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West Vancouver Blue Bus


BCT-3122-D800-10240

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Wow, thats surprising 993 has been retired as that was one of the nicest 1999 D40LFs to drive! I figured they would scrap 991, 992, 994, 996 and 997 based on how those ones drove. In particular 994 was rather sluggish the last time I drove it.  

Of course there could have been other issues with that particular bus. 

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4 hours ago, Blue Bus Fan said:

Looks like the 990, and 992 are also retired because they haven't seen service in a long time. 

Looks like  990, and 992 are also retired because they haven't seen service in a long time.    fixed no real need to post this in two threads

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  • 2 weeks later...

Question: if this progresses, at what point can TransLink terminate the operating agreement with WVMT and turn all the West Van routes over to CMBC? (Especially if CAW is willing to integrate the ex-WVMT employees into its seniority list or set up some sort of seniority fence around the new NVTC.)

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49 minutes ago, GORDOOM said:

Question: if this progresses, at what point can TransLink terminate the operating agreement with WVMT and turn all the West Van routes over to CMBC? (Especially if CAW is willing to integrate the ex-WVMT employees into its seniority list or set up some sort of seniority fence around the new NVTC.)

Never. It's independent. 

 

The "service contract" is perhaps better described as an operating agreement (it is, legally, a contract though) which prescribes some service levels, cost sharing, etc. But at the end of the day West Van doesn't have an agreement with Translink (CMBC) to provide service in the municipality. If there isn't service in West Van it isn't Translink's problem, it is the municipality's. Further I cannot imagine CMBC's union ever stepping foot in West Van without some sort of fairly intense consented relationship with the drivers that are in West Van now. Just extending the 255 into North Van with West Van drivers caused a huge amount of contractual issues which delayed the service by a year. 

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Well, that, or the Province could step in with legislation that forcibly transfers WVMT from the District of West Vancouver to TransLink and merges the WVMT bargaining units into CMBC. But I won't comment on that further, because I don't want this thread to become about politics. :P

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It's a "routine" labour dispute. Nothing near as dramatic as requiring a need to break down a bargaining unit. And regardless, the first step would be an essential service designation attempt. If that failed then forced arbitration. 

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Oh, I'm not advocating union-busting by any means. What I am advocating is bringing WVMT fully under TransLink control. I was just wondering if this might at some point provide a justification.

I will say, though, that I'm a little surprised. I would have expected this to happen with the CMBC negotiations, not these ones.

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I'm about five years out of date on my quasi-inside info, but, West Van really was struggling to afford upkeep and growth of transit. They were increasingly dependent on Translink / CMBC for various types of resources, and in a lot of ways lost a lot of autonomy (see recent service change proposals contrary to West Van's wishes for UBC). I think in time West Van will just lack the funding to go on, and Blue Bus will just slowly become CMBC. 

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Maybe that's what's happening here. I mean, the article spoke of demands by the District for concessions from their employees, which kinda surprised me at the time, especially when CMBC was able to settle with their CAW bargaining units so much easier than I had thought... but when you put it that way, it maybe makes sense?

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The turnover of Mechanics is by far one of the issues of greatest concern. Also, like Winnipeg Transit, West Van has had difficulty keeping the 2012 Xcelsiors on the road. (2010 EPA engine). When all of the 1995 D40LFs were active, it was rare to not have the required buses for book out. After the 2012 Xcelsiors and with the turnover of Mechanics, its been more frequent. Over a year, there were at least 2 afternoon runs cancelled on a regular basis. (Not daily but almost). This mostly resulted in afternoon 255 trips and some 250As being cancelled. So, has been for a long time periodically only 30 min. scheduled service for the 255 and some gaps with the 250A service.  

This labour dispute also involves the Municipality trying remove certain benefits in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Not sure about the details though, as I've been out of the loop for awhile now. Someone mentioned the Municipality no longer wants to cover short term sick benefits, and the union wanted something done about 255 service. Also as mentioned, the Union wants to have better working conditions for the Mechanics so that there isn't such a high turnover. There has to be more to it though. 

 

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And unfortunately, it's now official:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/west-vancouver-transit-strike-1.3818290

I wonder what this will mean for routes heading to Park Royal or even crossing the Lions Gate Bridge... if there are picket lines set up at any of those two places, there may be trouble.

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Theoretically, anywhere where Blue Buses run is behind picket lines. That means no CMBC buses to Park Royal, across the Lions' Gate, or along Georgia St. (which eliminates service to Stanley Park). But I don't expect this to last long before Victoria intervenes - possibly by dissolving WVMT and putting TransLink in charge directly.

(Just to clarify: while I do support having TransLink have greater autonomy from the individual municipalities, including in West Van, I more see Victoria using this as a excuse, rather than this being a valid justification for doing it.)

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