Translink offers Victoria’s ferry foot passengers little time savings with new Skytrain
Metro Vancouver’s newest Skytrain route, the $2 billion Canada Line, connects the northern half of Richmond (including the Vancouver International Airport) and downtown Vancouver. However, in a bizarre twist of transit planning for foot passengers from Victoria traveling between BC Ferry’s Tsawwassen terminal and downtown Vancouver via public transit, travel times are not about to get any faster. Translink, the transportation authority of Metro Vancouver, was quoted by the Times Colonist announcing a bus route connecting the Bridgeport Canada Line Skytrain station in Richmond with the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. What Translink failed to announce was the estimated travel time by bus between the ferry terminal and Bridgeport station (bus #620, traveling 40 to 42 minutes with 11 stops) and the estimated travel time between Bridgeport station and downtown Vancouver (19 minutes) is approximately 1 hour. I.e., virtually identical to the previous bus-only transit connection.
Pacific Coach Lines, a private company offering coach services between downtown Victoria and Vancouver’s Pacific Central station off of Main Street, charges $43 for a one-way fare for the service. Travel time between Tsawwassen terminal and Pacific Central is 55 minutes. Travelers heading into downtown Vancouver must pay an additional $2.50 to catch a bus or a Skytrain into downtown and pad their travel time accordingly.
Translink’s failure to expedite travel between Tsawwassen and downtown Vancouver with the introduction of a Skytrain route extending towards the ferry terminal is a significant planning oversight that fails the tax payers who helped fund Vancouver’s newest rapid transit project.
To follow the discussion on BC Ferries and the new transit connection between the Tsawwassen terminal and downtown Vancouver, please refer to this thread in the VibrantVictoria.ca discussion forum.
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Responses to this Headline or Article
The five most recent replies to VibrantVictoria.ca's discussion forum's BC Ferries thread, the most relevant thread to the above headline or article:
Dylan Leblanc
Jan 25, 2012 at 10:54 pmSo much for...
Bernard
Jan 26, 2012 at 11:45 amQuote: Big engines are usually left running if they are to be used at all. That being said, I doubt that ferries have ground-power connections.
As far as I know, power connections to the shore are not available in many locations for ships globally. I base this on the fact that when I do hear about them it is touted as something cutting edge and unique.
Coreyburger
Jan 26, 2012 at 11:53 amQuote: As far as I know, power connections to the shore are not available in many locations for ships globally. I base this on the fact that when I do hear about them it is touted as something cutting edge and unique.
Institutional inertia and something about salt-water + power being bad, I suspect.
Bingo
Jan 26, 2012 at 4:53 pm
North Shore
Jan 26, 2012 at 10:57 pmQuote: As far as I know, power connections to the shore are not available in many locations for ships globally. I base this on the fact that when I do hear about them it is touted as something cutting edge and unique.
When I last worked at the ferries (left in '97) they did have shore power available and used by the small vessels when they were tied up at night (at Swartz.) I seem to remember that the V-class vessels (Q. of Saanich etc..) also used shore power if they were tied up for any length of time (say Monday to Friday in the winter.) Can't remember about the Spirits, though.
