2010 Edmonton and Area Spottings

[Michael Marriott]

Found this announcment:

ETS Shuttle Service Winter Semester

Concordia and ETS have reached an agreement on the basis of which a shuttle service will be available for all Concordia from the Coliseum LRT Station to the front door of the Hole Academic Centre. Starting January 5, the service will have the bus run every 20 minutes during the day and will run from 7:30 to 10:30 AM and 3:30 to 6:30 PM. This will be trial service for an eight week period. The level of ridership will determine whether this service will be cost-effective and also inform the referendum on including Concordia students in the Upass that is available to other post-secondary students in the city. Please check your CSA email, Concordia Facebook, and this page to be apprised of details as they become available.

[captaintrolley]

I caught a rte 5 today from Westmount. I knew the driver, I'd seen him around lots before (mostly on the rte 120) and we exchanged pleasantries. About 1/2 way to downtown he says "So what have you been doing with yourself with the trolleys gone?" I told him life for me mostly consisted of work and swimming now and he said every piece of work is the same now for him. He said his son moved to Vancouver and is driving trolley there and loves being immersed in trolleyness, and that he and his wife are thinking about moving to Vancouver. So I told him I am moving there next year and that next time we meet it may be under the wires in Vancouver.

.....and so the trolleys shall lead us home........

And on the LRT, I encountered a long time Trolley Coalition member. He's probably the last person I thought would be 'just going for a train ride' without a specific destination in mind....but even the most mature of us desire electric traction now and again.

[A. Wong]

ETS drivers need support to stop transit freeloaders

BY JOSEPH AUSTIN, EDMONTON JOURNALDECEMBER 27, 2010

Re: Dec. 19 letter "All ETS Riders Should Pay".

I have been an ETS operator for the past 32 years. The paying public is being screwed by those who freeload on the city's transit system. I see it daily and often it's the same people pulling the same scam time after time. We, as drivers, are in a very difficult situation, being assaulted and abused is real. ETS management is not supportive of us who do try to collect the fares. Our job description states: "Collect proper fare and issue transfers."

When we do press an issue, we get spit on, slugged, called names -- or worse, as in Tom Briggs case, left for dead. I have been spit on seven times, slugged twice, and get called names weekly. Those same customers call 311 and complain that they are being treated unfairly (and) we get called in and told not to collect the fare. ETS will not remove the clause in our job description regarding fare collection. My manager tells me not to collect the fare but will not give it to me in writing.

Yes, if I were paying for my transportation and others just got it for free, I would be just as upset as Mr. Winters.

Joseph Austin

Edmonton

© Copyright © The Edmonton Journal

and

LRT thief stole nearly $2.4 million, one coin at a time

Salim Kara lugged home $900 a day, built Whitemud Creek mansion

BY DARCY HENTON, EDMONTON JOURNALDECEMBER 27, 2010

Salim Kara covers his face while entering a courthouse in 1996.

Photograph by: Rick MacWilliam, edmontonjournal.com

EDMONTON - This city has spawned many cunning and crafty con artists, but few were as colourful as Salim Kara.

It was 14 years ago that the Ugandan refugee made headlines, but his crime shocked an entire city.

Kara stole nearly $2.4 million from Edmontonians -- and he did it one coin at a time.

Hired in 1981 to repair light rail transit fare boxes, he began pilfering coins almost immediately. When loonies were introduced in 1987, he must have thought he hit the jackpot, boosting his take to $900 a day.

For 13 years, he stole, and despite a couple of audits and an incriminating videotape, he got away with it.

Neighbours wondered why a man who lived in a million dollar home in posh Whitemud Creek drove to work in a dilapidated 1977 Chev Malibu, a vehicle that was almost 17 years old when he was finally arrested in Sept. 27, 1994.

"I guess that's why he kept driving that older car," exclaimed one neighbour, whose children played with Kara's two boys.

Kara, the son of wealthy entrepreneurs, and his wife Almasbanu were among 45,000 Ugandans of East Indian descent expelled by dictator Idi Amin's violent regime in 1972. The couple initially resided in England before moving to Canada in 1980. Kara quickly turned the $38,000-per year LRT job into a cash cow.

His technique was simple. He would remove the faceplate from the machines and use a magnet attached to a car radio antenna to reach into the fare box and extract the coins. He dumped them into a leather shaving kit bag and at day's end he would transfer his ill-gotten gain from his company vehicle to the trunk of his own car. He almost always worked the night shift and he was almost always alone.

Staff at his bank let him use the back door to lug in his loot; heavy bags of rolled coins totalling $5,000 to $10,000 a week. They contemplated expanding the vault to accommodate the sizable deposits he claimed were accumulated through his "vending machine business." He opened a $1 million GIC account and began building his lavish million dollar home in 1992. The immaculate split-level 470-square-metre mansion on Osborne Crescent featured exterior gothic columns, light rose California stucco and cedar shakes. Inside it contained five bedrooms, five bathrooms, an indoor fountain, a steam room and a Jacuzzi room. There was also a four-car garage complete with its own car wash and heated driveway.

Over time, Kara invested in a house in Victoria and two other properties in Edmonton. Although he continued to drive the old Chevy to work, he bought a new Oldsmobile.

Neighbours described him as "hard-working" and "frugal."

Just about everyone heard a different story about the source of his wealth. He told some he had a computer business in California; others he told he was involved in investment banking. He told one co-worker he worked in Vancouver on Fridays on a computer contract while he told another he was overseeing the construction of a house in Riverbend for a friend. Still another co-worker was told he was doing marriage counselling on the side.

City auditors estimated he was stealing nearly 20 per cent of the total LRT fare revenue. Two audits sent up red flags that the cash count was not matching the fare totals, but the discrepancy was initially dismissed as a software glitch.

One co-worker who recorded Kara on a video camera reaching into a fare box in an incriminating fashion a year before his arrest later said he erased the video because he didn't want to get involved.

"I did not want to be the one responsible for pointing out to superiors or anything that there was anything wrong going on," he testified. "The thing was I didn't want to be involved in it." He was later fired.

Private investigators were eventually hired to spy on Kara following a 1993 audit. They watched him filling the shaving kit with coins from the ticket machines. Kara, then 42, was arrested and his assets frozen.

Granted bail on a $50,000 bond put up by friends, he disguised himself after one court appearance in a failed attempt to evade reporters and photographers waiting for him. Dressed in a trench coat, large sunglasses and a wool cap pulled low on his brow, looking a little like Peter Seller's Inspector Clouseau character in the Pink Panther movies, he denied he was Kara and claimed he was dressed the way he was to help "the other guy get away."

Court of Queen's Bench Justice A.H. Wachowich sentenced Kara in 1996 to four years in jail.

"You have been a millionaire at the expense of the citizens of this good city -- 13 years of calculated theft," the judge said. "This is thievery at a most staggering level."

But Wachowich recommended Kara, who suffered from colitis, be allowed to serve his sentence in provincial jail and receive early parole. He was eligible for full parole after just 16 months. The Crown had asked for a sentence between four and seven years given that Kara had settled with the city's insurance company.

All told, he had stolen more than $2,327,890. The coins he hauled away would have weighed an estimated 37 tonnes.

Kara hinted he would one day tell his story, possibly in a book. But it never happened.

His neighbours struggled to believe it really happened.

"They seemed like very honest people," said one. "It's a crazy world."

dhenton@edmontonjournal.com

© Copyright © The Edmonton Journal

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/thief+...8648/story.html

[captaintrolley]

Dec 27 must be a slow news day for the Journal to dig up old news. Even the letter from Joe Austin was in the Journal last week as well.

It amazes me that in our office every penny and every product gets counted and recounted down to the last drop, and on the other hand millions can go missing.

[Michael Marriott]

As I've said before, something that shocked me in Toronto was that I never once witnessed anyone trying to get out of paying their fare or having some sob story in the whole week I was there, while here I see that practically every day. And I find it odd that managers take complaints from people who admit to have paid their fares seriously.

[captaintrolley]

As I've said before, something that shocked me in Toronto was that I never once witnessed anyone trying to get out of paying their fare or having some sob story in the whole week I was there, while here I see that practically every day. And I find it odd that managers take complaints from people who admit to have paid their fares seriously.

All complaints get taken seriously. Even the ones that are more 'manufactured' than actual.

[James]

As I've said before, something that shocked me in Toronto was that I never once witnessed anyone trying to get out of paying their fare or having some sob story in the whole week I was there, while here I see that practically every day. And I find it odd that managers take complaints from people who admit to have paid their fares seriously.

There has always been a strong management backing of must pay your fare in Toronto. most people know that you either pay your fare or you walk. simple as that. They don't attempt to bother. Plus i know it used to be not sure if it still is, but there was always a chance a security member or inspector could be on any bus/streetcar at any time. they travelled on them randomly so there was a chance that if you tried to dispute it, you were going to have a very bad day!

[captaintrolley]

Spotted this in the January In Transit. Brilliant, as always...

ETS Cold Weather Service

Low temperatures, snow and wind often make for a January commute that’s high on the brrrrrr factor.

ETS Express buses except for routes 47 and 100 have been instructed to stop for customers at all bus stops on their routes in extreme weather conditions. (At ETS, we define extreme weather conditions as -20 Celsius including windchill.)

The decision to stop at all bus stops is made by the ETS Control Centre on an ‘as required’ basis.

The 47 is now a local rte past Century Park, and AFAIK, the extreme temp was defined as -25 (although someone could have changed that).

[James]

Rode the 15 from downtown to the nait loop today (had to go to the bank thats in Westwood garage) and nice trip. Bus was there when i got back to return to downtown. Very nice driver, we got talking about LRT and that the wires would be back up along the streets even though that was ugly for the trolleys. He said he used to enjoy driving the trolleys many years ago. based out of ferrier now.

[Michael Marriott]

4613 (I think, it was 461x) on the 5 is currently running around with the a cracked window right behind the rear doors.

[James]

Shooting this evening at Kingsway Transit Centre. Guy showed up at the Royal Alex with gunshot wounds.

[captaintrolley]

4613 (I think, it was 461x) on the 5 is currently running around with the a cracked window right behind the rear doors.

Heard about that. He didn't see it during his walk-around in the division. Wasn't 4613 'Tom's' Bus ?

Shooting this evening at Kingsway Transit Centre. Guy showed up at the Royal Alex with gunshot wounds.

OK. Makes sense. There were about 6 or 7 cop cars in the Kingsway Transit Center (SB on the west side by the cement wall) and a WHOLE bunch of cops in the parking lot right there between Moxie's and west of the transit center. This was about 1800 hrs, There were still cops arriving on the scene as the bus I was on (rte 125) was pulling out.

[James]

 

OK. Makes sense. There were about 6 or 7 cop cars in the Kingsway Transit Center (SB on the west side by the cement wall) and a WHOLE bunch of cops in the parking lot right there between Moxie's and west of the transit center. This was about 1800 hrs, There were still cops arriving on the scene as the bus I was on (rte 125) was pulling out.

Yep thats the right time.

[captaintrolley]

So I got this electronic survey from our friends at Leger Marketing. After answering the demographic part and 'yes' continue with the survey I fell over when it asked stuff about ETS and transferring buses. The direction the survey went was that the 'City' *may* potentially have some money to invest in Transit Centers and LRT Stations and wanted to know what I would most like to do while waiting for the bus (ie: shop, buy stamps, take stuff to the dry-cleaners, sit and have coffee, connect to Wi-Fi, put stuff in rented lockers, etc.). Well, really, none of those appealed to me. Are they hinting at even LONGER wait times in the foreseeable future? If connections got any worse they'd be getting better.

Truth be known, I'd prefer not to have to wait at all.

[Michael Marriott]

Well, this is a bit of a trend I've noticed with ETS in the last few years: the idea that providing transit service is the secondary goal and attraction of the system and the main way to attract riders is through what bascially amounts to customer service gimicks. We saw it with 6002, and all the media hype about all the features it had (which then died off) and how that would entice riders to transit. What was never mentioned was how all those features are no good if the bus service is too infrequent. It's the same thing with all these proposed transit centre features. People are transferring between buses at transit centres, and thus shouldn't be at any transit centre for a long time. Snack machines and a place to get coffee on the go are fine, but transit centres shouldn't be a place to sit down and wait awhile. But, if the service is bad, all these new features are not going to be used and won't entice people onto the bus. If I have to wait 15-20 minutes for a transfer, there is no way people will be enticed out of their cars. And beyond that, given that most transit centres in Edmonton are located next to major malls, there is no need for ETS to provided these "extras" as anyone who wants to stop off to ge a cup of coffee or anything else can just duck into the mall to get it. ETS needs to focus more on providing better service, and not worry about these gimicks so much. In Torono, the subway doesn't provide all these "extras" and some of the stations can be generously described as ultilitarian, yet it is busy because they provided good service all the time.

[Esturk]

The thing I like most when I get to a transfer point is seeing my other bus and having time to get to it, and not seeing it pull out as my bus pulls in.

[Michael Marriott]

That's a problem across the city. One of the worst is on Sunday mornings, when everything runs once an hour, and the 7 gets to Jasper Place just in time to see the 1 (both ways), 14 and 109 all pull out. Or how the 127 manages to leave Kingsway just before the 9 gets in, and get to Westmount just as the 150 pulls out. Or how all the local routes leave Clareview just as the 2 pulls in on weekday evenings. Or how the 11 leaves Clareview just before the LRT gets in, but then sits at Londonderry for 5 minutes. Still, you have to give them some credit. Anyone can schedule routes that don't connect. To time them just right, so that the connection is missed, but people can still see the other bus pulling out (in some cases after the first bus has pulled in and opened the doors), that takes some skill.

The thing I like most when I get to a transfer point is seeing my other bus and having time to get to it, and not seeing it pull out as my bus pulls in.

[DE40LFR]

That's a problem across the city. One of the worst is on Sunday mornings, when everything runs once an hour, and the 7 gets to Jasper Place just in time to see the 1 (both ways), 14 and 109 all pull out.

+1

I lived that during my trip! Waiting at JP for 30-45 mins!

[captaintrolley]

Or how the 127 manages to leave Kingsway just before the 9 gets in, and get to Westmount just as the 150 pulls out.

Man, they still haven't fixed that ?!?!?!? I used to go to the pool from Don's bus (he drove the 9) and it was always such a pain. The 9 ALWAYS gets a red light at that little stretch of one way road, and while you're sitting there (at the longest red light in the universe) everything else is leaving KTC. Those schedulers have skill alright, and consistency!!!

[Michael Marriott]

Some excitement happened downtown tonight. Leaving City Centre after seeing a movie, I saw 4423 sitting at the 102 St/102 Ave EB with Not In Service up and the 4 ways on. Behind it was a police car (D44), an inspector vehicle and a peace officer car (Supervisor 07) all with their lights going. From what I could tell, there was someone in handcuffs beside the bus on the sidewalk, and the police were taking statements from the operator.

[captaintrolley]

Some excitement happened downtown tonight. Leaving City Centre after seeing a movie, I saw 4423 sitting at the 102 St/102 Ave EB with Not In Service up and the 4 ways on. Behind it was a police car (D44), an inspector vehicle and a peace officer car (Supervisor 07) all with their lights going. From what I could tell, there was someone in handcuffs beside the bus on the sidewalk, and the police were taking statements from the operator.

I think they were doing an IDIC (Incident Data Information Collection ?) on that one and also at one point asking if the driver was OK.

[captaintrolley]

More example of copy and paste:

Please Note: The 2010 fare increases apply to all February 2010 fare products, regardless of the date of purchase.