Meeting Last Night with TransLink

Last night, we had a great meeting with Vincent Gonsalves who is the Community Relations Coordinator from TransLink.


He gave an overview of the services that TransLink provides: from buses and SkyTrain to the major road network. I suggest that you listen to the audio and view the presentation at the bottom of this post.

What I really found impressive was his overview of TransLink's public consultation process. Many people believe that the TransLink public consultation process is nothing but a sham. I have to disagree. I was part of the South of Fraser Area Transit Plan and over the last few years, I've seen the service improvements that we identified. Remember it was the provincial government that decided to build SkyTrain for the Millennium Line and Evergreen Line, TransLink and the region picked light rail.

Besides the province's 30 year love affair with SkyTrain, the real problem is the lack of funding for the agency. This goes right back to day one when the government of the day canceled the vehicle levy. If TransLink is going to be able to improve transportation in our region, it will be the province that will have to solve the funding issue. I know that politicians won't like it, but unless they plan on hiking the gas tax or property tax all that's really left is some sort of road pricing. Until then, TransLink is in a holding pattern.

Anyways, we had a great meeting and both Joe and I look forward to continuing being a part of the Surrey Rapid Transit Study process.



Presentation

TransLink Overview and the Public Consultation Process

View more presentations from sfot.

OnTrax Meeting Tonight

Our next OnTrax meeting is tonight. We have the pleasure of having Vincent Gonsalves who is the Community Relations Coordinator from TransLink presenting at our meeting. He will be speaking on TransLink, TransLink's plans, and the public consultation process. There will also be a question and answer period after his presentation. Hope to see you there.

Wednesday, May 12th from 7pm to 9pm
4th Floor - Yorkson Creek Meeting Room
Township of Langley Civic Facility
20338 65 Avenue

Agenda
6:45pm – 7:00pm Self-Registration /Greeting
7:00pm – 7:10pm Quick Group introductions
7:10pm – 7:12pm Introduction of Vincent Gonsalves
7:12pm – 8:00pm Mr. Vincent Gonsalves
8:00pm - 8:15pm Q & A
8:15pm – 8:25pm Break / Final Discussions with Mr. Gonsalves
8:25pm – 8:45pm Call to Order - Reports
8:45pm – 8:55pm Other Business / New Business
9:00pm TERMINATE

Download a copy of the agenda

Smart Cards and Fare Gates

I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the UK and Brussels in Belgium, and now I have a bunch of things to post about public transit. Today I wanted to talk about smart cards and fare gates.

As you know, the provincial government will be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on installing fare gates in our transit system as they claim it will reduce fare evasion and make people feel safer. In Europe, fare gates only seem to be used on the old systems like the 100+ year old Glasgow Subway and London Underground. All the other systems I was on work on the proof-of-payment system, just like TransLink today. Even the UK National Rail system works on a proof-of-payment system! Fare gates are old school and I don’t know why we are installing them. On the matter of feeling safer, station attendants are part of the solution. At most rail station in the UK, there was a station agent that helped out with issuing tickets and minded the station. No amount of fancy cameras or fare gates can make up having a person at a station. I say that the provincial government should scrap the installation of fare gate, and just hire attendants at key stations in our system. We could use the capital money saved for things like light rail in the South Fraser, for example.

On the matter of smart cards, I think they are a good idea as they allow for more flexible ticketing and really help when you have multiply public transportation agencies in the same region. We are very lucky in Metro Vancouver to have only one public transportation agency. Most regions in the world have fistfuls of public transportation agencies. Sorting out the different fares and rules between the systems is confusing. Smart cards really make transit easier in these regions as it sorts everything out for you. For Vancouver, smart cards could allow for the use of distance based fares which many see as more fair than the current 3-zone system. You simply tap you smart card when you get on the system and tap when you get off. Here is a picture of a smart card tag station in the Seattle Downtown Transit Tunnel. Note the lack of fare gates!

The very cool bus/light rail tunnel in downtown Seattle

Orca smart card tag station in their fare gate free system

Close up of smart card tag station

OnTrax Meeting on Wednesday

Our next OnTrax meeting is coming up this Wednesday. We have the pleasure of having Vincent Gonsalves who is the Community Relations Coordinator from TransLink presenting at our meeting. He will be speaking on TransLink and the public consultation process. There will also be a question and answer period after his presentation. Hope to see you there.

Wednesday, May 12th from 7pm to 9pm
4th Floor - Yorkson Creek Meeting Room
Township of Langley Civic Facility
20338 65 Avenue