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Post by northwesterner on Apr 4, 2014 19:13:10 GMT -8
Now that I think about it, northwesterner might be able to shed some more light on the Fishbowls in Alaska. 208 probably left before he went up there though. Thanks for remembering me, Cable Cassidy! I had some correspondence regarding the history of that coach from Mr. Blue and White a number of years ago. Sadly, much of that seems to be stuck on my old laptop. I really need to take it in for a hard drive recovery so I can get to that info. Anyways ... historically there were two companies in Alaska, essentially Holland America / Gray Line and Princess Tours. In 2009, Carnival Corp merged the two properties, and they continue to operate with mostly Princess management, from the Princess offices, and with the Princess DOT number (Royal Hyway Tours). Most of the Fishbowls that our other list members had seen in Alaska ( Mike C, WettCoast) were heritage Princess Tours units. These coaches were retired from Golden Gate Transit over a number of years in the 1990s, rebuild in Seattle at a company called Coach Maintenance (the semi-retired owner can sure tell some stories...) and sent to Alaska. Princess at one time operated 75+ of the coaches, HAL had another set (quantity unclear) of ex GGT units. The particular coach pictured (208) is an old time HAL unit. I do not know if it was ordered new, though on a fleet roster I received years ago from a VIN collector, he does not indicate prior ownership. All of these glasstop fishbowls were retired by HAL in the early/mid 2000s. HAL retired their remaining Fishbowls from Juneau in 2005 (they had some ex GGT units) but still had one or two running in Ketchikan (again, ex GGT units, not the glasstops) at the time of merger. As for the Princess fleet ... it wound down. When I started driving for them in 2006 we had 32 operable in Juneau. In 2007 we had like 29. By 2009, we were down to 18. The last operated in Ketchikan in 2012. |
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Post by northwesterner on Apr 4, 2014 19:40:52 GMT -8
This photo was taken back in September of 2011, shortly after purchase by it's forth owner. Originally ordered for a cruise line in Alaska (Holland I think?), it ran in Alaska shuttling cruise ship passengers for several years. When the bus was replaced, a private collector in Dallas bought the bus. He owned it for a few years and then sold it to someone in Vancouver who was running a vintage charter bus company. When we traveled to Alaska in 2008, they were still operating these buses as cruise ship shuttles in Juneau. They didn't seem specific to any cruise line (we were Royal Caribbean) so they were operating at full capacity on that stormy afternoon to and from all the ships in port. Stormy afternoon? It was probably just a normal summer day in Juneau. |
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Apr 12, 2014 19:49:16 GMT -8
Photos of Train2Main. I am posting these photos because this is rare for BCRTC, since the Olympics, operating two car trains. 
  One photo of the Evergreen line. I'm posting these photos to show how constructions is going on this line.  Evergreen line connection to Lougheed Station by Awesome cheese, on Flickr |
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Post by Starsteward on Apr 12, 2014 20:39:20 GMT -8
Photos of Train2Main. I am posting these photos because this is for rare BCRTC, since the Olympics, operating two car trains.
One photo of the Evergreen line. I'm posting these photos to show how constructions is going on this line. Evergreen line connection to Lougheed Station by Awesome cheese, on Flickr It would be interesting to find out what the Evergreen Line Construction folks or TransLink had to fork out to Ron Toigo of White Spot as he had to close that location for at least two months. It has since re-opened but culinary atmosphere will never be the same knowing the 'train' is travelling right overhead;) I doubt whether Mr. Toigo closed up shop as a good will gesture to TransLink, rather I suspect the 'negotiations' for lost revenue must have been quite interesting. |
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Neil
Voyager 
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Post by Neil on May 29, 2014 19:27:40 GMT -8
Took my first bus ride of 2014 today. After a very pleasant three and a half hour walk along Boundary Bay from Mud Bay Park in Surrey to Centennial Beach in Tsawwassen, I took three buses; the first, a community shuttle to the South Delta exchange, then a highway type bus to Ladner, and another shuttle bus to Scottsdale. Very good connections, as luck would have it, and since I ride buses so seldom, I always enjoy checking out the features and the décor... and I can't help noting that even the shuttles have vastly more comfortable seats than the 'cheese graters' on the 'minor' ferries. Why is it that Translink has money for padded chairs on hundreds of buses, when BC Ferries can't do it on a dozen or so smaller ferries? Mind boggling.
A question. Does someone (John?) know what the difference in pay scale and perhaps job security or other conditions is between community shuttle drivers and drivers of regular buses? No speculation, please... just someone who actually knows. |
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Post by Scott on May 29, 2014 20:27:55 GMT -8
Neil, I don't have it memorized, but it's here on Translink's career page: www.translink.ca/en/About-Us/Careers/Bus-Operators.aspxConventional Operators start out at $21.27 and max out at $30.38. Community Shuttle Operators start out at $18.26 and max out at $24.31. Regular bus drivers are all full-time employees from the day they start training. Community Shuttle usually start casual/part time and then full-time positions are advertised in-house and I think it's probably by seniority of who applies which determines who gets it. Job security is probably similar. We belong to the same union, and share seniority within the company. I think all Conventional and Community Shuttle job openings are advertised in-house for about a week before they're made public. Community Shuttle drivers who switch over to Conventional get to keep their seniority numbers. It also happens the other way around. It's not uncommon for Conventional Drivers who want to semi-retire, to drive shuttle buses which can have a much more casual schedule (ie. driving a couple times a week). - John H |
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Neil
Voyager
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Post by Neil on May 29, 2014 21:44:31 GMT -8
Neil, I don't have it memorized, but it's here on Translink's career page: www.translink.ca/en/About-Us/Careers/Bus-Operators.aspxConventional Operators start out at $21.27 and max out at $30.38. Community Shuttle Operators start out at $18.26 and max out at $24.31. Regular bus drivers are all full-time employees from the day they start training. Community Shuttle usually start casual/part time and then full-time positions are advertised in-house and I think it's probably by seniority of who applies which determines who gets it. Job security is probably similar. We belong to the same union, and share seniority within the company. I think all Conventional and Community Shuttle job openings are advertised in-house for about a week before they're made public. Community Shuttle drivers who switch over to Conventional get to keep their seniority numbers. It also happens the other way around. It's not uncommon for Conventional Drivers who want to semi-retire, to drive shuttle buses which can have a much more casual schedule (ie. driving a couple times a week). John, thanks for that reply- it answered my question nicely.
Three more queries, if I may:
Is there a sort of caste system among transit operators... are community shuttle jobs regarded in a lesser light, aside from the lower pay? I realize you're a current member of 'the force', so if you're not comfortable answering that question on this public forum, I'll understand.
Secondly. A young lad of perhaps ten got on the 601 in Ladner, and when we got off at the exchange, I heard the driver tell him sternly, 'That money came out of my pocket, so you need to remember to bring enough money with you next time you get on the bus". I know that bus drivers sometimes let people evade fares, sometimes out of sympathy, or out of concern for the safety of all concerned, so, would this driver have actually paid part of this kid's fare, or was she just trying to impress upon him the necessity to bring the required funds?
Thirdly... do those endless computerized, monotone/sing song next stop announcements haunt the sleep of drivers, or is it just a kind of aural wallpaper that you block out easily? I hardly ever ride buses, so I found myself contemplating the job of a person who sits in a soundroom saying "One, street, thirty, avenue, Birch, exchange, Granville, five, at... on and on, until every number, name and word necessary for every combination of stop announcement has been voiced. Yikes, what a job. Although, I suppose it's not a job at all... probably just a virtual voice. At least, I hope so.
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Post by Dane on May 29, 2014 23:02:40 GMT -8
Haha definitely a computerized voice! The first few months it wasn't "Vancouverized" and had some just pronunciations that were probably more linguistically correct than what we tend to actually say. "Robe-Son" for Robson, "Seeman Frasher Uni Ver City" for SFU and "See-M-More" for Seymour come to mind. It isn't perfect now but it got a lot better really quickly when introduced.
That stupid chime sound before the next stop, announcement was decided on by a group of drivers, several of whom are transportation enthusiasts of different varieties. It is a recording of a real Lower Mainland trolley bell. It used to be a passive electronic sound. A great example of why enthusiasts don't always have the best via to make reasonable decisions. I cannot stand it, that said ...
It was the sound made for my last year at SFU, when I rode the bus about four time a week a fairly large distance (Deep Cove to SFUs multiple campuses and return). Turned into background noise pretty quick, but I had the benefit of earphones so I could zone out to read text books.
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Post by northwesterner on May 30, 2014 5:42:42 GMT -8
Haha definitely a computerized voice! The first few months it wasn't "Vancouverized" and had some just pronunciations that were probably more linguistically correct than what we tend to actually say. Getting a computerized voice to conform to the accent spoken by most British Columbians has to be a nightmare. To my ear, the accent/dialect spoken in southern BC is very distinct, and despite the fact I've been exposed to it since I was a kid, it is still . My current boss is from BC ... he cause me to pause with an unfamiliar pronunciation at least once a day. When I'm traveling internationally I can pick a Canadian from BC out of a crowd pretty easily. Canadians from elsewhere (Toronto for instance) are much more difficult to identify. |
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Post by Cable Cassidy on May 30, 2014 8:08:04 GMT -8
Is there a sort of caste system among transit operators... are community shuttle jobs regarded in a lesser light, aside from the lower pay? I realize you're a current member of 'the force', so if you're not comfortable answering that question on this public forum, I'll understand.
There used to be a negative stigma attached to the community shuttle operators, but that has gone away with time.
The strike back in 2001 was largely due to the community shuttle program, where work was being taken from drivers and contracted out. The first shuttle route, the current C1, was operated by a local taxi company and the union was concerned about more work being lost to contractors. Not only would they lose work, but work that senior drives signed near the end of their careers. These were routes that could see less than 20 people in an 8 hour day, with nice long breaks (aka, gravy work).
In the end, CMBC/Translink agreed that only so much shuttle work would be contracted out and the rest would be handled by CMBC employees under the same union. Unfortunately, a lot of drivers viewed the shuttle drivers as the reason they lost the work. Even though they worked for the same company and had the same union. Over the past 10 years a lot of those drivers have retired, or moved on.
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Post by Scott on May 30, 2014 12:54:21 GMT -8
Is there a sort of caste system among transit operators... are community shuttle jobs regarded in a lesser light, aside from the lower pay? I realize you're a current member of 'the force', so if you're not comfortable answering that question on this public forum, I'll understand.
Secondly. A young lad of perhaps ten got on the 601 in Ladner, and when we got off at the exchange, I heard the driver tell him sternly, 'That money came out of my pocket, so you need to remember to bring enough money with you next time you get on the bus". I know that bus drivers sometimes let people evade fares, sometimes out of sympathy, or out of concern for the safety of all concerned, so, would this driver have actually paid part of this kid's fare, or was she just trying to impress upon him the necessity to bring the required funds?
Thirdly... do those endless computerized, monotone/sing song next stop announcements haunt the sleep of drivers, or is it just a kind of aural wallpaper that you block out easily? I hardly ever ride buses, so I found myself contemplating the job of a person who sits in a soundroom saying "One, street, thirty, avenue, Birch, exchange, Granville, five, at... on and on, until every number, name and word necessary for every combination of stop announcement has been voiced. Yikes, what a job. Although, I suppose it's not a job at all... probably just a virtual voice. At least, I hope so.
First question... in Vancouver, Community Shuttle operates out of Oakridge Depot, so I have very little interaction with those drivers. Some community shuttle drivers want to become bus drivers (a few years ago when there was a hiring freeze for conventional drivers, Coast Mountain Bus was only hiring community shuttle drivers) and a lot of them are happy with their job. I don't really get the feeling there's any "we're better than them" attitude among bus drivers. I think most community shuttle drivers who want to become bus drivers, have had the opportunity to make the switch over the past year.
Secondly, no, there's no penalty to the driver over non payment of fare. Unless he's referring to the taxes he pays 
The stop announcements are pretty easy to tune out... doesn't bother me at all. Only part that annoys me is when she announces the stop as I'm driving past it at 50km/hr. Most people know where they're going. Just wait until the Compass Card comes out. Rumor has it, passengers will be reminded to "tap out" at every stop. That might get annoying!
- John H
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 12, 2014 17:52:16 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Jun 25, 2014 6:26:17 GMT -8
www.news1130.com/2014/06/24/translink-insists-closure-of-the-north-shores-only-bus-depot-wont-affect-service/This has been in the works for a while. Construction is well underway on the new Queensborough Depot and it looks like it's the last days for the North Van Depot. Do you think it will impact bus service in North Vancouver? People talk about bridge closures, but unless that happens early in the morning, there are going to be buses on the North Shore already. And if a bridge closes, it's going to be chaos, even if the depot is in North Van (there will be buses on both sides of the bridge). In the event of a disaster that closed the bridges, I can see this being a problem, especially if it happened at night. I would be just as worried about the Queensborough Bridge in New Westminster. With North Van routes moving over to be based out of Burnaby, no doubt a lot of Burnaby routes will be moved over to the Queensborough depot and have to use the Queensborough Bridge, and we know what that bridge has been like since the Port Mann got tolls. Will be an interesting time when the new Depot opens as a driver too. There will probably be a lot of movement between depots at that time. - John H
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,308
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Post by Neil on Aug 2, 2014 22:50:51 GMT -8
A rare transit adventure for me today... Surrey to Bowen Island. 319, Skytrain, 257 to Horseshoe Bay, and coming back via the 250. Hot, sticky, cattle car conditions in the afternoon... I thought some buses were air conditioned these days? Coming back, two hours and forty five minutes from Snug Cove to 75A Avenue and Scott Road- a trip I could have done in seventy minutes by car. On the plus side, I didn't pay as much, and didn't have to worry about making the ferry; and the 4:45 from Horseshoe Bay that I took did leave cars behind.
A question for the transit experts. A fare receipt/transfer is good for ninety minutes, and that did not get me from Horseshoe Bay to Scott Road Station on time. The driver let me on anyway. Is the ninety minute period based on an assumption that all connections can be made within the system in that time? Because that certainly would not be the case for a person going from West Vancouver and perhaps transferring on to a local bus in Langley, even though they paid a three zone fare. Has anyone been challenged by transit operators over expired tickets, or all drivers like mine?
On the 319 coming back late this evening, three people got on with expired tickets, none at transfer points, and the driver waved them on. Is that the norm as well? |
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SolDuc
Voyager
West Coast Cyclist
SolDuc and SOBC - Photo by Scott
Posts: 2,055
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Post by SolDuc on Aug 3, 2014 7:58:00 GMT -8
A rare transit adventure for me today... Surrey to Bowen Island. 319, Skytrain, 257 to Horseshoe Bay, and coming back via the 250. Hot, sticky, cattle car conditions in the afternoon... I thought some buses were air conditioned these days? Coming back, two hours and forty five minutes from Snug Cove to 75A Avenue and Scott Road- a trip I could have done in seventy minutes by car. On the plus side, I didn't pay as much, and didn't have to worry about making the ferry; and the 4:45 from Horseshoe Bay that I took did leave cars behind.
A question for the transit experts. A fare receipt/transfer is good for ninety minutes, and that did not get me from Horseshoe Bay to Scott Road Station on time. The driver let me on anyway. Is the ninety minute period based on an assumption that all connections can be made within the system in that time? Because that certainly would not be the case for a person going from West Vancouver and perhaps transferring on to a local bus in Langley, even though they paid a three zone fare. Has anyone been challenged by transit operators over expired tickets, or all drivers like mine?
On the 319 coming back late this evening, three people got on with expired tickets, none at transfer points, and the driver waved them on. Is that the norm as well? Down here in Seattle, there are many many transit agencies and only two (Metro in King County and Pierce transit it Pierce County) give out paper transfers, which are valid for travel on their agencies only for two hours. Inter-agency transfers are only available through the ORCA card (Compass Card equivalent) and also last two hours. For 99% of trips that 2-hour limit works out ok but if you're going to the other end of the area then yes, it can expire and you'd have to repay the (pretty modest, IMO) fare to get you a new transfer. |
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Post by Scott on Aug 5, 2014 22:44:03 GMT -8
Technically, as long as you make your last boarding before the ticket expires, you're ok. Like you experienced, I think a lot of bus drivers will just wave you on, but some will challenge you.
Neil, I think the length of trip you took on transit is relatively rare. But for people who live south of the Fraser, waiting 30+ minutes for a bus isn't uncommon so that 90 minutes can shrink pretty fast.
- John H
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Post by Dane on Aug 6, 2014 0:00:53 GMT -8
When Translink turned buses into Fair Paid Zones it became a requirement to have a valid proof of payment whenever on a bus that's in service. That is at least what the SCBCTA Act and Fare Collection Bylaw require. I haven't been a Vancouver transit rider in a long time, but the practice John outlined is what I experienced even after the rules changed to always require a valid fair. And given John's position seems he is in a good place for comment on actual operations!
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Post by Cable Cassidy on Aug 25, 2014 19:59:52 GMT -8
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Post by Starsteward on Aug 26, 2014 8:10:54 GMT -8
Thanks for posting those great shots of those bygone buses. I remember riding on at least two of them, however, the green Pacific Stage Lines bus was NOT one of them! I have seen some of the vintage buses in various parades around town and love it each time they make an appearance. There are some excellent videos of the BC Electric Trams that operated in Vancouver and well worth having a look at. Are you able to divulge where these vintage buses are located? I may stand corrected on this but isn't there a Transportation Museum somewhere on the Lower Mainland? If there isn't there really should be! As a side note: What a travesty that the City of Vancouver has discontinued the operation of the old BC Electric tram line that ran from Science World around to Granville Island!! If nothing else, what a tourist attraction the often discussed concept of having that tram line extended to run into Gas Town and China Town! |
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Post by Cable Cassidy on Sept 22, 2014 19:35:28 GMT -8
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Post by Starsteward on Sept 23, 2014 13:56:37 GMT -8
Nice looking vehicles! Any idea of where Translink intends to deploy them? |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2014 14:19:09 GMT -8
Translink has ordered 45 of them, and it looks like by the 'P' prefix they will be deployed out of the Port Coquitlam Centre, with the rest of the CNG fleet. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 30, 2014 21:58:06 GMT -8
This video of mine has some TransLink content, so I will post it here.
- this is the comings and goings of foot passenger traffic at the Tsawwassen terminal's passenger drop-off & pick-up area.
Afternoon of December 27, 2014.
I've been wanting to do timelapse of a perpetual-motion site for a while now. I was hoping to do a busy mall parking lot in Christmas season, but the weather didn't co-operate with that idea.
ps: Bus Nerds, please feel free to post this video link to any other transit forums that you participate in. Much appreciated.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Feb 11, 2015 17:29:21 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Feb 11, 2015 19:54:07 GMT -8
This move will help restore public trust in TransLink. I'm afraid it will do the exact opposite. - John H |
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