February 2, 2010 - 11:15 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
The popularity of the Canada Line is just one of the many reasons that being a cab driver in Vancouver these days can be a money-losing affair.
I took a cab the other day, and as is my usual practice I asked the driver how business had been, particularly in the lead-up to the Olympics.
The answer was pretty much the same that I have got from 90 per cent of the cabs I have got into over the past year, but this particularly cabbie put it in a way that truly took me aback and forced me to type the quote into my blackberry:
“This is the worst slow-down in 15 years. I have never seen it this bad in all the time I have been driving.”
Stark statement. But unlike the predictions from those who preached about how the Olympics would be a boon to the local industry, this kind of an assessment is far from a surprise.
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January 26, 2010 - 8:58 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Not all Vancouver cab companies have the same level of quality control in the leadup to the Olympics.
Yesterday’s CTV story on the lack of knowledge on Olympic venue locations by cabbies was troubling. In a city where personal vehicles will most likely (hopefully) be kept at home for the duration of the Games, taxis are going to be a vital resource for transporting people around the city.
There are four taxi companies in Vancouver – Yellow Cab, Black Top, McClure’s and Vancouver Taxi – and three of four were featured in yesterday’s investigation.
So, I decided to call the one that escaped a starring role on the broadcast to see how they are preparing to host the world.
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January 21, 2010 - 10:58 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
The Evergreen line limbo should be a wake-up call for the City of Vancouver.
Tomorrow, Vancouver’s Special Standing Committee of Council on Planning and Environment will be presented with a staff policy report outlining the suggested terms of engagement for TransLink’s UBC Line Rapid Transit Study.
The study, which is a partnered project between Translink, the City of Vancouver, UBC, the University Endowment Lands, and Metro Vancouver, will identify a wide range of rapid transit options for the Broadway corridor including a preferred route, technology(ies), and general station locations.
Here is what Geoff Meggs told News 1130 about how such a line would already be able pay for itself:
“There already are more people riding on buses, jammed on buses, hanging on straps on buses, watching buses drive by them, than we need to justify the line.”
The evidence to support such claims is concrete and real, and Meggs is doing his job in advocating for Vancouver’s transit needs first and foremost. However, with the spectre of the yet-to-be-started Evergreen Line hanging over Translink and their next steps towards progressing forward on regional transportation, these plans for the city seem extremely premature.
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September 9, 2009 - 12:23 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
“And the Canada Line was made possible because a Liberal government looked into the future and said that’s the future and we’ve got to be there.” – Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff at a pre-writ political rally in Surrey, BC on September 4, 2009.
