News: TransLink Adds Security to Curb Queue-Jumping at Broadway Transit Hub

Source: CBC News

Posted: 09/04/08 2:16PM

Filed Under: Canada

Extra security guards and transit police officers have been brought in to try to stop bus passengers from butting in line at one of the busiest transit hubs in Vancouver.

The move by TransLink, the transit authority of B.C's south coast, came after confrontations between passengers, triggered by queue-jumping, on Wednesday morning at Broadway and Commercial Drive in east Vancouver.

Since Tuesday's return to school, there have been long lineups during the morning rush hours for the 99B-Line rapid bus along Broadway to the University of British Columbia. The lineup on Thursday morning stretched about 100 metres, with an average 20-minute wait to get on a bus.

TransLink has added a dozen transit police officers and security guards to try to maintain order at the Broadway transit intersection, where a SkyTrain line merges with various bus lines.

The additional security kept passenger crowds calm Thursday morning but didn't successfully stop everyone from jumping the queue.

"That's a very bad thing. I've seen a couple of people do that," Patrick Sauriol, a 99B-Line passenger, said.

Sauriol said he spent half an hour in line Wednesday, only to watch people cut in front and jump on the express bus.

"We told people to get to the back of the line. Nobody wants to really pay attention to that," he said. "If you are going to spend 25 minutes getting on a bus, you don't want to see people jumping ahead of you."

TransLink said it is reviewing procedures at the Broadway transit hub and will determine whether and what permanent changes are needed.

News: TransLink to vote on study into Millenium Line extension

Wednesday, July 18 - 07:55:00 AM
Treena Wood

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Another transit line could also be extended through Vancouver. TransLink will vote this week on whether to approve a $1 million study into running the Millenium Line from Commercial Drive to central Broadway, and eventually out to UBC. Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan supports the idea. If the expansion is completed, it should be done by 2009.

News: Bus Driver Suspended After Aiding Passenger

Ian Austin, The Province

Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2007

A Coast Mountain bus driver who was trying to do the right thing may be fired for his trouble.

At about 9:20 a.m. yesterday, one of his elderly passengers became ill, so he flagged down a passing fire truck near the corner of First Avenue and Commercial Drive.

Two supervisors were also called to the scene, and they discovered the driver had booze on his breath.

Read the full story here...

Armed Guards to Patrol Bus Line for Pilot Project

Treena Wood/Province

They're already on SkyTrain, and now armed guards will patrol a busy bus line through Vancouver as part of a TransLink pilot project. Two teams of fare inspectors and gun-carrying transit cops will ride the 99-B line from Commercial Drive to UBC, protecting drivers, breaking up fights, and making sure everyone pays.

TransLink is hoping to increase the load factor on the route by letting people board through all of the doors, but it needs to check fares to do that. Bus drivers will also benefit from a new $45-million radio system installed on all buses in April. It includes a GPS, so if a driver's in trouble, TransLink will know exactly where the bus is. There were 241 assaults on drivers last year, ranging from verbal assaults to all-out beatings.

Free Breakfast for Riding the Bus

If you took public transit yesterday morning, breakfast was on SPEC.

Organizers from the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) and Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST) were pulling out all the stops for transit users, providing a free plate of pancakes and scrambled tofu to riders passing through the Commercial Drive and Broadway station.

The free breakfast campaign was a unique way to both reward transit users for their environmentally friendly transportation choice, and highlight concerns over the provincial government's approach to climate change in the Lower Mainland.

SPEC and BEST organizers are worried that the recent announcement of plans to reorganize Translink will widen the gap between the transportation authority and regional land use plans, increasing single-occupant vehicles and greenhouse gases.

"We want to deliver a message to government that they should [stop] starving transit and de-emphasize their car-centred approach," said David Fields, with SPEC.

Breakfast, bought locally and mostly organic, was served at the westbound B-Line stop.