sillygwailo

matthewgruman:

sillygwailo:

translinked:

John Biehler’s two-minute video of the Canada Line from downtown Vancouver to the airport. Music by Justice.

I like the Canada Line a lot—mostly because I’ve never gotten lost on it. Every single time I take the Millenium/Expo Line I end up somewhere I don’t want to be. Just this weekend, heading out to the mystical land of Burnaby for Natalie’s just-enough-karaoke birthday party, I had to get on and off sky trains three times; and I still gave up and took the long route to Lougheed.

I want to love the Canada Line, but can’t. I’d like to write out full articles for each point, so in the meantime, you can debate my gripes in point form on Tumblr.

• the stations defy system expansion. Don’t tell me that the trains are extra wide and can hold such and such many people. You have to expand each station to hold a second train of two cars.
• it’s underground for the best part of the route. I’m this close to recommending people take the train from the airport to Marine Drive Station and take the #15 so that new arrivals can see shiny Vancouver’s skyline when riding over the Cambie bridge.
• the stations all look the same from inside the trains. Very few visual clues to which station I’m at if I’ve zoned out. Toronto excels at this, as each station has distinctive tiles on the walls.
• “This train is for Waterfront” on the P.A. system after the train departs, unlike the SkyTrains on outbound (from Vancouver) tracks shared by Millennium and Expo Line trains. Also, “This train goes to Waterfront” or “This train terminates at Waterfront” makes the sentence so much more active.
• The scrolling signs inside the train make you have to wait to see which station you’re arriving at. I’d love for the station we’re arriving at to cycle through like on the outside of busses.
• I’d love to hear two announcements for the approaching station, like in Toronto. For example, “The next station is Olympic Village” as the train leaves and then “Arriving at Olympic Village” when it arrives.
• The train stops too smoothly, though my nostalgia for abrupt stops in Toronto’s subway and Vancouver’s Millennium/Expo Lines shows through.

What I love about the Canada Line

• It’s rail. Despite all the above, I still go out of my way to take trains, and I’ll gladly take a 10 minute train ride for the cost of bus fare
• Lots of leg room in the seats. Millennium/Expo Line trains barely have enough space, so you might catch me, a taller-than-average Canadian, sticking out diagonally even in Canada Line trains when I don’t have to.
• Spots for bikes and luggage are pretty decent, I must say. I can take my bike in any direction at any time, a nice difference in policy (due to train width and interior space differences) than the Millennium/Expo Lines.
• The North Arm Bridge. This is a beautiful gem of a bridge: Canada Line rail only on top, pedestrian and cyclist beneath. It apparently cost $10 million, which seems cheap to me. Triple the number and it’d still be worth it. Annoying that the area on both sides is drab industrial land. (Build a 10,000+ person stadium for soccer and baseball and I’ll buy season tickets for the baseball team.) I can’t praise it high enough: every time I’ve brought my bike out to Richmond from Vancouver I’ve gotten off at the endpoint stations and cycled across.