Disgruntled Translink Commuters, Unite!

[AWDTurboLuvr]

Originally Posted by bbbj

Just wondering, but for people that have taken transit similar to our skytrain in other major urban centers, do you find our trains stop much more abruptly and hard brake alot? Or is it the same on subways/monorails everywhere?

Some places are better. I find the Montreal Metro a lot smoother as they are manned units and will hold the doors open longer if they see you coming down the stairs.

Amsterdam's tram system is smooth but much slower as it's right on the roadways.

Shanghai, well, that's a whole different story...not that great in terms of comfort compared to Vancouver, but that also has to do with the number of people squished into the car.

[Tapioca]

Montreal's trains use rubber tires which results in more maintenance costs over the long-term.

The benefit of driverless systems is that you can run trains more frequently at lower costs. For what it is, our system in Vancouver is actually quite good, but of course, people complain about everything in paradise.

[ilvtofu]

Transit Service Changes

looks like there are some actual improvements but not on any of the lines that I take

[CorneringArtist]

Translink looks to make free park-and-ride lots pay, jack up prices at already pay lots, and reduce spaces at all park-and-rides in an effort to encourage people to take the bus. How about IMPROVING service first? People can barely get on a bus at rush hour as it is, does Translink want to incite a riot over shitty transit service?

TransLink looks at higher prices for park-and-ride lots

TransLink is considering charging parking fees at some of its free park-and-ride lots — or raising the price at others —to encourage people to take transit to SkyTrain stations or bus loops instead of driving to them.

The idea, part of a study to determine how the region’s 19 park-and-ride lots can more efficiently feed into the transit network, could see prices at some lots jump substantially.

TransLink spokesman Jason Martin said no decisions on pricing have yet been made, but acknowledged TransLink could potentially partner with more parking companies, such as Impark, which now charges commuters $6 per day to park at Surrey’s King George SkyTrain station.

By comparison, the South Surrey park-and-ride lot is free, while the Scott Road park-and-ride charges commuters $3 per day. Richmond’s Bridgeport station, which has a partnership with the River Rock Casino, charges $2.50 per day.

“We’re going to look at our strategy overall for park-and-rides,” Martin said, adding there will likely continue to be a range of pricing and partnerships across the region’s park-and-ride lots.

Charging more at the lots may encourage people to take buses to SkyTrain stations or connecting bus loops, instead of driving to them, he said.

“Pricing may be the most efficient way to control demand. If a park-and-ride lot is free we might not be creating the right incentives for people to consider using transit in those areas.”

Meanwhile, TransLink is cracking down on illegal parking at the South Surrey park-and-ride, where overcrowding has prompted some drivers to park at curbs, double park, block other cars or park in such a way that prevents buses being able to manoeuvre.

TransLink has had a tow truck on the lot during this week’s morning rush hours to warn drivers that it will begin towing cars next week.

Martin said the overflow is happening even though the lot was reconfigured recently to increase the parking spaces from 425 to 481.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said the South Surrey park-and-ride has been over-capacity for the past five years, with little being done to improve the problem.

And while she supports getting people out of their cars and onto transit, she doesn’t believe commuters south of the Fraser should be penalized with higher fees because they don’t have the same transit infrastructure as some cities like Vancouver and Burnaby.

“All the park-and-rides are busy. When you have a car-dependent community because of lack of transit, you want to do everything you can to encourage people getting out of their cars and taking transit when they can,” Watts said. “Until you have an integrated transportation system you can rely on, I don’t think fees should be in place.”

Martin said the study, which is expected to be completed within the next six months, will look at where commuters are coming from and where they are parking to develop a strategy that complements the existing transit service.

It may be that some underserved areas need cheaper access to park-and-ride lots, he said, while the prices could increase at lots in transit-dense areas where people live closer to SkyTrain. Martin would not confirm whether TransLink is considering closing certain lots.

He said the increase in traffic at park- and-ride lots is a result of more people taking transit, including those who are catching buses from South Surrey or Ladner and connecting with the Canada Line at Bridgeport.

But he noted it costs TransLink $3,000 to create each parking space and $200 per year to operate it.

“It’s positive people are taking transit but we have to look at what are the value or the cost of park-and-rides,” he said. “We understand park-and-rides offer a convenience for customers but it comes at a price.

“It’s a matter of balancing how transit can support park- and-rides but park-and-rides themselves are not an overall solution.”

Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said that if transit is made “inconvenient enough,” people will continue to drive.

Fees are charged at all West Coast Express station park-and-rides. But park-and-rides at Gleneagles, Westmount, Park Royal mall, Phibbs exchange, Sexsmith, Walnut Grove, Ladner exchange and south Delta exchange are all free.

ksinoski@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun


Read more: TransLink looks at higher prices for park-and-ride lots

[Not really racist!]

Lol, yet the 27 gets shafted again

[jimzilla]

They are really cracking down on fare evaders. The past 6 times that I rode on the 99 within the past 2 days the transit police has checked for fares 4 times. It really pisses me off because one time it stalled the bus for 45mins because it was packed like sardines and they made everyone get off and back on again, and another time some fucking douche kept on backtalking the police and he refused to get off the bus - 30mins later they just man handled him out.

/rant

[Everymans]

I was reading about that Park and ride noise in the paper. I don't take transit to work nor do I use a park and ride but it all seems like another option to drain riders of their money. I'm not sure of the cost, but if it's going to cost me 4$ for parking for the day, then 7-8$ just to get too and from work, then it's probably going to be cheaper to drive to work(Unless you live downtown.)

[NeoKaze92]

I've lived in Vancouver for the entire 20 years of my life. I'm guilty as a Translink hater, but since moving to Mississauga for work and being on RS alot cause I miss home; I just wanna say that Vancouver is a gem of a transit system compared to the rest of the country. When you think waiting half an hour is bad for a bus, be thankful it did; In shittissauga, you're lucky if the bus shows up at all. Toronto you might think is better, but since everyone lives in the burbs the need for transit is not high, so the bus system is pretty shitty. I gotta gives props to Montreal, they know what's up.

[Tapioca]

^ Montreal has a good Metro, but its age is showing. And it's really only accessible if you live on the island of Montreal. I will also add that it was built in a different time (60s) when governments and the public believed in investments in infrastructure. The problem today is that no one wants to invest in the long-term (or the public naively believes that if executive salaries and wages could be trimmed by 60%, expansions could be funded.)

And because many RS users are Asian, they have experience with really good Metro systems such as those in Hong Kong, Japan and China. Again, you can't compare systems that are built in high-density areas to our system which attempts to serve a wide area.

[godwin]

Which city besides NY have 24 transit honestly? London doesn't run 24/7, HK doesn't and those have way higher population density than Vancouver.

Originally Posted by unit

im with you on that one, but there are tons of much bigger cities that do not have trains going all night long. theres only a handful that do, so dont expect vancouver to be on that list anytime soon.

[Tapioca]

^ It simply doesn't make sense for Translink to run trains 24/7 to appease maybe a couple thousand bar hoppers every weekend. Even alcoholics in their 30s and 40s typically don't stay out past midnight anyway as they actually have lives to live during the week.

[twitchyzero]

if the typical establishment closes at 2 at least run the train until 3am on fri/sat night...but i do realize they need to do maintenance before it goes back up at 6am on weekends?

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

if the typical establishment closes at 2 at least run the train until 3am on fri/sat night...but i do realize they need to do maintenance before it goes back up at 6am on weekends?

The trains need to be cleaned which probably takes at least 2 hours. There is also a crew that runs a vehicle along the tracks to ensure there aren't any issues.

The trains already run until about 1 AM on Fridays and Saturdays. I was 20 once too and I had more than a few nights when I got trashed into oblivion. But you know what? I sucked it up and split a cab with some friends. If I'm going to spend a hundred bucks (that's on par for what a night with the boys is going to cost these days), surely I can afford to spend another $20 on a ride home. And if you're really cheap, the night bus does an adequate job serving the routes of the Skytrain.

On the other hand, if bar hopping is your priority, perhaps a move downtown would be the most logical thing to do?

[AW607]

that stupid as hell $5 addfare leaving the airport on the canadaline. Paying almost eight bucks just to run across three stations? Ever since my U-pass expired and I don't go to school anymore, I always have to time my visits to the airport because parking at the airport is even more absurd. I know you're trying to rip off the tourists and fobs but come on

And also the people who try to rush onto the train when people are trying to get off, just wait until people leave The train's not gonna ditch you, commuters can be pretty damn impatient. I've always attempted to shoulder check people that try to storm onto the train instead of waiting a few seconds

[Graeme S]

Actually that extra $5 goes to the Airport, not to translink IIRC.

When I went to NY, the subways close late at night. Times square, last train was somewhere between 1 and 2AM, I think. Even on a Friday or a Saturday night. And if you take the subway to JFK, there's another separate train whose only job is to circle around the airport--and guess how much it costs? $5. Even if you already bought a NY Transit pass.

[AWDTurboLuvr]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

^ Montreal has a good Metro, but its age is showing. And it's really only accessible if you live on the island of Montreal. I will also add that it was built in a different time (60s) when governments and the public believed in investments in infrastructure. The problem today is that no one wants to invest in the long-term (or the public naively believes that if executive salaries and wages could be trimmed by 60%, expansions could be funded.)

And because many RS users are Asian, they have experience with really good Metro systems such as those in Hong Kong, Japan and China. Again, you can't compare systems that are built in high-density areas to our system which attempts to serve a wide area.

Yeah, the cars on the Montreal Metro are ancient compared to most. Bombardier (surprise) is finally building new ones for it but it keeps getting delayed (should be out probably in 2015...bleah.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by AW607

that stupid as hell $5 addfare leaving the airport on the canadaline. Paying almost eight bucks just to run across three stations? Ever since my U-pass expired and I don't go to school anymore, I always have to time my visits to the airport because parking at the airport is even more absurd. I know you're trying to rip off the tourists and fobs but come on

Here's a hint: if you buy faresavers, you don't have to pay the $5. If you're going to the airport a lot, maybe buy a booklet.

[tiger_handheld]

Tapioca sounds like a transit employee - are you?

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

Tapioca sounds like a transit employee - are you?

No, I'm not, but I use the system for my commute. I also follow transit discussions in the blogosphere and I have enough personal experience with other systems in the world (NYC, HK, Paris, London, Rome, Toronto, Munich, Montreal) to make informed comparisons.

[BrRsn]

Originally Posted by AW607

that stupid as hell $5 addfare leaving the airport on the canadaline. Paying almost eight bucks just to run across three stations? Ever since my U-pass expired and I don't go to school anymore, I always have to time my visits to the airport because parking at the airport is even more absurd. I know you're trying to rip off the tourists and fobs but come on

And also the people who try to rush onto the train when people are trying to get off, just wait until people leave The train's not gonna ditch you, commuters can be pretty damn impatient. I've always attempted to shoulder check people that try to storm onto the train instead of waiting a few seconds

Just as an aside ... if its only for a little bit, park underground where the car rental places are, infront of one of them. There's a fairly high chance nothing will happen

[AW607]

Originally Posted by Tapioca:7959143

Here's a hint: if you buy faresavers, you don't have to pay the $5. If you're going to the airport a lot, maybe buy a booklet.

Yeah, this was when I was on my way out of leaving my duty free job, and I still had a U-pass. I had no problems then, even if I forgot my u-pass; I parked at Templeton occasionally and the trips between Templeton and the Airport for YVR employees were free (albeit the parking costs ~$60 a month)

I recently had to go back to collect my paperwork for quitting and it took longer than a couple hours, so I had to pay for another fare ticket going back to Bridgeport that day. I should probably just get a book of faresavers then, for those 'just in case' trips

[bakasam]

Originally Posted by El Bastardo

Karm who runs the @VancityBuzz Twitter account has preached more than once that Translink needs to run Skytrain lines to UBC instead of running the Evergreen Line out to Coquitlam.

Hes an idiot and lost me as a follower after that.

Hate that guy spams the same shit over and over and ruins my feed