Bob Mackin
TransLink is spending $2.31 million for a committee to exploreAi??spending hundreds of millions of dollars to tax motorists who drive in downtown Vancouver and cross the regionai??i??s bridges.
So-called mobility pricing is how the Mayorsai??i?? Council wants to fund the regional share of the 10-year plan for roads, bridges and the Broadway subway and Surrey light rail. The latter two megaprojects will costAi??more than $4.6 billion combined, but the 2017 cost estimates are a tightly held TransLink secret, for fear of sparking sticker shock among taxpayers.
TransLinkai??i??s 2015 interim CEO Doug Allen (Mackin)
When interim CEO Doug Allenai??i??s $35,000-a-month contract expired in August 2015, his exit report said TransLink should strike a committee and study the tax measure for two years, then take until 2025 to design and implement the measure. But this new committee is supposed to report and dissolve by the end of April 2018.
Almost three years ago, Allen warned that it would be a political minefield.
ai???Road usage charging can only be used to increase transit ridership [not fund roads and bridges] if it ever gets implemented in the first place,ai??? Allen wrote in his advice to his successor. ai???Risks and challenges to implementation are numerous on both the technical and the public acceptability fronts ai??i?? several orders of magnitude more complex than the Compass Card project.ai???
The Compass Card faregates and smart card project took an extra three years and doubled in budget to $200 million by the time it was launched in 2016. The road tax would require installation of networked surveillance cameras and sensors throughout the city, like in Milan, San Diego, Singapore, Stockholm and London. It cost the British capital $831 million to start-up and operate its congestion pricing system over the first decade, in order to net $1.3 billion net revenue.
Will anyone on the 14-member committee travel to see how it works, first hand?
ai???At present there are no plans for the commission to travel outside of the region as part of their work,ai??? said TransLink spokeswoman Jill Drews.
ai???At presentai??? could be the operative phrase. TransLink is notorious for junkets. Back in November 1999, chair George Puil led a 10-person, $70,000 delegation to London to explore the turnstiles on the tube. Puilai??i??s travel buddies included: NDP MLA Jenny Kwan and her aide Ian McConnell, Millennium Line president Lecia Stewart, TransLink vice-president Sherri Plewes, ex-BC Transit boss Larry Miller, and transit consultant Jane Bird.
They enjoyed business class airfare and stayed in a $300 hotel room in the posh Mayfair district.
Mobility pricing committee chair Allan Seckel, who was Premier Gordon Campbellai??i??s deputy minister during the 2010 Winter Olympics, and vice-chair Joy MacPhail, the former NDP leader, are being paid $2,500 and $1,666 respectively, per month. All members of the board ai??i?? including directors like ex-NPA Coun. Jennifer Clarke, ex-B.C. trucking industry lobbyist Paul Landry, and United Way CEO Michael McKnight ai??i?? will be paid a $550-per meeting stipend.
The board reads like a reunion of the Better Transit and Transportation Coalition, which lost the 2015 TransLink tax plebiscite: Greater Vancouver Board of Tradeai??i??s Iain Black, UNIFORai??i??s Gavin McGarrigle, Surrey Business Improvement Associationai??i??s Elizabeth Model and Counterpoint Communicationsai??i?? Bruce Rozenhart. Rozenhart was in the backroom for Liberal incumbent John Yapai??i??s re-election in Richmond-Steveston.
How SkyTrain Zealots Want To Crush Rational Transit Thinking
The End of the Line for SkyTrain?
Recent articles, by the SkyTrain Lobby are nothing more than the old adage; “Repeat a lie often enough and the people will come around to believing it.”
What we call SkyTrain, a combination of three railways of which one is not compatible in operation with the other two, are just simply railways.
To try to give the two unconventional railways some sort of perceived advantage, they are powered by Linear Induction Motors or LIM’s and they are fully automatic (driverless). The problem is, the two railways, built as light-metro’s cost much more to build, more to operate and more to maintain than conventional railways. Sadly for the two unconventional railways, they became museum pieces because there were cheaper and just as good alternatives.
Why spend more for one railway, when the alternative was cheaper and just as good or better?
And here lies the problem for the SkyTrain Lobby, their much cherished ALRT/ART proprietary rapid transit system.
So let us examine what we call SkyTrain, again.
- Only seven such systems built.
- Six name changes in 40 years, starting with; Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS); Advanced Light Rail Transit System (ALRT); Advanced Light Rapid Transit System (ALRT), Automatic Light Metro (ALM), Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) and now Innovia 100, 200,Ai?? 300 series.
- No sales in the past decade.
- Designed to be elevated to mitigate the high cost of subway construction.
- Limited capacity.
- Patents owned by Bombardier Inc. and SNC Lavalin.
- Maintenance intensive.
- hugely expensive constriction costs.
- Higher maintenance and operation costs, due to small cars and ‘4-rail’ operation.
- In comparison, the Expo line cot about 40% more to operate than the Calgary C-Train (both having about the same length at the time), with the C-Train carrying more passengers.
- Only one supplier.
- Not compatible in operation with the Canada Line, which though is called SkyTrain, is not.
- Not compatible in operation with any other transit system.
- Most studied of the light-metro family, with unprecedented exposure during Expo 86, yet no buyers in North America, during an era of unprecedented investment in light rail. Note, both the Detroit ICTS and the JFK/Port Authority were private deals between the operator and the UTDC/Bombardier, with the former used as a single track 4.5 km ‘people mover’ and an airport ‘people mover’ at JFK and parking lots and a subway station and are not used for urban transport.
Until there is honest debate about transit, instead of their constant harangue of SkyTrain myth and wishful thinking, congestion and gridlock will continue unabated in metro Vancouver, until the region and metro mayors enter into rational transit thinking.
Has Metro Vancouver Past The Point of No Return With Transit Planning?
Metro Vancouver is approaching a critical decision on transit, but has the region already past the “point of no return” with regional transit?
The Metro Vancouver region has been able to afford one light-metro line every decade; the 80’s saw the the Expo Line; the late 90’s the Millennium Line; the 2000’nds the Canada line and the 20 teens the Evergreen Line. We are ready for one more light metro line in the 2020’s.
But is it enough to offer an attractive alternative to the car?
By comparison, for the same money invested, the region could have had a tram/light rail network three times as large.
Are the huge investments made (over $10 million to date) for light metro and future huge investments in the next decades to come, almost $10 billion for a subway and rebuilding the Expo/Millennium and Canada Lines to allow higher capacity, be cost effective?
Has the past decisions to not build with modern light rail, hamstrung sensible transit planning?
Those who want SkyTrain and subways, ignore the huge costs associated with the mode remain blind to the fact that transit to date has not reduced congestion.
The tried and true practice of inflating light rail’s costs to match SkyTrain, just makes TransLink look silly internationally.
If we continue doing the same thing, over and over again, ever hoping for different results, currently a problem endemic with regional transit planning, will the region be just wasting money on just more bad transit decisions?
Has the region already past the point of no return for good transit planning? Has the region now, forever ignoring the need for a user friendly regional public transit servcie and will continue with its present “Balkanization” of transit planning, where some regions get multi billion dollar transit solutions, leaving other regions wanting, to suit political needs?
Is “Road pricing” or “Congestion Charging”, the last desperate attempt to hide current transit planning malpractice and/or malfeasance from the public?
And now just in; has ICBC’s massive deficit which will lead to huge insurance increases, in part, the result of TransLink’s utterly poor transit planning, by not providing an attractive alternative to the car?
Who is in charge of the clattering TransLink train?
SkyTrain creaks, and the buses strain.
The planning is hot, and decisions are near,
And ignorance hath deadened the plannerai??i??s ear:
And congestion increases, but solutions in vain.
Political incompetence is in charge of the clattering TransLink train!With apologies to Edwin James Milliken
Reality Can Be A Bitch – Two FastFerry Fiascos For Metro Vancouver
As of yet, there is no real cost estimate for the Broadway Subway and reality is setting in that it will be in excess of $3 billion, unless the scope of the project is reduced, as was done to the Canada line.
One persistent rumour I hear is that the Millennium Line subway extension to Arbutus will sport stations with 50 metre long platforms; long enough to be able to accommodate three car trains of MK 2 & 3 stock, but would limited capacity to about 9,000 to 10,000 persons per hour per direction. This also happens to be 5,000 to 6,000 less than the established minimum capacity that would rate a subway.
The item of the Evergreen Line’s disappearing act, lends credence to this rumour.
The problem with this is future generations will have to buck up big time to increase capacity, but Vision Vancouver’s developer friends will be happy that those expensive underground concourses built for a subway with their new buildings, will be put to use. “Pay to Play” at its best.
One wonders what sweet nothings, former Vision Vancouver Councillor and now adviser to the premier, Geoff Meggs, is whispering into Horgan’s and Minister of Transportation Trevena’s ear?
Could it be, that Meggs is gung-ho for mobility pricing to fund Vancouver’s Subway, even though both projects have all the makings of FastFerry fiascos number 2 and 3?
The NDP, do not read history and are doomed to reap the whirlwind of electoral consequences.
The NDP, always out of tune with the public may finally sign their political death warrant with the subway and mobility pricing to fund it, much to the glee of Green Party Leader Weaver and the future Liberal leader.
Memo to Derek Corrigan: Lean back and wait for the crushing financial numbers for the Broadway Subway and Surrey’s LRT and then wait a little longer until Bombardier abandons SkyTrain production, then tell the financial facts of life to municipal politicians.
The Mayor’s Council on Transit, the epicentre of TransLink dysfunctional operation, will be forced to take a more realistic view of regional transit planning and application.
New Mayors’ Council chair raises concerns over funding for transport projects
But Derek Corrigan says Metro Vancouver mayors ‘will see their projects go ahead’
CBC News Ai?? Posted: January 22nd 2018
Derek CorriganAi??says his fellow Metro Vancouver mayors shouldn’t worry about the future of transportation projects in the area under his tenure as Mayors’ Council chair.
But the mayor of BurnabyAi??remains concerned about how huge infrastructure projects like theAi??SkyTrainAi??Broadway extensionAi??and theAi??Surrey-Newton-GuildfordAi??LRT line will be funded.
ai??i??Some Lower Mainland politicians expressed concern whenAi??CorriganAi??was elected chair of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation chair in December, with New WestminsterAi??Coun. PatrickAi??JohnstoneAi??calling him “transit regressive.”
CorriganAi??has been critical of many of the Mayors’ Council’s plans, saying they were “very ambitious”Ai??and predicting a “slow down”.
However, Corrigan told the CBC’s Early Edition host Steven Quinn that the mayors have nothing to worry about.
“I think the mayors will see their projects go aheadAi??and I think they’ll be done in a timely manner,” he said.
But Corrigan saidAi??there still exists a problem of funding the projects.
While the federal government has committed $2.2 billion for local transportation projectsAi??and the province has committed to fund 40 per cent of the capital projects, the municipalities have yet to fund the remaining portion, he said.
“We’ve got to find a way out of what is a very difficult situation before we can move wholeheartedly into the plan. And I’m being realistic about that,”Ai??said Corrigan.
He says the mayors have said over and over they do not want to seek money from property taxes, so they are discussing alternative funding sources from the province.
“I believe there areAi??solutions that we may be able to find, but at this stage we’re not able to discuss any of the alternatives that are being proposed,”Ai??Corrigan said.
Mobility pricing
Last week, the independent commission on mobility pricing released its report on the first phase of its mission to research how to change the way transportation is priced in Metro Vancouver.
It suggested possibilities includingAi??a fee to enter downtown VancouverAi??and charging drivers for distances travelled, with increased fees for some locations.
TransLink says mobility pricing ai??i??Ai??which refers to charging people for the use of roads, bridges and transit ai??i??Ai??would be used to reduce congestion, promote fairnessAi??and support investment in the transportation system.
Corrigan says since the public rejected the 2015 referendum on a $7.5-billion transportation plan from the Mayors’ Council, this alternative way to add taxes in order to finance the transit system will not be attractive to them.
“I don’t know if the government’s going to be interested in going into the next election proposing that there be a comprehensive tolling system around the Lower Mainland as a result of the mobility pricing commission,”Ai??said Corrigan.
“It sounds to me and it looks to me that this may be a significant way off. It’s not going to become a way to solve the immediate funding problems that we’ve got.”
The commission’s final report is due in April.
Light Rail For Surrey Fights Back
After the CBC’s fawning over the largely discredited SkyTrain for Surrey lot, Light Rail For Surrey fights back.
Just a reminder, in 2016, CKNW outed SkyTrain for Surrey for fudging the truth and now, they are at it again with the CBC.
The questions I would like answered is: “Who is really behind the SkyTrain to Surrey folks?” “Who is pulling the strings?”
Renewed push for Surrey LRT after new Mayors’ Council chair elected
Monika Gul
Posted Jan 23, 2018
SURREY (NEWS 1130) ai??i??Ai??With a new Mayorsai??i?? Council chair in Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, the Surrey Board of Trade is renewing itsAi??campaign for the Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT.
The organization has written to Corrigan to make sure the project goes ahead.
The project, divided into two lanes, including one that would connect city centre to Langley on the Fraser Highway, would see 27 kilometres of light rail with about 19 stops.
While some have called for a SkyTrain for the area instead, Board CEO Anita Huberman argues that would only disconnect the city.
ai???The ability to grow our town centre, expand the system in terms of our community plan, is the opposite of what SkyTrain will do.ai???
ai???Increasing buses will very quickly increase congestion. Having SkyTrain on Fraser highway is four times the cost.ai???
HubermanAi??wants construction to begin in early 2019.
A grassroots group called ai???Skytrain for Surreyai??? has written its own letter to Corrigan, asking him to remove the project from the Mayorsai??i?? 10-Year Vision.
Road Pricing Farce
From Bob Mackin and the Breaker.
From July 2017
Zwei has studied “Road Pricing” and “Congestion Charging” for over 20 years and………………
the very first rule for a successful road pricing scheme is that the region have a user friendly and affordable public transit alternative.
With TransLink we don’t…….. not even close and TransLink is so incompetent at what it does, will insure the public’s wholesale rejection of the scheme, the politicians who supported it, and even the political parties that endorse it.
You do not need a committee to look at “Road pricing” , it’s not going to work….oh sorry; for many, it is the last slurp at the “pork barrel” for a while.
Remember the NDP rump, with 2 seats in opposition after their switch from LRT to SkyTrain for the Broadway Lougheed R/T Project?
Remember (King) George Puil former head of TransLink?
Remember the 2015 plebiscite?
Remember Fassbender, the Minister rsponcible for TransLink?
The 2015 plebiscite had it right, the public do not like TransLink, its planning, its operation, nor the people who work there and TransLink and the regional mayors has done nothing to improve this, but to punish the taxpayer and transit customer with more incompetence.
Note from Zweisystem Jan. 2018. Road pricing is strictly to pay for TransLink’s very bad planning and continued lack of candor; the now $3 billion plus Broadway subway to Arbutus; the park destroying Surrey LRT; the daft four lane Patullo Bridge replacement, yet no mention of the $3 billion to upgrade the existing ALRT/ART SkyTrain lines.
As the title says, the Road Pricing Commission is a complete farce, terminate it and build transit within our means.
Ex-TransLink boss warned mobility pricing ai???several orders of magnitude more complexai??? than Compass boondoggle
Massey Tunnel Facts – Facts That No One Wanted The Public To Know
The alternative facts and fake news spewed by the BC Liberals, especially sitting MLA and still Delta Councillor, Ian Paton, Delta Mayor, Lois Jackson and the hoi polloi of car and truck drivers wanting a new $3.5 billion to over $5 billion mega bridge to replace the perfectly good George Massey Tunnel, have been shown for what they are: falsehoods or grand economies of the truth.
The bridge was proposed for two reasons:
1) To allow Panama and Cape Max. colliers and tankers to travel up the Fraser River to load, dirty Montana Coal; volatile Braken Oil; and LNG at Fraser Surrey Docks, with the coal and oil delivered directly by the BN&SF.
2) To divert billions of taxpayer’s monies to political friends via multi billion dollar mega projects. This is called “Pay to Play”.
The new American Trump administration doesn’t care for environmental concerns, thus the American coal and oil will be loaded in the USA and LNG; LNG is as dead as a Norwegian Blue parrot; and BC new NDP Government, hopefully will stop “Pay to Play” mega projects.
The proposed Fraser River mega bridge was never about traffic and transportation, it was all about political deals, cut by the BC Liberals with big business.
Meeting with ministry gave former Liberal government tunnel options
Delta Optimist January 10, 2018
Much has been said by the former Liberal government and its representatives about getting the facts for the replacement of the George Massey Tunnel.
Transportation and Tunnel Engineering Consultants (TEC) of the Netherlands to update the ministry on the state of the art of immersed tunneling.
The content of the 60-page presentation included introduction of TEC worldwide tunnel projects both recent and proposed, and cost effective options for the George Massey Tunnel. Special attention was given to tunnel safety, earthquake resistance design and comparison with bridge solutions.
The following are quotes taken from that presentation:
1.Tunnels are more suited for various and poor soil conditions.
2. Tunnels are shorter in length than a bridge and have a smaller footprint.
3.Tunnels can be built parallel and close to existing tunnels.
4.Tunnel construction is capable of dealing with severe seismic conditions.
5.Tunnel construction where 80 to 90 per cent of the work could be done by local contractors.
6.Tunnels can be built safer than an open highway.
The last 14 pages of the presentation dealt with TEC’s selection of appropriate options, possible cross sections, layouts and options for future use of the George Massey Tunnel.
TEC recommended the following:
1. To assess the structural integrity and durability of the present tunnel.
2. Increase river depth by replacing riprap with an asphalt mattress.
3.Introduction of longitudinal ventilation and use current ventilation ducts as escape cell and for passage of pedestrians and cyclists.
4.Move ballast concrete to ventilation ducts and increase internal height of tunnel.
The entire report is available, on request, from me.
The report from TEC was not made available to the public and was not appropriately considered by the former Liberal government. A freedom of information request (FOI) to the Liberals yielded a response of “no records”. A recent FOI request has released the buried report which reveals viable, safe, cost effective options of upgrading the existing tunnel and adding a second tunnel beside it.
This report has now been made available, by the public, to new Transportation Minster Claire Trevena.
So, you see, the former Liberal government never revealed the true facts or alternatives to the public. Instead, it followed the demands of the Port of Vancouver and wrote fear mongering reports that suited its agenda of removing the George Massey Tunnel and deepening the lower Fraser River to suit present and future industrial interests.
This would destroy not only a perfectly good river crossing, but a bog land and a marshland, known the world over as vital component for a continued healthy ecosystem that supports a migratory food source for all marine and wildfowl life from the headwaters of the Fraser River along migratory routes of the Pacific Coast.
May the true facts be known.
Douglas George Massey
Adios The Evergreen line?
While researching for a magazine article, came across this on Wikipedia and I am not surprised.
It seems TransLink has jumped the gun in abandoning the Evergreen line name and instead the entire VCC/Clark Dr. toAi?? LaFarge Douglas as the Millennium Line.
Makes sense to me as the Evergreen Line was the unfinished portion of the Millennium Line in the first place.
- Waterfront ai??i??ai??i??ai??i??ai??i??
- Burrard ai??i??
- Granville
- Stadiumai??i??Chinatown
- Main Streetai??i??Science World
- Commercialai??i??Broadway ai??i??ai??i??
- Nanaimo
- 29th Avenue
- Joyceai??i??Collingwood
- Patterson
- Metrotown
- Royal Oak
- Edmonds
- 22nd Street
- New Westminster
- Columbia ai??i??
- Scott Road
- Gateway
- Surrey Central ai??i??
- King George ai??i??
| Lougheed branch |
|---|
Millennium Line Ai??
- VCCai??i??Clark
- Commercialai??i??Broadway ai??i??ai??i??
- Renfrew
- Rupert
- Gilmore
- Brentwood Town Centre
- Holdom
- Sperlingai??i??Burnaby Lake
- Lake City Way
- Production Wayai??i??University ai??i??
- Lougheed Town Centre ai??i??
- Burquitlam
- Moody Centre ai??i??
- Inlet Centre
- Coquitlam Central ai??i??
- Lincoln
- Lafarge Lakeai??i??Douglas
Canada Line Ai??
Airport branch
Perils of a Proprietary Railway – The End of SkyTrain
Zwei has often warned of the perils of a proprietary railway.
Our friend Mr. Cow has warned of the perils of a proprietary railway.
And now, Bombardier’s current fiasco supplying 21st century trams of a proven European model, may be the final straw in the collapse of Bombardier’s rail division.
If and when the production line for Mk.2/3 SkyTrain cars cease, it will in all probability not be restarted.
What then?
There is a slight hint, TransLink is ordering Mk.2/3 cars now, using funds that should have been spent of regional transportation.
Could it be that TransLink has been given the ‘heads-up’ that SkyTrain vehicle production may soon cease?
No wonder the SkyTrain Lobby is so anxious for a Broadway subway and SkyTrain in Surrey because by the end of 2018, there maybe no cars to run on future new lines.
It is like building a railway and the cars never arrive!
Any hopes Bombardier, Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) had of passing quietly into 2018 with resolutions of meeting deadlines received a dose of reality this month, as the TTC?s new acting CEO has begun to draw up alternative plans if Bombardier fails to deliver on the massive $1 billion streetcar contract that is rapidly approaching its end date.
Bombardier?s deal with the TTC
Bombardier signed an agreement with Toronto several years ago that called for the Montreal-based manufacturer to deliver 204 new streetcars to Toronto Transit by the end of 2019. Those streetcars were intended to replace the aging fleet of streetcars that areai??i??
Any hopes Bombardier, Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) had of passing quietly into 2018 with resolutions of meeting deadlines received a dose of reality this month, as the TTCai??i??s new acting CEO has begun to draw up alternative plans if Bombardier fails to deliver on the massive $1 billion streetcar contract that is rapidly approaching its end date.
Bombardierai??i??s deal with the TTC
Bombardier signed an agreement with Toronto several years ago that called for the Montreal-based manufacturer to deliver 204 new streetcars to Toronto Transit by the end of 2019. Those streetcars were intended to replace the aging fleet of streetcars that are still in use by the city, many of which are operating well past their intended lifespans.
The problem with the deal, like many other Bombardier deals, is delivering on time. Bombardier has repeatedly blown off key milestone delivery dates and has so far delivered only 59 of the 204 new streetcars promised. The contract had originally called on Bombardier to have delivered 148 new streetcars at the start of 2018.
The prolonged delays have soured relations between Bombardier and Toronto. The 89 streetcars that were intended to be already up and running by now has meant that the city has been forced to refurbish and keep the older fleet running at a significant cost to taxpayers.
While Bombardier is still confident that it can complete delivery on time, thereai??i??s a growing belief that the company will fail to deliver the remaining streetcars to the city. Part of that belief stems from a series of delivery window misses, and not just from the TTC contract.
Bombardierai??i??s Metrolinx contract gets revised
Bombardier also has a contract with Metrolinx, the regional transit authority of the Greater Toronto Area. That contract initially called for 182 new LRT vehicles to be built by Bombardier for several new transit lines under construction in Toronto.
Bombardier fell behind in that schedule too, resulting in a revised contract that calls for just 76 vehicles to be built by Bombardier announced last month, with the remaining vehicles to be built by a Bombardier competitor, France-based Alstom.
The revision lowers the contract from $770 million to $392 million and imposes financial penalties on Bombardier if the company fails to deliver.
Irrespective of whether Bombardier can deliver or not, the $5.3 billion new Crosstown LRT is currently under construction with a scheduled go-live date of 2021. If Bombardier is still unable to deliver the reduced order of vehicles, Alstom could ramp up production to meet the needs of Metrolinx.
What does this mean for Bombardier?
Bombardier has established a superior record of providing transit authorities across the world with their subway, LRT, and heavy rail needs that spans decades, but those contracts have often been plagued with delays and cost overruns; the company has largely escaped being held accountable either in the form of damages or a reduction on scope of the contract.
The Metrolinx deal change is significant, as it finally paints a dire picture for Bombardier of what could happen if the company continues to miss delivery windows.
Those ramifications are even more prevalent in the aerospace sector, where Bombardierai??i??s innovative CSeries jet is facing its own delays.
If Bombardier were ever to address this perennial delivery issue, the company would represent a unique investment opportunity that could pose promising over the long term, but in its current capacity, there are far more promising and better investment opportunities on the market to consider.
The Pursuit Of European Ideals In Toronto
As expected, upgrade a heritage streetcar line to a light rail standard and ridership increases dramatically.
By making King St. an exclusive route for trams, increased both commercial speed and ridership, so much so, it overwhelmed the servcie.
This is old news as our European friends knew his decades ago and the question must be asked: “Why has this taken so long for it to be done in Canada?”
The power of the simple reserved rights-of-way, brings metro like servcie at a fraction of the cost.
Now, if only we can get that other very successful European transportation option, TramTrain, into servcie in BC, it will revolutionize how we offer public transport in the province. Pursuing European ideals is not a bad thing at all.
Toronto’s King streetcar sees ai???spectacularai??i?? rise in ridership
URBAN TRANSPORTATION REPORTERTORONTORidership on the King streetcar has surged 25 per cent during the busiest times of the day in the wake of efforts to speed up transit on the key downtown roadway, according to the Toronto Transit Commission.
The rise has been so abrupt that TTC acting CEO Rick Leary said in a report released Thursday evening that the agency is “a bit of a victim of our own success,” with crowds of passengers exceeding vehicle capacity.
“The rationale to do this [change] is to move transit more quickly and get people on transit, and this shows that in spades,” TTC chair and councillor Josh Colle said in an interview.
Mr. Colle called the rise “spectacular” and said that streetcar ridership has not dropped on nearby Queen Street, which suggests that these additional passengers are people new to transit.
The TTC plans to address crowding by using buses on both College and Dundas and redeploying those streetcars to “routes, like King Street, where demand is critical,” Mr. Leary wrote.
Evidence of the rising ridership, which came as part of the monthly report by the CEO of the TTC, emerged amid rising anger by business owners who say that their bottom lines have been hurt badly by the project. Many of them are expected to meet Friday with Toronto Mayor John Tory to argue for rolling back some of the transit changes.
In early November, the city started a pilot project that included a number of adaptations to King Street, between Bathurst and Jarvis, chief among them ending curb parking and forcing drivers to turn off at most intersections. The goal was to preserve vehicle access to all parts of King, while preventing it being used as an auto thoroughfare.
Bronwen Clark, the general manager of Rodney’s Oyster House, a bit west of Spadina, reported dramatic declines in business since then and said that poor attendance has prompted them to close part of their restaurant. She is hoping city leaders can be convinced to relax the driving restrictions in the evening.
“We want the street opened up,” she said. “Then people can be encouraged to go out for dinner.”
Advocates of the project counter that the streetcar sees substantial use outside of rush hour, and that the city failed the last time it tried to have time-based restrictions on King. A quarter-century ago the city reserved the centre lanes of parts of King to streetcars and taxis at certain times of day. Signs mandating this still hang in places over the roadway but the tactic proved ineffective. This failure eventually prompted the current pilot.
TransLink Fined $607,000 – The Breaker News
This is significant on two accounts.
First: Why was TransLink doing electrical repair during operating hours at the station and why wasn’t proper procedure followed?
Second: Why is it that the Breaker News scooped the mainstream media on this?
This is important as the mainstream media has a “hands off” policy on TransLink and regional transportation and only prints stories that they have no option but to report on and news releases from TransLink.
This bodes ill for any logical debate on major transit issues in the region, as TransLink spin is taken for fact.
With public transit, the public’s safety is first and foremost with transit operations, yet this accident happened during operational hours.
Hats off to Bob Mackin and the Breaker News, researching the stories that the Sun and Province will not!
Exclusive: TransLink slapped with huge fine after SkyTrain electrician injured
Bob Mackin & The Breaker News.
Less than a week before Christmas, TransLink was fined more than $607,000 because a worker was seriously injured in an electrical explosion at a SkyTrain station last spring, theBreaker has learned.
theBreaker has also learned thatAi??SkyTrainai??i??s director of health, safety, training and environment was terminated on Jan. 8.
WorkSafeBC found B.C. Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC), the division that operates SkyTrain, broke two Occupational Health and Safety regulations, regarding de-energization and lockout, and the section of the Workers Compensation Act that requires employers to train, instruct and supervise workers to ensure their safety.
Nanaimo SkyTrain Station (Google)
During passenger operating hours around 11:30 a.m. on May 26, 2017, an electrician was pulling a circuit into the main panel at Nanaimo Station when a mishap occurred and an arc flash was created. A source told theBreaker it was extinguished by BC Hydro fuses blowing. The worker suffered burns, but has fully recovered.
WorkSafeBCai??i??s Dec. 19, 2017 administrative penalty order for $607,497.56 said BCRTC failed to take sufficient precautions for the prevention of work-related injuries; has not complied with sections of the Act and Regulation; has not maintained a safe workplace or safe working conditions; and did not exercise due diligence to prevent the incident.
The fine was, unofficially, the fourth-biggest levied by WorkSafeBC in 2017.
theBreaker sought comment from SkyTrain general manager Vivienne King. In an emailed statement, TransLink told theBreaker that it has filed a request for a review of the fine.
The SkyTrain division, according to the prepared statement, ai???immediately reviewed and adjusted relevant practices and procedures, and ensured staff were made aware of the changes.ai???
The statement said power technicians were briefed about the incident and the changes to policies and procedures. They were also provided a reminder of hazards control hierarchy, step back and hazard awareness.
ai???[We] are continuing to assess safety procedures department-wide, as well as enhancing our written and documentation procedures,ai??? the statement said. ai???BCRTC is committed to continuing to work with WorkSafeBC to make sure a high standard of safety is achieved for all staff.ai???
It was not the first incident involving an electrician working on a system critical panel during passenger operating hours.
During midday July 21, 2014, the Expo and Millennium lines suffered a massive outage for five hours after an unsupervised electrician used a non-insulated screwdriver on a panel.
ai???Although standard operating procedures did not restrict this from occurring during operating hours, they also did not state that it could occur during operating hours,ai??? said a report on the two July 2014 service outages.
Natalia Skapski, the director of health, safety, training and environment, was replaced Jan. 8 on an interim basis byAi??Eva Kaczmarczyk, who was Ai??manager of safety, environment and emergency management.
Neither King nor TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond responded to theBreakerai??i??s email. The media relations department would not answer questions about the reason for the shakeup or the severance amount for Skapski.
ai???As this is an internal personnel matter, we are unable to provide any comment at this time,ai??? said an emailed statement from TransLink.
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