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!

Compass card: more about the region’s new fare system

Look look: we’ve rolled out a bit more info about Compass card today!

Check out the video above and our updated Compass card site. You’ll find more detail on how to use your Compass card on the system, safety and security features, and more.

You can also read a comprehensive Vancouver Sun article spotlighting the Compass system, which has a very interesting video!

Feel free to let us know your feedback in the comments and we’ll do our best to get answers. (Are you spotting Compass readers installed on your local bus yet? Here’s one out in the wild!)

The first faregate is installed at Marine Drive Station

The first faregate was installed at Marine Drive Station this afternoon.

We installed the first faregate at Marine Drive Station today, Monday August 13, 2012!

Check it out if you’re going by the station: the faregate is permanently installed, though it won’t be operational until sometime in 2013 when all the gates are ready.

Blair Lekstrom, BC's Minister of Transportation, speaks at the event.

Three key folks were on hand to put the faregate in the ground today:

• Wai Young, Member of Parliament for Vancouver South,
• the Honourable Blair Lekstrom, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Peace River South, and
• Doug Kelsey, chief operating officer for TransLink.

You can see a few more pictures from the event in this Flickr set.

Read more »

Elevators and escalators out of service and how Trip Planner, alerts, SMS, email, Twitter and transit information can help you

The elevator and the escalator and stairs at the North entrance of Surrey Central SkyTrain station are currently out of service until July 31st, 2012. - photo by Anna Mae Abia

Making your connection from one transfer to another can sometimes be a challenge. In some areas of the world, it’s so much of a challenge that some people make it a sport to see who can get from a to b on public transit the fastest (check out transit marathons)! For people who have accessibility needs, knowing the right way to get to where you want to go isn’t a sport, it’s a necessity.

When there are repairs on the system, sometimes making connections between buses, SkyTrains, SeaBuses, etc. can be even more of a challenge than usual. Besides the regular station maintenance that can shut down elevators and escalators, TransLink is in the midst of updating SkyTrain stations as part of OnTrack as well as installing new faregates and other items for the upcoming transition to Compass Card. This means a larger than usual number of disruptions to the usual flow of traffic at SkyTrain stations across the system. Read more »

Congrats to Oleksiy Gayda: winner of our fare card naming contest!

Bus operator Anthony Crann, TransLink VP Mike Madill, name contest winner Oleksiy Gayda and SkyTrain’s Colleen Milek show off the new card on Thursday, March 31, 2011!

Oleksiy Gayda, winner of the naming contest!

A big congratulations to Oleksiy Gayda from Burnaby, who submitted the name Compass for the new electronic fare card!

Seventy-two people actually submitted the name Compass to the contest, and Oleksiy’s name was randomly drawn to win the prize of an iPad and a pass loaded with a year of transit, once the smartcard system is operational in 2013.

Oleksiy has lived in Vancouver since moving here over 10 years ago, and he’s a regular transit rider, since he doesn’t own a car!

For the contest, he submitted two or three names, including Compass.

“With Compass, I was thinking of a word that could mean something more, like a commuter or community pass, shortened to Compass,” he said.

And in fact, Oleksiy said he’d forgotten about the contest until he got the call a few days ago saying he’d won. It was a real shock.

“This is the first time I’ve ever won a contest,” Oleksiy said. “So this is a great experience, and a great prize.”

Again, feel free to share your thoughts on the name and the new card in the comments: and for more on the smartcard project, check the main smartcard project page, or the past Buzzer blog smartcard posts.

And scroll on down for more pictures of the name launch today!

Read more »

Compass: the winning name of TransLink’s electronic fare card

Compass: our new electronic fare card

As many of you may know by now: Compass is the name of our electronic fare card, which will debut in 2013!

That’s right—after 10,000 votes on the three final names for our smartcard, over 40% of the vote went to the name Compass. Staff have been out at major transit exchanges all across the region this morning, handing out Compass pass holders and more to announce the new name.

The contest’s winner—drawn from all those who submitted “Compass” to our contest in fall 2010—will be announced later this morning, so I’ll have that info for you up in a bit. Edit: Here’s the post about the winner, Oleksiy Gayda!

But for now: feel free to share what you think of the new name et al in the comments. And as always, for more on the smartcard project, see the main smartcard project page, or the past Buzzer blog smartcard posts.

Our smartcard name will be revealed on Thu Mar 31, 2011

You'll just tap your smartcard to validate come 2013.

Well, it’s almost here! The winning name (and the winner!) of the smartcard naming contest will be announced on the morning of Thursday, March 31, 2011.

Staff will be at stations and exchanges to share some swag and announce the new name. So keep an eye out on Thursday to find out the winner!

(For more about the smartcard project, check out the TransLink site or the Buzzer blog’s past smartcard posts.)

Last day to vote on the smartcard name, Friday January 28, 2011

A ticket vending machine on the Canada Line. In 2013, we'll be using electronic fare card instead!

Reminder: today, Friday, January 28, 2011, is your last day to vote on the smartcard name! The contest closes at midnight tonight.

If you haven’t voted yet, do it here: translink.ca/contest

The three names in the running again are Compass, Starfish, and Tpass.

Click here for the past blog posts on the smart card, and see the main TransLink smart card page for more info on the smart card project.

Smart card naming contest vote now open, January 14-28, 2011

Validating your ticket will just require a tap of the smartcard come 2013.

OK: voting is now live for the smart card contest finalists!

Visit translink.ca/contest to select your pick for the winning name. As mentioned previously, the poll will be open until Friday, January 28, 2011, and the winner and its brand identity will be announced in March. The actual smart card system is slated for launch in 2013.

Also, response has been tremendous in the last post about the final three names. Rest assured, I am passing on all your feedback to the project team! Please keep it coming: we really do want to know what you all think of our work, as we can’t improve without your notes.

Click here for the past blog posts on the smart card, and see the main TransLink smart card page for more info on the smart card project.

Smart card finalist names released: you decide the winner starting Friday, Jan 14, 2011!

Smartcards will eventually replace all forms of tickets and passes on our system.

As you may have heard already, we have released the three finalist names for our smart card, and we want you to decide on a winner starting Friday, January 14, 2011!

As you know, we’re working on a smart card project for launch in 2013, where you’ll load your transit fares onto a single card that you can use across the system, and track important trip and ridership data for better system planning.

The three shortlisted names are Starfish, Compass or TPass. So visit translink.ca/contest on Friday and weigh in on your favourites: the voting period will be open for two weeks after that, ending on Friday January 28, 2011.

The winning name will be announced at the end of March along with a brand identity for the new card. The contest winner will get an iPad and a smart card loaded with a year’s worth of transit, to be used on the system in 2013. (If more than one person submitted one of these names, we will do a draw from all of those people to get our winner. See the rules and regulations for more info.)

Here’s the press release we issued about the voting today: you can also check out articles from the Province and the Peace Arch News.

As well, here are the past blog posts on the smart card project, and the main TransLink page with more info about the project.

Smartcard contest update: public vote for the winning name in early 2011

Zoop: another announcement today. The smartcard contest will have a public vote for the winning name in early 2011.

The press release isn’t quite online yet so here it is reprinted below—it has more detail on the announcement.

Read more »

Contest inspiration: the 10 most entered names in the contest so far

Our farecard naming contest closes at midnight next Monday, November 8, 2010, so make sure to get your names in! An iPad, plus a year of free transit in 2013 could be yours for the taking.

So far, there are 30,000 entries in the contest, but don’t let this faze you. As you have probably guessed, lots of people have entered the same names, and there’s plenty of room for more.

As well, to possibly help inspire you, I did a bit of wrangling with Excel and hashed out a rough list of the most entered names in the contest. In no particular order, they are:

• Green
• Salmon
• Coast
• Orca
• Whale
• Totem
• Otter
• Canuck
• Lobster
• Go

Lots of single word wonders! Well, hopefully this will help get those creative juices flowing. Go opposite, go bigger, go smaller, pick something slightly similar but not the same. Remember, you can enter as many times as you like, so all the names you come up with are fair game.

For more inspiration, check out this earlier post on farecard names in other places. And then of course, enter the contest!

Contest: name our future electronic fare card!

Edit, 1:35 p.m.: added one of the promotional videos above! There’s a second video here too.

Starting today, Tuesday, October 12, 2010, you can enter our contest to name our future electronic fare card!

As you may know, TransLink is putting an electronic fare card system in place by 2013, similar to fare payment systems in London and Hong Kong. But tomorrow’s fare card needs a name today—so we’re asking you to put your thinking caps on and get involved!

Submit your suggestions through our online form or via text message (text CONTEST, your name, and your idea to 77777).

The winner gets an iPad, and in 2013, the winner will also receive an electronic fare card loaded with a year of free transit!

For more, check out the TransLink website to learn about electronic fare cards and the project timeline. And here’s the past Buzzer blog posts on the topic:

• Smartcard and faregates project moves another step forward
• Three companies shortlisted for our smartcards and faregates project
• Smartcards and faregates project moves one step forward

Smartcard and faregates project moves another step forward

The Octopus Card in action in Hong Kong. Photo by Danny Choo.

Just a note to say that our smartcard and faregates project has moved another step forward. We’ve already asked qualified suppliers to present themselves; now we’re asking them for specific proposals to install the system.

Full details are in the media release issued today. Here’s a quote:

TransLink has issued a formal Request for Proposals to three pre-qualified companies to submit bids to design, install, operate and maintain the planned Smart Card and Faregate system.

Thales/Octopus International Projects, developers of Hongkong’s “Octopus” card, Serco/Parkeon, which introduced a complete smart card system for Perth, Australia, and Cubic/IBM, makers of the “Oyster” card in London, England, were chosen in May out of 10 companies, which had responded to TransLink’s Request for Qualifications. Now, these three companies have been asked to draw up their proposals to create the Smart Card/Faregate system, have it in operation by spring 2013 and operate and maintain it for ten years.

Technical submissions are due by October 20th and financial submissions by late November. TransLink staff will make a recommendation on the preferred proponent to the Board in December.

Three companies shortlisted for our smartcards and faregates project

TransLink is working on developing a smartcard for our system, much like the Oyster Card in London. Photo by mirka23.

Our media relations team put out a release today announcing that three companies have been shortlisted for our smartcards and faregates project. They are:

Thales/Octopus International Projects – creator of the ‘Octopus Card’ used on Hong Kong’s transit service and supplier of similar systems in the Netherlands, Norway and Dubai.

Serco/Parkeon – who introduced a complete smart card program for Perth, Australia and have provided related systems to transit operations in Belgium, England and Dubai, as well as to the French national rail system, SNCF.

Cubic/IBM – whose systems include London’s ‘Oyster Card’ and systems for US transit agencies in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami-Dade, San Francisco plus Brisbane in Australia.

The smartcard project is targeted to launch in early 2013. I’ll keep you posted on who wins the bid!

Have a look at the full release for more: you can also see a December 2009 project update and the original project announcement.