We’re doing repairs to one of TransLink’s oldest assets, and possibly the Lower Mainland’s oldest car bridge, the Westham Island Bridge.
The 107-year-old swing bridge officially opened on March 29, 1910, and is the oldest of the five bridges TransLink owns and operates! This bridge is also the narrowest TransLink bridge and one of few remaining bridges containing wood components in Metro Vancouver.
This historic bridge connects Westham Island to the rest of Delta “closing” routinely to vehicle traffic when marine traffic passes underneath.
Beginning May 29th, and continuing for approximately 10 weekdays, the Westham Island Bridge will require no more than two brief closures per day of up to 30 minutes at a time, between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m while construction crews work on the underside of the bridge. Information about the closures will be posted on roadside signage a day in advance.
To minimize disruptions, the closures will be similar to the stoppages that occur when the swing span opens for marine traffic.
Customers planning to use the Westham Island Bridge should allow 30 minutes of additional travel time to accommodate the work.
We understand the bridge is the only crossing to the island and we thank our customers for your patience while we do this important work to ensure the bridge remains safe and in a state of good repair.
Monday, May 22nd is Victoria Day, better known as the May Long Weekend, May Long, May Two-Four, or May Run (really?!) – a Canadian public holiday in honour of Queen Victoria’s birthday.
So, what’s this mean for transit users?
This means we’re bringing you holiday service!
SkyTrain, Bus, and SeaBus services will operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule.
Expo Line passengers should allow for 15-20 minutes extra travel time. Millennium Line and Canada Line will operate normally.
West Coast Express service will not operate.
The Compass Customer Service Centre and Lost Property Office will be closed.
Holiday fares will be in effect, which means a one-zone fare will get you to your destination regardless of zones!
Regular week day service returns for all modes on Tuesday, May 23, 2017.
Know before you go!
Use our handy Trip Planner to check your route and schedule times prior to leaving. The information noted here is subject to change. For the latest and most up-to-date information, bookmark translink.ca on your mobile device so you can know on the go.
Customer Information can be reached at 604.953.3333 or tweet us @TransLink.
You’ve likely heard about The Mayors’ Council’s 10-Year-Vision. Implementing this plan was the first step towards bringing Metro Vancouver the biggest transportation expansion in nearly a decade. With $2 Billion invested in transportation services, Phase One of the plan addresses some of our biggest rider complaints and aims to both reduce overcrowding on our transit system and ease congestion on our roadways. But there’s more to Phase One than new transit services and improvements. This first phase has additional region-wide impacts to alternative travel modes like cycling and walking paths, that brings real improvements to the way Metro Vancouver residents travel.
The next 10 years promise big things for transportation in Metro Vancouver and we hope you come along for the the ride.
In year one, Compass celebrated 1 Million active Compass Cards on the system, as well as full integration into our two secure bike parkades! One card loaded with Stored Value gets transit travel and bike parking all in one!
You asked, we listened! Earlier this year, due in part to overwhelming customer demand, we lowered the minimum Stored Value requirement on your Adult Compass Card from $10 to $5, making transit more accessible to more customers.
And that’s not all on the Compass front! Our recent partnership with United Way Lower Mainland brought five Compass Donation Kiosks to SkyTrain Stations across Vancouver giving customers the ability to donate their unregistered Compass Cards to a great cause.
Year one has been chock-full of great Compass News, and we’re excited to see where the future of Compass takes us!
Want to know more about highlights to the transit system in 2016?
Stay tuned to the blog for a new feature every week!
The annual trend of breaking ridership records continues through the first quarter of 2017. A 5.6% increase in individual Boardings, and a 5.1% increase in Journeys (number of start-to-finish trips taken on transit) shows transit ridership growing significantly compared to the same period last year.
Contributing to the growth is an increase in the number of average weekday Boardings for all modes with the exception of West Coast Express which saw a slight decrease.
Expo/Millennium Line – up 13.8%
Canada Line – up 7%
Bus – up 4.6%
SeaBus – up 3.6%
West Coast Express – down 5.8%
Explanation of growth
Various key factors play a role in ridership growth. We have identified some of the biggest players:
Transit Service Hours – Overall increased service hours in 2017 including the implementation of the Evergreen Extension.
Number of working days – There were 2 more working days in Q1 of 2017 over the previous year.
Weather – Metro Vancouver saw unseasonably cold and snowy conditions this winter. While the impact of weather on transit is not clear, data shows that commuters often substitute modes from walking/cycling to transit/driving during inclement weather.
Fuel Prices – Fuel prices in Q1 of 2017 averaged 15% higher than during the same time last year, and is a likely cause for commuters to park their vehicles and hop on transit.
Transit Fare Prices – With no change in transit fares over the past year, transit remains an attractive option.
Economic Growth & Activities – Various economic factors have contributed to growing ridership such as highest new housing starts, increased tourism, increased retail sales, and increased population and employment.
For TransLink on the Move this week, our five week series where we look at some of the many highlights from our 2016 Annual Report, we’re taking a look back on ridership from 2016 where we logged 384.83 million boardings! Our highest ever!
Last year saw an increase of 4.5% over 2015’s ridership levels, and we have YOU,our riders to thank for that! Thank you for helping us build and maintain momentum. We are proud of the work we do, and strive to continue improving with a commitment to focus on what matters to our customers.
In 2016, we launched our new Accountability Centre, a one-stop-shop in tracking performance of our regional transportation system, as well as customer satisfaction to ensure we’re meeting our goals and satisfying customer needs.
Want to know more about highlights to the transit system in 2016?
Stay tuned to the blog for a new feature every week!
The Capture Photography Festival is an annual not-for-profit festival that strives to nurture emerging talent, engage community and spark public dialogue about photography as an art form and a vessel for communication.
This year, Capture has once again partnered with TransLink, this time on an art installation on the SkyTrain system.
This series titled Nicephora, is installed at Stadium–Chinatown Skytrain Station and can be viewed until 2018.
Precession of the Feminine (2015), which is part of the larger series of works entitled Nicephora, was born during EcheverrÍa’s BMW Residency program at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce in France, a museum named after Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of photography.
The Capture Photography Festival runs from April 1 – 28, 2017.
The opening of the Evergreen Extension was a milestone event for TransLink and for Metro Vancouver. This significant expansion of our integrated transit network brings us to 79 km of SkyTrain meaning that TransLink now operates the world’s longest fully-automated rapid transit system!
Included in the Evergreen Extension is a two-kilometre Tunnel (the longest in the SkyTrain network) connecting Coquitlam to Port Moody, a new SkyTrain operating pattern and six new stations connecting riders to more destinations in our region.
A post shared by Grant Mattice (@grantmatticephoto) on
The Evergreen Extension boasts beautiful new open concept stations with plenty of glass allowing for natural light, picturesque views and beautiful public art.
If you haven’t yet had a chance to check out the new stations, have a look at some of the shots captured by transit enthusiast Ivan Chan. Or better yet, become your very own #EvergreenExplorer by checking out some of the great java stops along the new route.
Want to know more about highlights to the transit system in 2016?
Stay tuned to the blog for a new feature every week!
April 22nd is Earth Day! A day observed globally with the aim of encouraging and educating people to be more environmentally friendly. The TransLink enterprise takes sustainability seriously and works diligently in our daily operations to protect our Earth!
TransLink has taken part in a variety of environmentally-focused projects in 2016 – here are a snapshot of some of these initiatives:
Going platinum
In 2015, TransLink moved up from gold and became the first Canadian transit organization to gain platinum level status for sustainability from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Since 2010, 58 separate projects reduced waste by nine per cent, water use by 10 per cent, and greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent in its facilities. The bus fleet alone has had a 17 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. CMBC also reduced energy consumption by more than seven per cent.
Cutting back on washing to save water
In 2016, CMBC committed to reduce bus washing by at least 50% each summer between June and the end of September! In addition, anytime Metro Vancouver introduces Stage 2 water restrictions, CMBC voluntary stops all bus washing, except in special circumstances. These changes yield BIG water savings! At Burnaby Transit Centre alone, suspending bus washing translates to saving up to 35,000 litres of water each day! Additionally, all transit centres, use recycled or “wastewater” for the wash and fresh water is used only for the final rinse. These water recycling systems reduce the amount of water required to wash each bus by about 75 per cent!
Building with the environment in mind
TransLink’s newest building, Hamilton Transit Centre in Richmond is our most energy-efficient facility yet! It boasts a LEED Silver certification thanks to features that include LED lighting, radiant in-floor heating, waste water treatment, and a heat-reflective roof. Many of these sustainable features help to reduce operating and maintenance costs in addition to being green in other ways.
Driving the benefits of alternate fuels
TransLink is rolling out 26 new hybrid diesel-electric articulated buses, bringing our bus fleet to 252 hybrid, 116 compressed natural gas (CNG) and 262 Trolley buses. This means almost half of our CMBC bus fleet uses some form of cleaner technology – either CNG buses or hybrid electric buses. These hybrid buses use 17% less fuel than equivalent diesel-powered models. The quieter CNG buses – with reduced carbon emissions and lower maintenance costs – continue to replace diesel buses as they retire from operation at the end of their service life. We also have one of the largest electric trolley fleets in North America and continue to explore the possibility of adding electric-battery buses to our existing fleet.
We’ve recently posted our 2016 Annual Report. For those of you who are unable to comb through it, we’re picking out some highlights among many for our TransLink on the Move series. First up, new SkyTrains!
Last year was a big year for transit in Metro Vancouver. One of the improvements we made was adding seven new Mark III trains to our fleet! That’s 28 additional SkyTrain cars on the system. Our passengers can now enjoy an enhanced transit experience with a more spacious ride, less noise and more natural light. The new Mark III SkyTrain cars are equipped to hold more passengers with extra space for wheelchairs, bikes and strollers than their Mark I & Mark II counterparts.
The Mark III’s journey started back in October of 2015 when they left the Bombardier facility in Ontario to begin the cross country journey out West to our SkyTrain OMC yard in Burnaby.
The big day arrived on August 18th, 2016, with all of the anticipated fan fare! The first Mark III car entered service with SkyTrain President & General Manager Vivienne King and TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond on board, among a host of excited transit enthusiasts.
Want to know more about highlights to the transit system in 2016? We’ll be posting one a week for the next four weeks.
You Metro Vancouver transit riders and enthusiasts don’t seem to disappoint with your amazing transit shots! Since we started this social media photo series, you’ve shared over 400 photos with us across all platforms!
Amazing!
Let’s check out what you guys have captured since last time!
HUB Cycling recently hosted their 4th Annual Bike Awards – a celebration of organizations, individuals, schools and municipalities who have led the way in increasing biking across Metro Vancouver.
This year, we took home more than just our bikes! TransLink was awarded Best Public Bike Parking Facilities for our King George Station and Main Street Station Secure Bike Parkades!
TransLink is a big supporter of multi-modal transportation (did you know that our entire bus fleet is equipped with bus bike racks?) and participate annually in Bike to Work Week.
All of our secure bike parkades are Compass enabled, and easy to use! Check Jess out in action!
March is Fraud Prevention Month and before the month comes to a close, we’re giving you a friendly reminder to register your Compass Card!
One of the added benefits of the Compass system is that it’s far safer and more secure than our old paper fare media.
Did you know?!
When you register your Compass Card online at compasscard.ca, you can to take advantage of AutoLoad, valuable record keeping information such as trip and purchase information and Balance Protection.
With Balance Protection, users can report their Compass Cards lost or stolen and any passes or Stored Value will be transferred to a new Compass Card. Additionally, a found registered Compass Card can easily be returned to it’s owner.
750,000 of our 1.1 million Compass Cards are currently registered and we’d love to see that number grow!
January kicked off with the start of the 14th Annual Pacific Northwest Real Estate Challenge. This annual event was hosted by NAIOP’s Vancouver Chapter and marked the first time in history that this competition has been held on Canadian soil.
About the Pacific Northwest Real Estate Challenge
The Pacific Northwest Real Estate Challenge has teams consisting of real estate program students from various Northwest universities competing for the best design of a high profile development in a major metropolitan area.
Each team must design and propose a development and strategy that may be implemented after the competition.
This year, TransLink partnered with NAIOP to have students propose plans for Coquitlam Central Station on the Evergreen Extension, a 14-acre project with a high volume of transit, residents and commuters.
On March 9th, less than eight weeks from the first site visit, teams presented their final development to a panel of judges, TransLink officials, and members of the commercial real estate industry.
The home team from UBC finished ahead of University of Washington and Portland State, winning the NAIOP Bob Filley Cup and the potential opportunity to have their plan implemented by TransLink.
“It was a difficult decision to make, as we were very impressed with all of the proposals from the students,” said Guy Akester, Director of Real Estate Programs & Partnerships at TransLink. “Coquitlam Central Station is a very important and critical transportation hub. Ultimately we were looking for a highly walkable, mixed-use site that brings the community together. The UBC students were able to deliver this on all fronts.”
