Thursday, August 20, 2015

This Day In Clarkland: Nevermind The Bridge/Seabus Lines...



...Because The Wizards Have Media Lines To Roll Out.


First, on Tuesday, there was the Ministry of Transportation's 'bump' on the Lions Gate that folks/drivers were told just didn't matter:

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The province says there’s no need for drivers to slow down when going over a metal bump left by construction crews on the Lions Gate Bridge.

The Ministry of Transportation says the plates are covering up ongoing joint replacement for the bridge deck and will be removed when work is done in about four weeks.

It says the bump is safe to drive over at full speed...



And then there was the cancellation of Translinkian bus service over the bridge which meant huge lines for the Seabus this morning:

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – People trying to commute into Downtown Vancouver from North Vancouver faced long SeaBus lines, all because of cancelled TransLink bus trips across the Lions Gate Bridge thanks to that big construction bump...

So.

What was the response of the wizards?

An announcement that the bump would be dealt with immediately?

How about an announcement of extra bus service across second narrows?

Extra Seabus runs?

Well....

Apparently, none of the above.

Instead, we learn from the media following the wizardry that that good Mr. Fassbender is going to make an 'important' Translinkian announcement later today:



Because, you know, it is all about fixing the media 'lines' rather fixing the realworld/actual problems that leave people in 'lines'.

Or some such thing.


.

10 comments:

e.a.f. said...

yes it would have been so much fun to take that "bump" at regular speed. I wonder if the lieberals would have paid for the work which needed to be done to the underside of your vehicle.

it was fun to watch. where do these people find their writers?

Now it was entertaining this week when I went up the Hope Princeton Highway for the first time in 35 yrs. there is a major construction project taking place outside of Princeton on your way to Hope. Looked like they were going to build a new Coqu. highway. Found a flagger and asked. Was told they have 2 projects, one in year 2, the other in year one of 2. its to "straighten out some of the hair pin turns". Now that was entertaining, because when you get close to Hope you still have 2 narrow lanes, which I remember well from 55 yrs ago and they are very high.

Then it dawned on me. this new section is right by the mine. So enquiring minds would like to know if we the taxpayers are paying to have the Hope Princeton, in one section, brought up to new "mining truck standards". It isn't as if there is much traffic on that highway. The campsites were almost empty. There aren't a lot of deaths or car accidents reported along the stretch they are rebuilding; everyone knows to slow down. What is also interesting is although the curves are hair pins, they are not as high as the section closer to Hope. You can go off the highway, but the "fall" isn't enough to kill you. Closer to Hope, there is no hope if you go over. One does wonder what the dept. of transport/highways is up to.

North Van's Grumps said...

I've never understood why Translink buses increase speed leaving Stanley Park to gain a foothold on the Bridge deck (heading north) when there's a 'V'dip down in the connection point. Light weighted front of bus no problem, but the follow-up punch at the end of the bus, MOTOR, FUEL, drives like a hammer onto the connecting plate.

I half expect that each time I follow that bus over that plate I will, one day, one night, find myself, and my followers, going down a forty-five degree slope and ending up on the Sea Wall, maybe even a touch further... Oh Hell.

Anonymous said...

solution
translink tunnel under bridge!!!

http://blogborgcollective.blogspot.ca/2015/08/evergreen-line-single-bore-vs-twin-bore.html

Grant G said...

Breaking...Fassbender just appointed Jim Chu, the former Chief of the Vancouver Police, and Murray Dinwoodie, the former city manager of the City of Surrey to the Translink board, announcement made in Kelowna..

Looks like Surrey LRT and Broadway subway just moved up in the Q...

Developers must be getting antsy.

Anonymous said...

gg
developers
dont you mean site c?

North Van's Grumps said...

Too bad Chu / Dinwoodie weren't on the firing line before, during, and after the plebiscite instead of leaving it up to the old Translink Board that was short two government appointees when Premier Christy Clark took over from Gordon Campbell

krank! said...

Chief Chu back leading his former troops now masquerading as Transit Police. That redundant organization, now that fare evasion has been eliminated due to the Kevin Falcon/Ken Dobell inspired Compass Card, no longer has the mandate that created it. Long recognized as a halfway house for double-dippin, fifty year old VPD retired oinks....hi Anne Drebbin...time to put that gravy train out of business. And really?....Murray Dimwittie?....looking at Surrey today, he's part of the problem, not the solution. Minister Busfender strikes again! Jayzus!

e.a.f. said...

Fassbender now Busfender managed to screw up the school system now Christy, has sent him out on another quest. At this rate, with appointments like Chu and Kimwitte who knows what we will see.

Not all were enthralled by Chu's leadership at the VPD and he did give her photopness such a good run at things by providing such a nice hockey riot. Perhaps its time to reward Mr. Chu. Lets see he gets his pension and now this new salary. Wonder how much this is going to cost us this time.

Guess those kids will have to wait just a tad longer to get 3 meals a day.

Anonymous said...

The future of Translink ?

Why Uber (and Lyft) continue to look more and more like mass transit

In general, the cheaper Uber is, the more mass it will become, and the more mass it becomes, the cheaper it can get—particularly once its cars have become driverless, as Uber CEO Kalanick Travis predicts in the next fifteen years or so.

This is how Uber transforms itself from a luxury to a basic, indispensable utility. But until Uber’s cars become driverless, it has at least one cost that is relatively fixed: labor. Uber must pay its drivers a living wage (or close enough to it). The fewer drivers that Uber must pay to meet increasing passenger demand—by putting more passengers in vehicles at once and minimizing gaps between rides—the more effectively it can hold down prices, fueling growth in both the number of users and the number of trips they are likely to take, making itself more and more integral in people’s lives. (Not incidentally, more efficiently packing each Uber vehicle makes surge pricing, which customers unduly loathe, less frequent, also encouraging people to use it more frequently.)

This is why and how UberPool, Smart Routes, and perpetual rides work—and why and how Uber products have progressed, in the order that they have, from Uber Black to Smart Routes.


http://www.theawl.com/2015/08/ubiquity

Anonymous said...

I spend too much time on Reddit.com

...a subplot in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Eddie Valiant: A Freeway? What the hell's a freeway?

Judge Doom: Eight lanes of shimmering cement running from here to Pasadena. Smooth, straight, fast. Traffic jams will be a thing of the past... I see a place where people get off and on the Freeway. On and off. Off and on. All day, all night. Soon where Toontown once stood will be a string of gas stations. Inexpensive motels. Restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons. Automobile dealerships. And wonderful, wonderful bill boards reaching as far as the eye can see... My god, it'll be beautiful.

Valiant: Come on. Nobody's gonna drive this lousy freeway when they can take the Red Car for a nickel.

Doom: Oh, they'll drive. They'll have to. You see, I bought the Red Car so I could dismantle it.