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Our downtown Vancouver SkyTrain stations get an Olympic look

Our downtown Vancouver SkyTrain stations get an Olympic look

This team from Russia was spotted using the Vancouver City Centre ticket machines!
This team from Russia was spotted using the Vancouver City Centre ticket machines!

I just have to start with this photo. What’s more Olympic than seeing Team Russia use our ticket machines?

Anyway, I caught this shot while taking a short tour of our downtown Vancouver stations this morning, just to see how our SkyTrain lines have been dressed up for the Olympics. I haven’t seen any of them yet, so I thought I would share the sights with you.

There’s new wayfinding and signage, and for those who don’t know, ads on the entire TransLink network were bought by VANOC, the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, and resold to Olympic sponsors. Each station seems to have its own particular company to focus on. Let’s have a look!

The Samsung display in Waterfront Station's lobby.
The Samsung display in Waterfront Station's lobby.

There’s an enormous glowing Samsung display in the Waterfront Station lobby! So many people were having their photos taken with it. You can interact with the Samsung display screens on the phones, although I couldn’t get it to do much besides launch applications. Maybe I was doing it wrong!

Acer ads in the Expo/Millennium Line station at Waterfront.
Acer ads in the Expo/Millennium Line station at Waterfront.

Ads for Acer are all over the Expo/Millennium Line station in Waterfront.

The trip planner in Waterfront Station.
The trip planner in Waterfront Station.

And the trip planner info boards have been updated with maps! (They’re located in between the Waterfront lobby and the part of the station going to the Expo/Millennium Line and SeaBus.)

Tourism BC ads are in the Canada Line station at Waterfront.
Tourism BC ads are in the Canada Line station at Waterfront.

The Canada Line station at Waterfront has been taken over with Super Natural British Columbia ads from Tourism BC.

London UK tourism ads at the Waterfront SeaBus station.
London UK tourism ads at the Waterfront SeaBus station.

Oddly enough, tourism ads for the city of London UK have taken over SeaBus! I’m guessing that’s because of the London Olympics in 2012? Anyway, they’ve wrapped the turnstiles and put floor and overhead ads up.

SeaBus ads for London UK tourism.
SeaBus ads for London UK tourism.

Here’s the floor ads and the overhead ads at the SeaBus station at Waterfront.

McDonalds ads at Burrard Station.
McDonalds ads at Burrard Station.

And McDonalds has Burrard Station covered.

Vancouver City Centre's ads are done by GE.
Vancouver City Centre's ads are done by GE.

This is just one wall of these GE ads! They’re really everywhere in Vancouver City Centre Station, as they have lots of ad space there. Also, the fencing nearby is for lineup management during the Games.

Yaletown-Roundhouse Station has Bell ads.
Yaletown-Roundhouse Station has Bell ads.

Bell ads were at Yaletown-Roundhouse.

Informational signage on the street outside Yaletown-Roundhouse.
Informational signage on the street outside Yaletown-Roundhouse.

And outside, there were some great maps to help people get around the neighbourhood — I especially liked the inclusion of a grey circle overlay that showed you how far you could walk in about 15 minutes. Yaletown-Roundhouse is very near to the LiveCity Yaletown site, so people will certainly be looking for how to get around the area.

Olympic ads at Stadium-Chinatown Station.
Olympic ads at Stadium-Chinatown Station.

Olympic ads and Bay clothing ads were on display at Stadium.

The informational signage outside Stadium-Chinatown Station.
The informational signage outside Stadium-Chinatown Station.

And there was an “i” informational map station outside Stadium-Chinatown, as you exit towards Canada Hockey Place. Very handy.

The new wayfinding signage up at Stadium-Chinatown station.
The new wayfinding signage up at Stadium-Chinatown station.

Here’s another look at some of the new station signage at Stadium-Chinatown, too!

The countdown clock!
The countdown clock!

To cap off this whirlwind tour, here’s the Olympic countdown clock outside the Vancouver Art Gallery! A Japanese morning show was interviewing two locals wearing red mittens nearby :) Sorry I missed Granville Station by the way — I hear that’s all Coke ads!

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