Compass & Fare Gates | u/c

[dleung]

Canada line users are generally wealthier.

[SpongeG]

lol good one

[Echowinds]

Canada Line also has a single train stock, so regulars kind of get where the doors will go even without markers. It helps somewhat in people organizing themselves.

I am personally more annoyed at people taking up two seats or people sitting on the outside while the inside seat is empty. Those people drive me nuts.

[crazyjoeda]

Pfft. SkyTrain riders are far better at letting people exit the trains first than people in many other cities I have visited.

Munich has the rudest people. Once I was boarding a train at the end of the line so lots of people were exiting and many more were preparing to board; every one was pushing and shoving each other as some tried to exit while others tried to board. Munich has a much larger metro system than Vancouver and that wasn't an isolated incident it happens all the time.

Paris and London during rush hour can be just as bad.

I'm not saying SkyTrain riders in Vancouver couldn't be better but we are far from the worst.

[SpongeG]

they look polite on this video - today as i was trying to get get off some woman stood in the middle of the door opening on the platform about 1 foot away from the door with a baby pusher thing and didn't move and everyone trying to get off had to figure their way around her plus the other people lined up to get on most were at least to teh side but it was quite hard when so many are trying to disembark and there isn't much space at all

sidenote: i miss how all the ads at the stations were for the olympics - they were really cool and nicely designed... I am loving the mascot ones in particular

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[cornholio]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

Pfft. SkyTrain riders are far better at letting people exit the trains first than people in many other cities I have visited.

Munich has the rudest people. Once I was boarding a train at the end of the line so lots of people were exiting and many more were preparing to board; every one was pushing and shoving each other as some tried to exit while others tried to board. Munich has a much larger metro system than Vancouver and that wasn't an isolated incident it happens all the time.

Paris and London during rush hour can be just as bad.

I'm not saying SkyTrain riders in Vancouver couldn't be better but we are far from the worst.

I agree. Its not so bad here, I have seen much worse. Sao Paulo for one is horrible, their subway system is relatively small and new and way over capacity. The people are used to rushing everywhere and having to squeeze through crowds due to the layout of the city and no one clears the doors, every time its a battle to get off, luckily its acceptable to push through people. The fact that there always seems to be what I call "chicken people" from the poor north or from Bolivia or what ever who dont know how to doge people and deal with crowds doesnt help. There is a technique to moving through crowds, pushing your way through where other people can pick up on where your trying to go etc.

Two things they have done in Sao Paulo to help this is install metal funnel type railings to funnel people safely towards the doors but they stop about half a meter short of the platform so this allows people getting off to oftentimes cut right or left once they get out the door and avoid most of the crowd trying to get in. The other thing is using two platforms, one for getting off with the doors opening a few seconds before the ones for people getting on.

Hard to implement this in Vancouver with different length trains but like I said Vancouver is pretty good, based on my experiences (fairly limited in the last little while) Vancouver is better then average, the commuters are pretty good imo.

[crazyjoeda]

I've noticed that fare gate installation is quite far along at most Canada Line stations. You can now see exactly where the gates will be.

Am I the only one who thinks this will be a complete disaster?

I've always been against the fare gates because I believe the upfront and maintenance costs are higher that the lost ticket revenue.

Now I think the worst part is that most stations will have only three gates to exit, which won't come close to being sufficient. The escalators and stairs at some stations have difficulty handling current crowds. Constricting the exits at busy stations like Waterfront and City Centre will likely cause serious safety concerns.

The London underground typically has 10-20 fare gates for their smaller stations and still have congested exits.

I'm sure our fare gates will likely remain open and unused during peak periods.

[LeftCoaster]

Many stations on the Toronto subway have only 4-5 exits and those service full metro cars with ~1000 person capacities.

I ride them to the financial district every day at rush hour and have never experienced any real issues.

[Vancouver_Highrise]

You guys should all be thankful for our skytrain riders regarding letting people in and out of the train. If you want to see some rude pushy people go to Australia.. Brisbane/Gold Coast airtrain is the worst. I got to the point where I would just walk right into people because they wouldn't let me get off the train... Australians in general are rude though...

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

The London underground typically has 10-20 fare gates for their smaller stations and still have congested exits.

I'm sure our fare gates will likely remain open and unused during peak periods.

Not sure where you get that info re: London. I was there a few times last summer and smaller stations have as few as 1 incoming faregate (vs 2 outgoing, and they can switch). There was sometimes a line but it moves quickly.

[crazyjoeda]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Not sure where you get that info re: London. I was there a few times last summer and smaller stations have as few as 1 incoming faregate (vs 2 outgoing, and they can switch). There was sometimes a line but it moves quickly.

I've lived in London.

Pretty much ever underground station I've been in has more than ten gates; many of the suburban rail stations have only three or four but are left open during rush hour.

Three exiting gates may be sufficient for stations like King Edward or Olympic Village, but any major station or transfer point will likely see unacceptable congestion at exits during peak periods. I know this because its already difficult to get out of City Centre station; exiting the station will become a very bad experience if passengers are forced to exit through just three gates. Undoubtably some people will stop to fumble for their pass or tickets and the gates will reject some tickets and breakdown occasionally.

I'm frustrated just thinking about it!
I'm all for making sure people pay the fare and I hope the fare gates provide the opportunity for a fair pricing structure.

I hope I'm wrong and it all works smoothly but I doubt it will.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

I know this because its already difficult to get out of City Centre station

The bottleneck at pretty much all of the Skytrain stations is essentially the escalators (and to a lesser degree the stairs). As long as they have enough gates to handle the same flow rate as the escalators and stairs then they'll be fine.

[cc85]

The TTC only has a few fare gates on their subway system, usually two-three gates going each way and they are able to handle much larger crowds.

[incognism]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

Undoubtably some people will stop to fumble for their pass or tickets and the gates will reject some tickets and breakdown occasionally.

Ugh, I hate this excuse. People in this city need to grow up and act like a functional adult.

Since it's NFC, all people need to be able to do is take their wallet out of their purse/pocket and make sure that they have sufficient funds on their card before they reach the gate.

You'd think that should be fairly simple, considering millions of people in other cities are able to complete this simple task on a daily basis.

It's time for this city to stop coddling its citizens and force them to accept some responsibility on their end.

[s211]

Originally Posted by incognism

Ugh, I hate this excuse. People in this city need to grow up and act like a functional adult.

Since it's NFC, all people need to be able to do is take their wallet out of their purse/pocket and make sure that they have sufficient funds on their card before they reach the gate.

You'd think that should be fairly simple, considering millions of people in other cities are able to complete this simple task on a daily basis.

It's time for this city to stop coddling its citizens and force them to accept some responsibility on their end.

THANK YOU!

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by incognism

Since it's NFC, all people need to be able to do is take their wallet out of their purse/pocket and make sure that they have sufficient funds on their card before they reach the gate.

As anyone who's worked in a building that has a contactless card access system can attest, people learn very quickly to have their card out and ready to wave at the reader so as to expedite their progress. The same thing will happen with the Compass card.

[WBC]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

As anyone who's worked in a building that has a contactless card access system can attest, people learn very quickly to have their card out and ready to wave at the reader so as to expedite their progress. The same thing will happen with the Compass card.

The ones that commute every day will. However, even today a lot of people have lack of social awareness to do something relatively simple such as being ready to validate a faresaver. I have seen countless times people step up to the validating machine then start fumbling through the purse looking for a booklet, then tearing off the faresaver then fumbling around trying to validate it. They lack the social awareness to do that beforehand or at least to step aside and get ready for validation. Sorry to stereotype, but women are particularly bad at this and are more likely than men to block the passengers at leaving the trains.

I am particularly concerned with Metrotown station and the new gates as this station is a gong show at best of times. If they do not substantially change the station design before introducing gates it will be a disaster.

[WBC]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

As anyone who's worked in a building that has a contactless card access system can attest, people learn very quickly to have their card out and ready to wave at the reader so as to expedite their progress. The same thing will happen with the Compass card.

Yes but those people have jobs...I am worried about those then don't....

[jlousa]

The example with the fare validators isn't completely valid though as they aren't being used by everyone around you so you have to figure out what to do on your own. Humans are able to mimic others quite easily. When you see everyone in front of you doing something you no longer have that problem.
I trust that after the first week or so we'll adapt nicely.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by WBC

The ones that commute every day will.

That's the substantial majority, so it will take care of most of the problem.

However, even today a lot of people have lack of social awareness to do something relatively simple such as being ready to validate a faresaver.

I hear you. You see this in store line-ups where people don't bother to even open their purse until they clerk tells them how much they owe. It's like they can't anticipate the need until they have no other choice.

Nonetheless, in transit terms I don't think it's all that big a problem. You can get an idea of the magnitude of it by watching people board a bus and pay for their fare or validate their faresaver. The vast majority of them do it quite efficiently, it's only a pretty small minority - perhaps around 10% - that fumble.