Patrick Condon in the Tyee
Streetcar advocate, Prof. Patrick Condon has a good article in the Tyee.
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/03/06/Vancouver-Transit-Report/index.html#comment-278124
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6 Responses to “Patrick Condon in the Tyee”
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Thanks for the link, Condon pretty much destroys everything that the COV is saying and confirms that TransLink has no credibility. TransLink can’t provide real costs and doesn’t even have a clue what the transit demand is to UBC.
According to the COV – 110,000 people take transit daily on Broadway. This is incredible because only 324,000 people take transit in all of Metro Vancouver. Peak demand on Broadway is about 5,000 people over any hour of the day.
@Eric
You are confusing use with demand. The use is very likely constrained by peak capacity, the lack of rail and the transfer at Commercial. The demand will increase greatly with the greater speed, reliability and peak capacity of SkyTrain.
Zweisystem replies: You make a mistake, SkyTrain doesn’t attract ridership, it just uses bus riders from many routes to give claims of high ridership, where in fact they are just recounting bus riders. Subways are very poor in attracting ridership and today it appears that the Canada Line’s ridership is made up of mostly former South Fraser Commuters, U=Pass holders and concession fares. The anticipated modal shift has not happened and now TransLink has reduced South Fraser bus operation to almost pre Canada Line days.
Who else has bought into Vancouver’s SkyTrain philosophy? No one, not even Kuala Lumpor who operate an ART SkyTrain system, combined with a conventional light-metro (used to be called light rail) and a monorail. Richard it is you who is confused and blind to the facts.
@ Richard
Read the Tyee article Richard rather than making random statements!
“The UBC Broadway Corridor: Unlocking the Economic Potential by KPMG LLP.” The report is not so much a study as an argument, as it provides no detailed economic modeling to support its conclusion: that the building of an expensive underground system to UBC will be cost beneficial. Subways, it should be noted, cost a fortune — up to 10 times more per km than a modest tram solution, and three times more than the more aggressive and speedier light rail version proposed by TransLink as one of their menu of acceptable options.
Patrick Condon goes on to say:
“I will leave those comments for others to make. What is more important to me is how the study reveals what I feel is an oversimplified understanding of how cities operate, and how this oversimplification may have coloured the interpretation of what is, or is not, a reasonable way to spend three billion public dollars. In this case it is fair to say that map making is destiny. The KPMG map depicts the city as a series of significant nodal points — points they suggest need only to be linked up, across a sort of no man’s land of grey, to unlock huge economic development potential. Lost in this conversation is the sense that these grey areas have any significance, or that any other model of how a city functions might more accurately depict it.”
We are very aware Richard that in your role of Vice President of the 3rd Wave Cycle Group, you exist on subsidies paid by COV & Translink
Ask your principals for the real facts rather than posting a High school diatribe, then we might be prepared to enter into an adult discussion with you
@Jong
My views are my own and not on behalf of any organizations. The TransLink contract was years ago and had nothing to do with this issue. I have never had a contract with the City of Vancouver. As such, please retract you statement.
Thank You
Richard
PS.
My comments have never involved personal attacks like yours or the others that fill this blog. How about sticking to the issues. Personal attacks are a sure sign that you don’t have a very good argument.
The article in the Tyee is nothing but rhetoric and illogical arguments. I suggest taking a course or reading a book so you can recognize invalid arguments.
@ Richard, capacity of transit is not the limiting factor here; the intentional and poor allocation of transit resources is. Capacity of buses and sky trains is double the peak 78,000 pphph demand in Metro Vancouver. On Broadway, the express 99 B-Lines have a capacity of 3,000 pphpd and on West 4th Avenue the express No. 84 buses have a capacity of about 700 pphpd.
Along Broadway, the articulated 99 B-Line buses (18 m) are overwhelmed by Canada Line and sky train users until about Arbutus Street, then many 99 B-Line buses are poorly utilized during both peak and off-peak hours. At the same time, the standard No. 84 buses (12 m) operating a few blocks from the 99 B-Lines and in parallel to the 99 B-Lines often have few on board.
TransLink merely has to swap articulated buses from other routes which don’t need them and put them on the No. 84 route. Then TransLink can provide more capacity on the No. 84 route for UBC students at Commercial Drive (Expo Line) and Cambie Street (Canada Line). This would match the “demand of users to the capacity of the buses” to solve the overcrowding which TransLink has purposely feigned to create the transit drama here.
It is all a big performance by TransLink to make it look as if more money is required to meet transit “demand” and the poor students who are caught in the middle are being used as naïve pawns. Money is really being sought by TransLink to pay for its crumbling sky train infrastructure.
Can you handle the truth? Satisfied?
Personally Richard I have more faith in the arguements & views of Patrick Condon, Eric Chris, the Ragnors & Zwei than yours.
Jong has read Condon’s paper acurately, it’s your problem & yours only if you choose to take TransLinks side.
What’s that about rhetoric and illogical arguments? I suggest you look at yourself in the mirror before accusing others of such shortcomings
Ask Translink & COV to apologise to the residents of Vancouver & the City of Surrey for misleading them.