[deasine]

I love the Van Hool ones =)

[mr.x]

Metro Board Approves Installation of Barrier Gates for L.A. County Subway System And Selected Light Rail Stations

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board today approved a 10-year, $46 million lease contract with Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc. to install barrier gates on the Metro Red Line, Metro Purple Line and selected light rail stations in efforts to prevent fare evasion, provide for seamless travel and improve transit station security. <-- Cupid is the same company that supplies Vancouver's bus and SkyTrain fare machines and will also supply the future SkyTrain fare gates.

The Metro Board also approved existing Cubic contract amendments for $12 million over a 10-year period for system maintenance, and $10 million for station modifications needed to relocate existing stand-alone ticket validators and civil work for gating Metro Rail stations. Installation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant system should take 18 to 24 months to complete.

At the direction of the Board, Metro also will seek ways to offset gating costs through various state bond monies and Department of Homeland Security funding, and will provide monthly committee reports to regularly track project timelines and costs.

Currently, Metro operates a barrier-free “honor system.” The agency loses $5.5 million per year due to fare evasion. Overall, Metro has found a 5 percent fare evasion rate across all of its rail lines. The new gating system could recover $3-6 million annually to offset these losses as well as realize significant annual savings on fare inspector costs. Based on current forecasts, the savings enabled by the system will begin to pay for itself in the fourth year of full system operation.

Barrier gates are also a key component of Metro’s emerging regional Transit Access Pass, or TAP program. TAP is an automated, electronic regional fare collection system that will create a multi-modal, multi-operator fare system for L.A. County transit riders. Metro and municipal operators are installing new equipment on both buses and in rail stations to prepare for TAP. In addition to Metro, Culver CityBus became the first regional operator to enable “seamless travel” on TAP this week. CityBus riders can use the TAP pass to transfer seamlessly to Metro using the debit card feature.

Patrons riding additional municipal operators will also soon be able to easily “tap” the fare box or validator with their TAP “smart” card to pay their fares. The system will create more seamless travel for Metro and municipal patrons by allowing them to transfer from one operator to the next, and between transit modes.

Metro’s customer centers have been outfitted to accommodate the sale of Metro monthly and weekly TAP passes. Also selling these Metro products are Foothill Transit and LADOT Stores to support getting TAP into the hands of Metro pass riders.

“Gates are a natural evolution of Los Angeles County’s maturing Metro Rail system,” said Pam O’Connor, Santa Monica City Councilmember and Metro Board Chair. “They will help us keep pace with the demands of our fast growing rail ridership while ushering in the newest improvements in universal fare technology to streamline travel for our customers.”

A total of 379 fare gates will be installed on all subway and selected light rail stations, including the yet-to-be-completed Mariachi, Soto and Atlantic stations on the Metro Gold Line Eastside extension.

“Metro remains the only subway operator in the country to operate a barrier-free system,” said Yvonne B. Burke, Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board member. “That freedom has come at a significant cost to the agency’s bottom line as a result of fare scofflaws. This initiative will pay for itself, makes TAP possible, and further hardens our system to potential security threats.”

Security at stations will be augmented as part of the program. Additional video surveillance cameras will be installed at all gate entrances, and attendants will be on-hand to respond to situations or assist patrons where needed.

The TAP barrier gates will enable Metro to obtain more reliable and accurate information about ridership trends on its rail lines. Gross trip counts, point-to-point ridership and time of day information will help the agency more effectively manage ridership peaks throughout the rail system.

Once in place, the gates are expected to reduce the need for civilian fare inspectors, allowing the agency to flexibly make needed personnel redeployments when and where necessary. Metro could potentially save as much as $7 million per year in contracted fare inspector costs replaced in part with more cost-effective Metro Transit Security personnel. Sworn law enforcement would also be freed of fare checking responsibilities at gated stations, allowing them to focus primarily on station security.

Gates will accommodate disabled patrons, children and patron-operated devices such as wheelchairs, strollers, walkers and bicycles, as well as emergency egress and access for fire-life safety devices. Gates will also provide for better control of station entry and egress, avoiding confusion and chaos to patrons as new rail lines open and bus and rail service in the region increases ridership. Lastly, gates promote new and innovative ways to consider potential revenue generation with bank cards and issuers as well as offers opportunities for different fare policies

[deasine]

We would need more expensive structural improvements for our SkyTrain system for sure, some probably needing extensive station reconstruction, such as 29th Avenue Station or Joyce Station.

~~~

According to The Buzzer for Feb 29: there is a public meeting regarding the #33 Crosstown Route UBC/29th Avenue on...

Mar 3 4:00PM at Lord Byng
Mar 4 4:00PM at Riley Community Centre

[SpongeG]

New trolley buses aim to ease overburdened Main Street routes

After months of delays, TransLink has finally introduced articulated trolleys to the overburdened bus routes that run along Main Street. The buses are designed to carry more people; thus, the wait for a bus with room on it may now be much shorter. The trolleys were brought in about four months ago, but an electricity infrastructure was not in place to accommodate them. When full, the 90-foot trolleys had trouble getting up steep hills.

TransLink spokesperson Drew Snider says the new buses should help alleviate the overcrowding and extended waits suffered by riders on the route. “We’ve got three in service right now,” he said. “We’ll have 20 on that line. It will be all articulated, all the time.”

Snider added the rest of the buses should be in service by June.

They can’t come soon enough for Main Street transit riders, who have complained about having to wait through as many as five passing buses during peak times before one arrives with room for more passengers. The standard 40-foot trolleys hold about 80 people; the new articulated ones carry 110.

With the electricity issue resolved, the buses will be introduced slowly as drivers are trained to properly operate them. Snider says once the rest of the buses are on the road, Main Street will be closer to its future as a more fluid thoroughfare, including so-called “bus bulges” to make for quicker stops when picking up riders. “The whole Main Street urban showcase project has been designed to make transit — and even walking — along that street a much more viable option,” he said.

In addition to Main Street, Victoria Drive will see 20 articulated trolley buses added over the next few months.

The dispatching of the buses comes days after the new TransLink board underwent a weekend of scrutiny for accepting its new pay raise. The new board will now make $1,200 per meeting. The old board made $200. TransLink directors will be paid whether they attend the meetings in person or over the phone. The per-meeting fee is on top of a $45,000 base salary. The chair of the board will take in a $100,000-per-year flat fee. TransLink has insisted the pay for the board is necessary because it is now made up of professional transit experts. The old board consisted of a consortium of mayors from around the Lower Mainland. The new board is made up of appointed — not elected — officials.

http://www.westender.com/

[mr.x]

This is great news for Main and Victoria!!! I can't wait to ride on them, but too bad only 40 were purchased.

[SFUVancouver]

The initial purchase was for 40 of the articulated trolleys. The final act of the outgoing accountable Translink board was to purcahse 31 more in addition to those extra 12 or 14 SkyTrain cars and a handful of extra diesel buses.

That (spiteful) final act struck me a bit like how Fedreal Ministries allegedly buy office supplies and chairs before the financial year ends so that they don't have to return any of their budget to the Treasury. The outgoing board wasn't going to leave any extra money on the table and so they exercised however many options they could and called it a day.

I can't wait to see the articulated trolleys on Commercial Drive. They are definately needed. The current level of service is quite good, maybe 4 minute frequency, but they are always full, and in both directions too.

[mr.x]

^ oh right, now i remember that second purchase of 31 articulates.

Well, there's no doubt that these purchases for additional articulated trolley and SkyTrain cars were great decisions....if only the old Translink board was threatened of being disbanded every single day.

[deasine]

Good news. They need to start introducing articulated buses on the 49 too... you should see how horribly packed it is (like Hong Kong style packed) during rush hours.

[mr.x]

Good news. They need to start introducing articulated buses on the 49 too... you should see how horribly packed it is (like Hong Kong style packed) during rush hours.

unfortunately, 49th Avenue doesn't use trolleys....but i agree, that route is packed most of the day and needs better service.

[SFUVancouver]

When did BC Transit stop adding trolley lines? I think it was a poor decision. The same it true for the decision to return Cambie bus service with diesel service instead of trolleys.

[zivan56]

^^ To add insult to injury, the Cambie trolley wires were upgraded and re-fitted only a couple of years before Canada Line constructions! They had the nicest looking poles as well.
Just an FYI. The old low floor articulated diesel buses (D60LFs) are having the next stop displays installed like the new ones.

[mr.x]

^^ To add insult to injury, the Cambie trolley wires were upgraded and re-fitted only a couple of years before Canada Line constructions! They had the nicest looking poles as well.
Just an FYI. The old low floor articulated diesel buses (D60LFs) are having the next stop displays installed like the new ones.

Then again, the Richmond bus lanes/light poles/bus stops were only a few years old.

I too think it was a mistake not to reinstall the trolley lines on Cambie...not to mention that it would've cost very little.

I believe the plan now is to use a smaller intermediate diesel bus for Cambie....a bus smaller than a 40-footer, but much bigger than a community shuttle. It would run a frequency of 15 minutes.

[zivan56]

Then again, the Richmond bus lanes/light poles/bus stops were only a few years old.

I too think it was a mistake not to reinstall the trolley lines on Cambie...not to mention that it would've cost very little.

I believe the plan now is to use a smaller intermediate diesel bus for Cambie....a bus smaller than a 40-footer, but much bigger than a community shuttle. It would run a frequency of 15 minutes.

That's the thing though...it costs an insane amount to put them back up. I saw the figure on the transit newsgroup, and it was something in the order of millions.

Really? They could buy D30LFs if New Flyer still makes them. I thought it would just be regular 40 foot Nova buses and Flyers?

Btw, any info on the new route that is supposed to go along 16th avenue towards UBC?

[mr.x]

That's the thing though...it costs an insane amount to put them back up. I saw the figure on the transit newsgroup, and it was something in the order of millions.

Really? They could buy D30LFs if New Flyer still makes them. I thought it would just be regular 40 foot Nova buses and Flyers?

Btw, any info on the new route that is supposed to go along 16th avenue towards UBC?

I'm not sure if using buses that are smaller than the 40-footers are in works, that was awhile ago. I would imagine using today's existing 40-foot fleets would be cheaper than buying buses.

A new route on 16th??? That's the first i've heard of it....what about that steep hill just before Dunbar? Are buses even [safely] capable of going up that hill?

[squeezied]

yep theres gonna be a new route. generally speaking, going through 16th ave in the westside and 33rd in the east

[deasine]

No Mr. X, I meant just regular diesel ones on the 49th (although many stops need to be upgraded and moved). But electric ones would be just as nice. Hopefully the 91 B-Line will be electric or the 41 will be electric. Doubt that would happen though.

I haven't heard about the 16th Avenue one too. Is that for the long term because TransLink hasn't really mentioned it too much. A reminder again that the New Bus Route (33rd Avenue) open house is tomorrow at Lord Byng Secondary at 4:00PM and the following day at Riley Community Centre at 4:00PM also.

When Global TV did an article about the electric buses not being used on Cambie, TransLink has told the public they would be running "the cleanest diesel buses of their fleet", which is the Nova ones. Maybe when we receive the Hybrid ones they would put some to use on the Cambie route as well.

[Overground]

Having that 33 route might alleviate the absolute hell that is the 25 right now. A bus driver a couple weeks ago that I was talking to agreed that the 25, in regards to being chock full all the time, is ridiculous and the only way the problem is going to get solved is if people like me complain to Translink.

The 25 seems completely forgotton. Every 12 minutes during the day my arse. If you think about it, the route goes from Brentwood Stn and Mall past BCIT to Nanaimo Stn. Then down Kingsway to one of the main crosstown routes in King Ed, passing every major thoroughfare until is gets to the other big campus in town at UBC. Every 12 minutes from 10.30am until 12.30am, all day, is unacceptable.

[mr.x]

I haven't heard about the 16th Avenue one too. Is that for the long term because TransLink hasn't really mentioned it too much. A reminder again that the New Bus Route (33rd Avenue) open house is tomorrow at Lord Byng Secondary at 4:00PM and the following day at Riley Community Centre at 4:00PM also.


errrr.....are you sure it's today?

We’re hoping to start two new bus routes in Vancouver in
September, so we’re holding an open house on Monday Feb.
25 to get your feedback.
The two proposed routes are for a new community
shuttle in UBC and the Spanish Banks (the C19), and a new
conventional bus route from 29th Avenue Station to UBC that
would travel along 16th Avenue and 33rd Avenue (the 33).
The open house will be held in the lobby of the UBC Student
Union Building between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. We’ll then relocate
to the West Point Grey Community Centre (4397 West
2nd Avenue) from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

http://www.translink.bc.ca/files/buzzer/2008/Buzzer_Feb15.pdf



we missed it. :(



and in the previous issue:

TransLink bought 124 Nova buses in total, but just 123 of them
drove all the way to the Lower Mainland from their factory in
Saint-Eustache, Quebec last winter. The last Nova bus hit a moose
en route to Metro Vancouver, and had to go back to the factory
for major repairs. (Never fear: it will join up with the rest of the
buses in a few weeks.):haha:

[WarrenC12]

Good news for Main St. I was curious to see that electric upgrades were required. Can anybody point me to an area that describes the stats of all the various busses that Translink runs, including costs per km?

Is the entire trolley system connected?

Thanks.

[jlousa]

Figured this was the best place to mention, that there will be a new WCE station at Albion, offical annoucement is set for Apr/May 08. Not sure if it's been discussed here yet or not.

[deasine]

errrr.....are you sure it's today?

We’re hoping to start two new bus routes in Vancouver in
September, so we’re holding an open house on Monday Feb.
25 to get your feedback.

Yup I got a few pics of it too. Funny I read ur post just when I was going to leave the house. The meetings were posted in the latest issue of the Buzzer, the Feb 29 one.

This was incredibly small, just basically one huge poster with two maps, picture of a Nova Bus, picture of the neighborhood, and some basic information.

Some things I've noted down:
Currently only a proposal
In operation only from Mondays to Fridays (initial service) with peek frequency of 15 minutes
Takes route via 33rd Avenue, Cambie Street, then 16th Avenue
The Hemlock area is of major concern due to the small street. City of Vancouver, CMBC, and TransLink is working together to create a solution, which will probably result in road widening.
May result in reshuffling the bus bays at both 29th Avenue Station and UBC (although they are not too sure). I would say they can simply use the unused bus bay at 29th Avenue.
Will be an EXPRESS SERVICE (initially) [maybe not when the bus shares route with 25], only stopping at major stops.
Estimated time from UBC - 29th Avenue: 45 minutes.
Lots of NIMBYs when I got there, complaining about the lack of public consultation (which I do agree) and how they don't think another route is needed (evidently they don't take the bus). They wanted to improve other routes instead of introducing a new one. Oddly enough, (though me eavesdropping) they live five houses from Lord Byng Secondary (meaning they are very close to the 25th bus) and they don't seem to be wanting a bus period. They came to be the meeting through a memo from the community and not from CMBC.Images (My phone camera is getting worse and worse after I accidentally dropped it into a sinkfull of water and another time at Manning Park with skis running over it):

http://members.shaw.ca/adrian_leung/SSP/R1/DSC01105.JPG
Open House! - Picture taken by me


http://members.shaw.ca/adrian_leung/SSP/R1/DSC01104.JPG
Open House Environment - Picture Taken by Me

[deasine]

And another note, someone in the forum mentioned about the INIT displays on the old buses, well here are the new and old buses with INIT under operation:

http://members.shaw.ca/adrian_leung/SSP/R1/DSC01102.JPG
New Buses with INIT - Picture taken by me

http://members.shaw.ca/adrian_leung/SSP/R1/DSC01107.JPG
Old Buses with INIT - Picture taken by me

God Picture quality is even worse now that I had to digitally zoom all the pictures and take it when the bus was constantly shaking.

Sorry.

Hopefully I do upgrade my Z610i to the G900 in my dp (just had to say that =P) or perhaps the X1 =D

[deasine]

Just had a sudden thought: if they lengthen the platforms on the Expo Line, does that mean they will be installing new PIES (platform intrusion emergency systems [that's what they call it in TransLink])?

Perhaps utilizie the ones on the M-Line...

[jlousa]

Not sure where to post this so this might be the best place, I had mentioned this months ago, now it's out for tender.

CENTRAL VALLEY GREENWAY SECTIONS 1 & 2

The City of Vancouver invites tenders for:
The construction of a shared, pedestrian / cyclist greenway along 1st Avenue (eastward from Quebec Street), Prince Edward Street, Great Northern Way, Clark Drive and Grandview Highway North, all within the City of Vancouver. The section along Grandview Highway North follows the route of the existing B.C. Parkway greenway.
The work involved in the construction of this new multi-use greenway will include:
- traffic control during construction,
- site clearance and demolition,
- earthworks,
- fire hydrant relocations,
- installation of curbs, curb letdowns, catch basins, concrete and asphalt pathways, concrete unit - pavers, landscape walls, street and greenway lighting, fencing, guardrails, benches, bike racks, bollards, signage bases and sleeves,
- tree protection,
- landscaping,
- miscellaneous testing procedures,
- all related appurtenances associated with street reconstruction,
- coordination by the Contractor of traffic signal installation works to be carried out by the City of Vancouver on 1st Avenue at Main Street and Quebec Street.
Pavement Lining and signage installation are not included in the tender.

CENTRAL VALLEY GREENWAY SECTIONS 3

The City of Vancouver invites tenders for:
The construction of a shared pedestrian / cyclist greenway generally along the Millennium SkyTrain Corridor between Slocan Street and Boundary Road, all within the City of Vancouver.
The work involved in the construction of this new multi-use greenway will include:
- traffic control during construction,
- site clearance and demolition,
- earthworks,
- fire hydrant relocations,
- installation of curbs, curb letdowns, catch basins, concrete and asphalt pathways,
concrete unit - pavers, landscape walls, street and greenway lighting, fencing, guardrails,
benches, bike racks, bollards, signage bases and sleeves,
- tree protection,
- landscaping,
- miscellaneous testing procedures,
- all related appurtenances associated with street reconstruction.
Pavement Lining and signage installation are not included in the tender.

[WarrenC12]

Thanks for the update. I live near Slocan and it has been frustrating to see the Greenway end abruptly around Renfrew Station. Good to see it will be continued soon.

[deasine]

I just wanted to show you an update of the Beijing Airport Express... notice they are using articulated Mark II trains. Share some similiarity here and there, but overall, pretty different. Enjoy!

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap7.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/1p5.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap16.jpg
Exterior of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap8.jpg
4 Car MK II Testing - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap12.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap18.jpg
4 Car MK II at OMC - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap14.jpg
Exteriors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap13.jpg
Exteriors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap6.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap15.jpg
Exteriors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap9.jpg
Exteriors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap3.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap3.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap10.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

http://www.filenanny.com/files/44f7b9c9f14e0/ap11.jpg
Interiors of the Beijing Airport Express - Credits to OurMetro.org & UD2 at SCC

[deasine]

Good news

March 06, 2008
1200+ would-be bus drivers come to the fair

TransLink’s goal to have another 600 bus drivers in action by the end of this year got a major boost over the weekend, as 1256 people registered for the annual Coast Mountain Bus Company Career Fair at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre.Of these, 300 were booked for an interview on the spot, and will also take driver training. Those not booked at the Career Fair will receive appointments to continue the recruitment process at a later date.
The process includes a video test, driver training and an interview, examining the “people skills” an applicant brings to the table. 175 people passed the interview.
Coast Mountain Bus Company has been named one of BC’s Top 40 Employers for 2007, and is one of only four municipal transit services to receive certification for its training program from the Motor Carrier Passenger Council of Canada. That means its curriculum and procedures are recognized as meeting a national industry standard.
CMBC recruiters noticed a trend towards more “mature” applicants. Former police officers and firefighters turned out, along with men and women relatively late in other careers, hoping to supplement their income. Retirees were also well-represented, looking to “keep their hand in” with a job that allows them to interact with people while helping achieve more sustainability in our region.
As TransLink expands its service area to meet the growing needs of the Metro Vancouver region, CMBC is continually recruiting drivers for all types of buses, including Community Shuttles. Those interested in finding out more about this career may visit the CMBC website, www.coastmountainbus.com (http://www.coastmountainbus.com/) or call 604-953-3100.
Source: TransLink

[officedweller]

Thanks for the MKII shots!

[SpongeG]

the new ferry went into service saturday

[officedweller]

I noticed they were erecting scaffolding on the platform at Broadway Station this morning - above each of the stiarwells - could be in preparation for station renovations?

[deasine]

Perhaps... I mean they have to start now if they want to get things done faster.

Global did a news report today on "cleaning up before 2010" and public transit was generally pretty clean compared to BC Ferries and Air Canada airplanes. I'll post a link of the video when they upload it. =D

[mr.x]

Funding TransLink deficit may mean sharing the pain

The Province
Published: Monday, March 10, 2008

Funding an effective public-transit system for an area the size of Metro Vancouver places an enormous burden on the public purse -- and on the taxpayers who are called upon constantly to replenish it.

The present difficulty facing the newly reconstituted TransLink board is how best to recover the $18 million in revenues lost when the much-hated parking-stall tax was abolished by order of the provincial government.

The same businesses that lobbied successfully against that tax have also been busy arguing that they alone should not be responsible for its replacement.

They want the burden shared with home owners through an increase in property taxes -- which the TransLink board is legally empowered to impose.

Not surprisingly, Metro Vancouver mayors are united in opposition to the idea, even though they are powerless to challenge it -- if that's what the board decides.

This may come as a surprise to those who thought the Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation could veto any and all decisions of the unelected board.

In this case, however, since the tax would not be a new one, but a replacement, the board can proceed at its pleasure, according to TransLink officials.

A final decision on how the $18 million will be raised will not come before the board meets March 28 and, in the meantime, there will be ample opportunity for public input. Nevertheless, it appears to us highly probable that the board will call for the levy to be divided between business and residential taxpayers.

And there is some justification for this. As the Vancouver Board of Trade and others have argued: Why should business foot the entire bill?

Also, with the parking-stall tax, the cost to businesses was borne equally throughout the region. A levy based on land values would impact disproportionately on downtown Vancouver, where business taxes are already high.

We are not in the habit of supporting increases in property taxes for whatever reason -- home owners already face steadily rising bills for the necessary services they consume.

But quality public transit, including the operation, improvement and expansion of the region's major arterial road network, is an important community goal, and a common responsibility.

A TransLink analysis shows that if homeowners paid their share of the $18 million, the result would be an extra $13 per year on a $500,000 property. Painful, yes. But also, perhaps, fair.









Please don't raise fares again.

[zivan56]

What a great way to fund transit:
1. force people to move somewhere else by raising taxes.
2. Goto 1.

[eduardo88]

What a great way to fund transit:
1. force people to move somewhere else by raising taxes.
2. Goto 1.

Yes, because $13 dollars a year more will make owning a home too expensive...

[zivan56]

Yes, because $13 dollars a year more will make owning a home too expensive...

$13 for the first year on a $500,000 property...if you find me a property that cheap in Vancouver proper, I will take 2 please. Maybe if the house is 4x4 meters it will perhaps be that price. Realistically, they have been increasing property taxes steadily and it's come to a point where people in some areas are being forced out due to the cost (Southwest false creek for example). It will probably be raised substantially in the coming years if they find they are able to get away with doing it easily. Either it be a parking tax or property tax raise, it will still impact the same people regardless of how it is named.
They need to work harder to get the federal and provincial government to help with operational funding. The carbon tax would be a great candidate for this instead of just going to general finances for the province.

[dreambrother808]

I noticed they were erecting scaffolding on the platform at Broadway Station this morning - above each of the stiarwells - could be in preparation for station renovations?

wouldn't it just be more lighting improvements? that seems to be all that's going on lately.

[quobobo]

Yes, because $13 dollars a year more will make owning a home too expensive...

$13 here, $13 there, another $13 over there...

I wish they'd try to get most of their operating costs from fares. IMHO it's not like the cost of fares is keeping people away from transit (it's already way, way cheaper than a car) - it's more to do with the price of housing in areas well-serviced by transit, and convenience (which is affected a lot by Vancouver's zoning policies - hardly any density in about 75% of Vancouver, which spreads people and companies out further, inflates the cost of housing, and is obviously bad for transit lines).

Another upshot of charging close to the full price for fares is that it would allow private companies to compete with Translink.

[cornholio]

Anybody have any new news on the planed grade separation of Venables(or a new arterial down Malkin) and Powell streets over the rail yards in the False creek area?

It was supposed to be early 2008 that the city was supposed to decide on the amount of funding for the projects(originally planed construction 2011-2014). In any case I cant find any info on whats going on with this project(it wasn't even a year and a half ago that the city begun a detailed analysis of the project and a effort to get funding from Transport Canada).

It would be nice to finally get this done...that is unless the city knows something their not saying. Like maybe the rail yards vacating False creek flats and the line throught the cut up to the Brentwood tunnel being decommissioned...Though the rail companies did say loud and clear that their not going anywhere unless they get land and funding for new yards in Vancouver.

Well anyways id like to know whats happening with this project.

[officedweller]

wouldn't it just be more lighting improvements? that seems to be all that's going on lately.

Could be, thanks.

[cornholio]

$13 here, $13 there, another $13 over there...

I wish they'd try to get most of their operating costs from fares. IMHO it's not like the cost of fares is keeping people away from transit (it's already way, way cheaper than a car) - it's more to do with the price of housing in areas well-serviced by transit, and convenience (which is affected a lot by Vancouver's zoning policies - hardly any density in about 75% of Vancouver, which spreads people and companies out further, inflates the cost of housing, and is obviously bad for transit lines).

Another upshot of charging close to the full price for fares is that it would allow private companies to compete with Translink.

Ill disagree...I have two cars and right now im using a old piece of crap that cost me $500, and costs me about a $1.20 to get me across 10km driving in the city. Its faster then a bus, its even faster then the Skytrain to most locations, and its more convenient. I also only pay just under $90 a month for insurance and havent spent a dollar on it in over 2 years except to drill a hole in the floor for drainage, two $5 bottles of oil, two used tires for $40 and two free pieces of wire for corroded spark plug wires. If anything seriously goes wrong with it then ill get another junker for $500(noty inlcuding the atleast 2-3 hundred ill get for the old car when i sell it for parts/scrap) that I can leave unlocked, crash in to things, treat like crap and use to get from point a to point b. I would have to be bloody insane to take public transit which would not save me money especially if most of my trips were within the city of Vancouver(driving alone to downtown during the day time is the only exception because of parking, and from within anywhere in Vancouver unless you live within a 10min walk to and from the skytrain its still faster to drive). Oh yeah and lets see majority of the people in the region dont work downtown so if they have fuel efficient cheap cars then transit cant compete in no way, shape or from at the moment. Again I would have to be stupid to spend $70-$130 on a transit pass per month for the shitty, slow and unreliable service out here, I would have to be even stupider to spend $2.50 on a occasional trip...and even stupider to spend that during non peak hours.
My other car is a gas guzzling suv for off roading, camping and so on which i dont always have insured and having a car available is a necessity anyways if you ever want to get out of the city or buy/pick up anything more then a few bags of groceries at the local market.

Sorry for dissing the transit system because I love transit but im just pointing out that what we have right now is not worth using for a majority of people...infact im wondering why some people use it when they could save time and money if they just got a beater to get from point a to b. - not to mention convenience in most cases.

*A bit of topic but I could get a nice new car but i prefer a beater because of not having to worry about it in any way. Nothing beats having a car that you can do anything to and not worry about trashing it, blowing the engine, getting a scratch, killing the shocks when flying over speed bums and pot holes or having it stolen or broken in to, etc. Its also not true that a old car is not reliable, in fact its cheaper to maintain and when something serious or costly/hard to fix goes wrong you toss it and get a new one. It rules...Just had to get this out there:)

[flight_from_kamakura]

it costs $1.50 to ride muni in san francisco, and that is an excellent system.

it costs $1.30-1.60 to ride the tokyo metro, an excellent system.

it costs about $1.30 to ride the metro in paris, and that too is an excellent system.

it costs $2.50 to ride take transit in vancouver, and our system is not excellent. it sucks for homeowners but fares are at the limit of what can be reasonably expected, they cannot be increased without slowing further ridership gains. sure, montrealers pay $2.75 and torontonians pay $3.00, but that's too much, their systems are far better, and that fare covers a far greater area than vancouver's single zone (a more accurate comparison would be comparing a van 2-zone with mtl or toronto's single zones).

conclusion: absent federal or provincial dollars, someone's gots ta pay, and it should be done without fare increases!

[Lee_Haber8]

I was wondering if anybody had any stats comparing how much we subsidize cars through property taxes with how much we subsidize transit? I need it for a research piece I'm doing.

Thanks

Lee

[SFUVancouver]

I was wondering if anybody had any stats comparing how much we subsidize cars through property taxes with how much we subsidize transit? I need it for a research piece I'm doing.

Thanks

Lee

There are a hell of a lot of good articles available for download at my transportation class website: http://www.sfu.ca/~rtorchin/geog490/

Hope that helps.
-----------------------

I was looking through a power point presentation that the CPR did for Calgary pitching commuter rail. They briefly (PowerPoint brief) touch on Canada's commuter rail trains that run on CPR tracks. The presentation claims that the West Coast Express has the best on-time performance of any commuter rail service in North America.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2909/westcoastexpresssourcemta8.jpg
Source (http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2909/westcoastexpresssourcemta8.jpg)

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/5397/westcoastexpressno2sourvk5.jpg
Source (http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2909/westcoastexpresssourcemta8.jpg)

You learn something new every day.

Link to the presentation. (http://www.calgaryregion.ca/crp/media/26425/crp%20cochrane%20forum%20january%2031%202008.pdf)

[quobobo]

Ill disagree...I have two cars and right now im using a old piece of crap that cost me $500, and costs me about a $1.20 to get me across 10km driving in the city....

You're definitely not the average person though. The average Vancouver household spends $10586 a year on transportation. Let's make a big leap of faith and assume that $2500 of that is air travel or something other than cars - we're still at $8000 a year.

Now, the average household size is 2.6 people, but let's swing things in your favour again and round that off to 3, assuming 2 adults and 1 child. The cost for public transportation (assuming both adults need 3-zone bus passes, which is unlikely but I'll do it for you) is the following:

2 adults * $136 a month * 12 months = $3264/year
1 child * $42 a month * 12 months = $504/year

Total: $3768/year

But wait, we can subtract 15% because of the tax credit for transit passes: 3768 * 0.85 = $3203

So we're coming in at much less than half of what the average household pays. The average Vancouver household could probably cut their transportation spending by 2/3, but they're still not doing it - which is why I'm thinking service and convenience are both much, much more important factors than cost.


Here's my sources:
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/famil10g.htm
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMA&Code1=933__&Geo2=PR&Code2=59&Data=Count&SearchText=vancouver&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=

it costs $1.30-1.60 to ride the tokyo metro, an excellent system.

That's if you're lucky enough not to transfer between systems, and if you're not going far.

I haven't lived in Tokyo, but I have lived in Hiroshima and Osaka, and transit in both is generally twice what we'd pay here. A monthly pass for a 40-minute commute to downtown Osaka from where I lived (Saito-nishi to Umeda, for anyone interested) would have cost $220 dollars a month according to Hyperdia (http://www.hyperdia.com/), and that's not including trips on any other routes. It does get cheaper as you move closer into the city, but not by that much if you have to take multiple lines. Kids aren't getting much discount either - my monthly pass for my commute to a highschool in Hiroshima (20 minute bus ride) was about $120.

Expensive? Of course. Worth it? Absolutely.

[deasine]

Could be, thanks.

Finally determined what it was. And it is lighting improvements similarly to what is being done at Waterfront Station.

[deasine]

I was looking through a power point presentation that the CPR did for Calgary pitching commuter rail. They briefly (PowerPoint brief) touch on Canada's commuter rail trains that run on CPR tracks. The presentation claims that the West Coast Express has the best on-time performance of any commuter rail service in North America.

Wow I didn't know that either... For some reason I would think GO has a better on-time performance.

We need to do this by 2020 to WCE (WCE/CPR contract ends 2015)

http://members.shaw.ca/adrian_leung/SSP/CPR-Calgary%20Commuter%20Rail%20Presentation-001.png

[Hourglass]

That's if you're lucky enough not to transfer between systems, and if you're not going far.

I haven't lived in Tokyo, but I have lived in Hiroshima and Osaka, and transit in both is generally twice what we'd pay here. A monthly pass for a 40-minute commute to downtown Osaka from where I lived (Saito-nishi to Umeda, for anyone interested) would have cost $220 dollars a month according to Hyperdia (http://www.hyperdia.com/), and that's not including trips on any other routes. It does get cheaper as you move closer into the city, but not by that much if you have to take multiple lines. Kids aren't getting much discount either - my monthly pass for my commute to a highschool in Hiroshima (20 minute bus ride) was about $120.

Expensive? Of course. Worth it? Absolutely.

Yep, and in cities like London, where the Tube remains an excellent network despite its age and years of underinvestment, it'll cost me GBP12 (C$24) during peak hours for a 1-day pass covering zones 1-6. Even traveling short distances costs GBP1.50 (C$3) using an Oyster Card.

[officedweller]

Finally determined what it was. And it is lighting improvements similarly to what is being done at Waterfront Station.

Thanks.

[deasine]

Oh btw, word of the articulate buses that will be running on Victoria has got to the bus drivers now. They were discussing how the "artics" (articulated buses) are take up a lot of space and will be running on Victoria, with every other bus terminating at 54th Avenue.

[Lee_Haber8]

There are a hell of a lot of good articles available for download at my transportation class website: http://www.sfu.ca/~rtorchin/geog490/

Hope that helps.

Thanks man

[zivan56]

^^ That prof seems oblivious to copyright laws and the images he used without credit. In fact, I know exactly the book he got some of them from, and there was no mention of it on the whole site. Sadly, there is a number of profs who do that...and yet they expect from students that every piece of clip art to be properly attributed.
Interesting sides nonetheless. Why is it under GEOG??

[SpongeG]

it costs $1.50 to ride muni in san francisco, and that is an excellent system.

it costs $1.30-1.60 to ride the tokyo metro, an excellent system.

it costs about $1.30 to ride the metro in paris, and that too is an excellent system.

it costs $2.50 to ride take transit in vancouver, and our system is not excellent. it sucks for homeowners but fares are at the limit of what can be reasonably expected, they cannot be increased without slowing further ridership gains. sure, montrealers pay $2.75 and torontonians pay $3.00, but that's too much, their systems are far better, and that fare covers a far greater area than vancouver's single zone (a more accurate comparison would be comparing a van 2-zone with mtl or toronto's single zones).

conclusion: absent federal or provincial dollars, someone's gots ta pay, and it should be done without fare increases!

so tax payers can pay? as if we don't already pay enough taxes - now we have to subsidize a ridership system?

as for MUJI - it only serves one city - San Francisco - if you wanted to get to the equivalent of Burnaby or surrey richmond etc and that would be the BART system and its about the same if not more as the Vancouver System - daly city to south san francisco is $2.55 one way no transfers issued - a round trip is $5.10

[flight_from_kamakura]

nothing to do until after lunch, so i guess i'll respond to a couple things.

I haven't lived in Tokyo, but I have lived in Hiroshima and Osaka, and transit in both is generally twice what we'd pay here. A monthly pass for a 40-minute commute to downtown Osaka from where I lived (Saito-nishi to Umeda, for anyone interested) would have cost $220 dollars a month according to Hyperdia (http://www.hyperdia.com/), and that's not including trips on any other routes. It does get cheaper as you move closer into the city, but not by that much if you have to take multiple lines. Kids aren't getting much discount either - my monthly pass for my commute to a highschool in Hiroshima (20 minute bus ride) was about $120.

yeah, i'll grant that i don't know too much about osaka, and coming in from the suburbs is always really expensive in japan; from saitama or yokohama to tokyo (unless you're going to chiba), for instance, you're going to pay around $10-13 each way! but if you're in the city (which is a truly enormous area), nothing is more than $1.60, and most trips are less. as for the transfers, it's true that there are competing systems (which can make for horrible confusion), but you almost never need to use anything other than the jr lines or the tokyo metro, and it's just a few cents more to get the correspondence tickets between those lines. And i'll stress that this covers hundreds of stations over an enormous area! vancouver's a little engligh garden compared with tokyo! so maybe scale is an issue for fares.

(but yeah, the private lines' fares are ridiculous, that's for sure.)


as for MUNI - it only serves one city - San Francisco - if you wanted to get to the equivalent of Burnaby or surrey richmond etc and that would be the BART system and its about the same if not more as the Vancouver System - daly city to south san francisco is $2.55 one way no transfers issued - a round trip is $5.10

muni serves san francisco only, but i think that only serves to emphasize my point. two cities, vancouver and sf, roughly the same size, roughly the same populations, with somewhat different patterns of development. on the whole, in both sf and vancouver, we're well served by transit and we have similar citywide ridership levels. so what's the biggest difference? cost. it's just cheaper in san francisco. is a reason they can keep their fares down maybe because the well-used city lines aren't subsidizing the ill-used regional lines like they are in vancouver? maybe. but still, whereas translink fares reflect ridership shortfalls along the regional lrt lines (remember that old 13% of revenues and 40% of expenditures line about skytrain, is that still the case?), muni riders were for years eating huge ridership shortfalls in the city-wide lrt lines from civic centre (which now seem to be on-track, if you'll pardon the pun). and now they're eating the t-line shortfalls and soon they'll be eating the central subway shortfalls!

as for your point about bart, it's true that bart is about the only aspect of their regional transit system that could be called 'integrated'. but the bart system is emphatically not lrt. this is heavy rail, like caltrain elsewhere in california, or intercity jr in japan, or west coast express in bc. it goes fast, it covers enormous distances, it's fitted like passenger rail, the trains run between 6-12 cars (and each car has a capacity of around 150 passengers crush), and the fare system is distance-based. within sf, bart trips are $1.50, if you want to get to oakland that goes up to $2.25, to berkeley it's around $2.60. and your bart correspondence ticket (you have to get it from the machine as you leave) is good on ac transit, or muni, or samtrans. compare with vancouver's system - a trip from vancouver to new westminster is $3.50, a fare that would get you clear over the hills into costra contra on bart!

still, your points are well-taken. from the governance side, i think the worst thing about translink right now is the funding structure. in san francisco, muni's operating budget is funded by muni/the city, and capital projects are funded by voter approved bond measures (plus fed/state/city money here and there). translink's got no mechanism by which to ask voters to approve this or that capital project with bond funding, and instead, is completely reliant on provincial (and sometimes city) funding decisions. evergreen line? sure, but how do you pay for it. as for operating budget, part of the reason the p3 route seems so attractive for these rail expansions is the operating expenses. the c-line is probably going to hit ridership projections, which means that it will be profitable. but if it doesn't hit those numbers, it will suck up money and drive the company into a tough situation, like the m-line did (still does?).

i think my point was just that if you're in a hole (as translink always seems to be), you'll get out of the hole by increasing ridership.

[deasine]

Yeah the E-Line is the only line that has met sufficient ridership levels. However, M-Line is starting to do so and it takes time for people to realize that there is such a fast frequent rapid transit system on their doorstep. It's all a matter of time. The M-Line will improve once the Ev-Line opens as it will be integrated with the current M-Line. Furthermore, once the M-Line expands to UBC (probably a phased project first), it would increase ridership levels dramatically.

[mr.x]

the c-line is probably going to hit ridership projections, which means that it will be profitable. but if it doesn't hit those numbers, it will suck up money and drive the company into a tough situation, like the m-line did (still does?).

The M-Line's shortfalls were not fair though. The ridership projections for the line had assumed that the Coquitlam extension would've been built - that's why the line was in the red.

I believe that the M-Line's books are now in the black, ridership hit 75,000 per day last year which is the ridership needed to break even.

[Delirium]

don't know if this has been shown before but this is the coolest video of the millenium line in timelapse! feels like a roller-coaster!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw8OTo_nzpQ&feature=related

[zivan56]

New logos being put on Skytrain (which I find really ugly and unnecessary):
(pictures taken by neopas from Transit-Vancouver group)
New:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/Neopas/PICT0001-13.jpg
Old:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/Neopas/PICT0002-18.jpg

Also, the new Orion 2007 model bus coaches have arrived to be fitted and put into service:
http://www.trans-vancouver.fotopic.net/c1475296_1.html

[mr.x]

ugh....did they really have to put on "The Best Place on Earth"?

I liked the old provincial crest logo more, and it looked good on the train.


how many Orions were ordered?

[CPE]

I knew it!! I saw those logos a while back and I was wondering if they were now. I just assumed they were always there and never really paid much attention to the logo beforehand. The old one looks a lot better.

[Nutterbug]

ugh....did they really have to put on "The Best Place on Earth"?

It looks really cheesy slapped onto a train.

What's more, it's like telling visitors "Our place is better than yours! :P "

[spitkicker08]

on park signs and parking meters in richmond it says
"Richmond, better in EVERY way"
i got a big kick out of that.

[zivan56]

how many Orions were ordered?

I can't find any info, but there were 7 new ones where the pictures were taken. I assume it's part of the "highway coach" batch or whatever Translink calls them?

[worldwide]

you have a link to the transit vancouver group?

[mr.x]

It looks really cheesy slapped onto a train.

What's more, it's like telling visitors "Our place is better than yours! :P "

We might as well paint a middle finger on it.

[squeezied]

on park signs and parking meters in richmond it says
"Richmond, better in EVERY way"
i got a big kick out of that.

ahhh yes... i cant stand that

[zivan56]

you have a link to the transit vancouver group?

I posted it some time ago (when someone also asked):
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Transit-Vancouver/

[giallo]

''It looks really cheesy slapped onto a train.

What's more, it's like telling visitors "Our place is better than yours!''



I know. I hate that slogan.

[deasine]

EWWW THE ORION ONES USE THE GREY COLOUR SCHEME UGH!!!!!

I noticed the BC Logo on SkyTrains too but I assumed they were always there. I like the new logos better even with the best place on Earth.

[ckkelley]

I'm just reading the rant thread and a question occurred to me: Will Canada line initially have the same ridership as the Millenium line?

It certainly won't be as busy as Expo line, right?

[mr.x]

I'm just reading the rant thread and a question occurred to me: Will Canada line initially have the same ridership as the Millenium line?

It certainly won't be as busy as Expo line, right?

The Canada Line certainly won't be as busy as the Expo Line, but ridership will certainly be much higher than what the Millennium Line started out with.

I believe the M-Line had an initial ridership of 48,000 daily passengers in 2002. In its first week, ridership was 35,000 daily. In 2005, ridership shot up to 59,000 daily. Then in 2007, it reached 75,000 daily - the original break-even ridership projection.

With the Canada Line, I think we'll see something like 50,000 daily in the first few weeks and by the end of 2010 we'll hit 70,000 daily. In 2011, we'll reach 80,000-85,000...and we'll hit the 100,000 daily mark by 2012/2013. Ridership will certainly shoot through the roof during the Olympics.

[ckkelley]

^
Thanks mr.x2.

[jlousa]

According to CKNW


There are reports Translink is going into real estate.
Mar, 18 2008 - 3:50 PM

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - The Vancouver Sun says the CEO has confirmed the transit authority is launching a real estate division that could produce up to $1.5 billion over the next ten years.

Under the plan, Translink will purchase land along new rapid transit routes and around stations and ramp up the value.

Translink is said to have already hired Phil Christie as vice-president of real estate to head the new division.

[mr.x]

^ that's great news!!! sounds like Translink will soon become the MTR of the west.

[jlousa]

I'm pretty confident Translink has been up to something like this for a while, but lets wait until we hear it from another source first. CKNW is having a really bad day, first the BC place mess-up, and then in their report about the Sun Tower purchase they mention converting it to condos. I'm almost positive that isn't in the works. Maybe the guy in the orange vest got a new job.

[mr.x]

I'm pretty confident Translink has been up to something like this for a while, but lets wait until we hear it from another source first. CKNW is having a really bad day, first the BC place mess-up, and then in their report about the Sun Tower purchase they mention converting it to condos. I'm almost positive that isn't in the works. Maybe the guy in the orange vest got a new job.

maybe their source for all of those stories were TWG3?:shrug:


Seriously though, according to the CKNW website the Translink real estate story was from the Vancouver Sun.

[SFUVancouver]

Translink has added a poll to their website to gauge public support for the $18 million property tax increase to make up for the Province canceling the commercial parking stall tax.

http://www.translink.bc.ca/Your_Views_Property_Tax.asp

Oddly enough the poll does not seem to be protected by one of those type-in-what-you-see anti-bot routines.

[quobobo]

According to CKNW


There are reports Translink is going into real estate.
Mar, 18 2008 - 3:50 PM

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - The Vancouver Sun says the CEO has confirmed the transit authority is launching a real estate division that could produce up to $1.5 billion over the next ten years.

Under the plan, Translink will purchase land along new rapid transit routes and around stations and ramp up the value.

Translink is said to have already hired Phil Christie as vice-president of real estate to head the new division.

NICE. Hopefully they'll be able to muscle municipalities into letting them develop the hell out of transit hubs.

[officedweller]

Yes, that would be nice.

[zivan56]

Under the plan, Translink will purchase land along new rapid transit routes and around stations and ramp up the value.


I plan to do this as soon as final locations are announced...so they will have competition :yes:

[mr.x]

MTR OF THE WEST: Translink's $1.5B real estate empire
Authority to buy properties along rapid transit routes and form partnerships with developers

Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Metro Vancouver's transportation authority is launching a real estate division that could produce up to $1.5 billion in revenue over the next 10 years, modelled on an agency that has reshaped Hong Kong.

Under the plan, enabled by 10-week-old provincial legislation, TransLink will purchase land along new rapid transit routes and around stations and ramp up the value of the land through denser zoning and partnerships with land developers to create high-density commercial and residential developments.

Early estimates of the revenue stream from real estate transactions were in the range of $30 million per year over 10 years, TransLink CEO Pat Jacobsen told The Vancouver Sun's editorial board Tuesday.

But new TransLink chairman Dale Parker said he expects to generate four to five times that much. (that's up to $150-million a year)

"That figure is ambitious, but I think we can do it," Parker said.

TransLink has hired Phil Christie as vice-president of real estate to head the new division. Christie has managed publicly owned real estate for the provincial government for more than 25 years.

A great deal of density is going to go in around the SkyTrain stations, Parker said. "We are going to have to benefit from that."

"It means getting involved to a greater degree in real estate development."

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon has told the new, appointed TransLink board to consider the business model used in Hong Kong in their decision-making processes.

Hong Kong's MTR employed a public-private partnership model to develop skyscrapers around subway stations so successfully that the real estate arm of the public transit system is now a publicly traded company.

With a $14-billion public transit plan just announced by the provincial government to fund, and public anger over property-based levies to fund operations, the board's need for a substantial revenue source couldn't be more pressing.

Under the provincial plan, which includes three rapid transit lines -- the Canada Line, the Evergreen Line in the northeast, and a Broadway line west of Commercial Drive -- about 1,000 new buses and a third SeaBus, TransLink is expected to pay $2.75 billion in capital costs while it expands bus service in the Fraser Valley.

Parker admitted that opportunities to generate real estate revenue on the Canada Line were missed and that the Evergreen Line will be the first real opportunity to leverage the value that rapid transit creates in any meaningful way.

Before this year, TransLink was legally empowered only to buy the land necessary for SkyTrain operations. Under new legislation, TransLink can now buy land around stations and along the right of way.

"It will take a lot of discussion with the municipalities, but the signals that we are getting from the mayors is that they know a lot of density is going to come with the line," Parker explained.

The scheme will fast-track high-density nodes in residential neighbourhoods along new rapid-transit routes, likely adding fuel to already raucous public hearings over proposed track alignments and station locations.

But Parker said that without revenue from real estate, building the rapid transit lines "will probably not be a top priority."

To build three rapid transit lines in a decade, TransLink will need to secure high-density zoning from municipalities to feed ridership and create opportunities to profit from the real estate appreciation, Jacobsen explained.

To acquire the land cheaply and beat out developers and speculators, TransLink will have early discussions about alignments and station locations and then quickly and quietly buy the land where stations are to be built.

Some of TransLink's real estate holdings may have to be sold to finance land purchases, Parker said. Translink owns land at Oakridge and False Creek in Vancouver as well as park-and-ride lots in other municipalities.

"Once you monetize those properties, you can invest in a station and the surrounding area," Parker said.

TransLink is likely to secure its first private-sector development partners within three months, he said.

rshore@png.canwest.com


© The Vancouver Sun 2008






TransLink to become landowner -- or is that godfather?

Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Exactly how the conversation got around to comparing the newly refashioned TransLink to the Mob I'm not sure, but across the table from us sat the unlikely capo di tutti capi, a slight and soft-spoken man with silvering hair. His name was Dale Parker. He was very nice, impeccably mannered. I thought, he'd make a terrific grandfather.

He was also the hand-picked chairman of TransLink -- or what is now officially known, cumbersomely, as the South Coast B.C. Transportation Authority. He came out of semi-retirement to become so, though he clearly does not need the aggravation.

He is no dummy, having graduated from Harvard, and he has run everything from White Spot to the WCB to the Bank of B.C.

He, former TransLink CEO Pat Jacobsen and TransLink communications director Ken Hardie, met with The Vancouver Sun editorial board Tuesday to talk about TransLink's future.

The subject got around to funding.

How was TransLink going to bankroll its budget shortfalls in the future, they were asked, when the public was clearly sick of more taxes?

"We have to find other sources of revenue," Parker said. "I think we have to recognize that the property tax is getting maxed out."

It was then that Parker divulged -- probably more than was wise to, considering the setting -- that TransLink was developing a real estate arm to buy and develop land around its planned rapid transit lines.

TransLink would get in early, quietly buy properties around stations and either develop them or sell them for profit. Density will naturally increase around those stations, and the price of real estate would go up. This, Parker suggested, would benefit both TransLink and the municipality. TransLink makes money: the municipality gets a rapid transit line.

Of course, that means some measure of cooperation, or, if you will, compliance, on the part of the municipality.

"If they [the municipality] are going from a density of 2.5 to 4 or 5 or 6, I mean, this is probably more than what the municipality was initially anticipating in any event. And they're going to, I think, need to recognize that without a source of revenue from real estate, this [rapid transit line] probably isn't going to be the top priority. In other words, you'd like to think there's going to be a little bit of a horse race among the municipalities."

This was big money Parker was talking about. At first, Jacobsen -- who may have been trying to play it down at this point -- suggested the real estate arm might generate in the neighbourhood of $30 million a year in revenue. But Parker said, oh no, TransLink could do a lot better than that -- maybe $150 million per year, or $1.5 billion at the end of 10 years.

At this, there were eyebrows being raised all around the table.

How would you keep these transactions secret? the members of the editorial board wanted to know.

How would you guard against loose lips within TransLink, and profiteering by developers with insider knowledge?

How would TransLink assure the public, and the municipalities, that it wouldn't just be shaking those municipalities down in what Parker characterized as a "horse race"?

Sun business columnist Don Cayo said:

"It strikes me that there's a tremendous moral aspect [to this]. It strikes me that you're going to be wearing an uncomfortable mix of hats as basically land speculators and the guys who decide to make the speculation pay off or not. You mention horse-trading between municipalities: That could easily cross a line to bullying and coercing. There could be a lot of room for chicanery in the location of stations and so on depending on where you own the land. It strikes me as an uncomfortable mix of public and private tools."

"Well," Parker replied, "it may be, and I suppose it's where the risk might lie . . . While you have to do a lot of this in confidence early on, it's a clear understanding in strategy, and you have to be very transparent in what you've done so the public can see what you've done in a transaction."

Cayo, not satisfied with assurances of transparency, then said:

"Jane Jacobs said that when you combine the power of the command of control to decide what to do with public money with the ethics of the business community, what you end up with is the Mafia."

There was nervous laughter around the table. Probably, Cayo will not receive in the mail tomorrow a fish wrapped in newspaper, or wake up with a bloody horse head in his bed.

But his comments suggested a greater question:

Who, I wanted to know, will have the greater effect on town planning -- TransLink, with its new power to create densification around stations, or the municipalities those stations will be in? Who is really in charge? The people, or the transit line that purports to serve the people?

Well, Parker said, all municipalities have town plans, and TransLink will work closely with them. But:

"I think we need to have a significant amount of influence, and I believe the municipalities and the region are recognizing these have got to come together in a more comprehensive way of density around these lines. It doesn't mean we won't have suburbs and whatnot, but there's got to be a corridor that provides a lot of density in order to make it work."

As a taxpayer who lives in a suburb "and whatnot," I couldn't help think:

Man, this guy is really nice. But did Metro Vancouver just get an offer it couldn't refuse?

[zivan56]

^^ Wouldn't this give them an unfair advantage? They could buy up land for dirt cheap in the middle of nowhere (figuratively speaking) and neither the land owners nor other investors would have an idea what is coming. IMO it's exactly like the stock market and insider information (which is illegal in most of the world).

[quobobo]

I couldn't be happier. They practically said that they're going to use their influence to push higher density, and they're even using Hong Kong as a model. Having someone with a business degree from Harvard running the program is icing on the cake.

[vanman]

I'm all for this. The municipalities will get a nudge in what should be common sense by now. Every new transit station will have to have high density development around it which will help pay for the rapid transit line which will in turn spur even more ridership. It's like a symbiotic relationship.

[mersar]

Looks like you guys are getting another set of new buses. Spotted this in a press release from yesterday from New Flyer:

TransLink in Vancouver, BC has exercised options for 42 60-foot hybrid buses (84 EUs).

[SpongeG]

More to safety than gates, cops

Security gates, transit police and video cameras alone won’t make the Evergreen Line safer when it finally comes to Coquitlam.

People who watch out for themselves and each other are what will make the difference, says TransLink spokesperson Ken Hardie.

And he knows whereof he speaks.

Hardie said he confronted a group of teenagers tagging SkyTrain seats near Burnaby’s Metrotown station and he wasn’t afraid to do so. The middle-aged bureaucrat is a communicator, not a cop or security guard, but instead of feeling threatened and turning away, he took action.

“I felt like the mean, old dad,” Hardie said, recalling how he lectured the youths on destroying public property, all the while leaning hard on a silver safety strip that alerts security on the rapid transit line. The attendant who met him and took control of the situation was “as big as a house,” Hardie said.

But the successful resolution to what could have been just a disturbing incident is a reminder, Hardie says, about how important it is for the public to take ownership of its transit system. Being aware of your surroundings, calling in problems on the intercom or alerting security by pressing the silent alarm are all ways people can make SkyTrain safer, he says, something Tri-City residents will have to learn when they finally get to board the Evergreen Line sometime in 2014.

“That kind of thing creates a sense of community,” Hardie said.

While TransLink plans to spend about $10 million on turnstiles to stop fare evasion, gated entries aren’t enough to make the system secure.

Hardie said turnstiles are being considered in tandem with smart cards, which would allow for electronic payment and more efficient fare collection.

Designing stations with safety principles in mind, encouraging development around stations so there are more eyes and ears to watch out for crime, and preventing businesses such as by-the-slice pizza stores and pawn shops that attract a transient clientele from locating near stations all contribute to making elevated rapid transit systems safer, he said.

TransLink has learned a great deal during the two decades since the Expo Line was built and development of the Evergreen Line, which will feature SkyTrain-type technology, will benefit from this knowledge.

In fact, one of the priorities for the transit authority over the next few years will be to retrofit the Expo Line stations to make them safer. Concrete elevators will be replaced with glass, for example, and other design principles that reduce crime will be employed.

And the Evergreen Line will be developed using the same crime-reducing principles. As well, there will be more transit police to patrol the line.

Nearly 50 recruits will be hired for the Canada Line, set to open in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It’s not known how many officers will be needed for the Evergreen Line.

A spokesperson for the transit police service said not enough is known about the line yet, such as route, station design and location. Sgt. Willie Merenick said he expects Port Moody Police Department and Coquitlam RCMP will be consulted for their input into the policing needs of the area.

In addition to consultations with police, Tri-City residents who live along the line and could potentially use it will be involved in discussions.

Hardie noted that similar community consultation was used to reduce crime around the Joyce Street SkyTrain station in Vancouver’s Collingwood neighbourhood, resulting in a partnership between the transit police and volunteers from the community.

Rapid transit by itself does not bring crime, Hardie said; rather, it’s a portal in and out of the community. Creating people-friendly “transit villages” around stations will be key to keeping the Evergreen Line safe for passengers and neighbours.

“A lot has to do with what’s going on in the community.”

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com

http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/320*209/TE0319_KenHardie_20080319.jpg

http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/news/16796476.html

[lightrail]

I like it too - but it still bothers me that when Falcon says jump, Trankslink jumps.

Still, Falcon must have some pretty good advisors....

[deasine]

Aren't you glad that TransLink is finally in the hand of professionals who actually make logical decisions? MTR =D

[zivan56]

Looks like you guys are getting another set of new buses. Spotted this in a press release from yesterday from New Flyer:

That's strange...we don't have any DE60LFRs...so what is the original order for the option??

[deasine]

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; March 18, 2008 - New Flyer Industries Inc.



(TSX:NFI.UN) (“New Flyer” or the “Company”), the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit vehicles in Canada and the United States, announced today that it has received orders over the last three months for up to 1,253 buses (1,549 equivalent production units or “EUs”) for a combined value of over US $603 million. Of these orders, 874 buses (918 EUs) are new orders and 379 (631 EUs) are exercised options. These orders are for a variety of vehicle configurations, including 35-, 40- and 60-foot buses and diesel, hybrid-electric, and compressed natural gas (CNG) propulsion systems.


The largest of these recent new orders was awarded by Metropolitan Transit System in San Diego, CA totaling $151 million, which included 50 40-foot CNG buses with options for an additional 300 buses as well as an order for 12 35-foot gasoline-electric hybrid buses with options for an additional eight buses.


Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) in Cincinnati, OH awarded New Flyer an order totaling $101 million for 24 40-foot clean diesel buses with options for an additional 270 buses. The award also included an order for six diesel hybrid buses. This contract represents the first order New Flyer has received from SORTA.



Other bus orders recently awarded to New Flyer include:


Chicago Transit Authority in Chicago, IL has exercised options for 150 60-foot hybrid buses (300 EUs).
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, NV has ordered 47 40-foot CNG buses with options for an additional 30 buses.

Mississauga Transit in Mississauga, ON has ordered 69 40-foot diesel buses.

Calgary Transit in Calgary, AB has exercised options for 20 60-foot (22 EUs) and 30 40-foot clean diesel buses.

TransLink in Vancouver, BC has exercised options for 42 60-foot hybrid buses (84 EUs).

Oahu Transit in Honolulu, HI has ordered 10 60-foot hybrid buses (20 EUs) with options for an additional 20 buses.

Hamilton Street Railway in Hamilton, ON has exercised options for 22 40-foot clean diesel buses.

Other new contracts and exercised options total 143 buses (197 EUs).

New Flyer’s backlog as of the end of February 2008 was 7,478 EUs, which represents an increase of 41% in comparison to the 5,313 EUs in backlog at January 1, 2007. The value of the order backlog as of the end of February 2008 of US $3.05 billion has increased by 69% compared to the US $1.8 billion backlog at the start of 2007. The portion of firm orders included in the backlog has increased to US $1.39 billion as of the end of February 2008 from US $0.8 billion at January 1, 2007.



NOTE: All dollar amounts are stated in US currency based on an exchange rate of US $1.00 = Cdn $0.98 to calculate the value of the Canadian contracts in this release.


About New Flyer




New Flyer is the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in the United States and Canada. The Company’s three facilities -- in Winnipeg, MB, St. Cloud, MN and Crookston, MN -- are all ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified. With a skilled workforce of approximately 2,200 employees, New Flyer is a technology leader, offering the broadest product line in the industry, including drive systems powered by clean diesel, LNG, CNG and electric trolley as well as energy-efficient gasoline-electric and diesel-electric hybrid vehicles. All products are supported with an industry-leading, comprehensive parts and service network. New Flyer’s Income Deposit Securities are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NFI.UN. Further information is available on Company’s web site at www.newflyer.com.



Forward-Looking Statements



This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to expected future events and financial and operating results of New Flyer and New Flyer Industries Canada ULC (“NFI ULC”) that involve risks and uncertainties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, investors cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and the differences may be material. Actual results may differ materially from management expectations as projected in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including market and general economic conditions and the other risks and uncertainties discussed in the materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Due to the potential impact of these factors, New Flyer and NFI ULC disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.



For further information, please contact:


Glenn Asham
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: 204-224-1251
Email: investor@newflyer.com
Press Release ~ Credits to mersar for reporting this first ~ Source: NewFlyer

[mersar]

That's strange...we don't have any DE60LFRs...so what is the original order for the option??

Since it lists the options as equivalent to 84 units, probably whatever costs half as much as a DE60LFR, so the options were probably from your last order of D60LFR's.

[cornholio]

preventing businesses such as by-the-slice pizza stores and pawn shops that attract a transient clientele from locating near stations all contribute to making elevated rapid transit systems safer
I understand pawnshops but by the slice pizza shops...I mean seriously...what does he expect people who are in transit for an hour to eat when they get hungry or are in a rush...might as well group coffee shops and such in to the same category.

[zivan56]

Since it lists the options as equivalent to 84 units, probably whatever costs half as much as a DE60LFR, so the options were probably from your last order of D60LFR's.


Ah, then it could be for the D40LFR/E40LFR/E60LFR orders as well. I am not too impressed by the quality of the newer New Flyer buses arriving, as they seem plagued by problems...especially the D60LFR and trolleys...I hope the ttrolleys will last longer than the ones we had after the Brills.

[quobobo]

I understand pawnshops but by the slice pizza shops...I mean seriously...what does he expect people who are in transit for an hour to eat when they get hungry or are in a rush...might as well group coffee shops and such in to the same category.

Agreed, what the hell? I can't even count the times I've stopped at Fresh Slice and Megabite while waiting for a bus.

[deasine]

Ah, then it could be for the D40LFR/E40LFR/E60LFR orders as well. I am not too impressed by the quality of the newer New Flyer buses arriving, as they seem plagued by problems...especially the D60LFR and trolleys...I hope the ttrolleys will last longer than the ones we had after the Brills.

I wouldn't bet on that one... all the New Flyers are really bad. We should start being more open and order buses from other companies such as Van Hool.

[mr.x]

B.C. government firm on Canada Line turnstiles
Faregates 'going to happen,' says Transportation Minister Falcon

Andy Ivens and Frank Luba, The Province
Published: Thursday, March 20, 2008

While TransLink studies the issue of whether turnstiles should be installed on the Canada Line, there's no doubt in Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon's mind that they will be.

"It's going to happen," Falcon said yesterday. "We're going to work with TransLink. Obviously, we're going to be ponying up a substantial amount of the money to pay for this because it is a provincial initiative and a requirement.

"We've always been very clear that this is something that we will be doing. It's a question of how we'll do it with TransLink."

Earlier, TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said it was still weighing the merits of a "controlled access" system versus one that operates on the proof-of-payment honour principle.

"We are revisiting the whole thing," Snider told The Province.

"There's a working group working on that, to look through it again to see if there's a business case that can be made."

"We're not going to say anything more about it until the end of the year, when that group reports back."

A 2005 TransLink staff report concluded it would cost three to five times as much to set up and operate a controlled-access system as it would cut fare evasions under the current honour system.

"I don't accept the figures," said Falcon, who last year toured public-transit systems in London, Paris and Rotterdam.

"It's Pollyanna-ishly pessimistic in terms of what the likely gains are, and certainly inconsistent with other regions that have tried it," he said.

"The Netherlands saw an immediate boost to revenue the moment they put the gates in. The people felt safer while revenues climbed 30 per cent.

"They had a substantial climb in revenue growth and they had a substantial decline in criminal activity."

"This isn't about money, although I do think that will be a benefit."

"What it's really about is making sure travellers on the system, particularly women, can feel safer, knowing that they are in a secured environment that tends to keep out the kind of people who aren't going to pay money to harass people."

Falcon said Premier Gordon Campbell shares his strong views.

"That's the primary benefit as far as the premier and I are concerned," said Falcon.

"If we are going to encourage more people to use rapid transit, then anything we can do to make the experience safer and more user-friendly I think is a positive."

All stations on Canada Line, which is on schedule to begin service in November 2009, and the Millennium Line have been designed to accommodate "faregates," as modern turnstiles are called.

No such accommodation was made when the 22-year-old Expo Line was built.

Snider told the Richmond News this week that faregates and the proposed SmartCard fare system won't be ready in time for the new line's November 2009 launch.


TALLYING THE COSTS

A 2005 TransLink report indicated turnstiles would require extra staff at a cost of $25.1 million.

Add another $3.5 million annually for the capital cost of the equipment for a grand total of $28.6 million for turnstiles.

Cheating on the two existing SkyTrain lines costs TransLink an estimated $3.3 million annually, with the predicted evasion on the Canada Line being about $1 million.

If that $4.3 million is subtracted from the $28.6-million annual capital and operating cost, the annual cost for turnstiles would be $24.3 million.

The actual turnstile cost of $14.3 million is arrived at by subtracting another $10 million -- the cost of the 52 police officers that will be hired, regardless of gating.






Fraser Valley gas taxes may rise to improve transit
Politicians weigh joining TransLink to expand commuter service
David Carrigg, The Province
Published: Thursday, March 20, 2008

A Fraser Valley gas tax is being considered as a way to expand public transit in the region.

According to a recently released report on the Fraser Valley's transit system, commuters in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Mission are underserved by a factor of "four or five, perhaps even more."

Mission Mayor James Atebe, a delegate to the Fraser Valley Regional District board, said district politicians must decide whether to join TransLink or continue to operate their own municipal transit service.

Either way, a fuel tax may be introduced to help pay for it.

Currently, six cents a litre of all gas sold in Metro Vancouver goes to TransLink, on top of the six cents a litre the provincial government gives to TransLink from the fuel tax it collects in Metro Vancouver.

If the regional district agrees to join TransLink, all or part of the TransLink gas tax may apply to the Fraser Valley.

"There's no firm model in place," said TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie.

"However, if the Fraser Valley is underserved and calls for expansion, that six cents a litre goes a long way."

The report, called Developing a Transportation Vision for the FVRD, says the best option to raise money for transit expansion is through either "a share of existing fuel taxes or increases to fuel taxes in the FVRD."

Atebe said property owners are already overburdened by taxes.

"We are trying to look for other sources of revenue. A fuel tax may be one of those options, so we don't have a heavier burden on property tax," he said.

The FVRD will do another study on transit in the region before deciding whether to join TransLink.

Hardie said TransLink is legally able to expand its service zone but the final decision rests with municipalities.

[dreambrother808]

Agreed, what the hell? I can't even count the times I've stopped at Fresh Slice and Megabite while waiting for a bus.

here here. blaming public disorder problems on a pizza place? that's bloody ridiculous and shows that mr. hardie is obviously out of touch with reality. it's like reading about burnaby's corrigan bashing skytrain... the people who sometimes seek positions of influence blow my mind. pawn shops are another entity altogether. that doesn't require much thought. but pizza!!! i love my cheap pizza. :) aarrggghhh....

[mr.x]

TransLink sitting on some prime real estate

Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, March 20, 2008

TransLink owns four properties worth $100 million that it could sell to generate seed money to start its new real estate division.

TransLink plans to use the division to purchase prime real estate around future rapid transit stations and then partner with developers and local municipalities to create denser zoning and develop the properties as a way to finance SkyTrain construction.

The regional transit authority already owns four prime pieces of real estate, including the 14-acre Oakridge transit centre, the 12-acre Coquitlam park-and-ride lot and two properties totalling three acres near False Creek.

The assessed value of the four parcels combined is almost $100 million, but up-zoning for high-density development could massively increase the value of the parcels.

The City of Coquitlam is anxious to work with TransLink's new real estate arm to ensure that the Evergreen Line is not shelved again.

"We've been passed over twice," said Coquitlam Mayor Maxine Wilson in a interview from Seattle. "We need that line."

TransLink chairman Dale Parker told The Vancouver Sun that by buying early and quickly reselling land along future SkyTrain routes, TransLink hopes to make between $100 million and $150 million each year over the next 10 years.

The money will help finance the construction of the UBC and Evergreen SkyTrain extensions.

The Evergreen Line will connect to the existing SkyTrain system, linking Lougheed Town Centre, Coquitlam Town Centre and Douglas College. The line is slated for completion in 2014.

Parker said real estate revenue is essential to building projects such as the Evergreen Line. TransLink must come up with $2.75 billion as its share of the provincial government's $14-billion transit expansion, announced earlier this year.

Property around TransLink's 12-acre Coquitlam park-and-ride lot has already been zoned to allow towers up to 37 storeys, an outcome that would ensure the regional transportation authority would get far more than the $14-million assessed value of the land when it is sold.

Wilson was not surprised to learn of TransLink's plan to mimic the stunning success of Hong Kong MTR's real estate division.

MTR generates billions of dollars in revenue through its developments in Hong Kong.

"[Transportation Minister] Kevin Falcon said when he announced the Evergreen Line that $400 million would have to be raised other ways," Wilson said. "This is the other way.

"The capital dollars for the Evergreen Line have to be raised somehow and it's either going to come from the taxpayer through federal and provincial transfers or property tax if TransLink doesn't use more creative methods," she said.

"The land will have to be rezoned and go through the public hearing process," Wilson said. Community amenities like local libraries and non-market housing will have to be part of the deal as well, she said.

"But over the last few years there has been no opposition to increased density in the town centre."

[officedweller]

Hopefully Coquitlam can attract some office towers, not just condos.

[Dave2]

of course, your're not supposed to eat the pizza on the train, anymore than drinking the coffee or smoking the cigarattes, of course only the latter is really fround upon from a social point of view..but i was mildy offended by pizza smell on the M line this past week :slob:

[mr.x]

Something Translink should start looking at:



http://www.gotransit.com/public/event/Double_Deck_Bus/DDeckBusPic.jpg
Photo thanks to GO Transit.

http://www.citynews.ca

GO Transit Unveils Double-Decker Bus Fleet
Thursday March 20, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff

A touch of British class is coming to a GO bus stop near you.

Premier Dalton McGuinty and Transportation Minister Jim Bradley attended the unveiling of a new GO Transit double-decker bus Thursday.

"A lot of people are choosing to leave their cars at home these days. And these new double-decker buses are one way we can help them," remarked McGuinty.

"That's good news for the air that we breathe. It's good news for moms and dads who want to get home for dinner. And it's great news, as well, for the people who produce Ontario products and need to get them to market quickly."

The 12 vehicles are designed to fit an additional 21 passengers each and will go into operation in April 2008 on the 403 and 407.

Ten more will be on the road the year after that.

----
From GO Transit

A first for GO’s fleet, the double deckers can seat 78 people – 46 on the upper level and 32 on the lower level – offering 37 per cent more seating capacity than our regular highway buses. This will not only improve service on our busiest routes, but will also reduce the amount of fuel consumed and harmful emissions produced per passenger.

Customers will enjoy an exceptional view from the upper level, with reclining seats to make things even more comfortable. Features of the double deckers include individually adjustable air vents, individual reading lights, and 12V power outlets – two on the lower level and four on the upper level.

The buses are also accessible. They each have two wheelchair locations, a kneeling (lowering) feature, a powered wheelchair ramp, wide aisles and front door, and low floors.

The double deckers will run on Hwy. 403 and Hwy. 407 between Oakville GO Station and York University, with stops at Square One GO Bus Terminal and Bramalea GO Station. Our Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service along Hwy. 407 is very successful, with over 500 trips every weekday during the school year. The new buses will increase capacity to help meet demand on this busy service.

GO runs 181 train trips and 1,814 bus trips daily, carrying about 205,000 passengers on a typical weekday — 170,000 on the trains* and 35,000 by bus. Our ridership growth has continually exceeded expectations: The original GO Train service carried 2.5 million passengers in 1967, the first year of operation; today the combined rail and bus system handles more than 50 million riders annually.

- The double decker buses are manufactured by Alexander Dennis Limited, a UK-based company. There are no North American manufacturers of double decker buses.

- The buses’ dimensions are:
+ Length: 43 feet (13 metres)
+ Width: 8.3 feet (2.5 metres)
+ Height: 14 feet (4.3 metres)
- GO Transit’s standard 45-foot (13.7-metre) highway commuter bus seats 57 passengers; the double decker bus can carry 78 passengers – an increase of 21 riders or 37 per cent.

- To prepare for the introduction of double decker buses, GO worked with the Ministry of Transportation, all road and fire departments from the regional and local governments along the proposed routes, representatives from 407 ETR, and the Ontario Provincial Police.

- Selected routes for the double deckers have been thoroughly studied to ensure height clearance.