With Mayor of Burnaby Derek Corrigan now the chair of the Mayor’s Council at TransLink everything old is new again, and Tsawwassen residents are apparently rallying for direct bus service from Tsawwassen to downtown Vancouver, getting rid of that pesky Richmond transfer at Bridgeport station to the Canada Line. All of this occurred on Monday at Delta Council where a TransLink planner was making a presentation on the Southwest Area Transport Plan. Instead of concentrating on how walking, biking and transit was going to develop and fit more seamlessly in this motordom suburban community, several members of Delta Council decided to rally for the return of a direct bus from Tsawwassen to Vancouver. Why? Because seniors purportedly want it.
As reported in the Delta Optimist, the planner noted that “the decision to direct transit passenger to the rapid transit station was to maximize the investment made in the Canada Line. Although some people may not like the idea of having to transfer, the rapid transit service is a far more faster and reliable way to get to town…buses going to rapid transit is good design used around the world.”
That was a prudent way to say that being able to transfer from buses to rapid transit is efficient and should be seamless. TransLink did note that if Delta really wanted a direct bus, then a partnership with some other organization, perhaps the City of Delta or a seniors’ group was needed to run that service. How can the transfer from the bus to Bridgeport Station be made easier for older suburban citizens and why is it an issue? If frequency of bus trips to and from the station improved, would that suffice?
This echos what I have heard from my in-laws who are seniors and long time Tsawwassen residents. The former direct bus got them downtown about 5 minutes faster than the best case with the new bus to train setup, the old express bus about 15 minutes faster. The new system of course almost never achieves the best case and runs into congestion and waits going through Ladner and Richmond. And with the bus they got seats instead of standing room only.
So for the purposes of getting to downtown the new service is worse than the old. As a result they are less likely to come downtown, and more likely to drive when they do. I get that suburban bus service is expensive, but it can’t be a surprise that people are upset when a huge and expensive project like the Canada line makes their transit worse.
A direct bus from Tsawwassen to downtown Vancouver already exists – the Tsawwassen Mills Shopping bus. And it fits with the private/organizational partnership model suggested by Translink.
Ask seniors how often someone gives up a seat for them on the already crowded Canada Line, even the ones that are marked for their use. And then there is the safety issue. A direct bus is far less likely to have crazies who decide to take their anger out on Muslim woman for example.
That speaks more to our society than to a particular transit service. Last time I checked TransLink wasn’t in the social malady and Millennial manners remediation business.
In fact, one could interpret your comment as being indicative of the need for increased transit service, notably frequency, and overall greater funding in the densest cities.
Increased service would certainly be welcome. But with cancellation of the Massey Bridge, the NDP should give south of the Fraser residents a carrrot in the form of direct services like an express bus. Mind you, I do wonder how fast a service would be with the increased traffic congestion anyway.
On top of subways and SkyTrain extensions on the Burrard Peninsula, I believe that there is potential for a SoF light rail network. But to have a workable system it has to serve larger communities first. I suggest that Langley-Surrey-North Delta to Metrotown, then on to UBC c/o 41st Ave could build an exemplary ridership over time amidst hundreds of thousands of people, especially if the planned LRT projects in Surrey were extended all the way down King George and connected to the E-W LRT. Highway buses would serve only South Surrey, white Rock and Tsawwassen and are very limited in capacity.
the real problem of course is the lack of user0friendliness of the transit system and forced transfers make transit less user friendly.
TransLink is not being entirely honest with Delta Council, in fact there is an agreement between TransLink and the SNC Lavalin lead concessionaire, operating the faux, P-3 mini-metro that all Richmond and South Delta/Surrey buses must terminate at Bridgeport, to compel bus customers to ride the metro to “up” ridership numbers.
There are only two exceptions, a bus that goes to UBC and another that goes to Metrotown.
Good public transit offers choice and ease of use and a bad transit system forced transfers and bad servcie.
Sadly, TransLink observes the latter and public transit in the region is considered bad transit and a good reason to take the car.
Good public transit offers choice and ease of use and a bad transit system forced transfers and bad servcie. …. Sadly, TransLink observes the latter and public transit in the region is considered bad transit and a good reason to take the car.
Maybe in your part of the world, Malcolm.
I agree that transit choice is best, but there is no choice with a monoculture of light rail. And a transfer penalty is a transfer penalty regardless of mode. The choice in this still relatively new century should be between the almighty car and a new attitude about vastly improving transit service and urban efficacy using whichever transit mode suits a given circumstance. And ultimately about building more sustainable cities.
In a world of limited budgets every change will have winners and losers.The increases in transit use in South Delta since the Canada line (as noted in the bus performance reviews and the census) suggest the changes are better for more people than what was before. The solution is not a new parallel express bus but more frequent feeder bus connections.
Author
Reblogged this on Sandy James Planner.
What’s the frequency of the current feeder bus to Bridgeport versus the previous direct [luxury coach] bus?
And what’s the difference in the subsidy per rider between the current feeder bus to Bridgeport (and Canada Line) versus the previous direct [luxury coach] bus?
Another way of asking is – what’s the current expenditures spent on transit to and from Delta now versus before the Canada Line changes?
Perhaps we need bus tolls ASAP.
Where are the e-buses ? The diesel pollution in MetroVan by buses and trucks is horrendous.
Buses on train served lines/routes should be eliminated / minimized as much as possible.
There are or soon will be two e-buses on the 100 route – Marpole to 22nd Station in New West. At one time they used low grade diesel as a cost cutting measure so we should be glad they are no longer doing that.
When the switch was made to eliminate express busses south of the Fraser River in and out of Vancouver and begin or end their routes at Bridgeport the City of Vancouver and Vancouver City Council unanimously supported and approved a rezoning application from Translink for a massive expansion to the Coast Mountain Bus employee parking lot in South Vancouver ( Marpole ) a direct result of their employee complaints about increased transfers and travel times.
To no surprise Translinks Unions remain strong allies and heavy financial supporters of Vision Vancouver and their Brothers and Sisters at the COV.
Who says membership doesn’t pay.
With big union and corporate money now taken out of local and provincial politics, your point is moot.
Years ago, before the Canada Line was opened, I used to visit a friend in Ladner and at the end of the evening would take the 601 directly back to Vancouver. It was a beautiful, near hour long ride down the highway with scenic rural views on either side. These were especially evocative when it was late at night, and the interior lights of the bus were off, save for the dim, individual reading lamps which imparted another air of quiet–can I emphasize that? QUIET coziness to the experience. (Needless to say, this is before the Age of Morons with Cell Phones. Nothing can ever be the same again.) It was if you were travelling through another country altogether. The steady transition from the rural landscape to downtown Vancouver in itself was exciting.
Imagine the shock when after the Canada line was opened we were all shunted to the bleak, sterile, over-lit Skytrain not long after getting out of Ladner, to complete the journey on a trip almost entirely underground.
Considering the scandal and pork-barreling over the construction of the line at the time, I have no patience for the argument of ‘improved efficiency’ for this change. The quality of experience has to count for something, once in a while.
Apples and oranges.
A subway, even a small, badly designed and cheapened one like the Canada Line, consumes far less public financial resources on a per capita basis than a highway bus. The ridership is at completely different scales (6 figures vs. 3 or possibly 4). I’d even venture to guess that the per capita carbon footprint is a lot larger for the highway bus when road infrastructure and concrete tunnels are accounted for. The only thing that the non-stop bus service can successfully compete with in these terms is the private car.
This speaks to the minority who prefer to live in far flung exurbs while maintaining an inordinately-long daily commute while romanticising about viewing the farms from a highway bus captain’s chair: start collecting for your own private service and stop expecting public transit agencies to underpin your dream.
There are plenty of Europeans living in quaint little villages who commute to larger towns but nobody seems to criticize them for their “far flung” choices. I guess if it’s in the middle of a field with a quaint old church, it’s OK.
Actually, Alex. It’s the majority and the idea that this majority is living in the wrong places is the same ideological bias that got the democrats across the line into trouble.
It’s not without cause that the Mayor’s Council just demoted Robertson and Côté. The North Shore and South of the Fraser are, and will be, vehicle communities for the foreseeable future. At least, Horgan saw that and canceled the tolls.
Also. A public transit system without toilet conveniences is useless for seniors. Anyone too young to know that has a rude awakening ahead.
And bus drivers used to like the route too.
4 trips a day and you are done. Passengers are dozing by the time they hit Richmond.
Near continuous bus lanes on Granville might make this a reasonable proposition, integrated into a Granville B-line. The Canada Line is overcrowded, and Granville needs bus lanes anyway.
Dedicated bus lanes on Granville would be great and would give transit priority almost all the way from Delta/Tsawwassen to downtown Vancouver.
Throw in a AAA bike lane on Oak and a bus lane + AAA bike lane on 41st from Burnaby to UBC and you’ve got my vote!
Forget buses (or trams) in crowded cities. Go above or below ground. Where is the UBC loop discussion ie a loop under Broadway to UBC then back via 41st to CanadaLine and Skytrain in Burnaby. THAT would actually relieve congestion on UBC peninsula.
Downtown Vancouver needs less buses, or NO BUSES. More subways and rest walkable or sharing of quiet e-bikes, e-vans, e-cars, e-carts or e-trikes – many in AV or almost AV mode. Not more noisy and smelly polluting diesel buses downtown. get rid of them altogether !
Thomas posted: “…smelly polluting diesel buses”
Translink’s fleet includes
• 262 electric trolley buses (ones Thomas doesn’t recognize as e-buses)
• 116 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses
• 226 diesel-electric hybrid buses
• 697 low-emissions diesel buses
• 108 gasoline community shuttle buses
• 47 diesel community shuttle buses
So is it the 47 diesel powered community shuttles you are on about? Please base your comments on facts.
I refer to the allegedly “low emission” and other diesel )or gasoline) buses primarily, i.e. the VAST MAJORITY of the bus fleet in Vancouver. “Low emission” is a label for marketing purposes.
Please also base your comments on facts.
if Vancouver is so green, why do we still allow them ?
If you are referring to Vancouver City (your greenest city reference….) then we can drop much of that fleet listed above as many of them are based in the other transit centres. We come back down to the trolley buses, the new diesel electric hybrids, and the later model diesels. Consider for a moment the particulate emission reductions through the 1990s (five times), then the 2001 HD emissions regulations, then the 2007 regulations, and so on. The buses based in Vancouver (VTC) are all newer than that.
Diesel engines with EGR, diesel particulate filters, selective catalytic reduction, variable geometry turbochargers, etc, are referred to as low emission. It is relative to untreated diesels. Low Emission is a technical term referring to the applicable emissions standards achieved with the above features, not marketing.
Apologies if that doesn’t fit your preconceived notion of what a diesel is. At least you aren’t calling them wobbly buses any more.
And more electric (trolley) buses, plus the electric (battery) buses coming on test, are the way forward.
And yet Europe is still trying to phase out diesel because there are almost no safe levels of diesel particulate emissions…
There is more focus on restrictions on diesel cars than diesel trucks in Europe, simply due to the volumes involved.
There are a range of bus polluters. Uncontrolled diesels should be regulated now. Modern transit fleets aren’t generally in that category. Controlled diesels, with advanced controls and particulate traps, are a significant improvement, but there should be testing, annually or otherwise, to ensure the controls are functioning as designed. Hybrid diesel/electric buses are a further improvement. NG has half the emissions of dIesel, and make sense as a transitional technology for buses. Electric buses make more sense in the longer term, with trolleys on major routes and battery electrics on minor routes. We have to get off diesel, but we can’t do it all at once.
What doesn’t help is painting all buses as “smelly and polluting”, or wobbly for that matter, simply because one doesn’t like buses and wants only subways on every route.
Nothing is more emblematic of our current transportation issues than people who don’t ride the bus telling the rest of us what’s so wrong about them and how to fix them.
It’s perhaps because they are paying the bulk of it ? Who funds the transit system? Transit users only a small share of it.
I have data that shows that drivers are more highly subsidized than are transit users. Note also that transit riders do pay a per trip toll which drivers do not have to pay.
Don’t bother. Beyer subscribes to a variant on the OJ Simpson approach. ‘If the facts don’t fit, do not admit.’
I pay for groceries. Doesn’t mean I know diddley-squat about running a grocery store or the best way to get food from the farm to plate.