Comments from the Vancouver Sun section:
Cunctator
11:39 PM on June 1, 2010
I get on at Yaletown heading for City Centre and it's jam packed most mornings around 8am. If they ran every 3 minutes instead of 4, like they did at peak times during the Olympics, this would greatly alleviate the problem. There have been a couple of occasions recently where I have thought, I'll catch the next train instead, so dread to think what it'll be like by this time 2011.
local boy
12:48 AM on June 2, 2010
The answer is simple, return the suburban bus routes to their original downtown stops. Stop redirecting them to Bridgeport until the crowding is solved. I'd bet most suburban riders would approve of this, and this buys Translink time to figure out the next move. Win, Win!
csunz
1:41 AM on June 2, 2010
How does Translink come up with their (inaccurate) predictions?
Fact is the Canada Line goes across Vancouver north to south and vice versa. To funnel all the suburb riders onto SkyTrain meant Translink would have a good estimate of how many would (be forced to) take the train.
Canada Line also goes up Cambie Street which means Vancouverites who live near the line will be more inclined to use it. Canada Line was built in a developed city, unlike the Expo Line which was built when the suburbs were expanding.
Now, why the hell did Translink build a line which they cannot expand capacity easily such as adding an extra couple of cars like the Expo and Millennium Line? They will need to spend more money to reconstruct each station to allow for this. Is this a case of maximizing profits for P3s?
Also, what's with Canada Line running every 12 or more minutes in the evening from Richmond?
This was never the case for the Expo Line and it was virtually empty in the evenings back in the early 90s. T
anonymous
2:57 AM on June 2, 2010
What a load of rubbish. Take a look at the Canada Line train at either end of the line on any peak hour you like and you'll find that people are taking it several stations the wrong way just so they can be sure to be on it when it heads in the other direction. The only alternative for these people is to watch packed trains pass them by.
Personally, I take the train from Brighouse to Bridgeport and get off so I can get an empty Airport train downtown - but there are so many people doing that now, it usually still means you're standing wedged between people all the way in.
And let's be clear - this isn't about people whining that they can't get a seat, it's about people having to watch train doors open and close without being able to squeeze on, because for whatever reason, Translink has 4 of it's 20 trains (20% of the fleet!) sitting unused at peak hour times.
Why not just use the trains already? They paid for them, they don't need to pay a driver - just let us on the damn things.
Gummivore
8:41 AM on June 2, 2010
say .... what happened to all those people who predicted this line will run empty for years .... oh yeah, the same people who gripped about how much of a failure the olympics will be.
Helen Highwater
10:52 AM on June 2, 2010
Well that was rather poor planning wasn't it. I guess the planners really don't understand how many people want to use public transportation when it is made available.
McMillan84
1:49 PM on June 2, 2010
When I read the opening sentence I couldn't help but be thrilled then disgusted. I was thrilled that so many people were using the Canada line but then I was disgusted when I saw that they expected this to happen in 3 years. Three years! Are you serious? How bloody short sighted is that? That's not even a full term for dictator Campbell. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that if it's going to be at capacity in three years to build the line bigger to accommodate more people. I don't think there is anything that was done correctly with this line.
anonymous
3:15 PM on June 2, 2010
The RAV line was poorly designed right from the start. The platforms are too small, which makes adding longer trains impossible, thus crippling later expansion to meet increased demand. Why was this system designed this way? One reason: profit margins. Just imagine how inadequate the RAV line will be in five years... almost useless. The answer is light rail, above ground, which can be built for 1/3 of the cost. Engineering problems should not be at the whim of any politician (i.e. Campbell demanding a subway to be built) ... but rather by technical people who are experts in their fields.
And then, we have zwei:
Evil Eye
10:35 AM on June 2, 2010
Gee Whiz, I see that the BC Government subsidizes SkyTrain by over $230 million annually, how can it pay its operating costs?
Only 9,300 riders a day going to and from the airport daily, doesn't look like the 200,000 car trips taken off the road daily isn't going to happen too soon.
We tried using the Canada Line for commuting, but it increased our travel times so much that using the car is much faster, easier and is only a little more expensive.
Evil Eye
1:26 PM on June 2, 2010
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Evil Eye. Show DetailsHide Details
So we have spent about $2.5 billion on a metro, which is at capacity when it hits 100,000 passengers a day, yet Calgary has spent under $1 billion on light rail, which carries over 300,000 passengers a day.
No wonder BC is in massive deficit!
Isn't it interesting that TransLink doesn't say how many new (I repeat new) transit riders are because of the Canada line as it seems all what has happened is that we have forced bus riders onto the Canada Line and sing whoopee, its at capacity already, let's spend more money on transit!
No wonder we are the worlds laughing stock!
Read more:
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/t...#ixzz0pkpX6wBc
Canada Line Metro Reaches Capacity of 100,000 riders a day? Really, that little?
June 2, 2010 by zweisystem
Here we have a classic Vancouver Sun ‘puff story’ about the Canada line, where real questions are not asked and $150 thousand a year man, the classic spin doctor himself, Ken Hardie shows why he is paid such a stipend.
The real question should be; “We just spent $2.5 billion on a metro and its capacity is a mere 100,000 a day, what bloody genius thought that one up?”
It seems only in Vancouver, metro systems pay their operating costs with such little ridership and one wonders why more cities don’t built subways? The answer of course is that they don’t and the entire article is one of stuff an nonsenses, that should have been printed on April 1, not June 1!
What the article does show is that TransLink is desperate for positive spin on the Canada Line and the Sun will print it almost verbatim what the highly paid TransLink spin-doctors claim.
Certainly Hardie, doesn’t say how many bus riders are funneled onto the Canada Line, nor how TransLink apportions fares, if they even bother to or how TransLink factors in the deep discounted U-Pass used by Langara and UBC bound students, very important calculations that must be done before any claims of “paying its operating costs“, can be made. Certainly the claim that SkyTrain pays its operating costs is laughable because the province subsidizes the proprietary metro to a tune of over $230 million annually!
What is not surprising is the weak ridership numbers that go to YVR, which are in line with what other transit systems servicing airports carry.
The quote: “Hardie didn’t have a total count of how many new riders are taking the train……” is TransLink speak for, “The Canada Line is getting over 90% of its ridership from bus riders.” It must be remembered that 80% of SkyTrain’s customers first take a bus to the metro. In effect, we are giving bus riders a $2.5 billion metro ride, which for many, increases travel times.
What this story is all about is TransLink’s desire to build more metro and to fool the public in thinking that metro is doing a wonderful job, so let’s fund the Evergreen Line and the Broadway – UBC subway.
The sad fact is, if LRT were to have been built instead, it would be carrying more passengers to more destinations at a far cheaper cost; but of course no one would ever hear that from TransLink. 100,000 passengers a day is child’s play for LRT, yet it seems a big strain for a very expensive metro costing three times as much!
It is high time for BC Auditor General to audit TransLink and its metro operations to get at the real truth!
I think someone needs to write a really good letter to the editor or editorial to the Vancouver Sun about why the Canada Line is a good example for why Broadway and Evergreen must be SkyTrain. Sometimes, don't you just wish that zwei was some deer on a highway?...step on the gas.
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