Densification or not near transit?

With the Evergreen Line taking shape along its route from Lougheed Mall to Coquitlam, the debate over the merits of densification is taking place in Port Moody which will see 2 stations built within its boundaries.

With the Millennium Line seeing massive developments take shape along its route on Lougheed Hwy in Burnaby, with many more to come in the future, a similar trend seems inevitable along St Johns Street.

The densification process in Port Moody began long before the Evergreen Line broke ground as funding uncertainty delayed the long-promised line for over a decade.  With the line within 2 years of completion, the debate is becoming more prominent as developers are now looking at potential mega projects along the St. Johns Street corridor.

Vancouver Sun article below:

Densification divergence in Port Moody, Coquitlam

BY KENDRA WONG, SPECIAL TO THE SUN AUGUST 8, 2014

This story is part of a joint Vancouver Sun-Langara College project looking at the urban future of the rapidly growing Metro Vancouver region.

The cities of Port Moody and Coquitlam are set to fundamentally change their identities from suburban neighbourhoods to urban communities over the next two decades.

But that transformation operation is being met with very different responses. While many in Coquitlam seem to embrace the shift, some Port Moody residents are pushing back against the city’s development plans.

“Residents are being told that we must have major densification to support (the Evergreen Line),” said Hazel Mason, a longtime Port Moody resident and president of the Moody Centre Community Association, which is fighting the city’s official community plan. “We’ve got seniors that are moving out and we’ve got people who want to live in Port Moody that are forming their Plan B — it’s sad.”

The city is pursuing more transit-oriented development to account for the 10.9-kilometre Evergreen Line, expected to be in service by summer 2016. In the next 30 years, Port Moody’s population is projected to rise from 34,500 to 50,000.

Port Moody plans to densify around designated SkyTrain stations such as Moody Centre, the heritage commercial district (where Mason lives) and Coronation Park. Concerns include lack of park space, traffic congestion, overcrowding and stress on the city’s infrastructure.

But not all Port Moody residents oppose densification.

A group of homeowners in Coronation Park, which sits between Suter Brook and Newport Village, submitted a petition in favour of densification in the neighbourhood.

“I could live here forever,” said Rose McFarlane, who initiated the petition last November. “It’s not that I have a big desire to see development happen. But I think it would make sense if they’re going to develop ... this is the area to do it.”

That minority group of cautious approvers in Port Moody is a majority in nearby Coquitlam, where many embrace the incoming rapid transit line in a city whose population is expected to grow from 131,500 to 224,000.

Paul Heath and his fiancée, who live on Glen Drive near the incoming Lincoln Evergreen station, believe densification brings a unique feel to the suburbs.

“We love the densification of the area and how it’s got a downtown feel to it, but you still know you’re in the suburbs,” said Heath, adding that densification means a greater variety of businesses, restaurants and stores.

Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said residents understand that densification is necessary to support the rapid transit line that has been years in the making.

“We’ve always fought for it,” he said. “I think, in reality, a majority of people in Port Moody embrace it. They embrace the same kind of livable community that we want in Coquitlam. I recognize that some want it to be a small town and do not accept any of the new population, but I don’t think that’s a sustainable position.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

TransLink website not helpful this snowy morning

Having woken up to a snowy morning, I decided to go to TransLink's website to see if the SkyTrain was running on time.  Although the snow began to stick to the ground in many parts of Metro Vancouver by 8pm last night, TransLink's website page that displays updates on its service delivery times was not at all helpful by 5:55am this morning.  This is what TransLink had on its page:

	Bus: Operating Normally.	Bus	Minor	Dec 17 2012 11:14:PM
	SkyTrain: Operating normally.	SkyTrain	Minor	Dec 17 2012 11:14:PM
Power Rail Replacement Project: There will be no single tracking from December 16 - 20, 2012 for the power rail replacement project. SkyTrain will be operating its regular evening service. The Project will be suspended for the Christmas Holiday after Thursday, December 20, 2012 and will resume Sunday, January 6, 2013.
	SeaBus: Operating normally.	SeaBus	Minor	Dec 17 2012 11:14:PM
	West Coast Express: Operating Normally	West Coast Express	Minor	Dec 17 2012 11:14:PM
	West Van Blue Bus: Operating normally.	West Van Blue Bus	Minor	Dec 17 2012 11:14:PM
	HandyDART: Operating normally.	HandyDART	Minor	Dec 17 2012 11:14:PM

To further the frustration for transit users, the TV that displays advertising and news tickers along with the message boards that contain month-old "updates" at Brentwood Station had no useful announcements regarding transit issues this morning.  To give TransLink some credit, it had an inaudible announcement over its PA system trying to tell waiting transit users something about a delay caused by the snow...

Turnstiles in Brentwood Station part 2

The Burnaby NewsLeader recently asked TransLink about some of the issues that were brought up in "part 1" of this topic.  It's good to know that TransLink is planning for future growth around Brentwood by leaving space to add more turnstiles when it becomes busier in the near future.  However the question remains whether or not the initial 3 turnstiles are enough right now with current ridership at Brentwood Station.  TransLink's Ken Hardie seems to think that 3 are enough based on TransLink's study of traffic there.  Only time will tell how well 2-way traffic flows through 3 turnstiles during rush hour periods.

Blogger questions number of faregates at Brentwood Station

By Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader
Published: November 20, 2012 10:00 AM 
Updated: November 20, 2012 10:55 AM

A Brentwood-area blogger is questioning the logic of Brentwood SkyTrain Station only having three faregates installed despite the fact the neighbourhood is slated to have numerous residential highrises built in the near future.

A recent post on the blog, which can be found at http://brentwoodstation.blogspot.ca/, states "only 3 turnstiles in a station slated to become one of the busiest in the region is a reflection on the lack of foresight shown by TransLink decision-makers."

Shape Properties' redevelopment plans for Brentwood Town Centre will eventually add 11 residential towers as high as 60 storeys tall and two office buildings to its 28-acre site. Kitty corner from that, Appia Development's Solo District is proposing four residential towers ranging from 39 to 52 storeys tall.

In addition to slowing down commuters during busy rush hour periods, as they'll be required to scan their smartcards as they enter and exit the station, the blogger wondered whether the faregates would prevent a quick evacuation of the station in case of an emergency.

TransLink has, in fact, considered all these questions and has looked at the anticipated demand in the area up to the year 2031, said Ken Hardie, TransLink's communications liaison for the Compass smartcard project. The number of gates at each station was determined through modelling of passenger flows.

"At Brentwood as in quite a number of other stations, there's a lot of room there. Ultimately if we have to add, we can."

The cost of adding gates would simply involve buying the gates and installing them, as all the wiring and other infrastructure would already be in place, Hardie said.

"We will be monitoring the situation quite closely."

He noted that the gates themselves are not the only place where short-term congestion will occur, noting there is always some at escalators or stairs, for instance.

"If you look at all of the points where people move in the station, the faregates will just simply be one of them and we're not anticipating jam-ups at the gate."

The faregates will have a long, phased rollout period before they're fully functioning, Hardie said, adding initially the flow of people will be slower as people get used to the new system.

Each gate can easily handle 40 people a minute. Brentwood's gates won't be fully operational until sometime in the late summer or early fall of 2013, he said.

In contrast, a number of stations on the older Expo SkyTrain line, will have to be rebuilt to meet current and future demand.

That includes Metrotown station, built in the early 1980s before Metrotown mall developed as much as it has. A new station will have to be built to accommodate more passengers expected from the third Metrotower office building, now under construction, the redevelopment of Station Square shopping centre which will add five towers up to 57 storeys tall, and other highrises under development in the neighbourhood.

"That's the reason why we're not installing gates there initially," Hardie said. "It would be a waste. We would put them in only to have to take them out in fairly short order as the new station is built."

Hardie could not provide a timeframe for when that new station will be built and referred the question to a TransLink spokesperson who did not return messages before the NewsLeader's deadline.

As for emergency evacuation procedures, the gates will just open in such situations, he said. That can happen automatically, such as in the case of a power failure, or staff at the monitoring centre, which happens to be located at Brentwood Station, will push a button and make it happen.

"There are other emergency exits at the station, so we wouldn't be funnelling everybody through the gates either."

wchow@burnabynewsleader.com

twitter.com/WandaChow

Turnstiles in Brentwood Station

The turnstiles at Brentwood Station have been revealed, although they have yet to be activated.

  As I've stated before, only 3 turnstiles in a station slated to become one of the busiest in the region is a reflection on the lack of foresight shown by TransLink decision-makers.  The 3 turnstiles are going to be used to scan people entering and exiting the station.  It makes me wonder if anyone in TransLink that is responsible for making decisions has considered the obvious problem with having only 3 turnstiles to simultaneously facilitate the entry and exit of people.  The new smart cards that will work with the new turnstiles will require transit users to scan into the station before going to the platform and will be required to scan out of the station with their smart card before exiting.  I wonder if TransLink executives have given this as much consideration as I have in the previous few lines of this post or as much as any other actual transit users have that actually understand the logistics of entering and exiting SkyTrain stations during busy rush hour periods?

I also wonder if TransLink ever considered the logistics of facilitating a mass exit of people out of the stations during an emergency?  I wouldn't be surprised if no plan is currently built into the turnstile gates that would allow them to be promptly opened to allow transit users to escape potential harm in the event of a bomb scare such as the ones that occurred last week along the SkyTrain system between Surrey and Burnaby.  If not, how much money will TransLink have to spend to "upgrade" the turnstiles to facilitate emergency exit plans on top of the extra money it will have to spend to overcome the logistical flaws inherent in the current turnstile "plan"?

TransLink officials should be fired

Here are 3 of the many reasons that TransLink officials should be fired from the "jobs they do".

1. Due to its inability to manage finances in a market where it has no competition, TransLink must make up for a $30 million shortfall by leaving 2 busy SkyTrain stations without turnstiles, one of them Metrotown Station which is the busiest in Burnaby.
2. The turnstiles will not ensure that all riders will be paying for their ride because the turnstile gates are the paddle type which can be circumvented by people athletic enough to go over and under them.  Great.  Our TransLink decision-makers opted for a flawed system of fare collection to overcome its original decision to have a flawed honour system of fare collection when there have been fare gates that prevent circumvention for decades in places that probably weren't consulted.  I wonder how much they got paid to make such a bad decision?
3. I just heard that Brentwood Station will have 3 new turnstiles built into one of the fastest growing areas of not only Burnaby, but Metro Vancouver.  It has been long known that Brentwood is projected to be a major residential/commercial and transportation hub in Metro Vancouver and TransLink is putting in only 3 turnstiles into a station that will sit next to an expanded Brentwood Mall accompanied by at least 10 new residential high-rise towers within 100 metres in the next 5 years in addition to the existing high-rises in the area.

TransLink Officials receive lucrative salaries to make decisions that reflect complete incompetence.  They must be fired for their inability to run a business in which they have no competition.

Brentwood Intersections: Madison and Lougheed

A SkyTrain car passes overhead at the intersection of Madison Ave and Lougheed Hwy.

Save-On-Foods (below) is the first major grocery store to arrive in the Brentwood core to serve the growing population. Winners is also located in the same Madison Centre complex.