Bus linking Chilliwack to Abbotsford to start April 6

[SpongeG]

didn't the catamarans make too many waves and they were pulled out of service?

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Large Cat

Large agree. With service to downtown Victoria, not Swartz Bay. Besides getting to the terminal, the service would probably be much faster because they wouldn't have to deal with 200+ cars getting on before departing.

Downtown Vancouver to downtown Nanaimo to downtown Victoria. That would be awesome using really fast hovercrafts. I can even stop by Nanaimo on the way to Victoria. Or for the business type, there could be an express hovercraft DT Van to DT Vic direct. Service providers could even use the seaplane terminal which is currently underutilised, but Waterfront is still the best choice for its connectivity. Only setback is that I would no longer have the luxury of enjoying the Pacific Buffet at the Pacific lounge of the Victoria-bound ferries.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

didn't the catamarans make too many waves and they were pulled out of service?

Those were huge car-carrying fast ferry catamarans (legacies of provincial NDPs), not passenger-only hovercrafts which are considerably smaller and not needing such huge propellers to produce destructive wakes.

But I still think that island cottage owners should have built stronger piers and not jut rickety ones easily destroyed by wakes.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by Vin

Downtown Vancouver to downtown Nanaimo to downtown Victoria. That would be awesome using really fast hovercrafts. I can even stop by Nanaimo on the way to Victoria. Or for the business type, there could be an express hovercraft DT Van to DT Vic direct. Service providers could even use the seaplane terminal which is currently underutilised, but Waterfront is still the best choice for its connectivity. Only setback is that I would no longer have the luxury of enjoying the Pacific Buffet at the Pacific lounge of the Victoria-bound ferries.

As a FYI, the Victoria Clipper has a single room in Seattle about half the size of the walk-on waiting areas for Victoria/Vancouver, there is no food/cafe past the security checkpoint, and it gets filled up about 30 minutes before it arrives. Then everyone goes outside and onto the ship.

On Victoria's side, there's a customs line and then you end up outside, I haven't taken the Clipper in the Victoria->Seattle direction so I don't know if it's any different.

There's not exactly a lot of space in Victoria, but given how infrequently the Victoria Clipper runs (once a day), it's likely it could be shared.

As for Catamaran or Hovercraft...
A Hovercraft example:
http://www.hovertravel.co.uk/
£14.50 Southsea (Portsmouth) to Ryde (Isle of Wight) , 10 minutes (about 8 km) at 40 knots
The Catamaran I already mentioned the Victoria Clipper (30 knots.)
You can buy them here: http://www.austal.com/en/products-an...passenger.aspx
or http://www.austal.com/en/products-an...passenger.aspx (Passenger-only)

They range from 15 to 40knots as well.

And we're going off topic again.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by Vin

Those were huge car-carrying fast ferry catamarans (legacies of provincial NDPs), not passenger-only hovercrafts which are considerably smaller and not needing such huge propellers to produce destructive wakes.

But I still think that island cottage owners should have built stronger piers and not jut rickety ones easily destroyed by wakes.

It is a bit presumptuous to assume people should upgrade their docks that worked perfectly fine before and survived the many coastal wind storms we would get every year.

It wasn't just peoples docks being damaged, but also boats tied to docks, and sensitive marine areas and beaches in parks along the route. The wake also affected other marine traffic. It wasn't really caused by the propellers, but by the haul displacement when fully loaded operating at high speed. They were then run a lower speeds and made more turns to try to mitigate the wakes, but basically then made the crossing in the same amount of time as the current ferries, and carried 100 fewer cars and 1000 fewer passengers to boot. So running them was a net loss of capacity between Nanaimo and Vancouver.

Originally Posted by Vin

Downtown Vancouver to downtown Nanaimo to downtown Victoria. That would be awesome using really fast hovercrafts. I can even stop by Nanaimo on the way to Victoria. Or for the business type, there could be an express hovercraft DT Van to DT Vic direct. Service providers could even use the seaplane terminal which is currently underutilised, but Waterfront is still the best choice for its connectivity. Only setback is that I would no longer have the luxury of enjoying the Pacific Buffet at the Pacific lounge of the Victoria-bound ferries.

Nanaimo to Victoria is a long way by sea. To get to the Victoria inner harbor from Nanaimo or Vancouver, you have to travel all the way around the city. You basically have to do a 270 around the peninsula. Even an extremely fast Hovercaft travelling 100km/h would take longer than debarking in Swartz Bay and transferring to an express bus service.

A much better strategy would be to upgrade the Pat Bay highway to a full freeway. If there were no lights from Saanich road to the ferries, the drive would probably take 20 minutes, compared to the 35 minutes today (without traffic). With traffic, the lights really slow down travel, especially coming from the ferry. Already, the new airport interchange has improved my personal travel times to and from the ferry.

As for Nanaimo to Victoria, reopening the railway would be a better strategy than a boat. The tracks basically pass straight through the center of every community on the Island. A train service would not only serve the people just traveling from Nanaimo to Victoria, but serve everyone who wants to travel from Courtney to Victoria and everywhere in between. Buy some second hand trains, like the Bombardier Talent O-Trains in Ottawa, and run better than once a day service, and it will be popular.

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

It is a bit presumptuous to assume people should upgrade their docks that worked perfectly fine before and survived the many coastal wind storms we would get every year.

It wasn't just peoples docks being damaged, but also boats tied to docks, and sensitive marine areas and beaches in parks along the route. The wake also affected other marine traffic. It wasn't really caused by the propellers, but by the haul displacement when fully loaded operating at high speed. They were then run a lower speeds and made more turns to try to mitigate the wakes, but basically then made the crossing in the same amount of time as the current ferries, and carried 100 fewer cars and 1000 fewer passengers to boot. So running them was a net loss of capacity between Nanaimo and Vancouver.



Nanaimo to Victoria is a long way by sea. To get to the Victoria inner harbor from Nanaimo or Vancouver, you have to travel all the way around the city. You basically have to do a 270 around the peninsula. Even an extremely fast Hovercaft travelling 100km/h would take longer than debarking in Swartz Bay and transferring to an express bus service.

A much better strategy would be to upgrade the Pat Bay highway to a full freeway. If there were no lights from Saanich road to the ferries, the drive would probably take 20 minutes, compared to the 35 minutes today (without traffic). With traffic, the lights really slow down travel, especially coming from the ferry. Already, the new airport interchange has improved my personal travel times to and from the ferry.

As for Nanaimo to Victoria, reopening the railway would be a better strategy than a boat. The tracks basically pass straight through the center of every community on the Island. A train service would not only serve the people just traveling from Nanaimo to Victoria, but serve everyone who wants to travel from Courtney to Victoria and everywhere in between. Buy some second hand trains, like the Bombardier Talent O-Trains in Ottawa, and run better than once a day service, and it will be popular.

If there was ever a reason to run light-rail-like that can actually go >80km/h it would be to have a train that can go from Victoria all the way up Island. The awful Malahat is a notorious deathtrap. Current plans for Light Rail on the island are to the Western Communities however. VIA rail used to run on the Island, but I guess the province's priorities weren't with fixing the rail line.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...rail-1.2595095

No Vancouver Island railway deal yet, says VIA Rail
Railway company denies claim by Island Corridor Foundation a deal has been reached
CBC News Posted: Apr 02, 2014 6:54 AM PT

VIA Rail says there is no deal to restore passenger rail service on the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, despite an announcement earlier today by the Island Corridor Foundation that it had reached a tentative agreement with VIA to bring trains back.

VIA spokesperson Jacques C. Gagnon said talks between the two parties are still underway, but no final agreement has been reached.

Earlier today the Island Corridor Foundation announced it had reached a tentative agreement with VIA Rail to restore the service.

View Royal Mayor Graham Hill said the deal was still subject to final approval from the ICF, which owns the track, Southern Railway which operates it, and VIA.

"They have made the business case and made the judgment that it is worth their while to do this business. Where they believe the business case is strong, that service will thrive," said Hill.

Once an agreement is in place, Ottawa and the province should release $20 million dollars in promised funding to fix the track, he said.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by Kisai

If there was ever a reason to run light-rail-like that can actually go >80km/h it would be to have a train that can go from Victoria all the way up Island. The awful Malahat is a notorious deathtrap. Current plans for Light Rail on the island are to the Western Communities however. VIA rail used to run on the Island, but I guess the province's priorities weren't with fixing the rail line.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...rail-1.2595095

I know, I used to ride the Dayliner. Even at lower speeds it still made the trip in a decent amount of time compared to the bus. The bus would have to drive in from the highway to the bus depot (usually near where the train station was) while the train would go directly between them. There was a lot of wasted time on the bus driving down country roads between towns as opposed to staying on the highway.

The only problem is it had a horrible schedule. It only left Victoria in the morning and went back in the afternoon. If you wanted to go to Victoria for the weekend, you would have to leave work/school early to make an afternoon train. Or if you were a student at UVic and wanted to go home for the weekend, you would have to wait until Saturday to leave. It wasn't convenient, but at times it was still popular. If it better fit into people's schedules it would be a success.

The E&N ROW does pass through the western communities and is more direct than the proposed LRT. The LRT would serve more popular areas in Victoria and Saanich though (like Mayfair, Uptown). But commuter rail service from Langford on the E&N would serve a lot of commuters heading straight downtown (most commuters) at a very reasonable investment. The cost of the commuter rail was a fraction of the proposed LRT, and it could even serve commuters from Shawnigan Lake and Duncan (basically be a WCE for the CRD). But Victoria screwed that up with their useless Bridge plans.

Anyway, hopefully this Chilliwack bus as a better schedule than the Dayliner.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

I know, I used to ride the Dayliner. Even at lower speeds it still made the trip in a decent amount of time compared to the bus. The bus would have to drive in from the highway to the bus depot (usually near where the train station was) while the train would go directly between them. There was a lot of wasted time on the bus driving down country roads between towns as opposed to staying on the highway.

The only problem is it had a horrible schedule. It only left Victoria in the morning and went back in the afternoon. If you wanted to go to Victoria for the weekend, you would have to leave work/school early to make an afternoon train. Or if you were a student at UVic and wanted to go home for the weekend, you would have to wait until Saturday to leave. It wasn't convenient, but at times it was still popular. If it better fit into people's schedules it would be a success.

The E&N ROW does pass through the western communities and is more direct than the proposed LRT. The LRT would serve more popular areas in Victoria and Saanich though (like Mayfair, Uptown). But commuter rail service from Langford on the E&N would serve a lot of commuters heading straight downtown (most commuters) at a very reasonable investment. The cost of the commuter rail was a fraction of the proposed LRT, and it could even serve commuters from Shawnigan Lake and Duncan (basically be a WCE for the CRD). But Victoria screwed that up with their useless Bridge plans.

Anyway, hopefully this Chilliwack bus as a better schedule than the Dayliner.

The schedule is available for viewing on page 29 of this document (written 26 within): http://bctransit.com/servlet/documents/1403642415346

[BCPhil]

Not a bad schedule. I also like the fill in the gaps route as opposed to going from Chilliwack to major destinations in the Metro. It means they can have improved frequency for less cost, and their service couldn't possibly do better than the service already provided by Translink. No need to duplicated the existing rapid bus service to Lougheed.

I hope this takes some pressure off the Greyhound. I've noticed that when I take the bus to the interior, there are always quite a few people (more than you would think) that ride from Vancouver and get off in Abbostford or Chilliwack. Mostly student looking types going home for the weekend. But it makes the bus more full than it needs to and takes away seats from people who need to get to Kamloops or Kelowna.

And if you do need to get to and from the ferries more directly or be somewhere faster, you can take the Greyhound. There should be more seats available now that students looking to save some money will be taking transit.

[go_leafs_go02]

http://bctransit.com/servlet/documents/1403642444874

Just found this. New document.

Now being called the #66 FVX (Fraser Valley Express)

A few more details on the schedule as well.

[GlassCity]

Thanks for posting! They probably changed the route number to avoid confusion with the 555, which would be a pretty bad mistake

[Kisai]

This is interesting:
From: http://bctransit.com/servlet/documents/1403641046056

[go_leafs_go02]

http://www.theprogress.com/news/298172921.html

Route launches next week Monday (free day) and starts revenue service on Tuesday.

Be interested to see how the route performs. Think it will be a significant success right off the bat.

[red-paladin]

That map is great at illustrating how many people from Mission use the WCE.
When the WCE passengers can transfer to Skytrain in Port Moody, that's going to be great for them.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

http://www.theprogress.com/news/298172921.html

Route launches next week Monday (free day) and starts revenue service on Tuesday.

Be interested to see how the route performs. Think it will be a significant success right off the bat.

I hope you're right! I think this will go a long way in creating unity within Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Especially with housing prices growing the way they are in Vancouver, transit access to the Valley needs to improve in order to make living their more viable. Hopefully it's successful enough that it can be improved in time too, and perhaps one day replaced with commuter rail.

I plan on taking this bus for fun in a couple weeks when my classes end, I can let you guys know how it goes I guess

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

I hope you're right! I think this will go a long way in creating unity within Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Especially with housing prices growing the way they are in Vancouver, transit access to the Valley needs to improve in order to make living their more viable. Hopefully it's successful enough that it can be improved in time too, and perhaps one day replaced with commuter rail.

I plan on taking this bus for fun in a couple weeks when my classes end, I can let you guys know how it goes I guess

Just hope the Highway 1 reconstruction/widening project includes extending the HOV/Bus Lanes to Abbotsford in order to ensure a reliable travel time regardless of the time of day. Highway 1 in the PM through langley is so unreliable, and I'm concerned that the bus will not be able to stay on schedule without a designated lane.

Also unfortunately that the Ministry is not planning to complete the 202 Street interchange to add ramps facing eastbound. Instead the FVX bus will need to exit at 200 Street and loop back around to Carvolth. In the peak times, I bet this will add at least 5 minutes per trip per direction compared to if they could just slip on at 202 Street.

[ninjakafi_81]

Some pictures I took of the 66FVX at Carvolth Exchange.

BC Transit 2015 Novabus LFS 9448







BC Transit 2015 Novabus LFS 9451



Overall experience of the route was pretty good as it only took about 20 minutes to get to High Street shopping center and from what my friends said, it took a bit over an hour to get to Chilliwack. A lot of people tried out this route today and some buses only had standing room :O ( from what my friends said ) . But we'll see tomorrow once the $5 fare kicks in and see how the demand is. Also one thing that would be nice to have on board would be wifi But besides that, I would say that this route has potential to be very useful in the near future.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by ninjakafi_81

Some pictures I took of the 66FVX at Carvolth Exchange.

Overall experience of the route was pretty good as it only took about 20 minutes to get to High Street shopping center and from what my friends said, it took a bit over an hour to get to Chilliwack. A lot of people tried out this route today and some buses only had standing room :O ( from what my friends said ) . But we'll see tomorrow once the $5 fare kicks in and see how the demand is. Also one thing that would be nice to have on board would be wifi But besides that, I would say that this route has potential to be very useful in the near future.

Thanks a lot for the photos and info!

[Mac Write]

DAMN I missed it!

I assume the BC Bus pass holders and CNIB can travel on the bus without paying. If so, a great outing.

[ninjakafi_81]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Thanks a lot for the photos and info!

No worries, I'll try riding this route sometime soon to see if would actually ride it when the $5 fare. I also saw some passengers from the 66FVX going all the way out to Metrotown.

Originally Posted by Mac Write

DAMN I missed it!

I assume the BC Bus pass holders and CNIB can travel on the bus without paying. If so, a great outing.

One of my friend uses those passes and he was told that he can ride any BC Transit services by showing that pass to the driver.