Vancouver transit system braces for back-to-school rush
I would say “Translink admits defeat”. Actually the short turning of some SkyTrains at Broadway as a downtown shuttle is innovative and shows that Doug Kelsey is still one of the sharpest knives in their box.
I wonder if CMBC thought of anything innovative. Like telling operators that they cannot take their annual leave in September and putting out extra buses? Nah, the union would not stand for that. Anyway, do they have the capacity to put out extra buses at peak periods? Could they shift around scheduled maintenance to free up some vehicles for the critical few weeks? Again, not something that I would recommend, based on the number of failed buses I have seen on the back of tow trucks this summer.
Or maybe SFU and UBC could extend their practice of staggering classes – or do they lack the ability to communicate with students until they actually turn up on campus?
This happens very year. And yet other than all door loading on B Lines at Broadway, the response has always been the same, for as long as I have been around to observe it. And that is because while Translink has some very smart people on its payroll, innovative thinking is not highly valued in the corporate culture.
Much better just to tell people that they should not even try to travel in peak periods
Sounds like Tuesday will be a good day to bike to work!
Richard
September 1, 2007 at 1:37 pm
To their credit, at least they’ve learned the lesson of “managing expectations.”
Sungsu
September 1, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Same message they’ve put out for the last few years: they don’t have the capacity to keep up with demand, haven’t added enough capacity despite years of higher-than-expected demand, and riders can fend for themselves. I can understand being caught out occasionally, but year after year?
In fact, there are dozens of recently retired buses — built between 1987 and 1990 — parked at Oakridge. TransLink has deemed them not worth operating (and CMBC probably doesn’t have enough staff to get them back on the road), but earlier this summer sold at least 15 of them to BC Transit, who are using them as a stop-gap solution in Victoria.
Ian King
September 1, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Older buses are still in daily service in Edmonton and Toronto – and for the same reason. Provincial governments that do not spend enough money on transit.
North American buses of that generation were built to last 18 years. That is because at that time US federal funding was available after 18 years for a replacement. That has since been reduced to 12 years, so current buses are built down to that standard. In other words, the buses we are buying now will not last as long.
Life cycle cost analysis will show that keeping a old bus longer than 18 years results in higher expenditures than replacement. But that assumes access to capital funds. GVTA was supposed to have become self financing. Didn’t happen, did it.
Stephen Rees
September 2, 2007 at 9:47 am
I understand why it makes sense to retire the buses at 17 or 18 years rather than trying to keep them on the road — and American federal funding has done wonders in reducing build quality. Still, with a fleet too small to meet demand, I think it might be reasonable to keep some of the coaches (read: the least worn out ones) for a year or two, use them for trippers and replace them in a future order.
There’s some evidence that T/L isn’t utterly strapped for capital funds. In July, the T/L board voted to switch most of next year’s bus orders to hybrid or other alternative powertrains. This meant increasing the project budget by $34.5-million from the original plan to buy conventional diesels. Of course, using that money to buy more diesels would require a higher operating budget.
Ian King
September 3, 2007 at 11:44 pm
According to a report in the Vancouver Sun this morning, the 15 buses sent to Victoria are required since new buses on order would not have arrived in time for the new “sheet” (the schedule changes in September to meet the increased demands of students). “Stop gap” is right.
The Victoria fleet had buses 30 years old for which parts were not available and the frames were rotting.
I also noted on Global tv news last night that the removal of trolley wire from Cambie has finally been noticed by the mainstream media – a subject covered here months ago. Ken Hardie once again was blustering away (unconvincingly) about “the cleanest of the clean” diesels – with “low sulphur fuel”. Most diesel sold in BC either comes from BC Light sweet crude or from tar sands crude: the former is naturally low in sulphur, the latter has all the sulphur removed as part of the extraction process. We have had low sulphur diesel here for years – that does not do much for the particulate count, which is what matters. Trolleybuses of course are zero emission.
Stephen Rees
September 4, 2007 at 9:57 am
After all the dire warnings, this morning’s commute was a breeze, I left 20 minutes early, and had no problems getting a seat on the SkyTrain at Broadway at about 8:25 AM.
Any idea how many trains are being used on the Broadway short turn?
They’ve been doing this for a while now, it’s great when a train pulls into Broadway, empty!
David
September 4, 2007 at 10:10 am
I have no idea, but I wonder if you sent an email to Skytrain they would tell you?
Stephen Rees
September 4, 2007 at 10:20 am