Links and Tidbits – February 27, 2015
Links and Tidbits – February 27, 2015
Links and tidbits is our semi-regular roundup of interesting fodder about transportation from the last few weeks or so. If you have links to contribute, put them in the comments, or email us.
Check out these amazing video clips of every day commuters from Berlin based photographer Adam Magyar.
» These people boogied down on funky Friday on a train in Perth, Australia.
» Buzzer blog reader Barry wrote in and sent us a great link to 10 global Transportation Maps. Thanks Barry!
» ALLLLLLLLLL ABOARD!!!!!!!! What if the SkyTrain had a conductor? Pix-Elated films finds out!
» Dating got extra speedy on the LA Metro this year with their Red Line speed dating event just in time for Valentine’s Day!
» Good Samaritans saved the day in Florida when a local bus driver passed out behind the wheel.
» Buzzer blog reader Mike sent us his own post about Japanese rail in light of our latest Buzzer blog poll on world transit systems. Scroll to the Oct 14, 2014 entry to check it out!
» Helen Mirren is one classy lady. The actress has been spotted numerous times looking elegant, as always, taking the NYC subways with great transit etiquette!
» The TMNT to the rescue! Watch the heroes in half-shells save LA transit!
» Transit has been all up in the Twittersphere lately! Take a look at the best and worst of public transit Twitter accounts.
» Remember this epic Danish commercial for their buses? Well, they’re back at it and making the bus cool again with this latest ad.
» The CEO of IBM is getting behind he idea of greening transit worldwide suggesting joint policies to make the change happen.
» The mayor of Seattle is getting rid of the option to turn right on red in the downtown core as a part of his vision zero plan.
» Baby, it’s cold outside! Boston’s public transit stood still after a series of intense winter storms dumped record amounts of snow in the area. Makes you appreciate the rain… almost.
» After New York’s MTA launched their sassy ad campaign to remind riders of public transit etiquette, San Francisco’s BART is on highlight as people are asked their biggest pet peeves on the system.
» The age old rivalry of car versus transit has been tested. From Surrey to downtown Vancouver, transit will get you there faster!
Author: Adrienne Coling
The Buzzer Blog doesn’t seem to be posting on Twitter anymore…
Hi Sheba,
Strange! It should. I’ll post it manually and investigate. Thanks!!
I was just reading a news article about Metrotown station and the closed elevator. There’s lot of misunderstand and anger that could be avoided:
* why isn’t the work being done like it was at Main Street Station (like that hasn’t been inconvenient… )
* why didn’t they make the new elevators before shutting it down
* install a temporary construction elevator (oh like you can easily get permits for one for the general public to use)
…and my personal favorite…
* the shuttles can’t take wheelchairs
Hi Sheba,
Thanks for the comment and your interest in the Metrotown upgrades! There has been a lot of media coverage about the closures of the Metrotown elevator, which is great because it helps us get the word out to our customers who will be affected. However, sometimes the whole story doesn’t get told which can be a little frustrating.
In fact, some of the points you raise have been shared with media like why we can’t keep an elevator open during construction, install a temporary elevator, or build the new elevators before the other one is taken out. The answer is, the three new elevators are being built in the same place as the original elevator which we need to demolish in order for construction to begin. We looked at trying to keep it open during this work but it just wasn’t feasible. We also explored the potential for a temporary elevator, but that wasn’t feasible either. Really, we looked at every option we could to maintain elevator service. And yes, the shuttles can most definitely take wheelchairs. The whole intent of the services is to maintain accessibility to the station.
We’ve been closely monitoring the shuttles and customer feedback over the past week since the elevator went out of service. We’re seeing that people are using the shuttles or are taking alternate modes to get to or from the station. We’ll keep a close eye on it throughout construction and can make adjustments to our communications and operations if needed.
Maybe you could share the article that you read so we can follow up and correct misinformation.
Thanks again for your comment!
I’ve been talking to my neighbours and there’s still plenty of misinformation out there. I’ve handed out a couple of those pink postcards to stick in their building lobbies as there are a lot of seniors around here.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/skytrain-elevator-shutdown-causes-upset-in-metrotown-1.2977899
The last Buzzer tweets were: Family Day (Feb 5) a MT about Pink Shirt Day (Feb 25) and Links & Tidbits (Feb 27) – so that’s still awol.
Like this blog, thought to share free gis viewer to browse GIS data. People might want to browse free transportation data or other type of GIS data. Here is the link http://grindgis.com/blog/free-gis-data-viewer
Hi Pramod, Cool! Thanks for the link!