8:20am transit update for Sept 8
8:20am transit update for Sept 8
Update from Drew Snider:
Day One appears to be going well on a number of fronts … CANADA LINE … buses are arriving packed at Richmond-Brighouse station, and the trains are leaving close to full, but in many cases customers are holding back to get a seat on the next train … at Bridgeport, where the South of Fraser buses are terminating, people are a little disappointed to see the trains coming in full from Brighouse, but then the YVR trains arrives nearly empty, and the sun shines a bit brighter …
A lot of students are getting off at 41st-OAKRIDGE to transfer to $41 and #43 buses to UBC. Good strategy. Lots of people are getting off at BROADWAY-CITY HALL, but if they’re planning to transfer to a Broadway bus (like the 99 B-Line), they’ll be in for a bit of a wait.
Speaking ofthe 99 B, the lineup at COMMERCIAL-BROADWAY has been long throughout the morning rush, which is not surprising. Coast Mountain Bus Co transit supervisors and security personnel have been managing the lines … thanks to the gang at Ethical Bean for handing out coffee to the people waiting … (don’t know if it was free coffee or not, but bringing it to the people is always a good move – it worked for Nat Bailey!) …
On the SkyTrain platforms, police have been helping to keep things orderly … trains have been full but only a 1-2 train wait … SkyTrain has been running turnback trains from COMMERCIAL-BROADWAY to Waterfront through the “crush hour” … also, more 4-car Mark II trains have helped … thanks to the new shipment of cars, we’ve been able to put together 12 4-car Mark II’s, as opposed to the 6 we’ve had prior to expansion of the fleet. Can’t run more trains, but we can make them longer.
at PRODUCTION WAY, it’s really busy now: double-heading the #145 — running two buses together — is helping keep the platforms clear there, although there was still approx. an entire busload left behind around 8am.
WATERFRONT TRAIN AT 41ST