[SpongeG]

Anyone who pays cash to get on a bus or community shuttle will have to ensure they get a transfer from the driver – even if they’re only riding a short distance.

That’s because TransLink is declaring the entire bus system a fare-paid zone, where, as on SkyTrain, passengers will have to be able to prove they paid or potentially face a $173 fine.

The change takes effect June 25 and primarily aims to reduce assaults against drivers that often arise from disputes over fare payment.

Drivers will continue to check passes and take payment but they’re to call security rather than try to challenge fare evaders.

TransLink doesn’t expect a big jump in fare evasion with the changes.

“Our customers are by and large a pretty honest lot,” spokesman Drew Snider said.

He noted about 2.8% of bus riders don’t pay, less than half the fare evasion rate on SkyTrain.

The fare-paid zone designation also plugs a legal loophole.

Up until this point authorities could only boot fare evaders off the buses, but couldn’t legally fine them.

CAW Local 111 vice-president Jim Houlahan, who represents drivers, said he believes it will improve their safety.

“We hope it will reduce the cause for differences between the riders and drivers over the fare,” he said.

The move to fare-paid zones will also allow articulated buses on the 99 B-Line run along Broadway to speed up service.

Those buses will allow passengers to board at any of their three doors, as long as they have passes or transfers, theoretically reducing stop times.

Enforcement will depend on how many officers the TransLink’s police service can put on buses, because only they – not other staff or inspectors – can issue fines.

Officers now spend nearly all of their time on SkyTrain, but more are being hired this year.

That’s part of a plan to bolster the force before the Canada Line opens.

Some increased enforcement on the buses is expected, but likely focused primarily on the 99 B-Line.

Meanwhile, NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) is asking the government to amend the Criminal Code so judges can impose tougher sentences for assaulting bus drivers.

The change would make the offence the same as assaulting a police officer, which can draw stiffer penalties.

There were 220 assaults on TransLink bus drivers last year.

8 new views on DriveBC


Tri-City commuters who drive through Burnaby have some new help online.

Eight new web cams are being powered up to help motorists monitor traffic congestion on the stretch of Highway 1 through Burnaby. The frequently updated images can be viewed via the provincial government’s DriveBC web site at www.drivebc.com.

Twin cameras pointing east and west have been added at four locations near Willingdon, Kensington and Gaglardi Way.

The new cameras bring to 85 the number of traffic cameras the province provides through the site, which also provides travel advisories, road closures, weather information and other links.


http://www.tricitynews.com/

[SpongeG]

and in other transit news...

It's too soon to write off bus-only lanes
The restrictions along the Broadway corridor are only part of the bigger traffic congestion picture

A report that casts doubt on the effectiveness of new buses-only lanes on Broadway is food for thought, but Vancouver city council should resist any temptation to abandon the experiment prematurely.

The city planning report says the lanes have not reduced bus travel times on Broadway, and a senior planning official told Sun reporter Gerry Bellett his department will probably recommend against buses-only lanes in other transportation corridors.

But the bus-lane experiment is barely under way, and drawing conclusions now is akin to deciding the half-built Canada Line is a failure because it hasn't reduced road traffic between Richmond and Vancouver. That is something we can't know until after it is operational.

Similarly, the Broadway bus lanes are part of a bigger, as yet incomplete picture. Let's look at the context.

Broadway is the second-busiest transit corridor in Greater Vancouver. TransLink buses carry more than 60,000 people a day between the SkyTrain hub at Commercial Drive and the University of B.C. campus. Granville Street between Richmond and downtown Vancouver is currently the busiest transit corridor, but its bus traffic will diminish after the Canada Line opens in 2009.

Some day the same thing will happen on Broadway, one of the three corridors at the top of Greater Vancouver's priority list for new rapid transit lines. Of the other two, the Canada Line is under construction and the Evergreen Line from Burnaby to Coquitlam Centre is awaiting political and financial green lights, which are expected in the autumn.

Broadway has drawn the short straw in the rapid transit stakes. It is desperately congested, but money that was once penciled in to pay for a Broadway line was diverted to the Canada and Evergreen lines. The need remains, but it's not clear when Broadway's turn will come. In the meantime, TransLink, Vancouver and UBC have negotiated an area transit plan to improve service to the university.

The bus lanes, implemented last October, are part of that plan. So is all-door loading of the articulated express buses that run from Commercial to UBC to reduce time at bus stops, beginning later this month. The third prong, a signal priority system that will let bus drivers on Broadway prolong green lights and shorten red lights to keep the buses moving, is slated for early next year, according to Glen Leicester, TransLink's vice-president for planning.

As well, Canada Line construction at Broadway and Cambie is slowing everybody down. Leicester suggests the buses would be slowed even more if it weren't for the buses-only lane, which acts as a queue-jumper.

Automobiles turning right at major intersections are also slowing the buses. On a green light, vehicles lined up for right turns off Broadway have to wait for pedestrians to finish crossing, and the buses are stuck behind the waiting vehicles.

The way to solve that is to delay the pedestrian Walk signals by a few seconds, allowing cars to turn right before pedestrians clog the crosswalks and thus clearing the lane for buses. That system has been used successfully for years at several downtown intersections with busy pedestrian crossings, and city council should consider using it along Broadway.

Leicester will likely deliver a similar message when he addresses city council's transportation and traffic committee today. Perhaps he will also remind council that the cost of the bus-lane experiment, $207,000, is being paid entirely by TransLink. The city is getting a free ride.

Council should receive the report as an indication that bus lanes alone won't solve congestion in the Broadway corridor. City planners should keep in mind that we don't know yet what the effect of bus lanes will be in conjunction with other measures, and therefore it is too early to give up on the concept.

Traffic congestion on Broadway and other transit corridors is a major problem. Anything with potential to relieve it, especially at such a low cost, deserves serious consideration.




http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=947e76c4-3ec7-4427-8ab8-67f598239899

[SpongeG]

and in other transit news...

It's too soon to write off bus-only lanes
The restrictions along the Broadway corridor are only part of the bigger traffic congestion picture

A report that casts doubt on the effectiveness of new buses-only lanes on Broadway is food for thought, but Vancouver city council should resist any temptation to abandon the experiment prematurely.

The city planning report says the lanes have not reduced bus travel times on Broadway, and a senior planning official told Sun reporter Gerry Bellett his department will probably recommend against buses-only lanes in other transportation corridors.

But the bus-lane experiment is barely under way, and drawing conclusions now is akin to deciding the half-built Canada Line is a failure because it hasn't reduced road traffic between Richmond and Vancouver. That is something we can't know until after it is operational.

Similarly, the Broadway bus lanes are part of a bigger, as yet incomplete picture. Let's look at the context.

Broadway is the second-busiest transit corridor in Greater Vancouver. TransLink buses carry more than 60,000 people a day between the SkyTrain hub at Commercial Drive and the University of B.C. campus. Granville Street between Richmond and downtown Vancouver is currently the busiest transit corridor, but its bus traffic will diminish after the Canada Line opens in 2009.

Some day the same thing will happen on Broadway, one of the three corridors at the top of Greater Vancouver's priority list for new rapid transit lines. Of the other two, the Canada Line is under construction and the Evergreen Line from Burnaby to Coquitlam Centre is awaiting political and financial green lights, which are expected in the autumn.

Broadway has drawn the short straw in the rapid transit stakes. It is desperately congested, but money that was once penciled in to pay for a Broadway line was diverted to the Canada and Evergreen lines. The need remains, but it's not clear when Broadway's turn will come. In the meantime, TransLink, Vancouver and UBC have negotiated an area transit plan to improve service to the university.

The bus lanes, implemented last October, are part of that plan. So is all-door loading of the articulated express buses that run from Commercial to UBC to reduce time at bus stops, beginning later this month. The third prong, a signal priority system that will let bus drivers on Broadway prolong green lights and shorten red lights to keep the buses moving, is slated for early next year, according to Glen Leicester, TransLink's vice-president for planning.

As well, Canada Line construction at Broadway and Cambie is slowing everybody down. Leicester suggests the buses would be slowed even more if it weren't for the buses-only lane, which acts as a queue-jumper.

Automobiles turning right at major intersections are also slowing the buses. On a green light, vehicles lined up for right turns off Broadway have to wait for pedestrians to finish crossing, and the buses are stuck behind the waiting vehicles.

The way to solve that is to delay the pedestrian Walk signals by a few seconds, allowing cars to turn right before pedestrians clog the crosswalks and thus clearing the lane for buses. That system has been used successfully for years at several downtown intersections with busy pedestrian crossings, and city council should consider using it along Broadway.

Leicester will likely deliver a similar message when he addresses city council's transportation and traffic committee today. Perhaps he will also remind council that the cost of the bus-lane experiment, $207,000, is being paid entirely by TransLink. The city is getting a free ride.

Council should receive the report as an indication that bus lanes alone won't solve congestion in the Broadway corridor. City planners should keep in mind that we don't know yet what the effect of bus lanes will be in conjunction with other measures, and therefore it is too early to give up on the concept.

Traffic congestion on Broadway and other transit corridors is a major problem. Anything with potential to relieve it, especially at such a low cost, deserves serious consideration.




http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=947e76c4-3ec7-4427-8ab8-67f598239899

[jpick]

I ride the 99 B-Line sometimes.

I'm not so sure that boarding through 3 doors is going to work all that well. Quite often, they aren't running enough buses, so when the bus pulls up, the driver has to close the doors and pull away, leaving some of the people at the stop. It can get somewhat nasty sometimes. It was really bad in the winter when there was snow and everybody decided to take the bus instead of walking. There were a lot of people left waiting at the curb in miserable weather conditions.

With loading at 3 doors, there's going to be a lot of pushing and shoving by irate and rude passengers. The driver won't be able to control the situation. If they're overloaded (which is quite often the case), they're going have to drive past the stop completely, and only allow offloading. That means that during peak times, if they don't put on more buses, you're going to have a lot of people stranded at stops watching one bus after another roll past. At least with the current situation, it isn't an all-or-nothing deal -- some people at the bus stop can usually get on.

They're going to need more capacity to make this work well. That wouldn't be a bad thing, but I don't think it will happen immediately.

[Nutterbug]

Meanwhile, NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) is asking the government to amend the Criminal Code so judges can impose tougher sentences for assaulting bus drivers.

The change would make the offence the same as assaulting a police officer, which can draw stiffer penalties.
I've been saying all along that bus drivers should be trained, equipped and authorized to double as police officers. This looks like it would be a small step in that direction.

[Deez]

With loading at 3 doors, there's going to be a lot of pushing and shoving by irate and rude passengers. The driver won't be able to control the situation. If they're overloaded (which is quite often the case), they're going have to drive past the stop completely, and only allow offloading. That means that during peak times, if they don't put on more buses, you're going to have a lot of people stranded at stops watching one bus after another roll past. At least with the current situation, it isn't an all-or-nothing deal -- some people at the bus stop can usually get on.

They're going to need more capacity to make this work well. That wouldn't be a bad thing, but I don't think it will happen immediately.

Back home in Ottawa we do the whole 3 door boarding thing along routes that use articulated buses (of which there are a lot) and it seems to work quite well. Although the article claims the reason for this is to protect operators, I would think that the real reason for it is to ensure schedule adherence. When you have a high-frequency route like the B-line buses, delays caused by slow boarding can add up very quickly and then you end up with bus bunching, big gaps, etc.

[jpick]

I agree that it's about schedule adherence and capacity problems.

Loading by the other doors should save quite a bit of time when they are loading/unloading wheelchairs with the folding ramps. I think that's probably one of the biggest causes of "bunching" delays. Plus all the congestion related to the Canada Line construction.

I think they just need more buses though. This is a stopgap measure, which might not give them much more breathing room.

[baggab]

I ride the 99 B-Line sometimes.

I'm not so sure that boarding through 3 doors is going to work all that well. Quite often, they aren't running enough buses, so when the bus pulls up, the driver has to close the doors and pull away, leaving some of the people at the stop. It can get somewhat nasty sometimes. It was really bad in the winter when there was snow and everybody decided to take the bus instead of walking. There were a lot of people left waiting at the curb in miserable weather conditions.


In rush hour, they pretty much can't put anymore buses on. The service is something around 4 mins between buses. This kind of frequency, they can't really load on and off without the buses bunching up.

Winter was bad because of buses being put out of service due to mechanical failiures do to weather and Jan - March New trolleys that replaced old trolleys were recalled and needed parts to replace steering malfunction.

As for the weekends, it's pretty full for the most part depending on what time and where you're going, thou I've never had a bad enough experience that I missed a bus, it's just packed and if I ever missed one there's always a alternative bus I can go on like the 9 which travels just a little bit slower if you're going to granville which most people do.

[SpongeG]

maybe it would be cheaper to move UBC to oakridge mall and let oakridge move to UBC - problem solved

haha just kidding

[tintinium]

How about a few of these.
http://www.caio.com.br/eg/images/biarticuladotopbus.jpg

[deasine]

^Well the current aritculated buses from New Flyer cost a little more than 600 000 CDN _(EACH BUS). I can't imagine how much those will cost

[cornholio]

Someone posted a link on the (i think Canada line thread) to new bus routes that will be set up once Canada line is open. One of them was a bus that went from VCC to the 2nd avenue station and then turned in to a express bus all the way to UBC. I think it will have a 7min frequency during peak times. They also want to set up a new b-line going down 41st to UBC and I think there was also going to be a new bus route going from 29th station down 33rd then 16th and on to UBC.

These new routes should be enough to keep the 99 b-line functional and moving for atleast another decade and hopefully by then there will be a proper rapid transit line in place.

[deasine]

Well there is the 84 Bus from VCC-Clark, much faster than B-Line and more comfortable.

Any back on topic: TransLink is already starting to post this. Banners say something like: This Vehicle is a Fare Paid Vehicle. Failed to show paid fare is an offense. I don`t remember what they say exactly. These banners can be seen in the ad spot by the rear doors (reg. bus).

99 B-line bus drivers also inform the passengers about this.

[SpongeG]

i didn't catch who is gonna police it - will they send on transit police at certain stops to verify everyone has paid? the way they do with skytrain?

[mr.x2]

i didn't catch who is gonna police it - will they send on transit police at certain stops to verify everyone has paid? the way they do with skytrain?

Yup, transit police checks just like on SkyTrain.

[cjohnny4]

It was strange taking the bus today. Just to test to see if the fare-paid zone thing was in effect, I deliberately did not show my bus pass every time I got on a bus today. It was funny because most passengers didn't realize the change and were showing passes and tickets. As I got on the #6 bus this evening, all boarding passengers in front and behind me showed their passes and the driver nodded to each of them. When I didn't show anything, it took him a second to remember that I didn't need to show him anything and after remembering, he nodded to me too. Odd Translink moment.

I'm guessing that once everyone figures out the new system, there is going to be A LOT of cheating because there is no way the transit police can effectively patrol (even by spot-checking) that many buses. Did anyone notice any increase in checks today? If I were running Translink, I would have put transit police out en masse today to show that they mean business about checking tickets. I didn't see anything like that going on.
Will Translink's revenues decrease because of this new policy? That remains to be seen...

[SpongeG]

i watched on the news today at noon and they showed officers at all the doors checking people before they boarded - but that was only at broadway/commercial

[cornholio]

They never planed to realy check all the buses because they dont have the man power. Although personaly I always hoped they would do this and now all they need to do is alow all door boarding on all buses since I dont see the point of still craming everyone in through one door. One thing people have to realize is that its more efficient and the loss of revenue argument is bs. In order to have no loss in revenue all you have to do is adjust the fines and adjust the number of patroling officers to recoup the lost revenue through fare evasion. Set it up right and you will have a SAFER, FASTER, and more EFFICIENT transit system. Why because you will have more officers patroling the system including buses and you will have faster bording of buses. On top of all this they could start seting up ticket machines at busy bus stops or validation machines at busy stops to further speed up the bus system.

[eduardo88]

They should also do it like they do here in Berlin, they don't only have transit police, but also plain clothes transit employee who do random checks, its pretty easy to get off the bus when you see a transit officer getting on, it usually takes at least one or two stops for him to check every ticket. also they should make you at least show the driver that you have a ticket with you, even if its just flashing it quickly so he sees, that is if you board at the front.

[deasine]

I still think bus drivers should check tickets... just no need for the blines. The rest of the routes, they should.....

[SpongeG]

that was what started the issue though - the union thought it was too risky for bus drivers to be "policing" the riders as it is what has lead to assaults etc.

i remember when i used to catch the bus way back in the 90's home from clubbing - when you could still catch a bus at 3 am - that loads of people got on without paying or only dropping some loose change in and the bus driver never refused anyone as he was apparently not allowed to

[fever]

I had my fare checked yesterday.

Four armed policemen stand by the doors on the sidewalk: one at the front, one at the second door, and two more at the third. When the bus pulls up they get on the bus. I'm sure they check tickets if people get off, but I didn't see it. Then when the bus starts, they begin checking. It takes maybe a minute, and they stand there waiting until it gets to the next stop. They didn't get anyone so I don't know how that works...

[nname]

It was strange taking the bus today. Just to test to see if the fare-paid zone thing was in effect, I deliberately did not show my bus pass every time I got on a bus today. It was funny because most passengers didn't realize the change and were showing passes and tickets. As I got on the #6 bus this evening, all boarding passengers in front and behind me showed their passes and the driver nodded to each of them. When I didn't show anything, it took him a second to remember that I didn't need to show him anything and after remembering, he nodded to me too. Odd Translink moment.
I think you still have to show them the pass. It just that if they feel that you're trying to board the bus without paying, they can have the option to call transit police to deal with you, instead of trying to challenge you themselves. With fare paid zone, they can now charge you with $173 for fare evasion whereas before, they can only take you off the bus.

Quote from Translink's news release: (http://www.translink.bc.ca/About_TransLink/News_Releases/news06140701.asp)
As they always have, operators will meet and greet passengers as they board the bus, review tickets, transfers, passes and payment of cash fares. Having the bus marked as a fare paid zone will allow fare enforcement to take place on a more formal basis and provides for a more effective way to deal with fare evasion, while reducing risks for the operators.