Marlow1331 Posted September 29, 2016 Report Share Posted September 29, 2016 By the looks of it, 993 has been retired, farebox removed and put into 1602, 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highfive Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Express691 Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 993 was said to have major transmission problems. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 Looks like the 990, and 992 are also retired because they haven't seen service in a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mira Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasW97 Posted October 15, 2016 Report Share Posted October 15, 2016 An update; all of the ex 1995 units that were sold to Saskatoon have been retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted October 15, 2016 Report Share Posted October 15, 2016 Job action is starting Monday for West Vancouver Blue Bus: http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/west-van-commuters-should-brace-for-blue-bus-disruptions-as-union-launches-job-action-monday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GORDOOM Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 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.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GORDOOM Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GORDOOM Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GORDOOM Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleowin Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 Majority of fleet is in translink scheme... and fleet is translink owned, basically cmbc now lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millennium2002 Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 IMO those fleet replacements can't come soon enough... that should reduce the maintenance backlog caused by keeping aging buses in service. Having said that it'll be really unfortunate if I happen to see the day that West Vancouver transit no longer exists... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShuttleWV Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 Quote As i work for WVT i wont be saying anything,but there are many frustrations. Check the Westvan website for the latest posting that states their side of things. Back to work tomorrow and see how things pan out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highfive Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GORDOOM Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 Is RTC having the same trouble with its XD40s? What about Vancouver's XDE60s [oops], which are of the same vintage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brzyski Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 Did you mean XDE60? I think they are fine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShuttleWV Posted October 17, 2016 Report Share Posted October 17, 2016 One of these is not like the other.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highfive Posted October 19, 2016 Report Share Posted October 19, 2016 From my sources, the situation is about to escalate. If both sides are still far apart Thursday, there could be a full strike by next Monday. Look for an announcement from ATU on Thursday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted October 21, 2016 Report Share Posted October 21, 2016 A full strike could happen starting Monday. http://www.cknw.com/2016/10/20/striking-west-vancouver-blue-bus-drivers-to-suspend-service-monday/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millennium2002 Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GORDOOM Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 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.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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