Posted by zweisystem on November 10, 2013 · 4 Comments
TransLink loves making high ridership claims for its pet bus and SkyTrain routes, but the trouble is, TransLink’s claims are just that, claims. We have seen this sort of nonsense on the Canada Line and now TransLink is claiming that the Evergreen Line or the unfinished portion of the Millennium Line, will carry “70,000 people a day“.
Eric Chris is a professional Engineer, who has applied science to verify TransLink’s ridership claims and has found the claims wanting.
If TransLink has been telling ‘porkies‘ about ridership numbers on Broadway, then one must assume Translink is telling ‘porkies‘ about ridership in general, especially of the Skytrain and Canada lines. Of course TransLink wants to inflate ridership on Broadway, because Translink wants to build a SkyTrain subway under Broadway instead of a surface operating LRT.
The following exert, from a recent letter written by Mr. Chris clearly demonstrates that TransLink’s Broadway ridership claims are like a conjurer’s trick at a sideshow.
Ai??
Many times TransLink has statedAi?? publicly and incorrectly that 100,000 people daily ride transit buses along the Broadway corridor.Ai?? In truth, TransLink has used the number of times that people board or alight buses along the Broadway corridor for the number of people taking buses along the Broadway corridor.Ai?? This is analogous to equating the number of times that a driver gets in or out of his or her vehicle for the number of drivers ai??i?? it is patently wrong.
It is highly improbable for 100,000 people daily to be traveling on transit buses along the Broadway corridor as the SkyTrain and subway lobby would have us believe.Ai?? Every year, UBC publishes data on the number of transit trips to and from UBC along the Broadway corridor.
In 2012, data from UBC indicate that about 15,785 people daily make 31,570 trips on the buses traveling to and from UBC along the Broadway corridor (1,490 + 4,280 + 25,800 /Ai?? = 31,570).Ai??Ai?? Daily, almost all people going to UBC on buses along the Broadway corridor travel once to UBC and then once home.Ai?? That is, people generally make two trips daily, and 15,785 people daily take buses on the round trip to and from UBC along the Broadway corridor (31,570 / 2 = 15,785):
Although other people use the transit buses along the Broadway corridor, UBC is the prime destination of transit users along the Broadway corridor and it is unlikely that another 84,215 people daily ride the buses along the Broadway corridor as TransLink asserts (100,000 ai??i?? 15,785 = 84,215).Ai?? In my calculations in 2011, as reported by TransLink, 14% of the population took transit on approximately 150 transit bus routes in all of Metro Vancouver (323,866 people in all of Metro Vancouver).Ai??
Data in my calculations are correct and the methodologies of my calculations presented are sound and correct, based on first principles.Ai?? Therefore, my calculations verified by numerous professional engineers are correct:
In contrast, without any calculations to support this claim, the SkyTrain land subway lobby’s are saying that almost one-third of all transit users in Metro Vancouver (100,000 people) travel on just four major transit bus routes along the Broadway corridor. This is next to impossible and there has no documentation to substantiated the basis for this claim that 100,000 people daily ride buses along the Broadway corridor.
Posted by zweisystem on November 7, 2013 · 6 Comments
So?
What else is new?
The provincial and regional governments have spent over $9 billion on three mini-metro lines that have done nothing to alleviate congestion; it will be dAi??jAi?? vu with the Evergreen Line and TransLinks still wants more taxpayer’s money to do the same thing again, hoping that it will work this time.
It won’t and until politicians stop building mini-metro to appease developers and as a tool to win elections and as the transit system fails congestion in the region will increase.
Building more highways and bridges will not solve a thing but instead create more road space that will attract more cars, more cars just increases gridlock and the problem gets worse.
The solution is an affordable 300 km or more light rail network servicing the Fraser Valley, providing an affordable transit network that will provide a quality alternative to the car.
Until civic and provincial politicians get their collective heads out of the ground and admit that; “we have been doing it wrong for the past 33 years“, nothing will change, except longer commute times and a transit system that will be unaffordable for the average customer.
Vancouver’s politico’s have always wished that their city to be considered world class by having extremely expensive subways, now their wish has come partly true – they have world class gridlock.
Vancouver edges out Los Angeles for worst traffic congestion in North America: index
By Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun November 6, 2013
Metro Vancouver traffic jams are the worst in North America, according to a quarterly ranking by a global navigation company.
The 2013 TomTom Travel Index released Wednesday shows the Vancouver region has edged out Los Angeles by one per cent for the No. 1 congested city. It claims that Vancouver travel times were 36 per cent longer at peak hours than during non-rush hours.
The Amsterdam-based company says it uses real-time data from millions of its GPS customers to track traffic flow. The company then uses a computer program to compare travel times during non-congested periods with travel times in peak hours.
The difference is expressed as a percentage increase in travel time, and the report takes into account local roads, arterials and highways.
Choke points in Vancouver include entrance roads to bridges such as the Knight Street, Oak and Lions Gate bridges, as well as downtown roads such as Georgia, Dunsmuir and Seymour.
Vancouverai??i??s congestion has increased 2.8 per cent in comparison to the indexai??i??s 2012 second-quarter findings when the congestion rate was 32.7 per cent, the report says.
Among Canadian cities, Toronto ranked seventh in the index and Montreal placed 10th out of 169 cities surveyed worldwide.
TomTom says the cumulative delay for average commuter with a 30-minute trip is an extra 93 hours, or more than 11 working days, spent behind the wheel each year.
Richard Walton, chair of the Metro Vancouver Mayorsai??i?? Council on Regional Transportation, has previously cautioned that the TomTom report data could be skewed if people using the navigation systems are using them because they are on the most congested routes.
ticrawford@vancouversun.com
The top cities for traffic congestion in North America are:
1. Vancouver
2. Los Angeles
3. San Francisco
4. Honolulu
5. Seattle
6. San Jose
7. Toronto
8. Washington
9. New York
10. Montreal
Posted by zweisystem on November 7, 2013 · 5 Comments
As SkyTrain ages, breakdowns become more numerous. It is the bane of most proprietary transit systems.
SkyTrain switch problem causes headache for ridersThe issue in the King George area has been fixedNews1130 Staff November 6, 2013
SURREY (NEWS1130) ai??i?? A switch problem in the King George area created system-wide issues for people using the SkyTrain this evening.
ai???What a switch problem does, it controls the tracks, so it communicates the tracks of the train to the control system at the SkyTrain control room,ai??? Jiana Ling with TransLink explains.
Trains on the Expo and Millennium Lines were stopping for five minutes at each station.
Service was restored just after 7 p.m.
http://www.news1130.com/2013/11/06/skytrain-switch-problem-causes-headache-for-riders/
A comment with interesting info.
This morning too at 8:30 train with a door problem. Everyone had to get off at 29th Avenue. System all backed up right at peak time. Totally unacceptable system problems.
Posted by zweisystem on November 6, 2013 · 1 Comment
Well, here we go again, new numbers from TransLink clearly shows that the much touted Compass Card is $23 million over budget and Cubit Industries will be paid $12 million annually to operated the system – more money than was thought lost through fare evasion!
So, let’s look at more TransLink expenditures.
*TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis earns $400,000/yr and just got a $12,000 bonus.
*141 TransLink Executives make over six figures.
*TransLink spends $120,000/yr on gourmet coffee for itai??i??s Executives.
*The Compass Card system is $23million over-budget.
*TransLink will generate over $6million annually from riders paying double under the new Compass Card.
Yes, just what Zwei thought, the real problem with Translink is that it has become a trough for management to suck off the taxpayer’s teat and what do those 141 TransLink executives do to deserve being paid over 100,000 a year?
Transparency is another word not in TransLink’s lexicon.
Compass Card upgrade costing extra $23 million: TransLink
CTV British Columbia
Published Thursday, October 10, 2013 9:33PM PDT
Rolling out the new Compass Card fare system is costing TransLink $23 million more than expected, the transportation authority confirmed Thursday.
Officials are blaming inflation and other factors for the overrun, which has pushed the projectai??i??s price tag up from $171 million to $194 million.
ai???More than half of that increase is bringing it to current day dollars,ai??? said TransLinkai??i??s Mike Madill. ai???Thereai??i??s also system changes, thereai??i??s interest during construction, thereai??i??s internal labour charges, [and] thereai??i??s a tax impact.ai???
TransLink also revealed for the first time that it will be paying the Cubic Corporation $12 million annually to operate the Compass system.
Thatai??i??s $2 million more than TransLInk estimates it loses annually on fare evasion, a problem Compass Cards were supposed to fix.
Madill told CTV News the system is still worthwhile, noting that itai??i??s expected to help the transportation authority save money in other ways down the road.
ai???The biggest savings from this program is actually due to the changes that weai??i??ll make to the system to put buses where we need to put them to match demand,ai??? he said.
Every time a rider uses a Compass Card to tap on or off transit, TransLink will collect more information about usage that it can use to make its entire operation more efficient.
But the bus driversai??i?? union claims TransLink receives some of that information already, and questions the decision to allocate so much funding to the project.
ai???Why would you spend this kind of money on a system when you need more buses on the road?ai??? union vice-president Gavin Davies said.
Davies said the system may eventually save money, but only by allowing TransLink to reduce staff, a speculation the agency denies.
With a report from CTV British Columbiaai??i??s Jon Woodward
Posted by zweisystem on November 5, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Well, Bombardier can build light rail and award winning LRT at that, which is something that will be hard to admit in Vancouver.
The Porto Metro uses Bombardier’s (ABB) Euro and Flexity trams in a combination of subway and at-grade rights-of-ways and there is not even a hint of ALRT/ART automatic operation. There is no SkyTrain in Portugal or even Europe.
So Zwei asks the question; “Why can’t Translink plan regional transit with LRT?“
From Wikipedia: As of 2007, the total cost of Porto Metro mass transitpublic transport system stands on 3,500 million euros – over 1% of Portugal’s GDP. The first phase of the project alone, which was led by the mayors of several Grande Porto (Greater Porto) municipalities including Valentim Loureiro as a chairman of the state-owned company, was 140% more expensive than initially planned which means a slippage of over 1,500 million euros. The Porto Metro state-owned company has reported losses every year, reaching a record loss of 122 million euros in 2006.
An interesting comparison can be made. Vancouver’s 68.6 Skytrain system is said to cost $9 billion to date (Sauder School of Business, UBC); the 70 km Porto LRT/metro system, even with massive cost overruns, costs ai??i??3.5 billion or CAD $4.9 billion, almost one half the cost of Skytrain to build, for a system that is slightly longer. This something that BC’s Auditor General Department should have a look at, considering the nonsense they published this spring.
Affordable transit = light rail, a lesson that still remains unlearned in BC.
Monday, November 4, 2013 – 11:15am
November 4, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Metro do Porto is one of this yearai??i??s winners of the prestigious Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.
The prize recognises the infrastructure projectai??i??s positive contribution to the world heritage city of Porto and the quality of life of its people by connecting previously segregated communities.
Together with consortium partners, rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation was responsible for the delivery of a full turnkey light rail system for Metro do Porto.
This included the manufacture of more than 100 BOMBARDIER FLEXITY light rail vehicles, project management, in-house design, installation and commissioning of aAi??BOMBARDIER CITYFLOAi??250 rail control solution.
The system, in operation since 2002, connects seven municipalities in the metropolitan area of Porto and interconnects with the city’s bus and railway networks.
It transports approximately 55 million passengers annually, a number that has grown steadily year on year.
The system has four lines, totalling 70 km (43 miles) with 63 overground and 14 underground stations.
It combines mixed traffic (road and rail) sections, separate full signalling sections with 7 km (4.3 miles) of tunnels and single line sections equipped with passing loops and block signalling.
72 FLEXITYAi??100 per cent low-floor trams and 30 FLEXITY light rail vehicles provide a total capacity of more than 20,000 passengers per hour per direction.
The future success of urban centres rests on re-defining the way people move within and between these expanding social and economic hubs.
In order to sustain economic growth while ensuring the health and quality of life of citizens, cities all over the world are looking for smarter and more environmentally friendly forms of mass transit compared to the historic dependence on individual car transportation.
Bombardier is at the forefront of developing cost-effective technologies that improve total vehicle performance to move more people and goods than ever before efficiently within and between urban centres.
The modes of seamless urban transportation developed by Bombardier include trams, metros and innovative electric mobility solutions for electric rail and road vehicles, while its state-of-the-art rail control solutions reduce the constraints of current networks.
About the Prize
The Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design is the foremost award recognizing achievement in this field.
The award was established in 1986 on the occasion of Harvard Universityai??i??s 350th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Nominations for the prize are received from an extensive network of academics and urban design professionals.
The prize is awarded biennially to recognize exemplary urban design projects.
Projects must be more than one building or an open space built anywhere in the world within the last 10 years or so that makes a positive contribution to the public realm of a city and improves the quality of urban life in that context.
The project must also demonstrate a humane and worthwhile direction for the design of urban environments.
Posted by zweisystem on October 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Ministers of Transportation in BC recently have been generally “know-nothings”, as they know very little about transit, public transit, and transportation in general. To keep their highly paid position, they do exactly what the premier tells them to do.
Premier Clark announced a new bridge to replace the Massey tunnel and Minister of Transportation, Todd Stone’s job is to see it done, without asking or answering any questions.
So can Minister Stone answer these questions.
- Will the new bridge be tolled and if so, by how much?
- It seems the Canada Line is now at capacity and is too expensive to extend South of the Fraser, then would it not be expedient to convert the Canada Line EMU’s to LRT and build with much cheaper LRT instead?
- With a 10 lane bridge comes a lot more traffic, but with the bridges from Lulu Island , going North at capacity most of the day, will a new bridge be built across the North Arm servicing Vancouver and/or Burnaby?
- It has been claimed that the Massey Tunnel has a mere 10 years left in its lifespan, is there an independent assessment from an independent engineer to back up the claim?
- On the radio the minister claimed that you can’t have rapid transit without a bridge, then is the new bridge designed to handle the Canada Line, SkyTrain and/or a mainline railway?
- On the subject of rapid transit, does the minister understand that modern light rail has more capacity than SkyTrain and a whole lot more capacity than the Canada Line?
- Will residents of South Delta be exempt from the tolls as most medical infrastructure, especially for cancer patients or the elderly, are centralized in Vancouver and tolling the new bridge will bring a finical hardship on those living on minimum wage or pensions who must visit medial centres on a regular basis; in some cases several times a week?
Of course, if the Minister of Transportation knows nothing, he doesn’t have to answer.
Stone dismisses concerns of Metro mayors about Massey tunnel replacement
Posted by zweisystem on October 25, 2013 · Leave a Comment
From the Railway Gazette.
The Swiss city of ZA?rich has approved a new suburban 13Ai??4 km tram line, the Limmattalbahn light rail line which would link the ZA?rich suburbs of Altstetten, Dietikon and Killwangen-Spreitenbach.
The project is backed by the cantons of ZA?rich and Aargau, which would pay 75% and 25% of the estimated SFr670m cost (CAD $782.5 million); a third of this would come from federal funding allocated to the cantons. The cantons’ jointly-owned project development company Limmattalbahn AG expects to obtain all planning consents within two years, with a view to construction starting in 2017 for completion at the end of 2019.
The Limmattalbahn would have 27 stops and is intended to provide an attractive local public transport option to support increasing residential and commercial development along the corridor, which is currently served by local buses and S-Bahn trains with limited stops.
Around 92% of the route would be on reserved track, which would permit speeds up to 60 km/h and provide a reliable journey time of around 37 min, although it is envisaged that passengers travelling from end-to-end would continue to use faster S-Bahn services.
The metre-gauge line would be electrified at 600 V DC between Altstetten and Schlieren for compatibility with the network of ZA?rich tram operator VBZ, and at 1Ai??2 kV DC from Schlieren to Killwangen for compatibility with the local railway operated by BDWM Transport. A fleet of 2 300 mm wide trams with a capacity of 200 to 260 passengers is envisaged.
Posted by zweisystem on October 22, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Once again, SkyTrain breaks down and during rush hour too!
This nonsense of having only one metro line to service downtown Vancouver, demonstrates just how bad TransLink’s planning is – one breakdown and the system fizzles.
From CKNW Radio News
http://www.cknw.com/2013/10/22/skytrain-problem/
Here is TransLinkai??i??s statement: Ai??Due to a problem between Main and Broadway Station on the ExpoLine customers will have some significant delays and gaps in service. Ai??Currently, the Millennium Line running from VCC-Clark to Columbia and back, and SkyTrain is running from King George to Edmonds. Ai??There is a shuttle train running from Edmonds to Main, and service is running from Main to Downtown Stations. Ai??There will be significant delays on the Expo Line this morning, please give yourself lots of extra time or make some alternate arrangements to get to your destination.
CKNWai??i??S Terry Schintz is trying to get to work from Burnaby ai??i?? Frustration is really starting to build along the Skytrain line as thousands of commuters are going to be late, yet again today.
Wednesday
Human error blamed as thousands faced significant SkyTrain delays Tuesday morning
Vancouver Sun October 22, 2013
VANCOUVER – Thousands of SkyTrain commuters faced significant delays this morning as a result of a damaged power rail between Main and Broadway stations.
Fred Cummings, the president of the B.C. Rapid Transit Co., which operates and maintains the SkyTrain, said the problem arose after crews incorrectly replaced a power rail on a section of the track Monday night.
When a train came along the track this morning, it snagged on the rail, and knocked out the automatic power control cable on the track, shutting the system down.
The section of track had to be closed for several hours as TransLink investigated and repaired the problem, Cummings said.
“We don’t have disruptions like this very often , thankfully. This one really was human error,” Cummings said. “We apologize for the disruption of service. We want to do everything we can to prevent this from happening again.”
The service is running normally again but had alternated throughout the morning.
The Millennium Line will run from VCC-Clark Station to Columbia Station and back. On the Expo Line there is service from King George to Joyce. A shuttle train will run from Joyce to Nanaimo to Main stations.
Service is running from Main Street to downtown Vancouver stations and bus bridges have been set up from Joyce to Main and from Main to VCC-Clark.
Posted by zweisystem on October 22, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Thanks to David Cockle of Leewood Projects for sending the following ‘guidance notes’ for light rail, ultra light rail and more.
A?1.00 = $1.66 CAD.
UK Tram has produced a general Guidance Note and a series of Advice Notes for promoters who are considering a Light rail, Ultra Light Rail or Personal Rapid Transit Scheme.Ai?? These Notes provide promoters with practical help in preparing their schemes and making the business case.Ai??
Ai??
http://www.uktram.co.uk/Pages/GuidanceNotes.aspx
General Guidance Notes
UK Tram has produced a general Guidance Note and a series of Advice Notes for promoters who are considering a Light rail, Ultra Light Rail or Personal Rapid Transit Scheme.Ai?? These Notes provide promoters with practical help in preparing their schemes and making the business case.
They are available below:
Posted by zweisystem on October 21, 2013 · Leave a Comment
The following PostScript to a letter sent by Eric Chris, a professional engineer, is worthy of a post because he addresses the hidden issues of the U-Pass.
For those who live outside of TransLink’s realm, the U-Pass is a universal transit pass giving unlimited travel, forcibly sold to over 110,000 post secondary students in Metro Vancouver. There is very little accounting done with the U-Pass and no one at TransLink or at Metro Vancouver know what the actual usage rate is, nor do we know how much the U-Pass needs to be subsidized.
An interesting coincidence is that at a time when TransLink is pleading poverty, over 110,000 deep discounted U-Passes have been issued.
What we do know is that there is a large black market in U-passes, where students sell their U-passes (as a reminder, the post secondary student is forced to purchase a U-Pass, whether he/she does not want one), which again increases the subsidy rate for the deep discounted fare. An uncorroboratedAi?? source has put the number of U-Passes in use at over 60% or over 66,000 of the deep discounted U-Passes are used every day!
The taxpayer must ask; “Is TransLink’s current financial woes exacerbated by the U-Pass, where TransLink operates highly subsidized late night express and regular bus services to accommodate mainly student customers using the deep discounted U-Pass?“
Zwei echoes Mr. Chris’s observation; “Can transit can only be improved if TransLink is dissolved.”
Todd Stone et al,
When was the last time that TransLink cut service hours during off-peak times in Vancouver (weekends, holidays and weekdays) to match demand?Ai?? TransLink in Metro Vancouver can learn plenty from TransLink in Brisbane, Australia:
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/brisbane8217s-citycat-ferry-timetables-to-change/story-e6freon6-1226742995275
For next to no cost to students, TransLink offers about 100,000 students an unlimited number of trips daily to go anywhere in Metro Vancouver.Ai?? In essence, TransLink is buying its clients or riders and charging non-users paying for the express and late transit during off-peak hours, in particular.Ai?? If students had to ai???pay per tripai???, there wouldnai??i??t be so many wasteful trips by students ai??i?? trips wearing out the transit equipment and increasing the cost of transit (buses, for example, like light bulbs only operate for so many hours before they have to be replaced).
Anywhere in the world, find me one other transit organization offering ai???express and frequentai??? transit service until 2:30 am on Sundays, holidays and weekdays followed by late night transit until 3:30 am on Sundays, holidays and weekdays ai??i?? in addition to regular transit service.Ai?? Is there one?
Everyone at TransLink is over paid and spends his or her days reading and sending emails as well as addressing ai???internal TransLink stuffai???.Ai?? Really, no one at TransLink is even necessary.
TransLink employees merely get each other to do ai???stuffai??? and none of the ai???stuffai??? by the employees at TransLink matters ai??i?? studies and reports distorting the truth and promoting more sky train.Ai?? No one at TransLink makes any difference to the day to day operation of transit.Ai?? No one at TransLink designs, maintains or operates the transit system.
Who at TransLink is going to be fired for spending about $200 million to potentially increase fare evasion losses by millions of dollars annually?Ai?? Ian Jarvis, who heads TransLink, seems to be the logical choice to me.Ai?? Transit can only improve if TransLink is dissolved.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/translink-testers-find-compass-card-fare-evasion-loophole-1.2074337
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