Psst…psst…have you heard? The Canada Line will surpass 200 million passengers this month! We’re sharing stories about the Canada Line on the Buzzer blog leading up to this month’s celebratory event. 

We put out a call for Canada Line stories and the response was exceptional! Jasper Tam is currently a post-secondary student and this is what he submitted to us:

 

I have been excited about the Canada Line since the start, I remember visiting Vancouver City Centre Station and Lansdowne Station during the station open houses before the line opened.

I was excited that a new underground train system was opening in downtown Vancouver and how it would benefit the movement of people in downtown through the many new pedestrian tunnels that connected to the Canada Line as well as the improved movement of people from downtown, through Vancouver, and on to Richmond and YVR.

I took the train during its opening day – lining up to get into all the stations was well worth it! I still remember being amazed at how fast it took to get from downtown Vancouver to Richmond compared to the 98 B-Line. I remember I told myself that day that, “Great, now I will be able to go to Richmond more often to enjoy the diverse selection of restaurants there!”

I live in the Lynn Valley neighbourhood of North Vancouver and am currently a student at the University of British Columbia. I have attended UBC since 2009 and have been commuting by public transit to and from school for almost six years now – one hour and 20 minutes each way!

I would say I use the Canada Line for work, school and travel. I volunteer part-time at YVR and rely on the Canada Line to get me there quickly and efficiently. I use the Canada Line for school on my return trip from UBC to Lynn Valley too. I take the 84 bus to Olympic Village Station where I transfer onto the Canada Line to Waterfront Station and take the SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay before making one final transfer to another bus.

Over the years, I have learned that if I take the 84 bus 45 minutes before the SeaBus departure from Waterfront Station, I will always be able to catch that SeaBus. For example, if I take the 84 that leaves at 5:00 pm, I will always be able to catch the 5:47 pm SeaBus.

I love the Canada Line because I know that it is always on-time and reliable. It also means I get some extra exercise on my commute over taking the bus directly from UBC to Waterfront. I love that the Canada Line gives me just another option of going home. Sometimes on the way to school, when I miss the 44 departure from Waterfront to UBC, I take the Canada Line to get to either Olympic Village Station for the 84 bus or Broadway City-Hall Station for the 99 bus. I love that the Canada Line is able to give me so many options.

In the summer, I often took the Canada Line to get to the Richmond Night Market beside Bridgeport Station and it also gives me easy access to the whole Cambie corridor!

One of the things I will be looking forward to is using the Compass fare gates when they are closed. I loved tapping in and out during the Compass beta test.

I like Canada Line because of their great display signage (those signs that tell you how many minutes the train is coming are clear and easy-to-read and display important messages such as delays), cleanliness (it is great to always see cleaners at the end of the line going to clean the trains), reliability (trains come at consistent frequencies), speed (25 minutes from Downtown to Richmond or YVR!), safety, lighting (love the lighting of the stations and the trains; my favourite by far out of all of the SkyTrain lines), and Canada Line Attendants in their green jackets everywhere!

Thanks Jasper! Do  you have a Canada Line story to tell? Let us know in the comments section!

Author: Allen Tung