I Love Transit Week 2011: photos, models, testimonials, a haiku and more!

It’s I Love Transit Week (July 11-15). All this week, I’m devoting the blog to why we love transit! This week is also special because of I Love Transit Night on Thursday, July 14!

One of the most striking discoveries I’ve made since I’ve taken over the reigns as editor for the Buzzer is the passion people have for different modes of public transit. Transit enthusiasts show their love in many creative ways, and that certainly includes Buzzer Blog! Here’s a sampling of submissions I’ve received for I Love Transit Week.:

An I love transit haiku by Barbara-Anne Eddy

Every night and day,
Everywhere you need to go,
Transit takes you there.

Classic transit Reva G certainly has an eye for an image. She took these beautiful shots in the central Kootenay. Thanks Reva! Check out more photos here! An old BC Transit Brill trolley bus in Sandon, BC
Check out the old Buzzer holder!	The swinging peanut door!

Lego articulated bus and photo by Daniel Nguyen

An articulated SoundTransit bus by TransLink fan Daniel Nguyen

Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain Station at dawn

What can’t you make with Lego, paper and some creativity? I’d love to see a B-Line immortalized in Lego! Daniel also took this pretty picture of Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain Station (the stop to get off for I Love Transit Night!), which can be found on his blog Translinkfan pictures.

Why Richard loves transit

Richard is a devotee of transit. To say taking a bus or SkyTrain is his preferred mode of transportation is an understatement. He wrote a little something for I Love Transit Week that shows how central transit is to many of our lives. Richard also has some great photos of buses, trains and his model SkyTrain set! Check them out here.

I love transit because I am one of those so-called transit enthusiasts. I have liked transit since high school, and whenever I have time I would take transit around the Lower Mainland just for fun.

Everywhere I go, I use transit. If someone offers to give me a ride somewhere I want to go, I would always reject the ride because I just have to use transit. When I go on vacation, I always travel around on transit rather than taxi.

I have a collection of transit items ranging from the classic paper tickets/transfers to transit pins of all sorts. Many of the items I will be bringing to I Love Transit Night. Bus drivers that I consider my friends also look for transit-related items for me to add to my collection. I even have a toy train set, which actually runs, that I have modified to look like our Mk 1, Mk 2 and Canada Line trains, which I will be bringing to I Love Transit Night,

I also love transit as I find it more convenient than driving. I also find that using transit is a lot faster than driving, no matter where I have to go.

I travel around the Lower Mainland with my camera whenever I have time, taking pictures of the buses. My plan is to take a picture of every single one of the buses in the Lower Mainland, and by every single one, I don’t mean just one of each model but the entire fleet from that model year. I know exactly what model year each bus is just by looking at the vehicle number on the bus.

Maverick’s paper models

Maverick does these great archival paper models of transit. Here’s a prototype of the SkyTrain! Why not down one and make your own prototype SkyTrain model. Maverick has been gracious enough to supply a white one and a grey one!

I Love Transit Week 2011: why Gordon Price loves transit

It’s I Love Transit Week July 11-15. All this week, I’m devoting the blog to why we love transit! This week is also special because of I Love Transit Night on Thursday July 14!

If you’ve ever read Price Tags, you’d know blogger (and oh so much more) Gordon Price as an intelligent and engaging writer. Having worn many hats in the past, Gordon knows a lot about civic politics, architecture, business and pretty much any topic that relates to the livability of cities and regions. Here, Gordon writes why he loves transit and a whole lot more!

Why do I love transit?

Quality time.

Just a chance for me and the object of my affection to spend intimate moments together, uninterrupted by the distractions of home, office and other people.

By object of affection, I mean, of course, my smart phone. Or my tablet. Or my media player. Or, yes, even my book.

My travel time is far too valuable to waste actually driving. Talk about distracting. I don’t know about you, but I find when driving that I actually have to pay attention to stuff. Like other vehicles. And stop signs. And even cyclists.

I’d much prefer to concentrate on that little glowing screen. Or plug in my ear buds to achieve a zen state of oneness that comes even when completely surrounded by other people, many of whom also have little white cords coming out of their ears.

Plugged in commuters

I did a quick survey on the Canada Line the other day. About 30 to 40 percent were plugged in – sometimes more, depending on the time of day. (Commuters at rush hour are more likely to have defined their routines. My regular route includes the No. 19, Stanley Park – and people on that trolley actually look out the windows with a first-time curiosity.)

More evidence of social isolation, critics say, leading to the alienation of contemporary society, blah, blah. Not so much. Indeed, in Vancouver, transit is one place where we get a pretty good sense of who we are as a community. In the city of no visible majority, our commons is our trolley bus, our B-line, our SkyTrain. We are all passengers on the way.

When we’re in our cars, on the other hand, we don’t have the same sense of the collective. Sometimes not even of each other, given that we can’t easily engage in eye contact – the way we assess each other’s humanity.

For some, that inability to select who you want to share space with is a turn-off – and why they prefer the privacy of their cars. But for me, I like the people-watching, the serendipity of the mix, the human comedy on wheels. So long as I have the option to turn to my screen and immerse myself in a downloaded book.

Transit, I’d argue, is also how we learn the elemental social rituals so critical to the functioning of urban society. How a culture shares crowded space is a pretty good indicator of its civility. (Insert complaint here about how little we seem to have learned.)

That’s what made the Olympics work. Why we can move a quarter million people in and out of downtown for the fireworks. And why even during those rather unfortunate incidents after Game 7 it was transit that kept functioning. We knew how to get along to get away.

Not like the old days, I hear someone from the back row say, when people were more polite and the young ‘uns gave up their seats for the old and the lame. I’m not so sure about that either. A few years ago, I noticed that people, when exiting, would shout out a ‘thanks’ to the bus driver. I have no explanation for why it started, just that for some reason people decided this gesture of civility seemed appropriate.

Oh yes, I’m familiar with the stories of more drivers being assaulted, and I know everyone has a story of craziness. (Insert example here.) And how it depends on when and where and what route you take. But I have a hunch that may be offset by so many more different kinds of people using transit these days. Like the guys in the ties.

Wheeled luggage is the 20th century's gift to transportation

Margaret Thatcher is reputed to have said (though she probably didn’t): “A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.” The quote survives because the sentiment has been so generally shared by the decision-makers in our society who decide where the resources get allocated. Not surprisingly, there has been for several generations a bias to providing a lot of free road space, and a tendency to see transit as a social service.

But as transportation thinker Todd Litman noted, there’s at least one reason why that’s changed: “The only significant new mode of transportation to develop so far this century,” he said, “has been wheeled luggage.”

Yup, wheeled luggage – because of which the frequently flying CEOs are more inclined to wheel their way from home or work to the first-class lounge by taking the bus and train to get there.

Travel time can be productive time

And thanks to all those wireless devices, she or he can not only spend that time productively, but the information needed to determine the route to take, and the connection to make, and the time and the cost – all that comes with a click or two on the same little device.

Compare that with the undependability of driving due to congestion, not to mention the cost of parking, and it’s easy to see why the latest proselytizers for transit can be found in the executive suites. And why resources follow. And why once when the more affluent municipalities were determined to keep transit out of their communities, they now line up to get on the priority list.

As reliability and frequency increase, and as social acceptance of transit broadens, there are more people and more different kinds of people sharing the same space with glowing screens and white cords.

So given a choice between a faster trip driving and a slower trip on transit, I’ll take the latter, so long as (a) it’s not too much slower; and (b) I can read or listen. If I can plan the length of my commute with accuracy and dependability, then time spent moving productively is more valuable than time spent moving quickly.

And, darn it, sometimes transit is faster – too fast. I just missed my stop because I was lost in the glow of the little screen and the lure of the white cord.

A Bus for I Love Transit Night!

Happy I Love Transit Week, everyone! I hinted that we would be getting a bus this year for I Love Transit Night, and now I can happily say that it’s true! Yup, there will be a bus (not just any bus either) available to us to use this Thursday for fun, games and travel. Now, I tried my best to get the New Flyer Xcelsior, but that wasn’t possible this year (sorry Ben Lam). I did, however, managed to get a pretty cool bus.

A New Flyer articulated hybrid bus

Yup, we got the big boy this year! Here are the stats for you bus enthusiasts:

Make: New Flyer
Model: DE60LFR
Quantity in fleet: 39 (all currently operating in Burnaby primarily)
Year: 2009
Length: 61′ (18.6 m)
Seats: 48
Total Capacity: 115
Curb Weight: 20,400kg (44,774 lbs)
Front Axle: 4,200kg (9,259 lbs)
Middle Axle: 5,770kg (12,721 lbs)
Rear Axle: 10,430kg (22,994 lbs)
Characteristics: All floor articulated, wheelchair (1 forward, 1 rear), Cummins ISL Engine/Allison EV50 Hybrid drive, diesel particulate filter.

Take a ride to the meet up

If you’d like to take a ride on the bus to the event, meet me at the Metrotown bus loop at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 14. The bus will leave at 5:45 p.m., so don’t be late! I’ll hold a sign up so you can find us!

Remember to send me an RSVP for I Love Transit Night

If you are planning to come to I Love Transit Night at the Bamboo Cafe outside of the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain Station, please RSVP to thebuzzer@translink.ca so I can get a good idea of how many people are coming.

I’ll see you on the bus or at the Bamboo!

I Love Transit Week t-shirt contest

Well, I Love Transit Week is almost here! To commemorate the occasion, I had the artist from the June Buzzer, Chris von Szombathy, draw up a new logo for the week. I think he did a great job! I’ve just put in the order to have t-shirts made with his logo.

Limited edition I Love Transit t-shirt contest

Two deserving people could win this limited edition t-shirt! I’ve received a bunch of great photos and a few stories for I Love Transit Week so far. Now I’m looking for more entries, and two of them can win this prize! Now for the rules.

Contest rules

• Submit a story of 400 words or less about why you love transit. For example, last year we had a great story about two people who met each other on transit. If you a have story like that, you’ll for sure be in the running!
• Submit some audio or video. If you have a song, a video or some other visual or audio submission for I love transit week, that would be fantastic!
• Submit a drawing. Maybe you fancy yourself an artist and want to submit a photo of your velvet painting of a SeaBus. Maybe you’re an illustrator and have a drawing of a SkyTrain station. Or maybe your child is a budding Jackson Pollock, and you think his/her image best represents a love of transit.
• Submit something I haven’t even thought of yet!

Whatever you submit, it needs to be emailed to thebuzzer@translink.ca no later than midnight on July 13, 2011. I’ll be choosing the two winner based on creativity and storytelling. The two winners will not only be mailed their t-shirt (or hand delivered at I Love Transit Night by yours truly), I’ll feature the entry on the blog post on the final day of I Love Transit Week, July 15, and possibly have the entries in the August edition of the Buzzer newsletter! Please note that already submitted I Love Transit Week submissions will also be entered into the contest. And if you’re really ambitious and creative, you can enter more than once!

I’ve seen how creative many of you have been in the past, so I’m expecting some exciting stuff! Good luck, everyone!

Regional Cycling Strategy

As the planners and managers of the transportation system on the South Coast, TransLink is involved with many modes of transportation. Most people know us as operators of buses (including community shuttles), SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express. What many people don’t know about TransLink is that we’re also responsible for AirCare, Intelligent Transportation Systems programs, the Major Road Network and cycling and commuter options.

As the South Coast of British Columbia continues to become more populated, more emphasis is being placed on alternatives to single-person automobiles. TransLink and various stakeholders from across Metro Vancouver have coordinated actions for governments and agencies at all levels, the private sector and community organizations resulting in the Regional Cycling Strategy.

This plan is aimed at greatly increasing trips by cycling, transit and walking by creating a fully integrated, multi-modal transportation network over the next 30 years. Together with our partners, the strategy aims to make Metro Vancouver known around the world by 2040 as a place where cycling is a reliable and common form of transportation. This aim has two main goals:

Goal 1: More Cycling
More people cycle more often so that, by 2040, 15% of all trips less than 8km are made by bicycle.

Goal 2: Safer Cycling
Cycling feels safer so that, by 2040, 50% of all cycling trips are made by females. Cycling is safer so that, by 2040, 50% fewer people are killed or seriously injured while cycling.

The RCS came about as a result of background studies and three workshops with over 100 stakeholders. The RCS is also tied into the goals of Transport 2040 and the Seville Charter. It will most certainly be a topic of interest at Velo-City 2012, which will be held in Vancouver next year.

So now that the RCS is available for everyone to read, I’m wondering what people think about the aim of the strategy and goals that will get us there. Leave you comments about it. If (as I assume to be true) we’d all like to see more people cycling, walking and taking transit, then constructive comments about how to achieve that can hopefully get us there!

Upgrades to Surrey Transit Centre

Yesterday was a big day for the Surrey Transit Centre. It was the commemorating ceremony for two new facilities that will greatly upgrade and benefit transit operations in Surrey. I attended the event as an excuse to see the new digs and the centre itself.

The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec; Dave S. Hayer, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Tynehead, and Doug Kelsey, TransLink’s Chief Operating Officer joined Coast Mountain Bus Company employees, reporters and bloggers to officially open the newly expanded centre. The Federal and Provincial government provided $4.6 million dollars while TransLink paid for the remainder of the $12.7 million upgrade project.

New refueling facility

To start off the event, a bus drove through a ribbon of paper in the new refueling facility. The fueling facility can fill up to three buses at a time including 60-foot buses. One of the plans for the future of transit in Surrey is the King George B-Line, which would require 60-foot articulated buses. This new facility will allow for longer buses in Surrey as there would be a place to service them.

State-of-the-art bus wash facility

I spoke with Justin Pedley, Project Manager of Project Management for the Engineering & Project Services Group with TransLink, about the new wash facility. He told me that at the end of every day, each bus in Surrey gets washed. Justin went on to say,

“The old wash facility could only clean standard buses. With the new facility, you cannot only clean community shuttles but articulated buses as well. It has sensors that change the width of the wash to suit the bus, so it’s very versatile. As well, it reclaims 80 percent of the water it uses. It continuously reclaims water… Water gets washed, it goes through a system that filters out the hard particles, cleans it a little bit, then sends it back out to be washed.”

Expanded and improved bus maintenance facility

Like the other two building, this facility is equipped to handle larger buses and has specialized tools, including new hoists, to accommodate them.

Before the upgrades, the Surrey Transit Centre could house and work on 187, 40-foot buses. Now, with the new upgrades, the facility can handle 300 buses. With Surrey set to eclipse the population of Vancouver by 2040, these upgrades will help deal with the increase in transit demand in the future.

Here’s some more info on the upgrades if you’re interested. Having only had a short visit at the centre, I think I’ll return for a proper one. If any you would also like to get a tour of the facility, I’m game to setting a date and a time in the future to do so!

Keep your eyes peeled for president & general manager of BCRTC Fred Cummings on SkyTrain – July 6, 2011

If you’re on the system Wednesday morning, come talk with BCRTC president & general manager, Fred Cummings! That’s right. Fred will be talking and answering questions and asking for feedback.

This is another installment of a newish project we’ve been running where we send our executives out into the system in an official capacity. Fred, like our other executives, rides and knows the system, but Wednesday is about proactively talking to customers.

Fred will be on the Expo and Millennium Lines just after 9 a.m., stopping at the Commercial-Broadway and Lougheed Town Centre Stations along the way. You’re invited to submit questions in advance via the blog here! (Edit: You can also leave a comment on our Facebook page.)

On Wednesday, you can follow Fred on his trip via our Twitter feed. Erin McConnell, our manager of corporate communications, will be tweeting about Fred’s ride periodically. During his trip, you can send in questions to our TransLink Twitter feed.

As before, feel free to offer your feedback on this initiative as it unfolds. We want to hear your thoughts on this project and how we can make it better.

Reminder: Call for Submissions for I Love Transit Week, July 11 – 15

It’s Monday, and that means it’s only a week until I Love Transit Week! This is my first time organizing the event, which includes I Love Transit Night on July 14. The night is coming along, and submissions for I Love Transit Week are also slowly popping into my Buzzer email inbox.

To recap, I Love Transit week is one week out of the year where we can celebrate what we love about transit! Every day next week I’ll be posting your photos, stories, videos, podcasts, songs, poetry or whatever you feel like creating for the blog that shows your love of transit. I’ll also be freeing up room in the August Buzzer newsletter to reprint submissions!

All you need to do is send your submission to thebuzzer@translink.ca (feel free to email me any questions you have) no later than July 10 (I extended the deadline a few days), and I’ll try my best to post it on the blog and possibly in the newsletter.

I’ll have more announcements about I Love Transit Week this week, so make sure to check back to the blog periodically before next week. And send in those submissions! You have seven days left to spread your love with fellow transit lovers.

Canada Day transit service, Fri July 1

Wow, it’s Canada Day tomorrow! This means a different transit schedule for the day. It’s more like a a slightly modified Sunday/Holiday schedule to accommodate the celebrations. Myself, I’m looking forward to the fireworks above the Burrard Inlet! Here’s what’s going on transit wise on Canada Day:

Buses will be running a Sunday schedule, with late night trips added on routes 319, 320 and 321 to connect with the last train at Waterfront Station.

SeaBus will run a Sunday schedule, but with a 15-minute evening frequency, and will extend service with a last sailing from Waterfront Station at 1:22 a.m.

SkyTrain will operate on a Saturday schedule, with augmented service through the day and evening.

No West Coast Express servicewill be running on July 1.

And service will return to the regular weekday schedules on Saturday, July 2.

Have a safe and fun Canada Day everyone!

I Love Transit Night!

After much searching, we’ve found a venue for I Love Transit Night! This year, it will be on July 14 at Bamboo Cafe across the street from the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain station. It’s a laid back place that’s popular in the community and ideal for fun transit games and mingling for the like-minded.

The night is part of I Love Transit Week taking place July 11-15! This is a week to celebrate what we love about transit.

There will be some food (you’ll be responsible for your own drinks), fun, games and prizes during I Love Transit Night. Transit fans of all ages are welcome, and we expect to have a bus on hand to play games (more on that very soon). Tell your friends. It’s going to be great! Here’s the info:

I Love Transit Night: Bamboo Cafe, Vancouver

Come join us from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday July 14!

Edit: If you’d like to take a free bus trip to the event from Metrotown Station leaving around 5:30 p.m., see all the details here!

Bamboo Cafe is located at 5103 Joyce Street, across the street from the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain Station on the Expo/Millennium Line. Here’s a Google Map for directions!

We’ll provide the food, and you’ll be responsible for your own drinks. I’m organizing games with will start shortly after 6 p.m. Some TransLink staff from different department will be joining me so come on by and have some fun and food with us!

Send in an RSVP!

If you are planning on coming, please send me your RSVP so I can get a good idea of the numbers. It’ll help with ordering food as well.

TransLink Events Calendar

In our discussions regarding our new mobile site a reoccurring comment is to make it simple to use. Many of us lead busy lives, and we can use any help we can get to streamline them. Our hope with this blog is to provide you with an easily digestible, informative and fun way to learn about all things transit in Metro Vancouver (and beyond sometimes).

Keeping in the spirit of simplicity and making sure the public is informed of TransLink activities, the TransLink Events Calendar was created. The idea is to put all TransLink-related events like meetings, promotions, schedule changes, transit training, public consultation and community outreach in one place. Not a bad idea, huh!

Moving forward, there will be more events added to the calendar including I Love Transit Night, which will be added to the calendar this week! This is something new for TransLink, so I’ll be passing on your feedback on the content, layout or anything else about this calendar you think could make it better!

The results of the June future mobile site Friday fun poll

The early June Friday fun poll sought answers on how you want your real-time information on the new mobile site. One hundred eighty-four (184) of you responded to the poll, which shows how much interest there is on this subject matter! Here’s how you responded to the poll questions:

We presented three ways the future mobile site could provide you with information on your trip. You can get real-time information by: (1) bus stop, (2) route or (3) by the location of the user. Not surprisingly, only 14 people or 8% of those who participated in the poll said “No” to this third option.

The next question we asked was how to display the information itself when it comes to differentiating between scheduled times and actual times. Most of you (133 or 74%) said colours were the way to go. Only 47 people (26%) said a symbol was the best way to differentiate between the two times.

There were a lot of great comments about this question like these:

Brad

“In regards to  Question 2, colours are usually difficult to use from a usability standpoint. People have various forms of colour-blindness, so using colours for some sort of important information usually leaves these people in the lurch.

Further, you have to take the devices people will be using into account. On my iPhone, colours get washed out in bright sunlight. Bright sunlight might be a concern in Vancouver if it ever comes!

Using some other means to differentiate between real-time and scheduled times would be better than using colours. Italicized fonts, or the suggested asterisk.”

Cliff

“Why not both? Either use both colours and symbols or have an option to switch between them. You could even go as far as having the user select which colours they want to use (as there are many different types of colour-blindness).

When push comes to shove, however, and only one option must be selected, colour is my preference.”

Tim Choi

“Another option is what Seoul does – say WHERE the next bus is (name of the last stop it was at) rather the estimated time of arrival.”

The third and last question the poll asked was on the frequency of how often the site will update information. I was a little surprised by the results. I knew updating once a minute would win against updating once every couple of minutes, but in our fast-paced world, I didn’t think that as many as 80 people (43%) would think that updating every two minutes was good enough. In total, 104 (57%) thought once a minute was the best way to go.

Thanks to all of you who completed the poll. As many of you know, we’re changing our mobile site with the goal of getting a new and improved version up and running by the end of this summer. Keep your eyes on this blog for updates on the progress of the site and more opportunities for feedback. Our mobile team has been very interested in your feedback and in reading all of your comments, so keep them coming!

Viva Vancouver

Remember Robson Street during the 2010 Winter Olympics? Or maybe you’ve visited the numerous car-free streets of Strøget, Copenhagen, Denmark or the Cinque Terre in the Liguria region of Italy. These are all examples of streets not used for cars but for pedestrians, festivities and just hanging out. The City of Vancouver has been experimenting with shutting down streets for community purposes since 2009, and starting this weekend through to the end of the summer, you’re going to see a lot more of it.

Viva Vancouver is the department of The City of Vancouver mandated to:

• Create a variety of public spaces for a mix of engaging activities and sojourning
• Increase neighbourhood livability benefiting residents, businesses, community groups and visitors
• Encourage sustainable and active transportation by creating more safe and interesting spaces for walking and cycling

There’s a long list of events they have planned in different communities in Vancouver starting this weekend on Granville Street. Actually, Granville between Hastings and Smithe will be closed every weekend this summer. Here’s exactly when events will be going on there:

Fridays after 9 p.m.

All day Saturdays/Sundays/holidays

All day Friday, July 15 and Friday, August 19

As noted in the June service changes, buses on Granville Street are being rerouted during Viva Vancouver event times.

Besides Granville Street, there are smaller events in other areas of the city like the Livable Laneway project on Main Street, a community artists plaza on Cambie Street and much more. Check out the spaces and activities section of the Viva Vancouver website for all the info.

I spoke with one of the coordinators of the events, Daniel Fortin, to find out more about Viva Vancouver.

How long has Viva Vancouver been in existence?

The brand was launched this summer. In 2009, there were summer spaces. And then there was the Olympic Pedestrian Corridors and Rediscover Granville in 2010. Viva Vancouver is sort of an amalgamation of these precursors with an aim to do this sort of thing into the future.

How many people work for Viva Vancouver?

There are five of us, although we draw on other City workers from other departments since there’s a lot of work to do.

Where does the money come from to pay for Viva Vancouver?

The money comes from a grant from the Vancouver 125 celebration, and the rest is funded through the city. If we’re unable to meet all of the requests, the community groups we work with will often come up with the money through fundraising and other means.

You’ve never shut down Granville Street for so many consecutive weekends before. Is there a challenge in doing this?

There are logistical challenges like if we should leave barricades in place over night. And then there’s getting into people’s minds that every weekend this summer will see the street shut down. Hopefully, people will get used to it by the end of the summer.

In light of what happened on and around Granville Street after the Stanley Cup playoffs, will you be doing anything different with your plans to shut off the street?

Myself and fellow staff were on Granville the day after cleaning the street up. We don’t see these events as related since we believe there’s a different spirit behind them.

Why not just permanently close Granville Street?

Because Granville is a destination spot, there are things like transit and private businesses that service it. Some businesses want vehicle access. However, closing down Granville Street permanently is something to look into in the future, and there’s a lot of public support for that idea.

I noticed you’re converting some alley ways (a.k.a. lanes) and parking stalls into event locations. How did you decide which spaces to chose, and will the same ones be chosen in the future?

None of the concepts come directly from the City. Rather, we put out a call for ideas in December, and from those applications, we decided which ones to go forward with. We were looking for areas of the city that have fewer parks than other parts of the city. We also looked for residential streets just off of main streets. We worked with these community groups to make sure locations they chose were suitable. We had to make a few tweaks in some cases, but we tried as best as we could to stay true to the original ideas.

When the end of the summer comes, how will you measure success?

The big thing that we’re focused on is not the number of events we have, but how they were received. We won’t be looking just at how many people show up to these events. We want to make sure they are of good quality. We’re actually doing two or three baseline studies on Granville Street and incorporating behavioural mapping to decide if they were a success or not. Stuff like if people are stopping at the event or just walking through it.

Will this happen every summer?

Yes, we’re hopeful that it will. We’re looking at hopefully doing more each year and that there is more community interest every year.

Thanks Daniel!

It goes without saying, that with street closures and special events like these, finding a place to park your car in Vancouver will be that much more difficult. So taking public transit is probably not a bad idea. It will be interesting to see how the change in traffic and transit service will go over with the public. How do you feel about changing transit service to accommodate Viva Vancouver and their impressive list of events this summer?

Links and Tidbits for June 22, 2011

It’s officially summer, everyone! And what better way to spend the day than to stay indoors huddled over your desktop reading the latest edition of links and tidbits! Luckily, computer scientists and loads of other smart people have invented laptops, smart phones and tablets to enjoy all the internet has to offer in the great outdoors. ;) Enjoy!

inter // states from Samuel Cockedey on Vimeo
Take a time out and watch how transit is the arteries of the body known as Tokyo, Japan. I’m a sucker for time-elapse video, and electronic music seems to go so well with a futuristic-looking Japan at night!

• The old debate: should the train seats or aisles be wider?
• Are cyclists rude in Toronto? Some think so; others believe the opposite.
• Are low-speed electric vehicles the next big thing?
• Or are they the segway of the new decade?
• You think Metro Vancouver is warm today! Try Atlanta for being artfully hot.
• Have you ever seen that certain someone on transit and wondered how to make the first move?
• Luckily, this transit rider has done the How to Flirt on Public Transit work for you!
• Does this plan for Chicago’s transportation future sound like some place you know? Thanks Price Tags for pointing out this article.
• A man rides a Big Wheel beside a MTA bus in New York City to see which is faster. Don’t follow this guy’s lead, but the video is amusing.
• A nice video of car-free streets in Copenhagen courtesy of Brandon and his blog Masters Planning.
• Do you think more streets like these would work in Metro Vancouver?
• A fantastic print from TransLink predecessor, BC Electric. In these tight economic times, Chicago is making a move to privatize public transit.
• What will Calgary name their smart card? An interesting use of LEGO to illustrate planning a city around transportation.
• Minneapolis’ new director of transit development wants to improve transportation by not expanding transit (go to the downtown section and see “An advocate for density”) but by attracting more people to the city core. Is this a case of if we don’t build it, they will come?
• The annual Dump the Pump Day was last Thursday. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and numerous local transportation authorities participated in this event aimed at getting more people out of cars and into public transit.
• A photo of mass transit you’ve probably never seen before.
• Vancouver has at least one, and Surrey is planning on more in the future, but Montreal and Quebec City seem to be leading the pack with 100 electric car-charging stations ready and operational by next year.
• Probably one of the best illustrations of how not to commute in a busy downtown area. 3-Way Street is a fascinating video by Ron Gabriel that highlights bad interactions between cars, bikes and pedestrians at a typical NYC street intersection.
• Are buildings that open up to transit a thing of value or an open call to attract “riff raff”?
• Here is an announcement of a future hydrogen liquefaction plant in North Vancouver that will produce 1200 kg/day of liquid hydrogen – enough to fuel a fleet of over 1,500 passenger fuel cell vehicles or 50 transit busses each day. Mmmm, the possibilities!

Call for submissions: I Love Transit Week, July 11-15

The third annual I Love Transit Week is just around the corner. The week is July 11-15, 2011!

What is I Love Transit Week?

There are many things that we love about transit, so let’s celebrate it one week a year!

As in the past couple of years, I’d like to put out a call for submissions. During I Love Transit Week, the Buzzer blog will showcase your work. You can send in essays, photos, songs, videos, podcasts, discussion posts, drawings or pretty much anything that shows why you love transit. I’ll also put as much of this great work as possible into the August Buzzer!

The deadline for your submissions is Thursday, July 7 Sunday, July 10. I’m really open to creativity and different types of content (poetry, rap, performance art, whatever). You can also email me at thebuzzer@translink.ca with your idea if you have some questions or want some feedback. Please do have a look at last year’s posts to see what others have done.

Also, if you’re wondering, we will have an I Love Transit Night again this year. This anticipated night is a live meetup of all ages who want to have some fun celebrating transit. Stay tuned for the location and date!