Utterly ignorant about transit, come to Vancouver and join the club!
The authorAi??of the following article in the Toronto Sun is utterly ignorant of transit mode and operation and would make a great addition to the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
The very nature of modern LRT with the concept of “reserved rights-of-ways” or RoW’s that are exclusively for the use of streetcars or trams, has made modern LRT very competitive with metro and has made expensive light-metro such as SkyTrain (also used on the Scarborough Line in Toronto) obsolete. By operating on reserved RoW’s, enables a streetcar or tram to obtain commercial speedsAi??near that of a subway at a much less cost.Ai??The commercial speed of a transit routeAi??is largely determined by the number of stations or stops per km., the more stations with LRT the lower the commercial speed, but with more stations per km. the higher customer convenience and ridership.
The fact that LRT has reduced gridlock where it has been built and it’s proven ability to attract the motorist from the car, has made modern LRT a very useful tool in city planning and extremely expensive subways are only built when ridership on a transit line demands full grade separation. As mentioned in earlier posts, the threshold in Karlsruhe Germany for putting a tram line in a subway is around 35,000 to over 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, so there is plenty of scope for modern light rail in Toronto and in Vancouver.
TheAi??columnist for The Toronto Sun says the city is doomed to permanent traffic gridlock because there is no money to build new rapid transit subway lines, yet offers no proof that one subway line will cure the very same traffic gridlock.
The ability for light rail to carry large ridership on cheaper rights-of-ways has made more
expensive transit modes, such as SkyTrain (light-metro) obsolete.
“End of the line for subways, Scarborough had to accept an LRT, so there’s no cash forAi??Downtown Relief Line either”
By Christina Blizzard ,QMI Agency
First posted: Saturday, April 14, 2012You knew it had to happen.
No sooner had city council gleefully voted to foist LRTs instead of subways on Scarborough, over the vigorous objections of suburban residents, then the cry went up from all the smug downtowners.
They want the Downtown Relief Line.
How to explain it to all those self-entitled, Starbuck-swilling snobs?
Oh, this might work: Not a friggin’ chance.
If there’s not enough cash for Scarborough’s subways, there’s not enough for downtown.
Get on your bikes, guys. It’ll be a cold day in Hell, Ont. before this city ever builds another kilometre of subway system.
What planet are these folk living on?
They didn’t just tell Scarborough to get lost.
They’ve sealed this city’s fate. We’re doomed to gridlock forever.
Council’s decision is akin to that of former premier Bill Davis’ cancellation of the Spadina Expressway in 1971.
That move ensured no other expressway would be built in Toronto, including the Scarborough Expressway.
So Scarborough has the worst of all possible worlds. No subways, no decent highways.
This city, indeed, the GTA, is grinding to a halt because of half-baked plans gone awry.
Spadina was the first. It begat the Allen Expressway, which begat the Allen Road when Davis stopped construction.
It now ends at Eglinton Ave., creating a massive bottleneck.
Other transportation disasters include the cancellation of four subways by Mike Harris.
Shovels were already in the ground for the Eglinton Ave. West line when the Harris government filled it in, citing a lack of funding.
It would be up and running by now if it had gone ahead.
Then there’s the Union Station to Pearson Airport direct rail link.
It took years to get any progress on that line. While other cities had multiple transit links to their airports, drivers here sat fuming in traffic, often missing flights when highways jammed up.
No sooner had work started when the protests began.
Local residents complained about the noise. Hello? Do you have any idea how much the value of your property has increased?
Another group popped up saying diesel trains would kill their children. They wanted electric trains, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs that would add.
Diesel trains on the entire GO Transit system don’t kill babies, but watch out when it’s in their backyard.
Now, some politicians are urging Metrolinx to put more stops along the line. Not quite sure which part of “direct” and “link” they don’t get.
Politicians don’t have the vision to set out a plan for the GTA and follow through with it, no matter what.
They’re meek, timid and too easily cowed by noisy special interest groups.
It’s not just transit.
Look at what happened with the gas-fired plants the provincial government cancelled in Misissauga and Oakville.
The Mississauga one was almost finished when Premier Dalton McGuinty pulled the plug during last October’s election.
Now the government is being sued for $300 million by the financing company associated with the plant.
That doesn’t even take into consideration the estimated $1 billion it will cost to scrap the plant and move it elsewhere.
And McGuinty has the nerve to ask NDP leader Andrea Horwath to tell him where to make $1 billion in savings?
Here’s some ideas: Don’t build $1 billion gas-fired plants and then pull them down. Don’t squander $1 billion on an eHealth boondoggle that benefited Liberal insiders. And don’t waste more millions on an Ornge Air Ambulance fiasco.
If this city had the billions of dollars they’ve put into not building highways, not building gas plants and in fighting any development that does manage to slip past the eagle eyes and slow wits of politicians, who like to nix every worthwhile project, we could build a subway to the moon.
Or at least to Scarborough.
The Canada Line is on the fritz again
Well it seems the $2.5 billion Canada Line gadgetbahnen is on the fritz again, so much for the myth that driverless transitAi??are more dependable than light rail.
The problem is a signalling problem and the sort of problem that bedevils automatic metros around the world, it is also a problem that doesn’t greatly effect light rail operations and trams/streetcars with drivers can operate “line of sight” if the signally system fails.
Long lines for the Canada Line at Olympic Village station. And we are building more driverless mini-metros?
Delays remain on the Canada Line
Trains are doing turn backs at Olympic Village station
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Last week it was the Expo Line, today it’s the Canada Line.Expect delays if you’re planning on taking the Canada Line as there is some kind of problem preventing the trains from communicating with the main control centre.The Canada Line is still doing turn back trains at Olympic Village. Some of you will have to transfer trains going either north or southbound. TransLink says the problem is still being worked on so you can expect delays.To help deal with the back-up of passengers, TransLink is keeping a bus bridge in place to get you between the Broadway-City Hall and the Waterfront stations. The buses will stop at every Canada Line station.This woman admits to News1130 that she is not impressed. “It’s a little bit frustrating because now I’m looking at options and I know I’ll be late.”“I’m actually presenting at a conference and I’m most likely going miss my presentation because of the train and all the issues with the buses being last too,” says this woman.
For up to the minute updates on the Canada Line, you can follow us on Twitter @News1130Traffic. You can also listen live to traffic reports every 10 minutes on the ones.
The Vancouver Sun, As Usual, Gets It Wrong On TransLink
Today’s editorial in the Vancouver Sun, regarding TransLink, gets it wrong, but this comes as no surprise, the Vancouver Sun had got it wrong about transit ever for the past 32 years and it’s so hard to each an old dog new tricks. The problem with TransLink is simple and can be summed up in one word, “SkyTrain“.
SkyTrain or light metro has been the darling of transit planners in the Greater Vancouver Region, ever since it was forced on the taxpayer by the provincial government. By building with Skytrain or light metro, means the region is paying up to ten times more than it should for “rail” transit, which in turn means higher taxes to be paid to support the mode, which leads to a smaller but more expensive transit system, exactly what we have today with TransLink.
The Vancouver Sun, an erstwhile supporter of SkyTrain and the Canada Line is a wee bit disingenuous when it plays the blame game with our transit funding woes and refuses to acknowledge the real problem; “transit planning that is far too expensive for the taxpayer.”
If the taxpayer can’t afford the transit planning, then the transit planning must be altered to suit the taxpayer, which is simple stuff that TransLink and the Vancouver Sun chooses to ignore!
The current financial fiasco with transit planning has been long predicted by real experts, when Vancouver built with SkyTrain and with the province forcing more and more light metro on the region, funding woes with transit will continue. The Vancouver Sun is oblivious to this and plays the blame game with TransLink, yet the Sun is as guilty as the rest by supporting unaffordable SkyTrain on the region.
The $2.5 billion Canada Line, even though it is a P-3 project is costing the taxpayer $100 million annually
which bring the total taxpayer funded annual subsidy for light-metro wellover $250 million annually. Here starts theAi??finacial woes with Translink.
McInnes: Provincial meddling derails TransLink planning
By Craig McInnes, Vancouver Sun April 15, 2012TransLink has the air of a hockey team that didnai??i??t make the playoffs these days.
The abysmal record is there for everyone to see. The suspense and the jockeying now are just about who gets fired and who will get to carry on and try to clean up the mess before the next season starts.
As it stands now, carefully laid expansion plans are in jeopardy because of a revolt by the Mayorsai??i?? Council. Management has a budget with a big hole in it that TransLink Commissioner Martin Crilly wonai??i??t allow them to fill with a fare increase. And the province ai??i?? which might be considered the team owner in this scenario since it has the ultimate power ai??i?? has been operating more like a wrecking ball than a relief valve.
It was the province that set up TransLink and gave it responsibility for planning and operating the transit and regional road network 15 years ago. It also tasked TransLink with raising the money to pay for it. But while paying lip service to the notion that local politicians should be in charge of local transit, it never completely let go of the wheel.
First under the New Democrats, then under the Liberals, the provincial government killed proposals for new ways to raise funds ranging from a vehicle levy to road pricing and regional tolling.
At the same time, it refused to help TransLink solve the multi-million problem of fare evaders as it could have by linking unpaid tickets to the renewal of car insurance or drivers licences. Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom said last week that heai??i??s willing to look at such a solution now, but as far back as 10 years ago only one in 10 riders who were issued a ticket ever bothered to pay the fine.
Five years ago, the Liberal government declared TransLink dysfunctional after it nearly refused to build the Canada Line, which had become a provincial and federal priority because of the 2010 Olympics.
It took much of the responsibility for operating TransLink away from local politicians and put it in the hands of professional management.
That hasnai??i??t worked out so well. An efficiency report that Crilly used as the basis of his refusal last week to allow a requested 12-per-cent fare hike found that while ridership had increased over the previous five years, costs had gone up faster. Compared to other cities, TransLinkai??i??s productivity is lagging and it has a bloated management structure.
While not a big number overall, the cost of policing jumped by 112 per cent, a galling rise given the lack of attention paid to the fact that most people issued tickets are simply throwing them away.
On Friday, the Mayorsai??i?? Council announced that it had decided not to ask homeowners for another $30 million from their property tax. That puts in jeopardy a number of planned improvements to the system, including bus service across the new Port Mann Bridge.
The mayors were responding to the way Lekstrom and Premier Christy Clark had dealt with their proposals to raise the money. The provincial politicians wanted any additions to be on property taxes rather than from new tolling or other new taxes.
So what happens next? TransLink management said Friday they need time to study the twin blows to their financial plan.
Of the two, the Crilly report should be the easiest to deal with, since while denying a revenue increase, it also delivered a road map for cutting operating costs.
The challenge posed by the mayors is more difficult, since it is rooted directly in the ongoing problem of political meddling by provincial politicians. That meddling breaks the accountability chain, which requires that tax increases be made by politicians who can be held accountable by the voters who have to pay them.
So Clarkai??i??s preference for property taxes is understandable. So too is the mayorsai??i?? reluctance to raise them, since they are the ones, not Clark, who will have to face any backlash from unhappy ratepayers.
Meanwhile, another dismal season lies ahead.
Ai?? Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Bad run for TransLink as disasters pile up
More unhappy news for TransLink……….
Bad run for TransLink as disasters pile up
By Michael Smyth, The ProvinceApril 13, 2012
http://www.theprovince.com/story_print.html?id=6452292&sponsor=
I doubt the folks at TransLink are worried about the ominous date on the calendar today.
Metro Vancouver’s transit authority has had such a lousy run of late that Friday the 13th could hardly bring any worse news.
TransLink’s losing streak started shortly after April Fool’s Day, when Metro drivers were hit with a new two-cents-a-litre gas tax to pay for SkyTrain’s new Evergreen Line extension.
As drivers grumbled, news broke that eight senior TransLink executives and CEO Ian Jarvis were in line for hefty performance bonuses.
For people responsible for making the trains run on schedule, you’d think they’d have a better sense of timing.
“Inappropriate,” said Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom, while Premier Christy Clark opined: “They shouldn’t be getting bonuses.”
The fact that the “outraged” politicians claimed to be powerless to stop the executive booty haul just made the public angrier.
Then, after a too-short Easter reprieve, TransLink’s week-from-hell really kicked into high gear.
Lekstrom got things rolling by rejecting TransLink’s request for a vehicle levy to make up a $30-million budget shortfall. He said no to a new carbon tax and toll booths, too.
Then transit commissioner Martin Crilly piled on by rejecting TransLink’s request for a 12.5-per-cent fare hike.
Crilly’s hit was particularly harsh because he threw in a brutal report slamming TransLink for waste and inefficiency. He called on the transit authority to find millions in internal savings.
By the time Thursday rolled around, the embattled TransLink CEO had still not officially responded to Crilly’s report. “He’s still reading it,” came the official word.
Maybe he’s a slow reader. Or maybe he was just hiding out, while the hits just kept on coming.
Up next: An internal security memo, obtained by CKNW reporter Janet Brown, that said SkyTrain police had an eight-a-day quota for writing fare-evasion tickets to transit freeloaders.
Now, I wouldn’t mind a ticket quota so much ai??i?? if TransLink actually collected the fines! It was revealed earlier there was no system to enforce “penalties” imposed by transit cops.
The cherry on top: A SkyTrain “switching problem” that snarled service for morning commuters, who could only do a slow burn because there was not a TransLink official in sight to explain what was happening.
Free advice to Christy Clark: It’s time to blow up TransLink and start over from scratch.
………and when the mainstream media starts reporting the silliness that has become TransLink, the bad news will keep coming in droves.
AdiA?s Transit Improvements?
A hint of the shape of things to come.
TransLink is imploding under its weight of inefficiencies and there is more to come; $30 million must be carved from the TransLink budget to cover the loss of the denied fare increases. Zwei has a few hints where these cuts could come from.
- Get rid of the highly paid spokespersons for TransLink, as they are merely professional windbags, who know little or nothing of transit issues and are there merely to put a ‘happy face’ on transit announcements.
- Get rid of the TransLink Board of Experts, as they are experts in doing as little as possible, except increasing their annual stipends.
- Get rid of Translink’s planning department and contract out planning, as the current highly paid regime do little, but provide reams and reams of paper outlining extremely dated material, mostly how to extract more money from the taxpayers.
- Rationalize bus service and bring it up to European standards with minimum bus stop distances. TransLink could reduce the number of bus stops by 50%, improve service and increase headways (capacity), without increasing costs.
- Abandon the Evergreen Line as there is no evidence that SkyTrain has actually attracted the motorist from the car in such numbers that would justify a $1.4 billion light metro.
- Use LRT/streetcar instead of SkyTrain/light-metro for future ‘rail’ transit planning.
- Abandon the new head office being built in New West Minster and instead radically reduce TransLink’s bureaucracy.
Radical change must happen at TransLink as the ponderous bureaucracy, has done little to improve transit, while at the same time done much to improve their personal incomes.
Rapid Bus and B-Line in question south of the Fraser
With funding for transit expansions still being worked out, new bus services could be in limbo
Dave WhiteApr 13, 2012SURREY (NEWS1130) – It could be a huge blow for Surrey, desperate for new buses. New transit options meant to make your commute south of the Fraser easier later this year could be in jeopardy because of TransLink‘s financial woes.Major projects all included in TransLink’s 2012 plan may be delayed or cancelled, like Rapid Bus over the New Port Mann Bridgeand B-Line service for King George Boulevard and 104 Avenue.We spoke with Paul Hillsdon, who writes for Civic Surrey.Ai?? He says transit users are caught in a political back and forth game, as mayors, the province, and TransLink’s commissionerhave differing opinions on where new money is going to come from.”It was supposed to be a property tax, the mayors don’t want a property tax.Ai?? The province says no to a vehicle levy, no to tolls, no to gas tax, and the Commissioner says, essentially, $50-million is going to have to be found through an audit,” Hillsdon points out.Hillsdon fears folks south of the Fraser are going to be neglected again when it comes to transit expansion.
“The service I’m most concerned about is the King George B-Line,” Hillsdon says.Ai?? “It has been in the plans for over 20 years now.Ai?? We thought it was coming after the Olympics when the buses from the 98 B-Line in Richmond were supposed to be rerouted to Surrey, that didn’t happen.”
“Of course this whole fiasco is disproportionately affecting those of us who need that transit infrastructure in Surrey.Ai?? We don’t have that backbone that Vancouver does, and it takes investments to build that,” Hillsdon adds.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts is out of the country at a conference, but City Councillor Marvin Hunt tells News1130 the ordeal is incredibly frustrating.
“We’re stuck until TransLink can figure out the implications of everything that’s been thrown at it in the last couple of days,” Hunt says.Ai?? “It’s extremely frustrating because ultimately, we don’t have a complete transit system on our side of the river.”
He says BC’s second largest city should not have so much trouble getting more buses when 70 per cent of the region’s growth is expected in the area.
Hunt feels the province should not have stepped in to play politics with transit, and should let Mayors and TransLink bring in money how they see fit.
TransLink needs to come up with $30-million annually to pay for new projects and expansion of the system. Mayors had approved options for funding including a vehicle levy earlier this year, but Premier Christy Clark pledged money would be found through an audit of the organization.
Hunt says there’s no timeline on that audit, which means it’s not clear when or if the new bus routes will come to fruition.
TransLink says it needs more time before it knows exactly what will happen.
“Well in the past few days we received [those] decisions that impact our business,” says spokesman Derek Zabel.Ai?? “The commissioner’s decision to reduce our proposed fare increase and the recent mayor’s council motion to eliminate reliance on property tax to fulfill the moving forward plan.”
“We do need time to review the information and understand what these decisions mean for TransLink, our customers, and the public we serve,” Zabel adds.Ai?? “We will share our process publicly in due course as we go through all of this.”
Yes, TransLink does Need An Overhaul!
Common sense at last.
Ever since Gordon Campbell and Kevin Falcon and had a hissy fit over the then TransLink Board (made up of local mayors) rejecting the Canada Line metro due to cost concerns, and gutted public oversight for the ponderous bureaucracy and insteadAi??creatingAi??the so called Board of Experts, TransLink has been, to be polite, dysfunctional.Ai??The new board of Experts turned up to beAi??nothing more than a board of rank amateurs.
The new board’s first action? Yup, you got it, greatly increase their stipends! I guess the new board was expert in feathering their new nest!
TransLink is not just dysfunctional, it has completely isolated itself from the public and public opinion and cares little that it has. TransLink would rather hire very expensive spin doctors, toAi??weave the TransLink story, rather than be truthful with the public. The result: A disastrous public relationship.
What most people do not realize, TransLink could disappear entirely tomorrow and not effect transit operations one iota, because TransLink doesn’t run transit directly,Ai??instead separate bureaucracies operate the bus and metro systems. The planning component of TransLink could be eliminated and private consultants could be hired to plan for regional transit, just like Rail for the Valley did three years ago by engaging Leewood Projects of the UK to plan for a regional passenger rail line utilizing the former BC electric Interurban route.
TransLink has all butAi??ignored the RftV/Leewood Study and now claim they are not interested in any rail study unless 10 minute headways can be achieved, strangely the West coat Express doesn’t maintain 10 minute headways either, but then TransLink rules only apply South of the Fraser it seems.
Not only does TransLink need an overhaul, our entire transit philosophy, so entrenched in the 1960’s, needs an overhaul as well.
In the 21st century, public transit is seen as a product and to be successful with the public the transit ‘product‘ needs to satisfy the needs and wants of the public at an affordable cost. To date, TransLink has been utterlyAi??incapableAi??providingAi??this.
TheAi??sad ship TransLink has hit the finacial iceberg only the capatain and crew are unaware of it.
TransLink needs ‘complete overhaul’: Mayor
TransLink watchdog rejects 12.5 per cent fare hike, but cash fares may still go upBy Staff Reporter, The Province April 11, 2012
Mayors, pundits and the public agree: Itai??i??s time to rethink TransLink.
TransLink Commissioner Martin Crilly has rejected a proposed 12.5 per cent fare increase for 2013, citing the ai???hardshipai??? caused by fare hikes and the likelihood TransLink could raise the money by running more efficiently.
Crilly, TransLinkai??i??s independent regulator, said TransLink could find $40 to $50 million in cost savings between 2013 and 2015, if it rethinks transportation system costs, logistics and maintenance.
ai???Weai??i??ve reached the point where there has to be a complete rethink of TransLink, its governance and its operation, because this model isnai??i??t working,ai??? said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie.
TransLink has been stymied in its bid to find revenue from other sources, such as a vehicle levy or road tax, nor is the Mayorsai??i?? Council, which once ran TransLink, keen to keep funding TransLink from property tax revenue.
Brodie, who chaired TransLink for two years when it was made up of elected mayors, said the current appointed board ai???operates behind closed doors.
ai???We donai??i??t know what theyai??i??re doing and the remuneration they receive is outrageous,ai??? said Brodie, noting the chair gets more than $100,000 annually.
ai???I think TransLink is in a terrible bind. It needs long term funding sources.
ai???You need a complete overhaul of TransLink, you cannot have it lurching along the track from financial crisis to financial crisis.ai???
Gordon Price, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University and a former Vancouver councillor, said the public has ai???a love-hate relationship with TransLink.
ai???The conclusion people can fairly draw is that the commissioner is saying to TransLink you donai??i??t need more money, that there is waste, find the efficiencies,ai??? said Price.
ai???This appointed board, and they are all top-drawer people, is supposed to run things more efficiently,ai??? said Price, but TransLink lacks a revenue source.
Yet TransLink runs a transportation system Greater Vancouver can be proud of, said Price, noting that visitors are amazed at the breadth of the system and its efficiencies in a metropolitan area of only two million people.
Public criticisms to the Commission cited TransLinkai??i??s flawed fare zone structure, perceived poor service quality and levels, what was seen as ai???escalating and condoned fare evasionai??? and the unfair scale of fare hikes.
TransLink could go ahead and hike cash fares, as it needs no approval to raise individual fares by two per cent annually.
That means single-zone adult fares could go up to $2.75 from $2.50 in 2013, and three-zone fares likely will go up to $5.50 from $5.
FareSaver booklets will become an even better deal, as Crillyai??i??s ruling ensures the costs of those tickets wonai??i??t change.
TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis said ai???we move more than one million passengers each day through the transportation network.ai??? Jarvis said the Commissioner ai???confirmed we are well-runai??? but has refused the proposed fare increases.
Jarvis said TransLink will proceed with ai???an expeditious auditai??? to try to find the money the fare hikes would have provided.
Ai?? Copyright (c) The Province
Friends of Rail For the Valley – AGM this Sunday
Hi everyone,
TheAi??Friends of Rail For the Valley SocietyAi??will be holding our Annual General Meeting this April 15.
Where:Ai??University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford Campus, Room B121
When:Ai??Sunday April 15, 2:00pm
All are welcome to attend the AGM. Membership in our Society costs just $10 per year.
At the meeting, elections will be held for a new Society President, along with various other positions. This year, I have decided that I must take on only a very limited set of Rail For the Valley related tasks, so it is of theAi??utmost importanceAi??that we organize ourselves accordingly, and also gain new blood for this important movement !
At the AGM, we will hear updates on progress from across the Fraser Valley, including the status of the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society’s project, to get Interurbans back on the tracks in Surrey and Cloverdale!
Time permitting, Shaw TV’s Interurban documentary will be shown, at the end.
I plan to attend. I hope you do too.
SkyTrain on the fritz again.
A switching problem may happen on a LRT/streetcar Ai??line but would never cause the chaos that happens whenAi??switch fails on a driverless SkyTrain line. The simple design of an at-grade/on-street tram/light rail switch means it can be operated safely manually if need be.
SkyTrain delays this morning were due to switching problem near Nanaimo station
By Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Sun – April 10, 2012
METRO VANCOUVER – SkyTrain is beginning to return to normal after delays of 20 to 30 minutes on SkyTrain’s Expo line this morning because due to a switching problem near Nanaimo station.
TransLink is acknowledging 20 to 30 minute delays east of Broadway station.
“Once you’re past there it’s [OK],” tweets TransLink official.
TransLink suggests that passengers needing the Millennium line transfer at Columbia or Commercial streets.
TransLink is informing passengers delays are being caused by switching problem in Nanaimo-station area.
There are reports that delays are 20 to 30 minutes at some stations.
There are some unhappy transit users.
AML tweeted that she woke up at 6 a.m. to get to school early. “NOPE, skytrain delays. I hate you [Skytrain],” she said.
Vancouver blogger Rebecca Bollwitt reported on twitter from King George station that there are massive delays there, people are angry and there are no TransLink officials anywhere.
Karen Jouhal tweeted that even if you get on a SkyTrain expect the train to be stalled at other stations. “Sitting here in silence, no announcements from [TransLink],” she says.
Not all delayed passengers are angry at TransLink.
Ashley Vaughan tweeted a thanks to TransLink “for keeping us up to date on this morning’s craziness!!”
TransLink has been tweeting updates and advising people how to connect with the Millennium line.
A number of passengers noting that the SkyTrain delay comes just after TransLink has proposed a 12.5 per cent fare increase for 2013.
“Going to be a hard sell for that this morning,” tweeted Wendy Leung.
More to come.
Ai?? Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun—————————————————————————————————————Updated
UPDATE: Track problem fixed; still expect delays on SkyTrain
Service on the Expo Line has been restored
UPDATE:Ai?? SkyTrain Expo Line switch problems have been fixed and service is being restored. Continue to expect delays and crowds.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Brace yourself for big delays if you plan on taking the SkyTrain this morning.
Expo Line trains are running on a single track between Broadway and Nanaimo because of a switching problem.
“This is really starting to back things up, especially at stations like Broadway and Patterson,” explains TransLink‘s Derek Zabel. “We’re starting to see some pretty big delays especially at some stations in Surrey. Anywhere upwards of 30 minutes people are reported to be waiting for trains.”
“One of the options that people can try is to take the Millennium Line,” adds Zabel. “You’re still going to experience some delays on the Millennium Line, but it may not be as bad. You’re going to have to transfer trains at Commercial Station or over at Columbia Station.”
“I do apologize to those people,” says Zabel. “It certainly hasn’t been a very good commute today. You certainly don’t want these problems to happen during the morning commute, and I know that this can frustrate a lot of people. Hopefully we’ve earned the right to serve them again and get this problem rectified quickly.”
Transit riders at the Broadway Station are not very happy with the delay.
“There’s too many hamsters in a hamster cage. Everyone is going nuts and pushing each other. It’s crazy,” says this rider.
This woman says she’s experienced problems for years. “I’ve been riding this system for almost 15 years since I was a kid, and there’s been problems all the time.”
(Zwei comments: The previous statement is telling and indicates that there are far more problems with TransLink than that they would admit too!)
Zabel says at this time, there is no update on when this problem will be fixed.
The Fare Evasion Game – Let’s Not Deal with The Real Transit Issues!
What is interesting about this story is that there were only 440 respondents to TransLink’s survey, which is hardly a drop in the bucket compare to the numbers of passengers using the transit system on a daily basis.
Why is this so?
Well two answers come to mind;
- The vast majority of people use the car instead of transit and fare hikes mean little or nothing.
- A large portion of TransLink’s riders have discounted fares already, such as the U-Pass and a general fare hike doesn’t hit the pocket book very hard.
If one legitimately can use concession fares using transit, theAi??fare is still quite reasonable, but where the fare increases will hurt are those paying full fare.
Sadly, one has not much faithAi??with Martin Crilly,Ai??TransLink’sAi??Transit Commissioner, as he has little expertise in public transit and this lack of knowledge in the 1990’s, helped build the Millennium Line, which has distinguished itself by doing relatively little, except lumber the taxpayer with about $1.2 billion and growing, in public debt.
Respondents to the questions tend to ridicule TransLink and its employees illustrating the sad state of affairs within TransLink itself. Sadly, nothing will change because no one really cares about public transit, except when a multi billion dollar metro line is opened, then watch all the political glad handing at ribbon cutting time.
The real issue is TransLink itself, something that TransLink’s over paid bureaucratsAi??will not deal with and the provincial government just hasn’t the politicalAi??courage to make changes to TransLink, especially when it was the provincial Liberals, especially one Kevin Falcon, who made the last round of disastrous changes to TransLink.
The Ship of Fools sails on!
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