This time, I flew from Vancouver to Calgary to visit my brother and his family and attend my nephew’s baptism. And for the first time in MONTHS, almost a year, I had the chance to sit down, relax, have a cup of coffee and read the Vancouver Sun from cover to cover. I bought a pair of noise-cancelling ear buds ($10) and listened to my iPhone’s iTunes library on the way from Vancouver to Calgary.

The crew was incredibly friendly and our flight was absolutely flawless and seamless. The landing, the take-off and overall flight were extraordinary. I hope I will always have this level of good service from WestJet!

Disclosure: I have never received any complimentary items, or travel points, or free travel, or anything from WestJet. I have just received some of the best service whenever I travel. It may be just my sheer good luck, but I can’t recall ever having a bad experience with WestJet. As always, I retain full editorial control of anything I publish on my site.

Related posts:

1. Wordless Wednesday: Aerial Photographs of Vancouver and British Columbia
2. Lilloet, BC (Guest post by @lisamedia) #TravelTuesday
3. From Langdale to Lund: A Sunshine Coast Art Crawl #TravelTuesday

Curious as I always am, I wanted to take a photograph and was able to picture the Skytrain travelling from New Westminster to Surrey. I wondered if it had a name, and lo-and-behold, Twitter had the answer. I’m actually quite impressed how many people responded extremely fast (Sean Orr and Henry Lee, amongst them – Jennifer Siddon works for Translink specifically for Skytrain so I figured she might know).

That bridge is called Skybridge. From the Wikipedia entry:

The Skybridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Built between 1987 and 1989, it spans the Fraser River and connects New Westminster with Surrey. The Skybridge opened for revenue use on March 16, 1990 with the second half of the Phase II extension of SkyTrain to Scott Road Station.

Did you know this? I totally didn’t. And that’s what I love about my blog and Twitter. They always teach me something new.

Related posts:

1. A walk along Westminster Quay
2. The @translink expansion of rapid transit to Surrey (meeting report)
3. Jully Black at the Surrey Fusion Festival

This past month (June 2011) I did a little experiment of my own. I knew I would be travelling over 60% of the time throughout the month, so I did not buy a monthly bus pass ($81 for One Zone), and instead I only bought packs of 10 bus tickets ($21 per book of 10 FareSavers). As of the time of writing (June 26th, Sunday) I can confirm this was a really stupid idea.

Despite the fact that I was in Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria, Parksville, and Montreal for the better part of the month, I am so incredibly dependent on public transit (Skytrain, Seabus and Canada Line) that I will need yet another 10 pack of FareSavers given how frequently I use transit. That will make it equivalent (well, in fact more expensive) than having just bought a monthly pass ($84 vs $81).

You almost always need to do this kind of exercise to see if you are getting any value out of the transit system. I am, and quite a lot. I bus back from the gym to my house, I bus to the university, to my office downtown, I shuttle quickly on the Canada Line and do short trips (e.g. Waterfront to Yaletown and back) to meet with clients, or all the way to Broadway/City Hall. So, overall, I get more value for my money, even if I’m travelling out of Vancouver, if I buy a monthly bus pass. Guess what I’m going to do next month when my Mom comes to visit?

Related posts:

1. My growing dependency on transit in the Metro Vancouver region
2. I disapprove of your fare raise, @translink
3. Translink, social media and the issue of instantaneous updates on Twitter

Remember the Olympic Streetcar? That little train that reminded me so much from the time when I lived in Europe, and that was so absolutely delightful to ride during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver? I miss it, and I wonder if you miss it too.

As I went for a walk with my friend Erica Hargreave the other day in South Vancouver, we came across one of the old Southlands stations. I noted on the Wikipedia entry for Arbutus-Ridge (this neighbourhood’s name) that the Vancouver-Steveston Interurban route passed through here. I have written about the Vancouver-Steveston Interurban before, but I had not realized about the existence of this station (Erica and I went there for a walk because I wanted to see the restaurant Senova on 57th and Cypress). Wouldn’t it be nice if both of these trams came back, thus expanding our transportation choices?

One of the catalysts for growth in the neighbourhood was the existence of the Vancouver-Steveston Interurban route of the British Columbia Electric Railway, known as the Lulu Island Railway, which ran between 1905 and 1952. St. Mary’s Kerrisdale, an Anglican church built in 1913, is one of the heritage structures in the uplands area of the neighbourhood.

My friend Stephen Rees (a transportation economist, planner and analyst of all things transportation in Metro Vancouver) has written a (lengthy but worth reading) op-ed piece on streetcars. Frankly, as someone who loves going to Granville Island about as much as going downtown, I would appreciate having a quick and easy way of getting from Waterfront Station to Granville Island without having to walk to the False Creek Ferries.

Also, I would not mind having the Arbutus line reconnected. In 2006, a group of my Public Policy students analyzed the options between having the (now existing on Cambie) Canada Line on Arbutus vs Cambie. In this case, what I’d like to see on Arbutus is sort of a streetcar or lightrail train. Just for touristic attraction (and why not, transportation too!).

Would you want to see the Olympic Streetcar back in Vancouver? With the 1 year anniversary of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, I kind of feel nostalgic for it. Even though I am not a fan of petitions for civic engagement (heck, I teach and do research in Public Policy, I certainly know of other lobbying methods!) but I would actually maybe even launch a petition to bring at least the Olympic Streetcar back.

Related posts:

1. The Olympic Line Streetcar
2. On my Vancouver 2010 Olympic experience
3. Arbutus Village Public Park (Arbutus Ridge)

Translink is now relaunching the campaign but now with a fully dedicated website, Travel Smart, and to encourage my readers in the Lower Mainland to travel smart and remind ourselves of how we coped with street closures during the 2010 Vancouver and Whistler Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games last year, they have offered me a prize to give away as a promotional item for their campaign.

I thought that the best way to start your day would be with a coffee as you take the bus, Skytrain, Canada Line or Seabus, so Translink is giving me a $50 gift card for one lucky reader. I’d be keen to learn if and how you changed your travel behaviour during the Olympics. Did you know that during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Vancouverites made significant changes to their travel behavior, and reduced vehicle traffic by 36% (data provided by Translink, 2011)? In my case, I didn’t change a thing. I’m 100% reliant on transit and walking.

To gain an additional (thus 2 entries in total) entry into my contest you can post the following text on Twitter:

Tell @Translink & @hummingbird604 how you @travelsmart – $50 voucher to @wavescoffee up for grabs! http://ow.ly/3XwqA

I will draw a random winner from all entries on Wednesday February 22nd at 2pm. Also, not only you can win a gift card for Waves on my contest, Travel Smart has their own contest, where you can win even more stuff (including an iPad!). You should check their contest too.

Related posts:

1. I disapprove of your fare raise, @translink
2. Be part of the plan! (Translink consultations)
3. Translink, social media and the issue of instantaneous updates on Twitter

Anybody who has read my blog before knows that I’ve been extremely critical of the regional transit authority and their online behaviour. I have never been shy about it. But in the past few months, and specially in the past few weeks, I’ve been witnessing (as have most of my friend in the Metro Vancouver region who are on Twitter) an increasing level of interactivity with the @Translink account.

[UPDATE - In my original post, I had intended to praise Jennifer Siddon, the fantastic woman behind @SkytrainLady and in my humble opinion, the model of interactivity and customer service that the rest of Translink's staff followed. You may remember how on top of things Jennifer was while the 2010 Winter Olympics were taking place, and she's kept that same pace, at times checking her Blackberry on the go and answering customer inquiries outside what you could consider normal hours - Jennifer DOES deserve a lot of kudos, and I have said so publicly as well, as shown on the tweet below]

Staffed by a multiplicity of folks who work for the communications area of Translink, the Twitter account has worked hard at keeping up with mentions of “Skytrain”, “Canada Line” and other services. In fact, sometimes they go back in the conversation and track it to the point where they can find what the problem was. This happened to me recently when an 8 Fraser didn’t stop where it should have dropped me off. I didn’t complain, but the folks behind the @Translink Twitter account tracked down the conversation up to the point where they realized what happened.

I asked Erin McConnell from Translink to comment on how they feel about the response from the public and the rationale behind this expanded effort to provide real-time updates and how successful it has been. Below is her response.

I believe the pilot has been a remarkable success for two reasons: customer support and the team running @translink. TransLink customers on Twitter have been tremendous. They have helped us improve the type of information we share by engaging with us directly and have been instrumental in growing our Twitter community by sharing transit and service updates with their followers, allowing us to reach more people across the system. We are thrilled that customers have sent us more commendations for our work on Twitter than for any other project to date. The Customer Information team tweeting from our @translink account has done an outstanding job at providing passengers with real-time, personalized service information. In addition to being extremely dedicated, they were Twitter naturals and truly love engaging with customers through @translink.

In the same way I have criticized Translink before on what I think they’ve done wrong, I have to praise them on what they’ve done right. And I want to give them kudos. Not surprising, most people are feeling the same way!

Related posts:

1. Translink, social media and the issue of instantaneous updates on Twitter
2. The return of the liveblog?
3. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria

While sometimes I find it really hard to commute by transit, I love walking and have recently taken up biking, simply because if I am going to teach the talk I got to walk the walk (also, it IS a great exercise, and with the recent improvements, separated bike lanes, etc., it feels so much safer). I was recently approached to write about The Crazy Sustainable Commute, I was delighted.

The Crazy Sustainable Commute challenges people in the Lower Mainland to find a creative sustainable means of transportation to get to work on August 27th. It is headed by Steve Unger who is an Ambassador for the David Suzuki Foundation at Work program.

The DSF at Work program is, from what I hear, a free service for any business to host an Ambassador to come to their workplace and talk about how staff and management can create a sustainable workplace. That’s also a neat idea. More about this in this video by DFS.

Related posts:

1. Cycling as a mode of sustainable transportation
2. Sustainable transportation in Vancouver
3. Building a more sustainable food system – Upcoming event

I missed the opportunity to take the 3pm ferry from Vancouver as I had a very busy morning doing work at home, so I ended up having to wait for a couple of hours at the Tsawassen ferry terminal. There are a number of elements that make this experience rather uncomfortable. First, there are no actual coffee shops IN the terminal. And of course, no wireless. So, I made the trek to the Tsawassen Quay.

The irony of it all? It’s quasi-impossible to feel safe trekking from the actual ferry terminal to the Tsawassen Quay. You will see, from my photos, that the walking distances are considerable, and that there are no bridges, or safe walking passages. This is a Quay that is designed for people who come on the ferry by car. So, attention all of you who are interested in the sustainable transportation field – make it EASY and SAFE to walk from the ferry terminal to the quay. Moreover, at the actual Quay, the wireless provider (Happy WiFi) actually does not work. There are no coffee shops that provide wireless of their own.

I only could find ONE power outlet in the whole food court, which also made my experience rather uncomfortable. When I finally sat down to play around with my laptop, I could not log on to the wireless network. So I ended up doing all my writing in BlogDesk. The great thing is, I had a chance to write this rant before I took the ferry (which, by the way, was delayed by 25 minutes). Oh, the irony of it all.

Overall, I love Victoria, but travelling to Vancouver Island from Vancouver by bus is extremely annoying. Even for someone who is trying to take this trip as a bit of a holiday.

Related posts:

1. An update on the Tsawwassen Quay Market amenities and wireless connections
2. Travelling from Vancouver to Victoria by public transit and ferry
3. The SeaWest Lounge on the BC Ferries

There are a number of drawbacks and inconveniences to taking transit to Victoria, and I will outline them in this post. First of all, the 620 only runs every 30 minutes on weekdays. So you need to plan your trip really well (use the Translink trip planner). The second nuisance is that the exit at Bridgeport and the location of the bus stop for the 620 is not clearly marked. As you take the electric stairwell and leave Bridgeport, walk to your LEFT.

While you will find the River Rock Casino at Bridgeport, you will not be able to entertain yourself (unless, of course, you DO like casinos). Since I do not, I searched for nearby coffee shops. None within a short walking distance. Very frustrating. I had to wait at the Bridgeport Canada Line Station. Owners of coffee shops, take note: you should install a shop exactly AT Bridgeport. You would definitely get business from all the people who drive in from and to Richmond and who park their car there to take the Canada Line.

When I got to the Tsawassen ferry terminal I had to wait for 2 hours, so I went to the Tsawassen Quay. Again, the distance is substantial (but I have reserved that for another post). My suggestion: pre-charge both your phone and your laptop. The waiting area at the ferry terminal is not all that bad, but it is not really all that comfy (well, again, depends on what your definition of comfort is – for me, free wireless and comfy couches make my travel easier and more pleasurable).

I did do two things to make my trip more comfortable that you might want to consider. On the ferry, I paid $ 10 to get into the SeaWest Lounge. It is, for me, totally worth it. The chairs are much more comfortable, the lounge is air conditioned and it provides snacks and coffee. Still, it would be nice if one could get wireless on the ferry. The second thing I did is I paid $ 11.50 to get on the PCL (Pacific Coach Line) so that I could bus directly into Victoria (the PCL drops off right at The Fairmont Empress). I did this to avoid having to schlep my luggage and laptop bag on a BC Transit bus.

Admittedly, these two elements of additional comfort cost me $ 22.50 overall (on top of $14.00 for the ferry ride, $ 3.75 for the bus and Canada Line trip, and all of this is one-way). But they were totally worth it. If you are going to Victoria by ferry and public transit, you might want to consider these.

Related posts:

1. Icicles at Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal and a cold snap in Vancouver
2. Things to do over a ferry ride
3. Rapid transit to UBC on Broadway

April 22, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Student Union Building
Party Room, 2nd level
UBC Campus

May 4, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
St. James Community Square
3214 West 10th Avenue
Vancouver

May 6, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
West Point Grey United Church
4595 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver

May 11, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Centre for Digital Media at the Great Northern Way Campus
122-577 Great Northern Way
Vancouver

May 13, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Vancouver Masonic Centre
1495 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver

If you can’t attend, you still can answer the questionnaire online.

Related posts:

1. Rapid transit to UBC on Broadway
2. The @translink expansion of rapid transit to Surrey (meeting report)
3. Be part of the plan! (Translink consultations)

I quite like the fact that it is much easier to see the station from afar, even in the dark. This is one of the signs outside the Skytrain station Stadium/Chinatown, near the Tinseltown mall.

Related posts:

1. Upcoming events – Skytrain Security Unconference
2. On @Translink and promoting the vote on buses/Skytrain/Canada Line
3. The @bepartoftheplan @translink community consultations schedule (Broadway rapid transit corridor)

It’s been obvious on my blog that I’ve been a critic of our regional transportation authority (currently Translink) for a number of years. I almost failed my PhD comprehensive exams thanks to the 2001 bus drivers’ strike (I couldn’t get from 12th Avenue and Granville to UBC with ease).

However, even when I’ve criticized Translink, I’ve also praised them on what they’re doing well. The woman behind the @SkytrainLady Twitter account, Jennifer Siddon, has done a marvelous job of engaging with citizens. Sg. Tom Seaman (@TransitPolice) has also worked hard on this account (although lately he seems to have stopped tweeting).

But after investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a campaign to make the citizens of the Metro Vancouver area “Travel Smart” so that they abandon their cars, and find more sustainable modes of transportation (of which I approve – I walk everywhere and I bus/Skytrain/Canada Line when it’s a longer distance), the regional transportation authority is slapping citizens with a $8 increase (I used to pay $73 for my bus pass, now I have to pay $81).

Given that it’s almost an $100 increase per year, the incentive is NOT to make people use cars LESS, it’s becoming an incentive to use them MORE and to make the calculation of trade-offs much simpler – it’s more expensive to take transit, I now will want to drive.

Related posts:

1. Translink, social media and the issue of instantaneous updates on Twitter
2. Stupid decision-making in Translink?
3. The @translink expansion of rapid transit to Surrey (meeting report)

What I told Ducky and what I have been telling people is that the actual node (the location) is irrelevant. It is the spatial distribution of where things are that really matters. That is the subject of economic geography (the study of the location of economic activity). And since my PhD major was in Environmental Economic Geography, I figured it was important for me to explain the difference. I am using two layouts of the Greater Vancouver transit system.

From the layout above, you would think that the City of Vancouver (and in particularly downtown Vancouver) is an area very well served by transit. But if you use the ‘node-focused’ approach (e.g. if you only look at where the bus/skytrain stations are without having a sense of the spatial context) you lose perspective. In reality, as both the layout above and below show, neither Burnaby nor Vancouver are really that well served. In fact, Burnaby has a substantial amount of area that is not served by fast bus/skytrain service.

But you wouldn’t know any of this with FourSquare nor with Gowalla. You need to expand the view and focus from the node to the spatial distribution of economic activity. I hope app developers can get the hint fast.

Related posts:

1. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
2. On the relationship between mainsteam media, social media and academia 1: Mainstream media and social media’s complex relationship
3. Social media for charity and social change roundup (Vancouver)

This semester I’m teaching two undergraduate-level courses at UBC. When I was a graduate student, it was easy to live, study and do work at UBC. Even if I didn’t live exactly on campus (which I did, both at Green College and at St. John’s College, as well as Fairview Residences) I was still able to get to campus on time (because when I lived near Broadway and Granville, I could take the then-10 UBC, the 9 UBC AND the 99 B-Line).

Admittedly, moving to East Vancouver (in the Mount Pleasant/Main Street area) has been one of the best decisions I’ve taken. I live close enough to downtown that I can get to my office at The Network Hub quickly, and from there, the college where I teach on Thursdays is pretty close by. So, no complaints on my side. Mount Pleasant has everything I need within walking distance (or even within Canada Line/Skytrain distance). I walk almost everywhere and I also take the public transit system, so it makes my life easy. I can even walk to the Canada Line and/or Skytrain stations within a reasonable 30 minute walk.

Today, I was a bit late to get to the university Point Grey campus (I normally strive to leave my house by 6:00am so I can have a full 2 hours to feel prepared for my first class at 9:00am at UBC) and I saw 4 (yes, you read right, four) 99 B-Line buses pass me by, fully packed. I took a 9 UBC (one of the slowest buses I have to say) expecting to make it to campus close to 9:00am, but luckily I saw a 99 B-Line and jumped on it (it was still packed, but I got to sit around Granville Street).

This got me thinking – there is not a chance in hell that Translink is going to provide adequate level of service during the 2010 Winter Olympics. I was about to post a very sweet entry on the great things I’ve seen Translink do (articulated buses with more capacity for the 8 Fraser, more frequent bus service to downtown, etc.) But this wait for the 99 B-Line really frustrated me.

On Twitter, many people responded to my tweets mentioning the need for an alternative to Skytrain (e.g. light rail or street cars). I am all for an efficient transportation system that is (a) fast and (b) inexpensive, because, taxpayer’s dollars (mine included) are going to go to that. Arguably, and in this I can’t deny it, it’s really important to do the Evergreen line to Coquitlam and the Tri-Cities if we are going to really get serious on greenhouse reduction, so that people can leave their cars behind.

So, since I haven’t had the time to respond to everyone on Twitter, I’m opening my blog to continue the conversation. What should we do with the rapid transit lines, both to UBC and to the Tri-Cities area and the suburbs? Have at it on the comments section.

Related posts:

1. The @bepartoftheplan @translink community consultations schedule (Broadway rapid transit corridor)
2. The @translink expansion of rapid transit to Surrey (meeting report)
3. Travelling from Vancouver to Victoria by public transit and ferry

I took some video with my Flip camera of the trip on the way there.

Waterfront to Vancouver City Centre

Vancouver City Centre to Yaletown/Roundhouse

Yaletown/Roundhouse to Olympic Village

Olympic Village to Broadway/City Hall

Related posts:

1. A quick photowalk around the snow-covered Vancouver
2. The Canada-Switzerland hockey game
3. The Olympic Line Streetcar

Um. That’s not true, on several accounts.

First – the Canada Line runs on Cambie. The 98 B-Line runs on Granville. The last time I checked the distance amongst both major north-south corridor it was a substantial 12 blocks. Frankly, if I worked on Granville Street and I wanted to get somewhere, I wouldn’t take the Canada Line and then switch. It’s not a short walk, I can tell you (I’ve walked it many a time).

Second – what happens if for some reason the Canada Line is disrupted substantially? Yeah, you can say “oh well, we have the 15 Cambie”. Whose frequency, by the way, is going to be substantially reduced.

My take on this is that the assumption is – everyone who takes the 98 B-Line works at the Airport so since we have the Canada Line we can remove the 98 B-Line. What about the people who LIVE and WORK around the Granville corridor? It just blows my mind that such a great route will be removed.

So, as I usually do – have at it – discuss on my blog.

Related posts:

1. The Olympic Line Streetcar
2. Restaurants in Richmond along the Canada Line
3. A quick trip on the recently opened Canada Line

For those of us who commute by bus/Skytrain, this debate is slightly a little bit more than a moot point. I adore walking, and I have absolutely no problem with a dedicated biking lane on the Burrard Bridge. Will the lane encourage motorists to switch modes of transportation? What is really the change in behavior that the dedicated lane is attempting to encourage? More cyclists commuting from Kitsilano to Downtown Vancouver because now they will feel less threatened by the cars? More people taking the bus in order to avoid congestion during rush hour? I am REALLY interested in hearing from my readers as to what they perceive is the intended goal of the Burrard Bridge dedicated bike lane (trial begins July 13th, 2009). Lots of my fellow bloggers have written about it (including Stephen Rees, trusted friend of mine and an authority in transportation policy), but as a researcher who investigates environmental policy and who hasn’t had the opportunity to study transportation policy as much, I am definitely most curious as to what societal perceptions of this trial are (for an overview of the City of Vancouver’s view on the bike lane, click on this link). As usual, have at it on the comments section.

Related posts:

1. Gingerbread Lane Houses (@HyattVancouver)
2. Gingerbread Lane at the @HyattVancouver
3. Bikes + outdoor poetry = Saturday – Guest post by Kate Milberry

Translink as a transportation authority has a really weird governance structure. I dare you to read Translink’s About Page and actually understand WHO is responsible for WHAT. Yes. I know. Confusing. But whatever. As a transportation authority of a major urban region, I kind of expect Translink to provide excellent service. I won’t bore you with stories of how many times a bus driver has started his/her bus and shut the doors on me despite the fact that they have seen me run. I won’t describe how many issues arose with buses and the Skytrain because of extreme climatic conditions. Those are detailed elsewhere on the internet.

What did make me scratch my head a bit was this tweet sent by the writer of The Buzzer Blog (who recently joined Twitter, and with whom I’ve had a few exchanges over email) to Tris. The reason why I was puzzled is because I certainly think that an organization the size of Translink SHOULD have enough staffing to handle Twitter AND a blog. Heck, I know DOZENS of organizations whose Twitter AND blogs are handled by one single person.

I do understand that Twittering does take time, but truth be told, there are MANY ways in which Twitter updates of transit conditions. Fortunately, more Translink staff is getting on Twitter, including Ken Hardie (Director of Communications of Translink). However, Ken – if I may give you a piece of advice – careful what you tweet. Once it’s out, it’s out. Yes, I’m referring to this one.

Related posts:

1. I disapprove of your fare raise, @translink
2. On @Translink as a case study in public service delivery and interactivity in social media platforms
3. Be part of the plan! (Translink consultations)

This post was contributed by Karen Quinn Fung, who blogs at Countably Infinite. Karen recently completed her Honors Thesis and is considered an expert in transportation. She single-handedly organized TransitCamp in Vancouver and was included in Raincity Studio’s 2008 Women in Tech to Watch. She also happens to be a friend of mine

Raul and I were talking today when I told him I couldn’t think of something to write about for his blogathon, and he called me an expert in transportation. I, of course, now feel obligated to repay his generous compliment…however, I will do this with a blog post about why I am not an expert in transportation – at least, not the way that most people think of experts, and not in the way that most people think of transportation. (Much of this post is indebted to a book by Fiona Rajé called Negotiating the Transport System. I am currently crafting a blog post for my site with more on this book.)

When people think of transportation, they think of traffic engineers, people designing lane markings and curbs, thinking about where to put stop signs, bike lanes and pedestrian crossings, the headways (i.e. amount of time between buses) on bus routes and the logistics of a complicated transit system like the SkyTrain. Alternately, they may think of transportation planners, who study the number of people going where at what times of day, weighing land use with development goals, who make forecasts in the future about what people will be doing 30 years from now to get around.

In almost all of the above activities, I am, at best, a casual observer. My degree was in Communication, so I am ill-suited to comment on urban growth or community development. Instead, I am much more interested in the intricacies of how the act of getting around shapes what you can do, who you are, and who you can be; and, conversely, how not being able to get you are also keeps you from certain things. And finally, what people or organizations can do quickly and cheaply to overcome those obstacles and do what they want to, in the absence of solutions that might take a long time to implement. Funny enough, a lot of those tools tend to involve providing information to people – hence my hanging-on with the web and mobile communities in Vancouver.

Along this vein, one of the neatest concepts I’ve learned about recently is that of the “forced car.” It is exactly what it sounds like, and everyone knows what it is: it is when public transport is so lacking that people on low incomes have to put their money towards owning and running a car, which diverts valuable resources away from other parts of their lives. I have a friend living this very reality in Winnipeg. Yet as a society, do we collectively – through our representative in municipal or regional governments – take responsibility for precipitating these situations through the design of our cities? It’s hard to take responsibility for something that’s not directly someone’s fault, yet all too often it seems that the forethought that would enable these situations to be avoided is bypassed completely.

I’m certainly not the only one thinking about this sort of thing in Vancouver, either – the Vancouver Public Space Network is doing some great work, and Toronto’s Spacing Magazine is very prolific in bringing these issues to a human and emotional scale. If we think of cities as living, breathing organisms, then our transportation system is like our circulatory system, moving things around to where they are needed. That experience of moving around, perhaps not for the majority but for no small minority of people, is traumatic, wrought with difficulty and frustration, leading to (again with a loosely-defined academic term) social exclusion, that prevents them from taking full advantage of their potential or living their dreams. It’s this human element that I work towards…and I’m feeling
up to the challenge!

Now, does anyone know a Master’s Program where I can study this *and* hang out with bloggers and web geeks?

Related posts:

1. Sustainable transportation in Vancouver
2. Champagne Tastes on a Beer Budget – Guest post by J. Karen Parker
3. Guest post: Lust for life, by Terra Atrill (aka ZoeyJane)

Related posts:

1. Car Free Day Vancouver 2011 (Main Street) is today
2. Car-Free Festival: Reporting back on Main Street
3. Car Free Day on Main Street

Related posts:

1. Best way to score a smile: Walk a puppy!
2. Measuring influence in social media (the Klout score)
3. A walk along Westminster Quay

Moreover, when I had to head downtown, I had to be very strategic about where I was going and how many events I attended in a day. Fortunately, the week that I attended Launch Party IV, VIDFEST, Convergence and Third Tuesday I also happened to be downtown, so it wasn’t all that bad. All this comes to just remind me how dependent I am now on my bus pass and on transit in general.

I fixed these issues last Thursday, and even though I am not attending lots of events, I have been feeling incredibly free. Just the mere fact that I can commute everywhere within the Metro Vancouver area without feeling trapped by the confines of my geographical area (as I was before, not having my bus pasS) has made me gain a new appreciation for the need for appropriate transit.

I rarely talk about transit or local politics or these kinds of issues as there are many other bloggers in the Metro Vancouver area who do it (of course, admittedly, I may disagree with many of these bloggers’ views, but I still think that we need them). But for example, some local bloggers who talk transit in a much better light than I do are Stephen Rees, Karen Fung and Paul Hillsdon (who by the way is running for council in Surrey).

Despite the fact that my blog is pretty personal, I think it is important for me to highlight some issues that are of relevance (at least, to my personal life!) – and one of these is the need for good transit. I have become very dependent on a good transit system, and I am pretty good at navigating it. The other day, JT and I were roaming around Vancouver and Burnaby, and I was the one giving directions. Why? Because I’ve used the system for so long and so frequently that now I know many of my routes.

I do wish that we had a better system, including (but not limited to)
- that Translink got their act together with a line that goes through 16th Avenue,
- that Cambie hadn’t been decimated the way it was,
- that the board was more transparent and accountable,
- that the rest of the Metro Vancouver was as well covered as some of the downtown areas,
- that the fares weren’t as high (I dare Metro Vancouver and Translink to offer such low fares as those offered in the Mexican transit system),
-….

Now, the question goes to YOU. What things are in your wish-list for the Metro Vancouver transit system and for Translink?

Related posts:

1. The Provincial Transit Plan and Mexico City’s case
2. Google Transit – Vancouver – link love
3. Upcoming event – Metro Vancouver Sustainability Breakfast – The Opportunities for Urban Density

For example, transportation choices. Yes, electric cars can be an option, I think. Since I am not a transportation expert, I can refer you to the blogs of Stephen Rees and Paul Hillsdon if you want to talk about those issues. But definitely, walking or biking or taking the bus are the only options we have.

Another area (rather important to me given my busy social life) was beer consumption. I am not kidding! Organic beer is good I will send you to check Rebecca’s, Keira’s and Phaedra’s blogs for very good recaps of the Green Living Show that include the topic of organic beer. Furthermore, a visitor to my blog informed me that the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s magazine (Checkerspot) was liveblogging, so check them out too. Here I would like to just make some broader comments about GLC.

First, I really think that BC Place was a very good choice, but I wonder if Canada Place would have been better (just simply in terms of transportation access to the show). Although come to think about it, maybe it was just the fact that I didn’t remember how to get to BC Place by transit. I attended the Green Living Show on Saturday morning with Phaedra, and we walked from Our Town Cafe on Broadway and Kingsway all the way down to BC Place. It was a very beautiful walk. But if it had been raining, we probably would have had to take the Skytrain. I really had forgotten that Stadium Skytrain station is very close to BC Place.

Second, the overall theme and design of the show was fantastic. I didn’t feel that the show was crowded at all. And they really brought some high-powered speakers (Stephen Lewis, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Adrienne Carr). Really, that was a very very good idea.

Third, the only thing I was a bit surprised was that Green Table wasn’t there. Almost every aspect of every day life was showcased. To give a few examples, soy-based candles, organic beer, water-saving and energy-saving appliances, sustainable and sweatshop-free clothing, organic snacks. But the question in my head remains – why wasn’t our very own Sustainable Restaurants Association there? Of course, I can always email and ask

Going there with Phaedra was really a highlight of the weekend, because she is really awesome. We have had the chance to e-mail and comment on each other’s blogs, but it was very very nice to really hang out outside the blogosphere. It’s always awesome to get to know the person behind the blog.

One of the things that really hit home with me was that the organizers realized that the show would have environmental impacts, and looked for ways to reduce them. You’d be surprised how many organizers of environmentally-themed events don’t really look INSIDE their event! But this wasn’t the case with Green Living Show. If you click here, you can read all the ways in which they reduced environmental impacts.

All in all, I really enjoyed the show, and will definitely do my best to attend next year’s. Kudos to the organizers! Now, on the critical side of things – the statistical profile they provide of a typical Green Living Show attendee would suggest (and thus, even possibly confirm) that to be more sustainable you need to make enough money to pay the environmental premium price (just read this fact – 37% of last year’s attendees make more than $ 100,000. Wow!).

I am not sure that I like reading this fact, to be quite frank. Saving money is one of the selling points of going greener in this city (given the exorbitant prices of housing and gas). Thus, if you tell me that I need to first make more money and THEN go green, it becomes a hard sell (particularly for those like me whose money-making power is not yet in the six figures realm).

Overall, as mentioned, the show was great and I’m looking forward to next year’s.

Please note: This post is cross-posted on both my blogs (Blogger and WordPress) for the time being, but I think that the time is coming for me to just continue on with WP. I’ll post an announcement when that happens.

UPDATE – My friend Brian (with Rain City Bikes) just reminded me that I hadn’t mentioned I had been given a ride in a Boxbike while they participated in the Green Living Show. My bad My friend Phaedra actually took a photo of me and yes of course I do look happy, it was SO fun! I recommend you to head over to their website and yes, they DO have a blog, which you can find here. Sustainable transportation and fun times – what more can you ask for? Thanks Brian for the ride

Related posts:

1. No recap of Green Drinks :(
2. Event recap: Green Drinks April 2008
3. Upcoming event – Spring Living Fair

Recently, a few of these decisions were put in place: the stops at Main at 10th Avenue (on both the east and west sides) were removed, and the Main and 15th (northbound) was moved to Main and 14th (right across from Zigz). Furthermore, I don’t know whose “bright idea” was it to only have a couple of routes on Broadway (9 and 99 B-Line) and one on King Edward (25) but none on 16th Avenue, basically from Macdonald to Fraser. We need a route along 16th Avenue, even if it’s only a Commuter Bus (like the ones that Translink provided for short trips within UBC, or the C21 and C23 from Main Street Skytrain station to the West End and back). Why hasn’t this happened?

I could cite the other dozens of stupid transportation policy decisions that have been made in the Metro Vancouver area, but there is a point I’ve been thinking about bringing across. When we complain about transportation policy, we often say “Translink should do this” or “Translink should do that” as though Translink is a homogeneous body. This is not the case.

The truth is that organizations are composed of individuals, each one with a different view of the world. Unless we recognize this heterogeneity in organizational composition, we are bound to be frustrated by the decision-making processes of an organization that doesn’t really make decisions itself. When we speak about “Translink’s decisions“, are we referring to the decisions of its Board of Directors, or their planning staff, or the CEO. Who *decides* within Translink? I am very curious to find out, quite frankly. Translink’s new governance model is quite puzzling, admittedly (and this comes from someone who actually has read the academic literature on governance!)

And yes, I recognize that I’m guilty of what I am pointing out (e.g. assuming Translink is a homogeneous entity). There are two reasons why I pointed this out. The first one, is that the decision-making in Translink (and the rest of this region’s governmental agencies) is much more complex than one would think. The second one is that I believe that transportation policy in the Metro Vancouver area should have much more citizen involvement than it has right now. Who was consulted about moving the Main and 15th Avenue bus stop? Has nobody in this city pointed out to the lack of a bus along 16th Avenue? Is there evidence that consultation took place, and is there any degree of accountability for these decisions? How did “Translink” decide? (e.g. who at Translink made this decision and how was it made?)… inquiring minds want to know…

Related posts:

1. The @bepartoftheplan @translink community consultations schedule (Broadway rapid transit corridor)
2. I disapprove of your fare raise, @translink
3. Translink, social media and the issue of instantaneous updates on Twitter

One of the things that surprises me (to this day) is the size of the Metro Vancouver region (formerly the Greater Vancouver Regional District) and it poorly designed transit system. Compared to Mexico City, Metro Vancouver has roughly one-tenth of the population, and a GDP per capita about ten times higher. However, if you look at the Metro system in Mexico City, the latter is so much better and so much more used than the Skytrain, that it does beg the question – why is it that a city in a third-world, relatively poorer country can have such a stellar transportation system as compared to Vancouver (which is supposed to be a world-class, affluent, wealthy, first-world kind of city).

The Metro system in Mexico City [Photo credit: Wikipedia's entry on Mexico City Metro]

Don’t get me wrong. There IS a reason why I live in this city. But it’s not its transportation system, for sure. I am well aware of the air pollution problems in Mexico City, and I also know the argument that these problems are in large measure due to the excessive number of cars (here is a link to a study that looked interesting). However, it is indeed true that the Metro system in Mexico City kicks ass. You can get pretty much anywhere within the urban core. So much that, when having conversations with residents of Mexico City, they make geographical references to specific Metro stations. For example, one of my very best friends used to live a block away from Metro Mixcoac. The bus station is at Metro Autobuses del Norte. The Benito Juarez International Airport has a station at Metro Terminal Aérea. The Zócalo has a Metro station, so does the Palacio de Bellas Artes, and the Plaza de las Tres Culturas is pretty much within five blocks of Metro Tlatelolco.

Having enjoyed the Metro system (and the peseras) in Mexico City less than two weeks ago (accompanied by a Canadian, indeed), I can’t help but laugh at the irony that Mexico City’s transportation system can be so much better than that of the whole province of British Columbia (in my opinion, of course … if you have enough data and a good solid argument to defeat my proposition, I’m happy to discuss it).

Viewing this issue from another angle, if you think about it, unless Metro Vancouver creates a smart growth/smart transportation strategy, its air quality going to end up much worse than Mexico City. Just think about it for a second… if it is true (I still have my doubts) that Mexico City’s air pollution is due to the excessive number of polluting cars and other vehicles, even with a kick-ass, world-class Metro system like the one it has, can you imagine what will happen to Metro Vancouver a few years down the road?

Sometimes, when analyzing policy (and creating new policies), it’s useful to look at how other cities/regions/countries are doing things, and first-world countries can learn from third-world countries too, just as much. It would be good for Metro Vancouver to look at Mexico City as an example of a solid transportation system that moves millions of people around. Thoughts anyone?

Related posts:

1. My growing dependency on transit in the Metro Vancouver region
2. Statistics – Inaccurate, incorrect or … ?
3. Travelling in Mexico City

Well, his readership is exploding now, in part because he wrote a really well-researched plan for transportation South of the Fraser river (I would suggest you go to Price‘ or Rees’ blogs for discussions on the matter, as Paul’s server is overwhelmed – you can also check the Livable Region Coalition blog).

The point I would like to make (since I am not really a transportation kind of guy – but I do have other strengths in urban planning and sustainability) is that instead of just complaining, Paul’s plan is making suggestions. I would like to encourage other bloggers, readers, citizens of Vancouver and the Metro Vancouver (formerly GVRD) area to write proposals and offer suggestions. It’s easy to rant and whine, and hard to research a topic and put countless hours into developing a coherent and well-analyzed report. Let’s all try to follow Paul’s example and use the second strategy. Congratulations Paul!

Related posts:

1. Sustainable transportation in Vancouver
2. Transportation as a life – Guest post by Karen Quinn Fung
3. Cycling as a mode of sustainable transportation

It’s funny – we’ve created verbs out of things that have become a routine in our lives. For example, I often hear myself and other friends say “oh don’t worry, I’ll just BLine it to your place“. The implication of course is “oh don’t worry, I’ll just take the 99 B-Line to your place”. I also have heard people indicate “I’ll skytrain it to Main Street and will see you there“. This mains of course, that the person will take the Skytrain from wherever he/she is to Main Street/Science world. These expressions, I call Vancouverisms.

I am curious to know if you’ve heard another Vancouverism. There must be other phrases that are typical of our beautiful, rainy city.

Related posts:

1. Google Transit – Vancouver – link love
2. Rapid transit to UBC on Broadway
3. Getting from Vancouver to Harrison Hot Springs via Chilliwack (bus and transit)

The unfortunate part is that, as a hummingbird, I often tend to make on-the-spot, rushed decisions that not only do not save time but also make me waste money. That was the case with a misunderstanding of the Translink information system that led me to miss the bus 160 to Port Coquitlam.

The 160 would have taken me directly to the Harry Jerome Sports Centre in Burnaby Mountain. I tried to catch up using desperate measures, including switching to the 19 Metrotown, taking the Skytrain to Broadway Station, switching to the Millenium Line eastbound from Commercial Station to Sperling and then taking the 134 Brentwood Mall bus north on Sperling to Kensington and Hastings. As the 134 was turning left, we saw the 160 pass right in front of us.

My frustration increased because I was late for volleyball try-outs and thus I had to take a cab, which cost me less than $ 8.00 CND but still, it was stupid of me because of my lack of patience. Had I been patient enough, I would have not had to pay for a cab, hustle and rush through the transit system to try and catch up to a bus that clearly I wasn’t even going to be able to catch up to. Even though I would have arrived a bit later than I anticipated, if I had waited patiently for 30 minutes, I could have taken the 160 without any problems.

I did make it to try-outs reasonably on time because the position I was trying for had been delayed, and I had a really great time (although I was exhausted by mid-afternoon and needed a nap). Having had competitive experience before, I was still surprised by how rusty I was in some areas and how well my body remembers how to do certain things despite the amount of time I’ve spent not playing volleyball.

Photo source: The Selvatura Canopy Tour Monteverde website.

Related posts:

1. Another great weekend in Vancouver
2. What’s so great about Rock Band?
3. Rounding up a great weekend :)

A friend of mine owns a hybrid car, and paid a premium because he wanted to reduce the amount of air pollutants released by his car (if he had to have a car, at least it was a less-polluting one). He is not the only one to have done so, though. Leonardo DiCaprio, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are amongst the celebrities who are said to own hybrids (in the case of DiCaprio, apparently he owns a hybrid Prius)

“Because nobody living with AIDS should live with hunger” (A Loving Spoonful), please consider donating.

Related posts:

1. Women in Wartime: Vivandieres and Land Girls (hybrid show)
2. Hello Again (The Cars)
3. Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars (music)

I commute by bus, and walk A LOT. But more recently I’ve thought about taking up biking. If I end up buying a bicycle, I will want to ensure that I have a good one that allows me to commute fairly long distances. Of course, the alternative would be to take my bike and commute by bus and then run around using my bike. I just haven’t gotten around purchasing a good bike. Now, with this Vancouver weather, I am strongly discouraged about biking in the fall, when the weather can be actually quite gloomy and rainy. But I am all for encouraging others to commute using alternative, more sustainable modes of transportation!

The Greater Vancouver Transit Authority has a good website that offers several commuting options within the GVRD.

“Because nobody living with AIDS should live with hunger” (A Loving Spoonful), please consider donating.

Related posts:

1. Sustainable transportation in Vancouver
2. The Crazy Sustainable Commute (Aug 27th)
3. Transportation as a life – Guest post by Karen Quinn Fung

Sustainable transportation should also be climate-neutral, in my humble opinion. I was talking about this topic with Marcela, who is very passionate about sustainable transportation. For example, she was suggesting that street-light coordination would be but just one of the many ways in which you could streamline traffic in the Metropolitan Zone of Guadalajara. I don’t know since I don’t work in transportation, but I’ll take her word for it

Related posts:

1. Cycling as a mode of sustainable transportation
2. The Crazy Sustainable Commute (Aug 27th)
3. Transportation policy Hillsdon-style