Better than SkyTrain’s, I’m guessing.
Is the near-30 year-old showing its age? As a reminder of its cutting-edge technology, reporter Jon Woodward passed along this documentary from 1985:
Going to Town is a 30 minute 1985 documentary by JEM Productions for B.C. Transit, capturing the genesis of the SkyTrain project and its construction. Featuring James “Quick” Parker of the B.C. Lions and a killer sax-filled soundtrack! (The solo is at 26:45.)
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A few thoughts:
- The more reliable the technology, the less tolerance we have for its failure.
- We hold transit to a different standard than car-based transportation. Radio stations, every weekday from 4 to 7 pm, will report all the failures on roads throughout Metro. A fan-belt breaking on a bridge or tunnel can result in delays for thousands – and that’s just a typical day.
- I thought it might be faster to take a taxi this morning than transit. After waiting without notice for 30 minutes for the taxi to show, I gave up. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a door to break open – and it only affected me. I will, however, take taxis again.
- The only thing that will restore trust is continued reliable performance of the SkyTrain system. But for the confidence of the public, a review is in order by a trusted third party: to explain what happened, to suggest improvements in response, and, most importantly, to project what will be needed to maintain a high level of performance as the transit system ages and is subject to ever-increasing demand.
Any other thoughts, readers?
thanks for asking. here are the thought of a reader:
http://voony.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/some-questions-on-a-skytrain-meltdown/
BTW,
disrgerading, how reliable is a technology humans have little tolerance to feel trapped in a train or any other vehicle/device without information…
other transit mode such as LRT or bus usually open door in mn of a problem blocking their normal route.
Whoever came up with a design whereby the operations centre doesn’t have backup/emergency electrical supply, and whoever allows it to continue to operate like that, should be fired…
If the transit authorities display such a lackadaisical and contemptuous attitude towards their customers, why do y’all wonder when people are not enthusiastic about entrusting more of their lives to those authorities?
http://sfb.nathanpachal.com/2014/07/the-dangers-of-having-too-efficient.html
“Due to the provincially mandated requirement to become more efficient, TransLink has reduced the resiliency of the system.
For example, TransLink didn’t purchase a $20 million backup system that may have allowed SkyTrain service to be restored faster on Thursday. Also, TransLink doesn’t have the long-term funding to pay for the over $1 billion in upgrades that will be required to keep the SkyTrain from becoming overcrowded and running as reliably as possible over the coming decades.”