Transit Service Discussion (Articulated/Conventional/Shuttle/Skytrain/Seabus)

[9924]

1445 bus alerts as of tonight.

I noticed that some of the alerts lists all the route cancellations with their respective times in one alert as opposed to other routes having an individual alert for each and every cancellation which makes it extremely difficult to pinpoint a cancellation when a route has 50 0r 100 cancellations.

[InfiNorth]

I really hope this doesn't get lost in the chatter, but this is something that has been bothering me for about a decade now. This is near where I grew up, I drove by it every day on the way to school, and eventually rode by it many times on the bus going the opposite direction. However, as far as I can tell, it has never, ever been a bus stop, despite being built as one, having a maintained bench (showing that it wasn't just a contractor error to build the platform on the wrong side). I have two theories:

1. The C63 (now the 563) originally headed south to Fernridge, turning right on 24th Avenue, then turning south on 198th St. to follow its current routing instead of the convoluted and seemingly pointless service along 196th St. that we see today.
2. When the bus platforms were being built up in the Fernridge/South Langley area, it was expected that a service increase would result in bi-directional service along 200th St.

To further emphasize that this completely disconnected bus stop has been updated over the years and isn't just left over from some developer making a mistake, here it is in 2009 with an older-style concrete bench. Today is has a modern, metal bench. Does anyone have schedules or maps from way back when? Why on earth does this infrastructure exist? I'm all about ghost stations and stuff, but I've never heard of a ghost bus stop. Yeah, incredibly specific question but I'm crossing my fingers that someone has an explanation.

[8010]

We have a few "ghost" bus stops around Metro Van, mainly just stop shelters though. I've seen a couple on Burrard Street. There was one in Richmond on Capstan @ Sexsmith, not sure if it's still there. I believe there is still a random stop shelter near Stadium Station. Airport Station (former transit exchange) still exists. There are others but those are the ones that come to mind.

[Express691]

A few I know off the top of my head:

1) The East Guildford park and ride still has imprints along the on/off ramps as well as along 160th street.

2) Technically these are not "ghost stops" but there are pieces of evidence at the RCMP Headquarters along Green Timbers Way in Surrey. Although there are no benches, poles for a bus stop are present.

[99.bline]

WB Parker at Delta comes to mind...
No benches or anything but there's signs for a bus zone and no cars allowed to park within it

[Stormscape]

Here's one that hasn't been used in nearly 20 years, from when the 29 had the extension to Champlain Heights

Here's the bus stop pole for a 177 bus stop (you can use the history function to confirm this really was used by the 177 over 6 years ago).

Can't think of any others at the moment.

[Translink69]

A few on Cottonwood and one on Whiting between North Road/Clarke and Robinson from the 151 pre-evergreen. 
 

53402 used to be on Austin rather than Blue Mountain until a few years ago.

[ThatBusGuy]

57414 (NS southbound 56th St and Hwy 17, in Delta) got built into a fully accessible stop during the highway reconstruction before the Tsawwassen Mills mall opened, but it never really got used since the 601 got rerouted down 52nd St. I know there used to be a pole there, haven't been by recently though so not sure if there still is. Strangely, stop 57378 across the street didn't get the same treatment... so they had enough foresight to not do the northbound side, but they did southbound anyways. Meanwhile, 57415 on the far side of the highway (still used by 601, along with 602, 3, and 4) is still just a pole stuck in the ground afaik - so they made an unused stop accessible rather than one that does actually serve buses. Brilliant planning there...

[nname]

In Coquitlam, northbound Lougheed at Dewdney Trunk.  It was just recently "upgraded" too!

The southbound stop is in use, but not the north bound one, since all bus turns onto Dewdney Trunk Road in order to get into Coquitlam Station.

 

In Port Coquitlam, westbound Lougheed and Coast Meridian.  The stop was only used for a few months before it was relocated to the east twice (first time it was relocated to under the overpass).

 

Also in Coquitlam, on Westwood and Lincoln, along the old C38 routing, there are many stops no longer in use but still have the pole/bench/garbage can.

[Express691]

Most recent ghost stop is Marine at 16th which the 49 no longer serves. Same case for westbound Marine at Wesbrook.

[8010]

Does anyone know what's going on with the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Area Transport Plan? I haven't seen anything new about the plan since I posted the draft version a few months ago.

I know that Burnaby/New West will be the next area to get a new transport plan.

[InfiNorth]

On 4/8/2020 at 8:58 PM, Express691 said:

1) The East Guildford park and ride still has imprints along the on/off ramps as well as along 160th street.

Wait a moment... doesn't the 501 still go right by there? Why wouldn't it stop there any more? The park and ride still exists, as far as TransLink's website claims and even their official route mapping shows at least one of the stops (westbound only) still open. Why did they close these stops? The last time I took the 501 (2013, I'm in Victoria now) it went through that stop as I remember it taking the super weird transit priority left from the right lane. Have they removed the transit priority signals as well?

[FlyingPig]

2 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

Wait a moment... doesn't the 501 still go right by there? Why wouldn't it stop there any more? The park and ride still exists, as far as TransLink's website claims and even their official route mapping shows at least one of the stops (westbound only) still open. Why did they close these stops? The last time I took the 501 (2013, I'm in Victoria now) it went through that stop as I remember it taking the super weird transit priority left from the right lane. Have they removed the transit priority signals as well?

The 501 no longer stops near the P&R (comes directly onto 104th from the highway) but the transit priority signs are still there. No one uses them anymore.

The only way to access transit near the park and ride is to walk along a well-maintained sidewalk to the 158 St stop.

[dover5949]

TransLink losing $75-million a month as ridership falls during pandemic. With fewer people moving around during the pandemic, and TransLink not collecting fares on buses amid this pandemic, the financial impact is becoming apparent. TransLink is losing tens of millions of dollars due to the slowdown in movement, with the transportation authority’s internal figures pointing to losses of $75-million dollars on a monthly basis. As a result, leadership is concerned about how long it can continue to offer service on major routes. It also worries how reduced trips could mean crowding or long wait times with fewer busses running. Translink hasn’t collected fares since March 20 when it made the move to rear-door boarding only. TransLink will be appealing for emergency funding from the provincial and federal governments.

 

[Blake M]

Adding to the disused stops, there's one on Jacobs Road south of the ikea that still has the old "BUS STOP" sign

[UpLift Vancouver]

45 minutes ago, Blake M said:

Adding to the disused stops, there's one on Jacobs Road south of the ikea that still has the old "BUS STOP" sign

If you're referring to Jacombs Road & Rowan Place, that one has had its sign replaced with a new one since its served by line 22 Knight via Industrial.

[Blake M]

3 hours ago, UpLift Vancouver said:

If you're referring to Jacombs Road & Rowan Place, that one has had its sign replaced with a new one since its served by line 22 Knight via Industrial.

Sorry, I don't live in Vancouver. You're right, that was what I was referring to. Last time I was in Vancouver, July 2019, I could've sworn there was no service to it

 

[Michael Marriott]

19 hours ago, Blake M said:

Sorry, I don't live in Vancouver. You're right, that was what I was referring to. Last time I was in Vancouver, July 2019, I could've sworn there was no service to it

 

It's used twice a day by an extension of the 22 that isn't printed on any system or route maps or shown on the printed schedule.  Unless you already know that those trips exist, it's almost impossible to learn of them.

[InfiNorth]

4 hours ago, Michael Marriott said:

It's used twice a day by an extension of the 22 that isn't printed on any system or route maps or shown on the printed schedule.  Unless you already know that those trips exist, it's almost impossible to learn of them.

I'm curious why they don't publish this. Loads of transit systems have twice- or once-daily services that are in the schedule. Plus it shows up in Google Maps as it's published in TransLink's GTFS feed so it's not like they're going to cut down on non-locals using the service. Despite all this, TransLink's NextBus system acknowledges the existence of the stop but doesn't say any buses go to it (similar to the former 501 stop in North Surrey). Some of the decisions TransLink makes are a little strange.

[ThatBusGuy]

2 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

I'm curious why they don't publish this. Loads of transit systems have twice- or once-daily services that are in the schedule. Plus it shows up in Google Maps as it's published in TransLink's GTFS feed so it's not like they're going to cut down on non-locals using the service. Despite all this, TransLink's NextBus system acknowledges the existence of the stop but doesn't say any buses go to it (similar to the former 501 stop in North Surrey). Some of the decisions TransLink makes are a little strange.

NextBus does include it. Buses only show up at stops on the map 2 hours before they leave, so if you check it before that or after it leaves, you won't see it. Switching to text mode I believe always shows upcoming trips however, even if it's much later.

[InfiNorth]

3 hours ago, ThatBusGuy said:

NextBus does include it. Buses only show up at stops on the map 2 hours before they leave, so if you check it before that or after it leaves, you won't see it. Switching to text mode I believe always shows upcoming trips however, even if it's much later.

That seems... like still a bad decision. At least show what routes serve the stop. I always find it odd when smaller organizations (relatively) like TransLink look at the absurdly successful designs that systems like Google Transit have and say "no, I think it will work better if we remove some of this information and make it harder to find." 

[Michael Marriott]

On 4/8/2020 at 7:22 PM, InfiNorth said:

I really hope this doesn't get lost in the chatter, but this is something that has been bothering me for about a decade now. This is near where I grew up, I drove by it every day on the way to school, and eventually rode by it many times on the bus going the opposite direction. However, as far as I can tell, it has never, ever been a bus stop, despite being built as one, having a maintained bench (showing that it wasn't just a contractor error to build the platform on the wrong side). I have two theories:

1. The C63 (now the 563) originally headed south to Fernridge, turning right on 24th Avenue, then turning south on 198th St. to follow its current routing instead of the convoluted and seemingly pointless service along 196th St. that we see today.
2. When the bus platforms were being built up in the Fernridge/South Langley area, it was expected that a service increase would result in bi-directional service along 200th St.

To further emphasize that this completely disconnected bus stop has been updated over the years and isn't just left over from some developer making a mistake, here it is in 2009 with an older-style concrete bench. Today is has a modern, metal bench. Does anyone have schedules or maps from way back when? Why on earth does this infrastructure exist? I'm all about ghost stations and stuff, but I've never heard of a ghost bus stop. Yeah, incredibly specific question but I'm crossing my fingers that someone has an explanation.

Looking at the Buzzer from July 1988 when service yo Langley started  your first theory is correct.  The map shows the 502 Fernridge looping via south on 200 St, west on 24 Ave, south on 198 St, east on 20 Ave to back north on 200 St.

The buzzer detailing the Langley shuttle launch, including the introduction of the C63, in December 2002 shows the C63 turning off 200 St at 24 Ave, and presumably doing a U-turn on 198 St since the map doesn't show service to 20 Ave.

I've been unable to find any mention of when the loop was changed to the current pathway.

[jmward]

3 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

That seems... like still a bad decision. At least show what routes serve the stop. I always find it odd when smaller organizations (relatively) like TransLink look at the absurdly successful designs that systems like Google Transit have and say "no, I think it will work better if we remove some of this information and make it harder to find." 

I find the next bus map a lot more intuitive and easy to use than google maps' transit integration.

Google maps has gotten better recently (highlights the route path and a realtime vehicle), but I still go to translink's site for the map view.

Don't get me wrong, I think google maps/earth might literally be my favourite thing on the internet (and their trip planner is indispensable), but google maps setup for bus stops seems  more clunky and often shows confusing information imo. Too much going on.

Not to say nextbus is perfect; its old and buggy and I also wish it would show the next trip time within 24 hours on the map view. But I hope translink doesn't discontinue it anytime soon.

3 hours ago, Michael Marriott said:

Looking at the Buzzer from July 1988 when service yo Langley started  your first theory is correct.  The map shows the 502 Fernridge looping via south on 200 St, west on 24 Ave, south on 198 St, east on 20 Ave to back north on 200 St.

The buzzer detailing the Langley shuttle launch, including the introduction of the C63, in December 2002 shows the C63 turning off 200 St at 24 Ave, and presumably doing a U-turn on 198 St since the map doesn't show service to 20 Ave.

I've been unable to find any mention of when the loop was changed to the current pathway.

Interesting - my theory as to why stops such as that one have been neatly maintained for so long is because of the ads on the bench. Bus or not, having the bench with an ad there must make money for translink/the advertiser, apparently enough to cover the cost of coming by to keep it clean and repaired every now and then.

[InfiNorth]

13 hours ago, Michael Marriott said:

Looking at the Buzzer from July 1988 when service yo Langley started  your first theory is correct.  The map shows the 502 Fernridge looping via south on 200 St, west on 24 Ave, south on 198 St, east on 20 Ave to back north on 200 St.

The buzzer detailing the Langley shuttle launch, including the introduction of the C63, in December 2002 shows the C63 turning off 200 St at 24 Ave, and presumably doing a U-turn on 18 St since the map doesn't show service to 20 Ave.

Hard to believe that once upon a time, I could have caught a bus a half-hour walk from my house to go directly to the SkyTrain in express configuration. Those days are long gone. Also interesting to see that students from South Langley used to be able to get to Brookswood Secondary without having a walk a great distance, and that 36th and 208th had service at that time... and that 200th between 36th and 40th had nothing. Goes to show that TransLink has, since time immemorial, neglected the 200th St. corridor despite it being the main road through all of Langley. Bizarre lack of service to Whalley on Fraser Highway, and also a strangely nostalgic service to Salmon River. How times have changed. 

[ygk]

TransLink doesn’t mark the 99 extension from Commercial Stn to Boundary on the system map (where there are quite a few trips daily) but they marked the 112 and 321 early morning single trips.