InfiNorth

I've never been on a Vicinity or an XN40, weirdly enough, despite taking the bus for work this year and also riding for fun a bit in the months prior to lockdown. They just don't see service very often over in Gordon Head/Saanich. The only one I've been on with a door was an older Nova.

Can't say I agree - Having grown up in Vancouver and now with Victoria having a similar system, both with the displays at the beginning of the passenger compartment, it works perfectly fine. It's one of those things that you expect to be a problem until you experience it, and you realize it's not in any a problem for visibility.

I've only ever ridden one bus with a proper driver door in Victoria, personally, and I use roughly one bus a day on average. They aren't that widespread yet here.

Sure isn't effective this year. Minimum fifteen minute wait - a transfer for a bus that exists exclusively for a transfer shouldn't be more than five minutes.

How does this work on the Canadian, the Jasper-Prince Rupert and Winnipeg-Churchill? Most of those routes don't have the cell service needed for handheld POS devices.

That's the thing. I recognize why they can't move times around easily for buses that are generally standalone, high-usage routes (like the 4, 6, 27, 28...). Those routes accomplish their base-goal of providing convenient downtown service to those along their corridor. Meanwhile, the 88 exists explicitly for the purpose of getting to the airport from Sidney/McTavish. It doesn't even accomplish its base goal. The same can be sad for the local buses on the westshore that only serve to connect to the 50. The only feeder bus that I can think of that seems to be expertly timed up with its parent service is the 64 when it passes by 17 mile house to connect to the 61 - a feat which is normally accomplishes with a less-than ten minute wait. And of course the 13 Ten Mile Point because it dumps you at UVIC Exchange where a bus leaves for downtown once every seven seconds or so.

See that would have been brilliant if the 88 actually timed with the 70 conveniently. With the current schedule, there are very few times when an airport-bound passenger can make a convenient transfer of less than fifteen minutes. These transfer times are so abysmal that Google Transit usually recommends walking from East Saanich/McTavish or taking the 83 and then walking from the Coast Guard Station to the airport because of how utterly useless the 88 is. Every iteration of a trip that involved transferring to the 88 takes at least ten minutes longer than walking. The 88 is an absolutely horribly planned bus. I get that it's not just there for the airport, but I don't understand why it serves the airport if it is virtually unusable as an airport shuttle. I could understand a fifteen minute wait if you were, say, at Royal Oak, but waiting fifteen minutes for a bus that can't go further than a fifteen minute walk would take you is downright stupid.

Are driver's ever not okay? They're publicly owned vehicles on public roads providing a public service - obviously we're not going out to do mugshots of the drivers, but can they oppose your taking photos of the bus? Also, I only just noticed - we only have one 71 in the inbound direction and two in the outbound direction each day right now. I know they're a commuter service... but only one? At 6AM? I guess for people that need to be downtown early that live along the otherwise lightly serviced parts of its route that makes sense, but that seems pretty sparse.

That's a nasty looking smash. No question of whose fault it was there...

Stupid question that is entirely not at all within the topic being discussed, but I know that historically there used to be crew quarters in the baggage cars on the Canadian but I was told they have been removed - is there actually a set a sleeping compartments on both the Canadian and the Churchill train that are for crew use only?

Does this mean the trains will originate and terminate at Burrard?

Makes sense - I couldn't figure out how they would get power to the front wheels on a low-floor bus.

I would love to see a map using the realtime GPS data you have access to here. NextRide sucks for virtual spotting. Thanks for the website, it's great to see a good representation of what's on the road at any given time.

Are they actually switching out cars in Illford? Along with that, I do wonder why they don't have first-come-first-serve coaches for locals added at The Pas - when I rode the train, both directions, between Illford, Thompson, and The Pas, the train was absolutely packed with locals who all got off and on in Thompson with loads of groceries - including from towns that have road access, showing that it's important even for communities that do have road connections. I understand that it's not economically ideal but, I mean, they aren't allowed to stop all services on that route because it's a mandated service area... so why not operate with the locals in mind? I'm also really surprised that tourism in Churchill is still going as even in BC most of our First Nations communities have closed themselves to everyone.

By dual-motor, does this mean AWD or is it just independent motors on the two back wheels? Sounds like a stupid question, I know, but electric buses are a pretty foreign concept to me. On that note, these buses look like they're straight out of the 90s with all their bulbous round edges, bulgy windshield, and those horrible tail lights.