Bike to Work Week this spring is May 27 to June 2!
Step up and bike to work, school and everywhere in between during HUB Cycling’s Bike to Work Week, May 27 to June 2! Read more »
Tags: bike to work week, BTWW, cycle, HUB
All four buses for our battery-electric bus pilot are now here!
The two Nova Bus LFSe buses and two New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE buses are undergoing pre-delivery inspection at the manufacturer’s facilities.
Once they’re accepted by TransLink and Coast Mountain Bus Company, they’ll undergo additional testing, and fareboxes and radio equipment will be installed before entering service this summer.
The 2.5-year pilot will put battery-electric buses on route 100, traveling along Marine Drive through Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster. Read more »
Last Thursday, we launched Dine the Line to explore local eateries with three journeys, one for each Skytrain line. But no matter what kind of foodie you are, there’s a fun drink in town that has captured the hearts of many in our community.
Whether you are a novice drinker of boba milk tea or acquired an advanced taste of taro slush, bubble tea is the beverage that’s buzzing today on The Buzzer Blog! As a favorite beverage of many in Metro Vancouver, here are some by Skytrain stations that you can check out while you are venturing on your Dine the Line journey:
Surrey Central Station (Expo Line)
Chatime
Address: 10255 King George Blvd
Walking time: 4 minutes
Chatime is one of the few franchises in the lower mainland, and provides a wide variety of signature drinks, but also colourful toppings like rainbow jelly to add more fun to your drink.
Bubble 88
Address: Unit 102- 10209 King George Blvd
Walking Time: 4 minutes
If you or your friend are cramming for the summer semester, (we can hear your struggles SFU Surrey students) Bubble 88 offers a selection of Taiwanese dishes to accompany your drink. Take your tea and food to go at the same time!
Metrotown Station (Expo Line)
OneZo Tapioca
Address: 4929 Kingsway
Walking Time: 12 mins (but 5 mins with the 144 bus)
Boba pearls are the dark starchy balls at the bottom of most drinks, but OneZo makes their drinks more fun with colored and flavoured pearls! They also make them fresh in house everyday.
Stadium-Chinatown Station (Expo Line)
Shiny Tea – International Village
Address: Unit 2113 88 W Pender Street
Walking Time: 6 minutes
If you are a classic tea drinker, Shiny Tea is a bright spot that offers more traditional tastes in tea bases and tea-flavoured soft serve. Check out Daily Hive’s video on their tea-flavoured soft serve. (There is a shortcut if you get off the SkyTrain and head toward TransLink’s Lost Property Office to find an exit on the right.)
Lougheed Town Centre Station (Millennium Line)
CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice
Address: E-501 North Rd
Walking time: 5 minutes
Close to the Lougheed Town Center bus loop, Coco offers tropical yogurt-based drinks using Yakult, which adds more of a refreshing taste rather than creamy.
Lincoln Station (Millennium Line)
Bubble World
Address: Unit 120 – 2991 Lougheed Hwy
Walking Time: 3 mins
Another casual Taiwanese eatery, Bubble World offers a wide variety of bubbly and shaken beverages. Their menu also offers desserts to share with friends.
Vancouver City Centre Station (Canada Line)
The Alley
Address: 985 Hornby Street
Walking time: 8 minutes
A bit a farther than the others listed in this article, but still great for a power walk! The Alley recently opened, making themselves known for their colorful and photogenic drinks, but a bit more expensive than the others on the list.
Passion Tea Room
Address: 1020 Howe Street
Walking time: 8 minutes
Another power walk for tasty bubble tea: Passion Tea Room provides lots of specialty fruit slush, milk teas and ice tea blends for a hot summer day!
Richmond-Brighouse Station (Canada Line)
Gong Cha
Address: Unit 130 – 6068 No. 3 Road
Walking Time: 2 minutes
If you like cappuccinos, try out a drink with milk foam at Gong Cha! This place has the shortest walking time from a Skytrain station, so you might as well grab a waffle too.
How far will you go for boba? Let us know what your favourite drink and bubble tea place is in the comments below!
Winter is gone, and summer is coming! Aside from the season and unpredictable Vancity weather, the temperatures are changing too. We’re here to explain the variance of heat and AC you’ll encounter on your commutes and give tips on how you can make it a more comfortable experience too.
Temperature on the Bus
Buses that have joined the TransLink fleet since 2012 are climate controlled, so that means there’s air conditioning onboard! As we renew and expand our fleet, they’re making up a larger portion of our fleet. If you’re onboard a bus that has air conditioning, let’s keep those windows shut so the air conditioning can do its job.
As well, climate control means there are times when it seems that both the heating and cooling is on simultaneously. This is so the system can “dry” or dehumidify the air on a cold or humid day.
Temperature on SkyTrain
Over on SkyTrain, our Mark II and III trains both have cooling and heating systems.
Each car has a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit on its roof. It uses sensors that determine the outside air temperature versus the air inside the car, then that will follow an algorithm that helps maintain an optimal temperature for passengers.
Our Mark I trains only has a heating system, so over summer, pop those windows open to keep cool. There are also overhead fans that help with cooling too.
The SkyTrain operates admirably with a 95 per cent on-time performance, but from time to time, there are delays. It’s important to note that if your train is stopped in between stations or just outside a station, that you listen to the onboard announcements and check Transit Alerts. If you need to, open a window for ventilation and use the intercom to speak with SkyTrain Control. Not only is forcing doors open dangerous because the tracks carry live power, it can lengthen delays as a SkyTrain Attendant will need to respond to that individual train.
How to make your commute more comfortable
Planning ahead with Trip Planner is super helpful to know how much to bring with you and time that you take to commute. Do you have some breather room to take a break from the heat? Or wanting to explore cafes close by SkyTrain stations? (PS: we have another article coming up on that shortly.)
Everyone shares the public space on transit, so we can help each other make it a better commute together. When many people are on the bus at once during a hot day, please be mindful of personal hygiene and refrain from wearing scented products.
Water is always the best option to keep hydrated. While food and drink aren’t allowed on transit for cleanliness purposes and courtesy of others who may not tolerate food smells, water is an exception (if it has a lid). We’d like to provide caution about drinking on a moving vehicle, so it might be best to wait until you reach a bus stop for a quick drink.
If you are going to be transiting for most of the day, it’s best to plan your outfit that will be convenient for your commute. Wear clothing that is comfortable and an outer layer that will be easy to take off due to changing temperatures.
Lastly, we want to make sure that everyone will have a safe commute no matter where your destination is this summer. Let us know if you have any suggestions on how you keep yourself comfortable during your trip also in the comments below!
Foodies get ready for the next big food event: Dine the Line is a community-based initiative throughout the Metro Vancouver for you to explore our city and local culinary offerings within short walking distances from major transit stops!
As a partnership between TransLink, Tourism Vancouver and West Coast Foods, there are a total of three food journeys to choose from, one for each SkyTrain line and each with a unique cuisine. Check out your options below!
From sunrise to sunset, the landscape and scenery around the region brings a stunning display of beauty each and every day. As the days are getting lighter and trees are getting brighter, it’s reflected in the stunning shots that you share with us. #MyTransLink is an in transit themed photo series where Metro Vancouverites, neighbours and visitors alike to snap and share their favourite transit-related shots from around the region.
Each week we gain a new perspective of ever-changing landscape around Metro Vancouver.
So scroll on down, and check out the people, places and things featured in #MyTransLink.
Metro Vancouver is one of the most livable regions in the world, thanks to its history of delivering on transportation plans. Over the past 30 years, improvements to transit, roads, and walking and cycling have created more options for getting around. These improvements have also supported the economy by promoting the efficient and sustainable movement of people and goods.
As we continue to address the region’s most pressing issues, we need to prepare for what the future may bring. The region is facing real challenges today, such as rising unaffordability, congestion, and crowding on transit.
Today, we’re launching the first phase of public engagement for our 30-year regional transportation strategy, Transport 2050.
Transport 2050 will be a blueprint for the future of transportation in Metro Vancouver, setting out the region’s transportation vision, strategies and priorities between now and 2050.
Shape the future of how we move — and live — at transport2050.ca. Join the conversation online using the hashtag #Transport2050.
On April 25, we held our latest talk as part of TransLink Tomorrow’s The Future of Mobility speaker series. We welcomed industry, academia and policymakers for a talk on shared micro-mobility. Shared micro-mobility refers to any small, human or electric-powered transportation solution such as bikes, e-bikes, scooters, e-scooters or any other small, lightweight vehicle that is being used as a shared resource between multiple users.
Thank you to everyone who attended! Missed it? Watch the archived Periscope livestream above.
Andy Warhol said it best –
Truer words could not be spoken about transit photography. Each week, we ask Metro Vancouver residents, neighbours and visitors alike to snap and share their favourite transit-related shots from around the region. Each week we gain a new perspective of ever-changing landscape around Metro Vancouver.
So scroll on down, and check out the people, places and things featured in #MyTransLink.
The BMO Vancouver Marathon takes place on Sunday, May 5. (Photo: BMO Vancouver Marathon)
The BMO Vancouver Marathon takes place this Sunday, May 5 and we want you to take transit to get there!
We’ll be operating shuttle buses from our SkyTrain stations to get you there. They will operate from Scott Road, Brentwood Town Centre, Patterson and Lougheed Town Centre stations, and Lonsdale Quay. Buses will arrive in time for the start of the half and full marathons.
To secure your spot, sign up for the shuttle buses at bmovanmarathon.ca/shuttle (space permitting). Registration closes on Wednesday, May 1 at 11:30 p.m. Sign-up may also be available at the expo on May 3 and 4 if space permits.
There will also be a number of bus reroutes in place due to road closures. Service on the following bus routes will be modified: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 33, 41, 49, 68, 70, 84, 99, 210, 211, 240 and 246.
SkyTrain will operate regular Sunday/holiday service.
For transit service information including bus re-routes during race,
sign up for Transit Alerts at translink.ca/alerts, visit translink.ca,
follow @TransLink or call 604.953.3333.
Transit ridership is on the rise again, in fact, 2018 saw a 7.1 per cent system-wide increase in boardings over 2017 (our biggest annual increase ever!) which brings us to record 437.4 million!
The 2018 Transit Service Performance Review (TSPR) measures ridership, cost, reliability, on-time performance and crowding across all transit modes. The findings are an important planning tool that help inform upcoming service change requirements and identify other opportunities to improve service for our customers.
SkyTrain ridership alone was up 5.7 per cent in 2018, rising to 160.0 million annual boardings. The Expo and Millennium Lines together had 111.3 million annual boardings (5.9% increase) and the Canada Line had 48.7 million annual boardings (5.3% increase).
That’s a lot of people Metro Vancouver!
We’ve compiled a list of the Top 10 Busiest SkyTrain stations around the region.
A customer uses a push strip to request a stop onboard a bus in Boston. (Photo: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority)
Part of the bus-riding experiencing is requesting a stop.
On our buses, there are two ways to do this: pulling the cord that runs along the windows or pressing the “Stop” button on the poles in the aisle.
If you’ve been to other cities like Boston, you might have used a push strip to request a stop on a bus.
Everyone has a favourite, and we’re curious — what do you prefer? Vote in our poll below.
If you’ve used a push strip before, do you prefer it over the pull chord and button? Let us know in the comments section!
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What's your preferred way to request a stop on a bus?
Total Voters: 128 |
Tags: Bus stop
Region-wide transit use hit another all-time high in 2018 with a 7.1 percent system-wide increase in overall boardings, our biggest ever annual increase!
It’s a well-known fact that Metro Vancouver residents and visitors alike are flocking to the bus system bringing an unprecedented eight per cent growth in annual bus ridership.
We’ve compiled a list of the Top 10 busiest bus routes in Metro Vancouver.
Just like the sun, we’re back with another edition of #MyTransLink. Our weekly curated photo series featuring the best shots in and around transit by YOU – our dedicated team of transit users, photographers and neighbours.
Scroll down to check out the week that was!
We’re welcoming spring with the latest edition of The Buzzer.
