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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
comments are kinda funny... but what are your thoughts? and which would
be the worst B.O. route?!
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It seems not many of you are “on board” with a plan by TransLink to continue extending free transit to the homeless once the Compass Card kicks in this fall.
Dozens of you have been leaving angry comments online right here at News1130.com.
Kim writes, “What a terrible idea. Yes, lets let the homeless ride around for free stinking up the place. And who would pay for their free transit exactly? Everyone else.”
Roland says, “Way to go… Nothing makes transit more attractive than the experience of sitting next to a guy who hasn’t washed in a week.”
Amy wonders, “How is that fair to the actual contributing citizens of society who have to pay full fare just to go from A to B?”
It has been common practice for years to waive fares for the homeless.
The problem now is how to keep doing that with the implementation of the Compass Card system in the fall.
Critics, including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, say TransLink’s lack of foresight and planning on the issue is inexcusable.
Not everyone is complaining though, some are suggesting solutions.
Watson writes, “One option to consider is to issue annual bus passes to those on social assistance.”
“Compass cards could be programmed to allow them to ride for free on off peak hours only.”
I dont take transit and I havnt in years so my opinion really dosnt matter.. but here goes!
one one hand I think its a good idea.. anything anyone can do to help them out...
but at what expense, does this mean Vancouvers already crowded transit system gets more crowded.. to the point a homeless guy will get on a bus and a paying customers are now late to work because the bus is now full and cant fit more?
does it mean when a person is short 10 cents to get on the bus or forgot their pass they get on for free? I mean as long as the system is helping people out they cant punish people who pay for it right?
of course there is a hygiene problem, last time i was on a bus (4 years ago?) a homeless man pissed in the back of it, yes that may be an isolated issue but now imagine that bus is full and you have no choice but to be face to face with them..
no sure how many of you guys have seen a homeless person on some sort of a drug induced fit on a skytrain but ive seen it about 3 times...
I think it will push paying customers to drive.. creating a fall in translinks profits while homeless usage climbs and then to balance their losses we get taxed on something else
I've a friend who's a bus driver, he spends most of his time downtown. He's told me that when it comes to homeless wanting to get on the bus, he's really got no choice but to let them. He never knows when they're all hopped up on shit and him refusing then could result in a fight or something that would delay the bus and piss everyone off. He'd rather let the guy on and keep things peaceful and continue with work than refuse, get him angry, and have him pull out some HIV infected needles or a knife.
Giving an annual bus pass to those on social assistance is stupid, it reminds me of that Craigslist post from last week...
Spoiler!
Originally Posted by :
Hi, my fiance and i are pregnant and we are both getting sick of paying rent to live in a noisy apartment building where they don't fix anything. We are looking to get out of the hole apartment scene and get into a condo !!! We need someone knowledgeable and who can answer questions without having to get back to us !! We are currently paying $750.00 a month to rent a small 1 bedroom apartment in Maple Ridge and we would like to find something for less than what we are paying now. We are looking for a rent to own or to find a mortgage broker that can work with us. Are current situation is we are on BC Disability Benefits. We want to find something that is child and cat friendly, easy going, good neighbourhood, and we want to rent to own. We don't have any savings, no credit cards. We need something with no down payment. Too be honest and just get it out there we have bad credit and we don't have anyone that we can rely on but ourselves. The ministry is currently paying $750.00 to our landlord each month which we feel is just money going out the door each month, hence the reason we want to move and one day be able to own !! We would like our rent to be less than what we are paying now because with our current situation, we have to pay out of our living expenses for rent when that money should be going into buying food. We are open to living in any city. We would prefer a 2 bedroom suite with a bit of a view and a balcony. Low strata fees and easygoing management. We are party and drug free. non smoking so we should be easy to accommodate. We would also like to find something with a pool and weight room if possible. If you feel that you want to take us on, work with us to the end, right up to moving day, then please send me an email with what you think you might be able to do for us !!
One reason why I don't like to take public transit... Being crammed into a skytrain/bus with normal smelly people is enough but now have to deal with some shit stained homeless dude fuck that!!
when this comes into effect imma gonna jump on the skytrain and not pay. when the transit faux police try and gimme a ticket, imma just gonna yell, "IM HOMELESS, BITCH".
reads most threads with his pants around his ankles, especially in the Forced Induction forum.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dinosaur
cool.
when this comes into effect imma gonna jump on the skytrain and not pay. when the transit faux police try and gimme a ticket, imma just gonna yell, "IM HOMELESS, BITCH".
try and prove me wrong.
Exactly I take the skytrian to work everyday, maybe I shoudl just say I am homeless and leave all my ID's at home. Get caught and say I am homless and give the tranist cops a fake name.
It sucks when a homeless every comes on the skytrain coz they smell(especially during summer time).
I took the Skytrain on Saturday for the first time in awhile to see the bc lions game, and it was ridiculously busy to the point where me and my gf couldn't even move standing up. Luckily there was no bums right next to me to enhance the experience. If it wasnt for the fact that I wanted to drink I would drive every time even if I had to pay 20 bucks to park. Posted via RS Mobile
Have some compassion for your fellow human beings.
I take the Skytrain to work and I take the downtown buses occasionally if I'm running errands. It's not that bad. But then again, I grew up taking the number 20 bus and have seen many people from different walks of life unlike you coddled suburbanites. Posted via RS Mobile
"Delhi Metro claimed to be one of only five metro systems in the world that operated at a profit without government subsidies."
Quote:
Revenue and profits[edit]
Delhi Metro is one of the few metro systems in the world having an operational profit from the first day. In 2007, the Delhi Metro claimed to be one of only five metro systems in the world that operated at a profit without government subsidies. This was enabled by keeping maintenance costs to a minimum and harnessing additional revenue from advertisements and property development, apart from ticket sales.[86][87] The Metro also generates revenue by leasing out its trains and stations for film shoots. Due to its increasing association with Delhi as an image of the city's everyday life, it has been a popular filming location for production houses, and several films and advertisements have been shot on board.[88][89] Producers have to pay a minimum of INR1 lakh (equivalent to INR2.1 lakh or US$3,600 in 2,013) for every hour of filming, excluding taxes, security deposit and insurance.[88]
For the financial year ended March 2008, the Metro reported operating revenues of INR3.053 billion (US$52.5 million) and a profit before tax of INR199.8 million (US$3.4 million),[90] which rose to INR7,237.7 million (US$124.5 million) and INR904.3 million (US$15.6 million) respectively for the financial year ended March 2009.[82]
For the financial year ended March 2011, DMRC reported operating revenues of INR16.08 billion (US$276.6 million), a loss before tax of INR130 million (US$2.2 million), and EBITDA (operating income before interest and depreciation) of INR7.68 billion (US$132.1 million). Property development (advertising and retail) contributed almost INR980 million (US$16.9 million) to the revenue. Ticket sales fetched INR9.38 billion (US$161.3 million), with the remainder coming from consultancy for other Metro projects in the country and miscellaneous sources. DMRC made an operating profit of INR0.48 (0.83¢ US) per traveller. In the same period, "core" revenues were INR9.39 billion (US$161.5 million) and EBITDA INR4.89 billion (US$84.1 million), with the remainder coming from external projects (e.g. Jaipur Metro), real estate, and consultancy.[91]
Have some compassion for your fellow human beings.
I take the Skytrain to work and I take the downtown buses occasionally if I'm running errands. It's not that bad. But then again, I grew up taking the number 20 bus and have seen many people from different walks of life unlike you coddled suburbanites. Posted via RS Mobile
I take the 20 bus as well.. I hate it when they jam up together though (3-4 arriving at one station!?!?)
Also.. bus drivers can't do much if homeless/etc people get on the bus (if they aren't willing to pay)
Have some compassion for your fellow human beings.
I take the Skytrain to work and I take the downtown buses occasionally if I'm running errands. It's not that bad. But then again, I grew up taking the number 20 bus and have seen many people from different walks of life unlike you coddled suburbanites. Posted via RS Mobile
the occasional bum I don't care...yeah they smell like shit...whateves it's public property
what pisses me off is when they bring their christmas loot of recycled cans...not only is he/she stinking up the bus now it takes up more space and is spewing garbage juice all over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dinosaur
cool.
when this comes into effect imma gonna jump on the skytrain and not pay. when the transit faux police try and gimme a ticket, imma just gonna yell, "IM HOMELESS, BITCH".
try and prove me wrong.
I know you're kidding but failure to produce ID when you don't smell/look like a bum probably won't end well for you.
With the ever increasing cost of transit and living within Vancouver, openly offering free transit to bums is a poor move.
This will just result in increased costs for all paying users and less seat space as well.
Also, if they offer free rides for the homeless you can expect to see an increase in crime as well. By making parts of the city more accessible for people who have little will cause other effects that are not directly linked to the transit system.
I see no point in offering this service. If you are homeless you really have no appointments to keep or places you need to be.....
Bus drivers have been giving the homeless free rides for years.
There's 2 solutions:
1. Deny all non-paying customers rides. It's the popular move, but do you want to put bus drivers in the position of denying rides? Or, do you have Transit Security on each bus and tell non-paying customers to take a hike? Is it worth altercations and delays in the system? Is the cost of having security on each bus (or at least on the problematic downtown routes) less than giving free rides to maybe 2000-3000 homeless people?
2. Take the pragmatic approach and issue free cards. It sends a bad message to paying customers, but Translink's mandate is to get people to where they want to go safely and quickly. Homelessness and the issues around are within the purview of governments to fix, not Translink. Posted via RS Mobile
I know you're kidding but failure to produce ID when you don't smell/look like a bum probably won't end well for you.
I don't think you're kidding and you probably don't realise that you're pretty much profiling the homeless. What if a homeless person just walked out of a church that has fed him/her, offered them a free shower and a clean set of clothes. Has their homelessness been washed away? To prove to transit cops that he/she needs a bus ride to his/her shelter, should he/she have roll around in the dirt and soil their clean clothes so they fit the "profile" of a homeless person?
Have some compassion for your fellow human beings.
I take the Skytrain to work and I take the downtown buses occasionally if I'm running errands. It's not that bad. But then again, I grew up taking the number 20 bus and have seen many people from different walks of life unlike you coddled suburbanites. Posted via RS Mobile
Well ain't that fucking Vancouver?
I was making fun of Dino's aunt the other day for moving into a townhouse complex that has a gate at the entry.....in fucking white rock.
Oh my god, its so safe.
No, it looks elitist. And if I wait long enough, someone will open the gate for me.
People are so afraid of people, that we actually now create cities for them to live in.
Have some compassion for your fellow human beings.
I take the Skytrain to work and I take the downtown buses occasionally if I'm running errands. It's not that bad. But then again, I grew up taking the number 20 bus and have seen many people from different walks of life unlike you coddled suburbanites. Posted via RS Mobile
homeless in vancouver have it better here than in any other city in the world...cept maybe nordic countries
low income housing, soup kitchens galore, free transit, safe injection sites, they probaby get hassled by cops less
ofc there has to be a delicate balance between tough love and social safety nets, but IMO we are too far on the other end of the spectrum. none of these initiatives seem to be actually REDUCING homelessness, as its remained relatively constant for years
low income housing, soup kitchens galore, free transit, safe injection sites, they probaby get hassled by cops less
this.
I was driving through gastown last week and I was fcking disgusted with how bad it was! people literally shooting up beside cops cars with cops in them and no one bats a fcking eyelash
I did some volunteer work down there when I was doing my apprenticeship, our class had gone down there and helped fix things in permanent housing down there.. we would just be walking down the street and people would be threatening us.. and we were there to help..
not to say im not compassionate, yesterday I bought a seemingly homeless kid that was sitting in the intersection an icecapp just cuz it was hot out and ive bought many homeless people meals when given the opportunity.. I understand everyone needs help.. but sometimes its more harm than good.
If us society can't help each other than whats the point to try to argue about this. The reason why they are called homeless is because they have no money and live on the streets hence they can't afford to purchase transit passes. I have encountered many homeless people, sketchy ones, cool ones, quite ones, fucked up out of their mind ones...but all in all at the end of the day, they are still regular people that need some type of attention. So for people to bitch about free rides for homeless are ridiculous is just plain stupid. If you see a homeless man/women sitting on a bus, instead of thinking " Oh god, they are sticking up the place" why not say something different with a positive thought " Hi, how are you?" "How is your doing going?" or a plain "Hello" and keep to yourself. Thats my take on things.
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What if a homeless person just walked out of a church that has fed him/her, offered them a free shower and a clean set of clothes. Has their homelessness been washed away? To prove to transit cops that he/she needs a bus ride to his/her shelter, should he/she have roll around in the dirt and soil their clean clothes so they fit the "profile" of a homeless person?
