Thanks to everyone on the Canada Line tour today!
July 24, 2009
Thanks to everyone on the Canada Line tour today!
July 24, 2009
Here’s our full group of 9 at Waterfront station this morning — thanks to everyone who came along on the Canada Line tour, it was great meeting you all!
Everyone took photos and video, so I’ll have some links for you on this page once everybody gets back to me. I should mention that we did end up going to both Richmond-Brighouse and YVR, so there will be photos from the whole length of the line!
In the meantime, you might recognize Rebecca from Miss604 and Bob K from VancouverIsAwesome at far right, so you can definitely check in with their sites to see if they have coverage over the next little while. Both sites are great, so you should just check them out in general anyway :)
Edit:
- Bob K’s Canada Line post can be found over here!
He will be also doing a video post about the tour in the near future after he gets some time to edit it all up. Here’s Bob’s video from the tour. - Rebecca’s post at Miss604 can be found here. She also has a full set of photos over at her Flickr page!
- Kai has posted his photos in a set on Flickr!
- Jennifer’s photos are over at Flickr too!
- Bryan has video up at YouTube: here’s part 1 and part 2. And here’s his photo gallery!
- And here’s more photos from “SFUVancouver” over at Skyscraper Page forums. (Which person were you, SFUVancouver?)
Looking forward to the official opening of the Canada Line!!
Just a quick question – why have the benches been removed from the majority of the bus stops? Any idea?
Actually, TransLink only owns the sign and the pole at almost all stops in Metro Vancouver. The shelters, benches and other stuff are under the control of the municipalities — so your city would be the one to ask about the benches.
Where are they all disappearing from btw? Somebody else asked me this on Twitter too, but I haven’t seen any disappear in Vancouver.
Wow, all of you very lucky people!
Any video from this event, Jhen? :)
Will there be another chance like this in the near future other than opening day??? Lol
Hopefully the line will be open when I come back from my vacation so I can take it from YVR :)
Are you talking about the Vancouver shelters? Some of them have disappeared due to vandalism I think… it’s not really safe to have the wooden slats on those new benches break. The benches also tend to have a somewhat poor weight capacity… they always bend with the additional weight of people on top.
Nick: Miss604 has a video in her post, and Bob’s promised some more video next week. I think others will have more video up over the next week or so, and I’ll update the post with those links then.
Allan, Jon: I just called the City of Vancouver to ask about the benches, and the rep on the line told me that the benches were recalled for the reasons Allan outlined. New benches are expected in the next 3-4 weeks. I’ve called CBS/Decaux to confirm that though. (That’s the company contracted to manage the bus shelters in Vancouver.)
CJ: I’ll keep an ear out to see if any other opportunities will arise before the Canada Line opens… but I can’t promise anything right now, sadly!
If an additional opportunity comes up to ride the new line first, would love to be a part of it. I rode the millenium line first when it opened – even have the SkyTrain model sitting beside my desk of car 260 – one of two models in existence!
Would love to have the opportunity to ride the new line before it opens – so see if you can get another opportunity :)
I got to ride the Millenium Line on the first train before revenue service (it was an early morning). I have the SkyTrain model of car 260 to prove it – one of two models in existence!
Okay, thanks for the follow up!
Now that you guys mention it… I have noticed a substantial increase in vandalism at bus shelters.
Well if it arises, then I call dibbs on the spot….lol
Jhenifer, if you can, please organize more of these tours. Don’t publicize this, so that more transportation enthusiasts like us can tour around.
If she doesn’t publicize it, how do we know about it?
Again, if we had another blog meet like the End Cafe would be the fairest. I’m sure one or two trains can carry us all.
With regards to the benches, there was a story on Global last night. Click on my name link for details.
It’s still a mystery what the defect is. It must have been really serious as they did not want to wait until the new benches are ready in September(????!!!!).
Perhaps this is for the District 9 release. Non-humans are not welcomed?
[…] More Canada Line preview stuff at The Buzzer Blog. […]
So I just got back from the tour of Vancouver City Center station and I got some nuggets of information which might be good to share with you as they are now public knowledge.
1) First and foremost, the brochures indicate an August commencement of service. The line is slated to open according to numerous sources on site and assuming all goes well, on Monday Aug. 24.
The reason for this is both Lansdowne and Aberdeen stations have not fully completed paving their sidewalks thus are a safety hazard. It is the hope that the line will be open on Monday Aug. 24
2) The first day will indeed be free, but of course being a Monday, most people will have farecards and transfers anyway, plus a bus ride to the station would cost a fare so it really is not relevant here.
3) The airport fare structure has been placed on hold till 2010. Not sure when in 2010, but there will be no fare structure to YVR this year.
4) The bus routes are slated to take effect Sept. 7, two weeks after the opening of the line. TransLink personel on site said that the B-Line and the suburban buses will run ALONG with the C-Line for two weeks to allow for a “smooth transition”
5) Finally the new tickets seen on this blog with the print on the back, those are TransLink’s “second generation” ticket machines hence they are different.
I hope all this clears everything up :)
Mark – I heard much the same story at the open house except I heard they were going to try to open it the weekend just before the 24th. And, I think one of the reps at the TransLink table suggested they may make YVR a zone 3 destination or have a separate YVR “addfare”.
I think making Sea Island Zone 3 would be the easiest to administer, especially in the short term. Airport travellors would just need to pay for Zone 2 on Lulu (Bridgeport) and finally Zone 1 for Vancouver.
If Hong Kong Airport Express and San Francisco’s BART Airport service has a surcharge, Vancouver can too.
BTW don’t people travelling between Vancouver and Coquitlam successfully today pay a premium charge on WCE?
Right but there will be no premium fare of any sort added to YVR this year.
IT will be a regular 1 zone fare within Richmond, 2 Zone from Vancouver. The structure/premium will be implemented in 2010.
LOL I can’t make any guarantees about when those pictures will be up but it should be sometime this week. Somewhere between mid to end of the week. But part two of the ride should be up on youtube link can be found on the video’s section of my website.
For those who haven’t heard. Aug 17 is the FREE rides after 1pm. Pay service begins on Aug 18. Click on my name link for details.
I assume this means there will be no bus route changes (Marine Drive station, Bridgeport station, 98 BLine, & 491) until early September.
Nope: September service changes will happen Sept 7.