span over Hwy. 1 to connect to UBC.

It all makes sense, why then doesn’t TransLink and the City of Vancouver ‘get it‘?

So when TransLink and the C0V and their hangers on go on and on for the need of billions more in new taxes & user fees, why not a LRT P-3 connecting UBC to BCIT for around $536 million. What is said that can’t be done in Vancouver,Ai?? is being done in Kitchener Ontario.

Canada Line airport surcharge to hit more (ghost) riders

Maybe, just maybe that the expected numbers of people expected to take the Canada line to YVR was grossly overestimated to secure YVR’s money for a light-metro/subway connection to Vancouver.

YVR contributed about $300 million to the Canada Line on the condition that a downtown to YVR service would be no longer than 25 minutes. This demand has shaped the Canada Line’s construction and operation but it seems much fewer people are taking the mini-metro to the airport, than was originally estimated.

Zwei has always wondered why a surcharge was authorized, while at the same time offering free service on the Sea Island portion of the CanadaAi?? Line. Getting tourists in a “gotcha” position with a transit surcharge is not the best way to greet tourist and with YVR being so central to Vancouver, taking the taxi is a viable option, especially if two or more people are traveling.

I believe the truth of the matter is that fewer people are taking the Canada Line option to YVR and TransLink, refusing to believe that, are applying the surcharge to more people in hopes of generating more revenue and in the end probably deter even more transit customers to the airport in the future.

Canada Line airport surcharge to hit more riders

byAi?? Jeff Nagel – Richmond Review

posted Dec 27, 2013 at 12:00 PM

TransLink wants to make many more passengers pay a $5 surcharge to ride the Canada Line branch from Vancouver Airport to Bridgeport Station in Richmond.

The YVR AddFare is currently charged only for Canada Line riders who pay in cash to take the rapid transit line off Sea Island.

But with the introduction of the Compass card in 2014, TransLink is proposing to apply the same $5 additional fee to Compass cardholders who pay with stored value.

The YVR AddFare was approved in 2010 to generate extra cash to help cover TransLink’s shortfall in funding the Canada Line to Richmond and YVR.

TransLink officials say large numbers of people who now pay in cash at the airport are expected to switch to Compass cards next year, resulting in a $1.4-million drop in annual revenue if nothing is done.

Extending the AddFare’s reach to more people is forecast to generate an extra $1.7 million.

Many savvy transit riders dodge paying the $5 surcharge by instead buying a day pass or a booklet of FareSaver tickets from a retail outlet at the airport, instead of paying at the station ticket machines.

But they’ll be out of luck once the Compass cards roll out and FareSavers are discontinued.

TransLink also proposes to charge the AddFare on day passes sold on Sea Island either by retailers or from the ticket vending machines.

The machines at Sea Island stations are currently disabled from offering day passes but TransLink says riders want to have the option to buy them there and are willing to pay the premium.

YVR employees and Sea Island residents would be exempt from the revised AddFare, as would holders of monthly passes, U-Passes, B.C. Government bus passes and CNIB passes.

The AddFare hasn’t been generating as much revenue as TransLink originally expected ai??i??Ai??the cumulative shortfall was $5.4 million at the end of 2012 and that’s forecast to grow to $12.2 million by the end of next year without changes.

TransLink Commissioner Robert Irwin will make a final ruling on the application and has asked for public comment by Jan. 31. Comments can be emailed to info@translinkcommission.org.

Three bidders vie for Waterloo LRT contract