Canada Line opening: Langara and Oakridge
Canada Line opening: Langara and Oakridge
I went down to visit Langara and Oakridge stations from about 3 to 4pm.
Lineups are relatively short here: everyone seems to be getting on the Canada Line with only a 30 min wait (or even less!)
Oakridge has coupons and a chance to win a shopping spree, as well as all of its regular attractions (White spot! Movies!)
And at Langara they are also giving away free hot dogs at Langara College campus, just a short walk from the station. Its a big hit—they’re expecting to give away 1000 hot dogs! Plus you can get a free Vitamin Water if you talk to their social media crew.
At Langara I spoke to two guys enjoying some hot dogs who said they had an easy time getting on the Canada Line—they boarded at Marine Drive and haven’t gone to the terminus stations.
And at Oakridge I stood around and handed out special Buzzer treats: Buzzer buttons!
Ok: now for an update on the traffic levels.
30,000 have rode the Line so far today!
Waterfront, Vancouver City Centre and YVR now have 2.5 hour waits, and you’re encouraged to get off at the end stations to alleviate crowding. (YVR has great bathrooms and free ice cream!)
The 98 B-Line is also reporting numerous passups coming out of Waterfront, and additional buses have been called in to help with the load.
OK, now for some pics of Langara and Oakridge. Someone also sent me a photo of the Vancouver downtown lineup—it will be last in this set.
LANGARA
OAKRIDGE
DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER LINEUP
And I was at the very front of that line at Waterfront. Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Jhen, do you have a list of the stations that will have passport stamps until the 23rd? I was planning on filling up my passport today but it was just too busy.
Holy mother of pearls!! =O Downtown’s got a huge line-up there…I wouldn’t survive in a 2.5 hour line-up like that one… -_-”
I applaud the buzzer updates on peaks and valleys (click on my name link).
I just wished there was similar details when there is snow or a major traffic snarl downtown.
;-), no…we couldnt have that. details on snow or traffic incidents. that would make transit look bad cuz it’s all about perception (at least that’s what was revealed at one of the transit focus groups a while ago).
MaxNV:
You can definitely still collect the stamps from retailers along the Canada Line. Everything (rules & retailers & more) can be found at shoptheline.ca (look on the right side of the page). Here’s a direct link to the list of retailers too. It looks like you only need 8 of the 11 stamps, then you can go to shoptheline.ca to fill in an online ballot to win the prizes. The grand prize is a $4,000 package from the River Rock Casino, and other prizes include hundreds of dollars of gift cards from shopping centres along the Line.