Wow – thats a whole lot of complaining.

Those former express bus users now have a choice of more departure times.

But, if they ever bring the express buses back to direct downtown service, they will charge the premium fare they originally intended to charge when those coach-style express buses were contemplated.

For some reason, those users have been getting a special deal.

Regarding bicycles, from http://www.translink.ca/en/Rider-Info/Canada-Line/Features.aspx

Each train can carry two bicycles (one per train car), in all directions during all hours of operation, as long as space is available.

In the mornings starting at about 7:20 there are several hundred people on the Brighouse platform. There are lineups in front of each door, and a minimum one-car wait. The bicyclists are always there even though we were promised that they would only be allowed in the counterflow direction. Since trains from Brighouse are mostly full by the Casino (Bridgeport) station, the people on the Casino platform need to wait for a less-full train from the airport. That platform is even more packed because of all the commuter buses that empty out there.

Sooner or later someone will be bumped off the platform onto the tracks, as has happened a few times on the Expo line. We need double-doors on platforms for everyone’s safety!

I hope enough people will complain to make a difference. Due to the undersized design, Translink will need to allow the return of the express buses from Ladner and Steveston to Oak street. These buses are quite comfortable although the engine is quite noisy in the back. Commuters want to be able to sit down on their journey and read or sleep. That is how you get them out of their cars and carpools.

These express buses take about 15 minutes longer to get downtown but that’s about the same amount of time as getting off the bus at Bridgeport, climbing up to the platform, and waiting for two packed trains to pass by. That’s the second key benefit of transit: it’s supposed to be faster than driving!

I can still drive to/from work faster than the Canada line due to the time it takes to walk to and from the trains. But driving costs me $400/month and transit only costs $99. So, I can live with it. It’s a lot better than the 98-B-Line, that’s for sure.

Recognizing funding constraints, I would like to see a program that teams up Vancouver’s major corporations and philanthropists with Translink to initiate significant art projects. There is so much that could be done to enhance the system.

And, when demand is there, they can buy middle cars that will join the two end cars. The stations were built to accommodate the 3-car trains and require minimal construction.

As for the look and feel, let`s also not forget that the line opened early so the retail space and art has not been fitted yet. I must agree that they missed some opportunities for station design – Yaletown is an example where the station does not at all fit with it surroundings.

But, WE HAVE IT! And, as we would do with our own home renos or additions, they had to limit the scope to fit the budget.

Older than the Wuppetal, the Dresden Schwebebahn is a historic transportation curiosity, as with the Volks electric Railway and the Great Orme Tramway.

As for the latest news in public transit, try the Light Rail Transit Association at http://www.lrta.org

If you want to play with your own set, and Vancouver is one predone for you, see Jan Bochmann’s Bahn which was cuter in the DOS versions http://www.jbss.de/downl_e.htm
but made you ashamed at the head times in the exurbs as you watched in real-time. DOS version could be set up as a real-time screen saver showing a street, intersection or the entire system with little caterpillar warms crawling over the screen.