APTA Rail 2010: Canada Line session

The title slide from the Canada Line presentation.

First, a note for students who are planning to attend this week: The Canada Line and SkyTrain technical tours are already fully booked. Don’t come down if those were the only things you wanted to see! I wasn’t lucky enough to get on either of them, so if anyone has gone through them I would love to share photos and notes.

I’m at the 2010 APTA Rail Conference downtown from Monday through Wednesday, and since I’m going to a lot of sessions, I’m just going to give you my notes from the talks, in the interests of getting things online faster.

“Canada Line: Innovation from Start to Finish” was a session moderated by SkyTrain CEO Doug Kelsey in the morning. There were three parts to it: the first had speakers from TransLink; the second had speakers from ProTransBC, and the third was speakers from YVR, all discussing the Canada Line from their particular perspective. Then questions were asked by the attendees.

Bear in mind that this is a conference for transit professionals, so the aim of the session was to outline the process that put the Canada Line public-private project together and talk about the contract and partnerships from an implementation perspective.

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Questions and answers about the YVR AddFare

A ticket vending machine on the Canada Line.

So since many people have questions about the YVR AddFare, our media relations department has put together a Q&A document.

Just so we have a one-stop shop for this info, I’m going to copy and paste that Q&A over here. I’m also going to include the questions from the earlier post on the YVR AddFare. So hopefully this post will answer most things you are wondering!

Read more »

Canada Line YVR AddFare coming Mon Jan 18: here’s how it works

The Canada Line at YVR.

Whoosh — the Regional Transportation Commissioner has just approved the YVR AddFare for the Canada Line, which will come into effect on Monday, January 18.

The AddFare will actually be implemented in a different way than we earlier proposed. Here’s the details:

A diagram of how the YVR AddFare will work. Image from the Regional Transportation Commissioner.

• The new YVR AddFare will cost $5, on top of the regular fare.
• The AddFare will only apply to anyone buying cash fare tickets at any Canada Line station on Sea Island, for travel from the airport to Richmond or Vancouver. (Said another way: the AddFare only applies to those buying cash fares for travel off of Sea Island.) Ticket machines at these stations will automatically charge the correct amount.
• Anyone using pre-paid fares will be exempt and will not be charged an additional fare for any trip on the Canada Line to or from the airport. Pre-paid fares include DayPasses, FareCards, FareSaver Tickets, U-Passes, Employer Passes and the BC Government Bus Pass Program.
• Also, travel on the Canada Line is free between stations on Sea Island.
• By the way, this new fare was approved in principle in 2004 as one of the ways to pay for the construction of the Canada Line. Clarification: The funds from the AddFare will go directly to TransLink to cover the construction costs.
• And just to refresh your memory, the stations on Sea Island are YVR-Airport, Sea Island Centre and Templeton.

Please check out the very full explanation of the AddFare and its history over at the Regional Transportation Commissioner’s website.

Also, since someone will surely ask, here is the answer to one of the scenarios you might encounter (a colleague was bending his brain thinking of these).

Q. Let’s say I’m leaving the airport and have a one-zone FareSaver ticket, but I am travelling during the peak time so must upgrade with a $1.25 AddFare. I put my FareSaver into the machine and upgrade to a two-zone ticket, which looks just like a cash fare ticket. Is that considered a cash fare that forces me to buy the Canada Line AddFare? Or is this still considered an exemption?

A. The ticket will be considered exempt, but the machine will indicate “airport” on the ticket to alleviate any enforcement issues.

Feel free to leave your comments, as always :)

Edit! Make sure to check out the Q&A post about the YVR AddFare for even more details.

Ride Canada Line to the Apple Store opening at Oakridge Centre

The Apple Store is opening in Oakridge Centre this weekend.

Kate sent word that a new Apple Store opens Saturday in Oakridge Centre, along with this note:

I noticed that Apple’s website provides driving directions to Oakridge, but has nothing on the Canada Line! I wonder if they know…

Maybe they don’t know? But certainly, as Kate alludes to, Oakridge Centre has a Canada Line stop right in front of it: Oakridge – 41st Avenue Station! So you can certainly use the Canada Line to make it there on Saturday.

To plan your exact journey, try our trip planner or Google Transit to map out your specific route. And here’s the station map for Oakridge-41st Avenue.

Looking for Canada Line passport stamps? We can help.

The Canada Line souvenir passport. Photo by brent_granby.

We’re still getting lots of requests for the Canada Line passport stamps!

So Karen Peterson, director of Shoptheline.ca, is trying to help.

Karen will be getting some stamps loaned back to her (they are actually the property of merchants or groups along the line), and will keep them in her office at Canada Line for a couple of weeks.

So feel free to visit her and get your passport stamped with what she has!

Here’s the address & office hours:

Canada Line Offices
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
604-484-6700
Suite 1600, 409 Granville Street
16th floor of the United Kingdom Building in downtown Vancouver
Right next to Vancouver City Centre Station

And here are the stamps she has on hand so far:

• Waterfront and Broadway-City Hall (Note: These two aren’t the exact ones from opening day, but are from another passport program on the line a few years ago.)
• King Edward
• Langara

I’ll update you if Karen gets any more stamps, too.

Remember: major bus changes are coming on Mon Sept 7!

Riders take note: your bus service may see changes on Monday, September 7.

Just another reminder to everyone that major bus changes are coming on Monday September 7. Make sure you know if your journey is affected!

We always adjust bus service in September to match higher passenger volumes, but this year our changes are much bigger, since we’re integrating bus routes with the Canada Line and making other improvements.

Street teams are out to help spread the word, and you can also find out about these changes online:

• Here’s the full list of transit service changes, from the main TransLink website. (Check to see if your bus route is on there!)
• Here’s an interactive map and a full list of the Canada-Line-related bus changes. Click the bus routes on the map to get route diagrams and schedules, and click the station names to get a map of the station plus local bus connections.
• Here’s a link to all the Canada Line station maps.
• Here’s a Buzzer blog post that highlighted the major changes expected on Sept 7 — there’s a lot of discussion in the comments there too.

And here’s a recap of the major changes expected on Monday:

• The 3 and the 8 will trade downtown Vancouver routes (this post tells why)
• The 98 B-Line, 424, 488, 490, 491, 492, 496, and C95 will be discontinued, as Canada Line now provides rapid transit service between Vancouver, Richmond and YVR.
• The 160 won’t pick up WB or drop off EB at five stops along Hastings Street in Burnaby: Sperling, Holdom, Willingdon, Gilmore, Kootenay. (It will still pick-up EB and drop-off WB at those stops.) The 135 route provides full local service at these stops and will be improved starting September 7. (See this post for more info.)
• Three bus loops will see bus bay changes: Burrard Station, Richmond-Brighouse (formerly Richmond Centre) and Marpole Loop.
• Commercial Drive Station and Broadway Station will be merged and renamed Commercial-Broadway Station. Go here for more info.

Again, if you don’t know, we actually make seasonal adjustments to bus service just 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 December!

Canada Line bike lockers now available

Store your bike in a locker at a Canada Line station, and you won't need to take it on the train.

Bike lockers at most Canada Line stations are now available!

A locker is $30 for a three-month period, plus a refundable key deposit. Check out the bike lockers page on the main TransLink website to see the locker locations and sign up to get one.

Sungsu’s five (free!) spots to visit along the Canada Line

We’re highlighting spots to visit along the Canada Line, if you needed some reasons to explore! Check out my first post in this series and if you have spots to share e-mail me along with a couple of photos and I’ll put them up. (Fewer spots are fine too, and they can all be at one station or spread out.)

The series continues: here’s Sungsu‘s five spots to visit along the Canada Line without spending any money!

1. Richmond Cultural Centre and Richmond Public Library (Richmond-Brighouse Station)

Main branch of the Richmond Library! Photo by selihpxe8.

The Richmond Cultural Centre contains an art gallery, a museum, archives and an art centre. Many of the exhibits or events are free or by donation. Next door is the main branch of the Richmond Public Library.

Read more »

New series: five spots to visit along the Canada Line

With lots of people so excited to ride the Canada Line, I thought it might be fun to do a little series spotlighting places to visit along the Line’s corridor!

So read on for five good excuses to ride the Line out somewhere — as if you needed more :) And if you have five spots to share along the Canada Line too, e-mail me and I’ll put them up. (Fewer spots are fine too, and they can all be at one station or spread out.)

1. Daiso (near Aberdeen Station)

Daiso in Aberdeen Centre!

Daiso is in Aberdeen Centre, a shopping mall about a block away from Aberdeen Station in Richmond. Here’s a map showing how to get there from the station.

Daiso is probably one of the most amazing shopping experiences in the Lower Mainland.

Read more »

Canada Line bus connections and September bus changes are now online

Bus connections to the Canada Line are coming on September 7, along with a few more bus service changes.

As you may know, we’ll be adjusting bus service on September 7, providing connections with Canada Line as well as making regular seasonal service changes.

Our website now has all the info on these adjustments, along with tools and maps to help you understand how routes have changed.

Upcoming Canada Line bus connections

Bus service to four Canada Line stations. Try the full interactive map with all station connections.

Info about bus connections to the Canada Line can be found on the Connecting Transit Services page in the Canada Line section of the TransLink website.

We’ve also developed an interactive map to help you see which bus routes connect with each station.

Click any of the bus routes on the map, and you’ll reach a page with its route diagram and public timetable in PDF format.

And click the name of any Canada Line station, and you’ll reach a PDF station map showing where the station is, and where local bus connections can be found. (Check out the full list of Canada Line station maps here.)

Remember, all of these changes are effective September 7! If you’re looking for trip or stop info prior to Sept 7, you’ll need to use the Trip Planner or Bus Lookup.

Other September 7 bus adjustments: 3, 8, 160, discontinued service, plus bus bay changes

As well, our website now shows all bus service changes coming September 7. The routes on the list are all linked to pages containing PDFs of their route maps and schedules.

Key changes include the following:

The 3 and 8 will switch downtown routings on September 7. Click for a larger version of this diagram!

• The 3 and 8 will trade downtown routings to accommodate the interlining of the 3 and 20 routes (that means their routes will be linked).

  Switching these routes around basically adds up to more cost efficiency and schedule reliability.

  Why? Well, the 3 can meet its schedule more reliably than the 8, partly because of improvements from the Main Street Showcase project (like bus bulges and traffic signal priority technology). As a result of the interline of the 3 and 20, the better 3 service will carry over to the linked 20 route, which will be improved to match the 3 service. Another result is that we can now extend all 20s back down to Harrison Loop during all time periods, a very common request from customers over the last year.

  The 8 is also planned to use articulated trolleys starting in December, and not having to go as deep into the downtown core will improve its reliability.

• The 98 B-Line, 424, 488, 490, 491, 492, 496, and C95 will be discontinued, as Canada Line now provides rapid transit service between Vancouver, Richmond and YVR. (Side note: many 98 B-Line buses are earmarked for the 399, Surrey’s proposed new express route, which is planned for March 2010, and may be implemented depending on our funding decided by the Mayors’ Council this year — check out Paul Hillsdon’s post on the 399 for more.)
• To provide better express service between Port Coquitlam to Vancouver, the 160 will no longer pick up westbound or drop off eastbound at five stops along Hastings Street in Burnaby: Sperling, Holdom, Willingdon, Gilmore, Kootenay. (It will still pick-up eastbound and drop-off westbound at those stops.) The 135 route provides full local service at these stops and will receive service frequency and capacity enhancements starting September 7.
• Bus bays at Burrard Station will be reorganized since some Richmond-Vancouver service has been changed. Most buses will depart from different bays on September 7 — here’s a map of the changes.
• The Richmond Centre bus loop bays will be reorganized, moved nearby, and re-named Richmond-Brighouse Station to reflect proximity to the new Richmond-Brighouse Station. Bus route names that have referred to “Richmond Centre” will now refer to “Richmond-Brighouse Station.” Here’s a map of the changes.

If you don’t know, we actually make seasonal adjustments to bus service just 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 December!

Canada Line roundup: even more pics and video, and passport stamp info!

A Canada Line train breezes by Oakridge-41st Avenue Station. Photo by Steve Chou.

Some more tidbits about the Canada Line!

Even more photos, video, and stories to read

Tafyrn and Seamora Palecloud, who have been documenting the Canada Line since forever, finally have their photos up from opening day! Check out galleries of Waterfront Station, Marine Drive Station, and the North Arm Bridge.

vfk has sent along a time-lapse video: Canada Line in 90 seconds!

A number of blog posts and discussions about the Line are popping up too.

Here’s a blog post from the airport’s YVRConnections blog, and one from Writergal.

As well, @JasonParis told me to check out the Urban Toronto discussion boards to see what Toronto planning/transit enthusiasts are saying about the Canada Line. Here’s a discussion about art and architecture in stations, one announcing our Line’s opening, and the tail end of another discussion with references to the Canada Line.

There’s also a longstanding continuous Canada Line discussion at Skyscraper Page, from our local planning and transportation enthusiasts.

Again, I’ll add these links to the main photo and video post and the first ride/opening day stories post.

You can still get stamps for your Canada Line opening day passports

The Canada Line souvenir passport. Photo by brent_granby.

You can still get Canada Line passport stamps until Sunday August 23, and many people have asked where you can get the stamps.

Well first, the full details of the passport program can all be found at shoptheline.ca — look on the right hand side of the page.

Merchants near the Canada Line stations are now stamping passports, and here’s a direct link to the list of retailers.

You only need 8 of the 11 stamps, then you can go to shoptheline.ca to fill in an online ballot to win prizes. The grand prize is a $4,000 package from the River Rock Casino, and other prizes include hundreds of dollars of gift cards from shopping centres along the Line.

These passports seem to be hot tickets by the way: this Province article indicates that people are selling them on Craigslist, although they’re apparently still available at some stations. We printed 40,000 so there are limits to the number out there!

Canada Line roundup: more pics + video, and Waterfront Station opening info

Sea Island Station at sunset on opening day. Photo by Rob Chew.

There are many tidbits about Canada Line coming in today, so I thought I would put them together in one big post.

More photos and video

As the Canada Line continues on, more photos and video are being sent in. Here’s a small gallery from Ron Higgs, and one from Rvie. CTV BC also has a gallery.

Rvie also sent along a musical Canada Line montage video and a video of the North Arm Bridge. There’s also a neat HD video at John Chow’s blog, where he interviews people in the long Waterfront lineup!

And here’s my Flickr pictures from the opening: this is the opening ceremony, and here’s some randoms from opening day.

I’ll add these links to the main photo and video post and the first ride/opening day stories post.

Waterfront Station opening (and Sunday closing) info

The view up the escalator to the Waterfront Station entrance at Hastings and Granville.

Here’s another piece of handy info for early-morning/late-night Canada Line riders accessing Waterfront Station.

While the first Canada Line train leaves Waterfront Station at 4:50 a.m., the main portion of Waterfront Station is closed until 5:30 a.m. (That’s the big red building off Cordova St and the foot of Granville).

So please use the Waterfront Station entrance on the street at Hastings and Granville if you need to ride the Canada Line before 5:30 a.m.!

Similarly, customers for late-night trains on Sundays will have to exit Waterfront Station via Hastings & Granville from 12:15 a.m. (Monday) until closing.

First official Canada Line service day numbers! Plus how to work the new ticket machines

It’s Canada Line’s first official service day!

So far, we’ve had 9,000 trips between 5 to 9:30 a.m., then up to 23,000 by 12:40 p.m. and 33,000 by 2:15 p.m. Our media relations guy Drew Snider says a lot of tourists and families were on board today. He also mentioned that we finished yesterday at just under 100,000 trips, according to ProTransBC public affairs manager Jason Chan!

Feel free to share your first ride experiences in this post, and check this other post for photos and video of opening day.

New Canada Line ticket machines: how to use debit or credit cards with them

Canada Line ticket vending machines: hold your credit or debit card in the slot!

We’ve been hearing that people are having trouble using their debit and credit cards with the new Canada Line ticket vending machines (TVMs), so here’s some info to help.

Canada Line TVMs are among the first in the region to accept debit and credit cards with a “chip” in them — a special computer chip for greater security which banking regulations will soon require all cards to carry.

What this means is that there’s a new “method” for using your credit or debit cards, even the ones that don’t have the chip.

On SkyTrain TVMs and other point-of-sale devices, you’re often required to insert the card into a slot and then remove it quickly. With the new system, you must insert the card, then hold until the amber light comes on beside the slot. You can also hear a “click”, as the card is accepted. Then the card has to be pulled out quickly!

Basically, the orange light indicates that the device knows a card has been inserted. The device then reads the card as it is being removed (swiped). However, if the card is left in for too long, the device “assumes” it’s an invalid card and rejects the transaction.

Eventually, these systems will replace the “old” systems throughout the financial world — including TransLink and its family of companies. Instructions on using the system are displayed on the TVMs, and a knowledgeable and helpful Canada Line Attendant is usually nearby to assist.

Photo and video of Canada Line opening day

A Canada Line train at Lansdowne Station on opening day. Photo by Dennis Tsang.

Whoosh — Canada Line’s opening day is over! And several readers have emailed in some terrific photos and video of the huge event for everyone to look at. Here’s a roundup:

Stories!

Check out the official opening day story post here. It’s picking up! Sungsu tells all about how he waited for 0 minutes during opening day :) And feel free to share your first ride experiences in that thread too, even if you didn’t ride on opening day.

Here’s some more blog posts from others about riding the Line: Regarding Place, the Vancouver LiveJournal community, Kim Werker, Stephen Rees, the Transport Politic, and John Chow’s blog, where he interviews people in the long Waterfront lineup in HD!

I’ll add these links to the main photo and video post and the first ride/opening day stories post.

Photos!

• Again, please take a look through two Flickr groups for many many Canada Line photos: the Canada Line group and the Vancouver Transit group!
• Here’s Adam’s Picasa gallery.
• CJ also sent in his Facebook photo gallery.
• Adrian also has a Picasa gallery.
• The Vancouver Sun also has a gallery up. Look for the crazy pic of the Waterfront lineups on the outdoor plaza!
• Here’s a small gallery from Ron Higgs.
• Here’s one from Rvie!
• Also, CTV BC has a gallery up.
• And here’s the Buzzer blog‘s Flickr pictures: this is the opening ceremony, and here’s some randoms from opening day.
• Tafyrn and Seamora Palecloud have opening day galleries of Waterfront Station, Marine Drive Station, and the North Arm Bridge.
• Lance has also sent along a Facebook gallery of photos.

Video!

Ok, here’s my YouTube playlist featuring all the videos sent in so far!

However I thought I’d also include a list of the videos, since some are not on YouTube and others might not like playlists.

Adrian
• A Canada Line train arrives at a station

Ivan
• Bikeway on Canada Line Bridge (technically this is from Aug 16, but I’ll allow it :)
• Langara 49th Avenue Station, with train pull in, departing, and on train towards Oakridge

Adam
• Crossing the North Arm bridge
• Under Vancouver
• Arriving at Waterfront
• Train leaving Vancouver City Centre
• Train ariving at Vancouver City Centre
• Heading inbound, arriving at Oakridge – 41st

CJ
• Scenes from YVR Station

vfk
• A time-lapse video: Canada Line in 90 seconds!

Send me more stuff

As always feel free to e-mail me with any other photo, video etc!

Canada Line opening: Yaletown, Vancouver City Centre, Broadway-City Hall

So as the subject line indicates, the tail end of my evening was spent at 3 stations.

I rode another busy train to Yaletown-Roundhouse, where I was promptly greeted by Matthew Laird and Karen Fung. (Short aside: I put a Buzzer into the as-yet empty Buzzer box on the train, and then someone took it!)

Anyway, Matthew had been lying in wait to get some Buzzer buttons, with which he was richly rewarded. We had a good chat about the day and how the Line will make for great easy access to the airport. I also took a photo of a lady dressed as a Waves coffee cup: a promotion timed to match the opening of the Line. Also, it’s someone dressed as a coffee cup, which is inherently awesome.

Then: to Vancouver City Centre at about 8 pm. I wanted to see how one of the busiest stations was faring, and it seemed to be that the lines were dissipating, probably owing to the line cutoff at 7. The staff there were incredibly upbeat and having a good time. Big crowds lead to great teamwork, I guess!

While I was there the trains heading northbound were ending: trains were only heading south. You could go to Richmond but you can’t come back! People were still giddily hopping on however, and I think they had some of the best ride experiences of the day. The trains were quite empty and there was a good feeling of serendipity to it—oh, I’ve just happened upon a station and now I get to scoot on and ride it. Lucky :)

Broadway-City Hall was my last stop, and boy, did that station have stampmania. In the last minutes of the station tent, an enormous number of people were still coming by and asking for stamps. Not that we weren’t willing to oblige, of course! But the TransLink station host sure did get an arm workout.

So the station closed and the celebration balloons were given away. A colleague said, “This was a surprisingly fun day!” A couple of people said they were definitely going to ride the Line tomorrow.

And I must say, all day the feeling on the line was euphoric. There were crowds, but people were patient and understanding, and just genuinely thrilled that this line was carrying them.

So thanks to everyone who came out: it was wonderful to have you meet your new rapid transit system. And starting tomorrow, it starts regular service! Enjoy!

PS: the preliminary trip count from our automatic passenger counters is 85,000. Not necessarily 85,000 people though: that is just how many entrances there were on the trains.

TRAIN TO YALETOWN

YALETOWN-ROUNDHOUSE

VANCOUVER CITY CENTRE

TRAIN TO BROADWAY

BROADWAY-CITY HALL