The top 5 local transit photos of 2012

Photo by Chelle Patterson

We’re continuing our look back of some of the highlights of 2012 with our five favourite local transit-related photos from the year (check out our top five videos and wacky transit stories). We love the gorgeous photo above by Chelle Patterson, capturing a double rainbow behind the SeaBus. Sigh…love this one.

The first 555 ride

It was a cold, dark morning, but we were bursting with excitement when the new 555 bus started service on December 1. The new route takes riders from Langley to New West in just over 20 minutes. Also love: a rider on took his bike along, too.

The first faregate installed

It was a milestone day when the first faregate was installed at Marine Station and we were there to capture the moment. Since then, faregates have been popping up across the system in preparation for Compass.

Photo by Chris Cassidy

‘Tis the season and our popular reindeer bus has been busy making the rounds. This photo by Chris Cassidy of BusShots Canada really captures the spirit of the bus well (I can almost hear the people laughing and chatting on the bus). Thanks, Chris!

And, of course, we’d like to thank you–our readers and fans. This shot was taken at the 2012 I Love Transit Night (our biggest one yet!) and I love how happy everyone looks. The event is one of the highlights of our years and we always look forward to meeting so many of you in person. It’s so fantastic to know so many people are so passionate about transit. Thank you!

2013 Reindeer Bus and shuttle and photo contest

Photo by Laura Wilby

What’s a sure sign of the holiday season in the Lower Mainland? Sightings of our annual reindeer bus and shuttle, appearing on routes throughout December! If you spot one of the popular buses, be sure to snap a picture and send it our way by December 20 for your chance to win a monthly FareCard.

Santa, Mrs. Claus and the bus operating elf will also be on the bus periodically and stopping at mystery stops between December 10-13 throughout Metro Vancouver. The bus and shuttle will also be part of the Toys for Tots run on December 19-20.

Want to win? Just tweet us your picture of the reindeer bus or shuttle in one of three ways:

1. Tweet it with the hashtag #tlcontest.

2. Email it to thebuzzer@translink.ca.

3. Post it on our Facebook page.

The winner will be announced on December 21, 2012.

Update: The randomly chosen winner of the contest is Kevin W. Congratulations to him and everyone who participated!

Kevin W's winner Reindeer Bus photo!

The December 2012 Buzzer is on the system

Tis’ that time of the season for our annual holiday edition of the print Buzzer! What makes this issue special? Well, it’s chock full of holiday info to help you on your merry way throughout Metro Vancouver.

Many of you already know about the December Service changes which started on December 3. For those who haven’t noticed the changes yet, we’ve printed them in this issue. A couple of changes of note are the new #555 Port Mann ExpressBus and the return of the #5 and N6 NightBus to their previous routes.

Mention is also made of holiday transit service, which includes altered service on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day as well as info about free service on New Year’s Eve (Sorry, you’ll have to check the issue or the blog or TransLink website later this month for specifics).

The holiday season just wouldn’t feel right without the West Coast Express Santa Train. The first ride starts tomorrow, December 8, 2012. Make sure you have your toy to donate and your best holiday clothes on for your photo with Santa!

Also, helping to spread the holiday cheer again this year are the Reindeer Bus and Reindeer Shuttle. We’ve already received photos of the bus in action on the blog and on our Facebook page.

This issue includes info about where you can catch the bus or shuttle and snap your photos and possibly even meet Santa, Mrs. Clause and a Christmas bus operating elf! If you’re a shutter bug, you’ll want to check the blog later today to find out how you could win a Monthly FareCard for snapping a picture of either the bus or shuttle and sending it to us!

Speaking of contests, we announced the winner of our Halloween Photo Contest! The winning photo was of this Jolly Green Giant on the bus!

The Jolly Green won this Halloween!

This issue also includes a list of the fares which will increase starting January 2013. You’ll want to read our post on this if you missed it.

Rounding out the Buzzer are the usual suspects: the contest corner, back issues and coming events.

We also note a very interesting art installation on Main street including the #3 bus. You’ll want also want to check the blog later today for more on this!

If you haven’t picked up the issue yet, you can download as it a .pdf. Happy holidays everyone!

2012 Santa Claus Parade Transit Services, Dec 2, 2012

Photo by David Lam

Clear your calendar this Sunday and get out your Santa hats! The Annual Rogers Santa Claus Parade is coming to town for its ninth year this Sunday December 2. The parade begins at 1 p.m. at West Georgia and Broughton, continues east along West Georgia, turns south on Howe, then finishes at Davie. Keep your eyes peeled for the Reindeer bus and conventional shuttle too! Plan your transit trip ahead of time and come early to score a good seat – Christmas Square festivities begin at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Some transit services will be affected from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., and they include:

002 Downtown

002 Macdonald 16 Ave

005 Robson

005 Downtown

006 Davie

006 Downtown

022 McDonald

022 Knight

135 Burrard Stn

240/246 Vancouver

240 15 St/246 Highland

C23 Main St Stn

C23 Davie

Check out the Alerts & Advisories page for Dec 2, 2012 for full details. The parade is sure to be a Christmas tree’t!

Links and tidbits for January 04, 2012

• 2012 looks like a good year for expansion of transportation programs in North America. But will the funding last long enough for the projects to come to fruition?

• The Toronto Star references the Burnaby Gondola in a piece that questions if a gondola is better than boring new tunnels for Toronto transit.
• No deal yet on the York transit strike as it enters its 11th week.
• Fare hikes and cuts for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
• Googles Mapnificent helps you figure out destinations that are reachable by public transit within a particular time frame. I wonder how this can be used with Trip Planner in the future?
• By June 2012, there will be 120 Tube stations in England with Wi-Fi. Do you think free Wi-Fi on the SkyTrain would be a real asset or not worth the effort?
• The Dubai Metro has a 99.69% punctuality rate. And I thought the SkyTrain was punctual!

• The Evergreen line is mention in a Seattle Transit Blog post that speaks to funding for future transit in that city.

The 2011 ReindeerBus

Happy holidays from the ReindeerBus!

You may have noticed the ReindeerBus over the last few weeks, making its rounds of the Lower Mainland. After paying special visits to Canuck Place and Ronald McDonald House (along with Mr. and Mrs. Claus of course), it’s been stopping by TransLink operations, collecting toys donated by employees for our Toys for Tots program. All the toys go to the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau to distribute.

The ReindeerBus popped by TransLink head office yesterday to pick up donations from staff here and, as you can see in the photo below, it was already well on its way to being packed with toys.

John Strachan, Head Elf during the holiday season (and a CMBC operator instructor the rest of the year), says that the bus has collected more than 2,700 toys this year.

You can read more about the origins of the ReindeerBus in this 2008 post, and see some amazing photos of the bus and its community shuttle sibling in this post from last year.

The ReindeerBus filling up with toys.

Friday fun guest post: It’s all about the numbers… on the bus, by Michael Taylor-Noonan

Our old and new trolleybuses at an event in 2007 --- you can clearly see their differing bus numbers!

For this Friday fun post, Michael Taylor-Noonan, the editor of the Transit Museum Society‘s newsletter has kindly contributed a piece on the history of bus numbering! Read on for a deep dive into the numbers we see today.

For this first guest blog, I’ve decided to write about bus numbers – not the ones on the front that tell you where your bus is headed, but the ones on the side, back and front that distinguish one bus from hundreds of identical vehicles. For years this was known as a ‘unit’ number, but now it can be called an asset number, fleet number, or bus number, depending on who you are talking to.

Read more »

The 2010 reindeer bus and community shuttle

The C28 community shuttle, dressed up as a reindeer! Photo by Chris Cassidy.

Our reindeer bus, photographed by David Lam! Click the picture to see David's full gallery of reindeer bus photos.

Chris Cassidy sent along some photos of the 2010 reindeer community shuttle this morning, so I thought I’d give the reindeer buses their own post :)

If you don’t know, one TransLink bus and one community shuttle get dressed up as reindeer every year. Staff from the Coast Mountain Bus Company have been performing this bit of holiday magic for over 20 years, starting just after the very first Toys for Tots charity drive done by the company in 1987. Check out this 2008 post for more history, plus the challenges of finding the right antlers and nose that work on the road!

The bus and community shuttle get dispatched all over the Lower Mainland, so just keep an eye out to see if they’re in your neighbourhood. But if you do want more specific locations, the TransLink Twitter account has also been tweeting the location of the reindeer bus and shuttle when they know where they are.

And just to clarify, the reindeer bus does NOT offer free rides, but there may be some tinsel and holiday treats presented by your friendly transit operator!

For more pictures of the 2010 reindeer buses, check out Chris’s reindeer shuttle gallery, and David Lam’s reindeer bus gallery. Here’s one more picture of the reindeer shuttle’s festive interior!

The interior of the reindeer shuttle. Photo by Chris Cassidy.

2010 holiday parade reroutes for the weekend, Dec 4-5

Our reindeer bus, photographed by David Lam! Click the picture to see David's full gallery of reindeer bus photos.

Santa will be busy for the next couple of days—there are five holiday parades coming up around the region this weekend! And as you know, parades also mean some extra service and bus reroutes, along with a lot of holiday spirit :)

Check the TransLink Alerts page for the exact details on all the parades and reroutes: I’ve compiled the highlights below.

Parades on Saturday, December 4, 2010

Maple Ridge
Santa Claus Parade
Reroutes from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Routes affected: C43, C47
View reroute map

Langley
Langley’s Magic of Christmas Parade
Reroutes from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Routes affected: 320, 341, 364, 501, 502, 595 reroutes
View reroute map

New Westminster
Hyack Santa Claus Parade
Reroutes from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Routes affected: 106, 112, 123
View reroute map

Parades on Sunday, December 5, 2010

Cloverdale
Santa’s Torch Light Parade
Look out for one of our buses in the parade!
Reroutes from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Routes affected: C70, 320, 341
View reroute map

Vancouver
Rogers Santa Claus Parade
Look out for one of our buses in the parade!
Reroutes from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Routes affected: 5, 6, 22, 135, 240, 242, C23
Reroute maps for each route: 5/6, 22, 135, 240/242, C23

As always, SkyTrain will provide extra trains for the Rogers Santa Claus parade in Vancouver (an easy, traffic-free way to get there and back!). The parade starts at 1 p.m., and to get there, exit SkyTrain at either Burrard or Granville Station (both have elevators for wheelchairs and strollers), and walk to Georgia Street.

SeaBus will also double its regular Sunday service, with sailings every 15 minutes between the Lonsdale Quay and Waterfront Station from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

By the way, remember our group ride offer applies on Sundays and holidays! The specifics: if you have an adult FareCard, West Coast Express 28-Day Pass, or Annual Employer Transit Pass, you can take five children, or one adult and four children on transit with you for free.

And if you have any questions or concerns about your trip, please do call our Customer Information line at 604-953-3333!

Links and tidbits for Thu Dec 2

Tidbits and links rounded up about transportation in the past week. These are fun. I promise.

• The video above is a very cool photo montage of a train journey in England. Watch it, you’ll see what I mean! Full details on how the video was shot here
• You can now get bike directions on Google maps for six Canadian cities, including Vancouver! However, just one caveat: Google used our printed maps to get their base data and it still seems like it needs a bit of fine tuning: it suggested I ride on Kingsway to get to Metrotown, which is of course a road you can ride on, but isn’t necessarily everyone’s first choice when choosing a bike route, especially with Vanness running parallel. Give it a try and see how it works for you though—I’d love to hear your thoughts on the tool.
• The New York Times did a story on the lady who does the voice of the New York subway. (Check out my past podcast on the voice of the SkyTrain, too!
• Another New York Times article: all about travelling in L.A. on a bicycle.
• A video primer on Portland’s cycling network and how research helps inform it, with well-known researcher Jennifer Dill.
• Jason Vanderhill passed along several funny transit posters: here is a drunk Santa Tokyo subway poster, and one declaring that nun shall pass! Also, here is a lovely drawing of our older trolleys, from Jason’s wonderful blog Illustrated Vancouver!
• Boy, I have a lot of assorted New York links this week. Here’s the replacement of the stars in the ceiling of Grand Central Station in New York. Here’s the NYC train yard emptying out in the morning. Here’s why Penn Station doesn’t actually suck. Here’s a story about the kerfuffle over bike lanes in New York. And here’s service to Hogwarts!
• Toronto transit seems to have hit a snag: Mayor Rob Ford has declared an end to the Transit City light rail project.
• David Lam sent along some new collections of photos: here’s pictures of the Trans-Expo from CUTA two weeks ago, with so many shiny buses on display; here’s Xcelsior bus being carted around the Vancouver streets, and here’s the Reindeer Bus!
• From Human Transit: WMATA seeks feedback on its frequent transit network map.
• Finally, here’s a crazy set of photos taken at the 2010 Grey Cup: they are hi-res photos of the entire stadium, and you can zoom in and see people’s faces! Nuts!

If you have any items to suggest, or a photo to showcase on these posts, e-mail me at thebuzzer@translink.ca! (Seriously: good photos. These posts need them. Send them along!)

Winter bus service changes coming on Mon Dec 13, 2010

The reindeer bus is out and about for 2010! Photo thanks to David Lam. (Click the picture to see his full Reindeer Bus gallery!)

Our regular winter bus service adjustment is coming soon! Starting December 13, 2010, some bus service will be changed to improve efficiency and productivity on high-demand routes.

Make sure to check the full list of transit service changes to see if your route is affected. Here are some of the major highlights as well:

• Increased service during different periods on the 2, 16, 49, 100, 410, 620, 791 and more
• The 32 Dunbar/Downtown will now serve all local stops between Macdonald/4th Ave. and the Burrard Street Bridge, to relieve congestion along this corridor.
• The C28 Coquitlam Stn./Port Moody Stn. will use conventional buses instead of shuttles during morning and evening rush periods, to address capacity.
• For the 99 B-Line, selected eastbound Monday to Friday morning deadhead trips will be converted into full-service trips, in response to morning capacity issues. (This will be at the discretion of the transit supervisors based on the day’s conditions.)
• The 125 BCIT will get its own bay at Patterson Station (woo!)
• Various other routes have some reductions in service, with slightly less trips in the early morning, midday, or super late at night. It’s hard to summarize them all in a pithy way though, so please have a look at the the full list and make sure you know if your route is affected.

Again, we adjust bus service like this four times a year, reflecting major passenger ebbs and flows in April, June, September, and December! Look out for the next set of changes in April 2011, and please pass this along to anyone who might find this useful.

And of course, feel free to ask questions—I will try my best to get you answers!

2009 holiday parade reroutes for the weekend

The reindeer bus from Coast Mountain Bus Company! It will be in the Rogers Santa Claus Parade this Sunday, Dec. 6. (Photo by the indomitable David Lam.)

Boy howdy, there’s a whole bunch of holiday parades coming up this weekend. And as you’ve probably guessed, the holiday spirit will mean some bus reroutes in the region, along with a lot of good cheer!

(It also looks like Santa’s got a very busy schedule this weekend :)

Check the TransLink Alerts page for the exact details on all the parades and reroutes: I’ve compiled the highlights below.

Read more »

The reindeer buses are out and about

Santa and his friends with CMBC's reindeer bus!

Here’s one of our two reindeer buses, who have been out on the road spreading Christmas cheer this week!

Our reindeer bus and reindeer community shuttle have been travelling around Vancouver, surprising passengers with a little Christmas fun on their regular routes. (There’s no telling where they’ll be –operators have to request the reindeer bus each day, and it’s popular!) The reindeer were also in a number of Christmas parades this year, including the Rogers Santa Claus parade and the Hyack parade.

But the chief job of the reindeer is delivering toys to charity every year. On Dec. 17 and 18, the buses will be loaded up with toys collected by TransLink and its subsidiaries, and the reindeers deliver them to the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau. (That’s 46,000 toys and $37,000 so far, and that doesn’t include 2008!)

Read more »