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I had a short meeting with Dianne Watts, the Mayor of Surrey, today, and boy what a character she is! It’s quite easy to tell why she’s developed such a great reputation in both the community and through the media. She’s extremely open, upfront, and approachable. Not to mention, her personality is absolutely vivacious! 

I immediately understood that she truly is non-partisan. Her heart is in the right place, and she is doing this for the betterment of the city. Dianne works together with groups to make things happen, and it’s her collaboration with all sorts of people that has made her first term as Mayor so successful. 

Furthermore, she’s a lady of creative solutions, which is unquestionably marvelous to see. For example, in speaking with her about light rail and her support for the technology over SkyTrain, she made it clear that one cannot simply make attacks. That is to say, she can’t just say “SkyTrain is not the right choice here”, but she has to come up with various alternative options and develop proposals around these aptly-named creative solutions. 

The meeting has solidified in my mind my support for Dianne as Surrey’s Mayor. She is a sensational human being! I’m delighted to have met her, and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend you speak with her sometime!

I’ve always been of the opinion that as our personal vehicles shift to greener fuels, they will be powered by electricity - not ethanol or hydrogen. Biofuels require more energy to produce than is gained through its usage, not to mention its impact on food production (something the public is only now realizing). Hydrogen as a technology is extremely expensive and has been called a pipe dream, not to mention the overwhelming task of converting all our fueling stations to said new infrastructure. Electric cars, on the other hand, are here right now! 

As the legend goes, when personal vehicles were first being built in the 19th century, there was two technologies available - the petrol based internal combustion engine or the electricity based motor. For various reasons, gas cars won the battle, but as the tide has shifted, it looks quite obvious that they will not be winning the war. 

As people may or may not know, GM created an electric vehicle, the EV, back in the 90’s. This technology is not vapourware! We can build these things today! And that’s why the car companies are making the shift. In the last few days, there’s been a number of announcements by various companies that they are about to produce electric vehicles - this tells me that a critical mass is being hit, and within the next few years, EVs will start showing up everywhere. 

• Chevy Volt - 2010
• Toyota to boost Prius production by 70%
• Smart Car EV - 2010
• Mini EV - 2010
• Tata Nano EV - 2010
• Nissan EV - 2012

As you may or may not know, TransLink has been in the process of updating it’s main technology services for a few years now. For example, they upgraded the CMBC’s radio network to improve correspondense between drivers and central communications - at the same time this upgrade allowed for GPS or Auto-Vehicle Location technology. They are also currently upgrading the CCTV systems on SkyTrain, including digitizing their storage mechanism from good ol’ videotape to something a bit more 21st century. While I don’t have the scoop on all this “under-the-hood” improvements, I’ve got some new and interesting info. 

One of the more visible tech additions of late has been the installation of AVL (aka: GPS), APC, which is Automated Passenger Count, and the audible annunciators. All three are relatively cheap. The technology is part of the communications system and is thus installed. These other technologies that it enables, such as dynamic displays, are currently under installation.

Thanks to all TransLink staff that helped procure this information! 

Auto Vehicle Location or AVL

AVL is the central part of Coast Mountain Bus Company’s new TMAC communications radio system. Thanks to the technology in this new system, a whole host of functions are now possible:

•  real time fleet tracking for operations and customers
• Computer Aided Dispatch
• improved emergency response
• off-line performance analysis
• on board annunciators and dynamic displays

The real time dynamic displays are on about 600 vehicles right now, with installation to be completed across the fleet by fall. 

Automated Passenger Count or APC

APC is being installed on 15% of the bus fleet, which translates to about 200 vehicles. The deployment decision varies based on bus and service type. The installation is complete and was paid for under the Capital Budget. APC will continue to be installed on 15% of new expansion buses. APC was studied for implementation on SkyTrain, but there are no immediate plans for installation. 

Audible Annunciators

The annunciators that are currently being installed at the same time as the AVL dynamic displays occured to due to several reasons: TransLink’s Access Transit Strategy, improved customer service, following industry best practices, in addition to a Canadian court case that required stops to be audibly spoken for the blind (in this case, the annunciators allow the drivers to worry about one less thing).

The annunciators will be installed across the fleet by fall. 

SkyTrain CCTV

SkyTrain’s Closed Circuit Television system is being modernized as we speak. The storage system is being converted from videotape to digital and will be complete shortly. The cameras themselves will be upgraded in 2009/2010. 

The more I learn about public space, sustainable transportation, and climate change, the more I realize, despite Vancouver being a world leader in these matters, we’ve still got a lot of improvement to do. One of the best places on Earth can be found in Downtown Vancouver - that little slice on heaven on the Burrard Peninsula. But for all it’s wonderful aspects, like the seawall, English Bay, Robson St., Gastown, and Yaletown, one of the major parts that it lags behind in is efficient usage of street space. 

Considering how advanced the area is in terms of urban livability, I find that streets Downtown are still primarily designed as car thoroughfares and nothing more. Which is rather retarded considering how car usage in the area has been dropping steadily over the years. 

The fact of the matter is that bicycle has seen a resurgence across the world, that fossil fuel powered vehicles will go the way of the dodo, that walking needs to continue to be encouraged, and it is through this sustainable transportation infrastructure that vibrant economies and communities can develop and flourish. 

With that said, I reimagineered Davie St recently. Davie is one of several main commercial drags Downtown, and the redesign has taken such usage into consideration. Currently,

• the sidewalk is far too narrow for all the pedestrian traffic it handles, 
• the bus route (#6) is overburdened with riders and isn’t the best service possible, 
• the road is unsafe for cyclists and skateboarders (both of which I see along Davie all the time), 
• and there is a lack of amenities like benches and plants/greenery along the route. 

All of this changes with this proposal. 

The proposal removes two car lanes and reallocates this as

• an expanded sidewalk (for a total of 4m wide, which is the width of Burrard),
• a physically separated 2m wide greenway (similar to the new Carrall St. redesign),
• a less obtrusive flex space with more area for plants, bike parking, bus shelters, newspaper bins, and public art.

Furthermore, the redesign includes a streetcar line. As many know, Vancouver grew up around the streetcar, and the cheap rail technology is looking better everyday to cities around the world as a way to combat climate change, encourage economic development, and get people out of their cars. 

I personally hate riding the bus Downtown simply because it’s so stop-and-go. The drivers don’t make the situation any better because they’ll speed or slam on the brakes, rather than providing a smooth ride - this type of transit service won’t be tolerated in a decade with over 1/4 of the population as seniors. Plus, the route is almost always packed with people! And to top it all off, service isn’t all that frequent for such a busy route. 

The streetcar addition addresses this issues as follows:

• Streetcars provide a much smoother ride due to being on rails. With some good training and tough enforcement on the drivers, we could ensure that acceleration and deceleration are smoother than the SkyTrain.
• Streetcars have an economic incentive for development that buses don’t have. This alone could encourage redevelopment and higher densities along the relatively old and low-rise road. This development could also pay for the inclusion of a streetcar. 
• With the inclusion of a greenway along Davie, such a safe and convenient route could encourage people to get off transit and onto to human powered transportation like bikes or rollerblades.

So what do you all think? Is Vancouver ready to take the next step and transform Downtown’s streets like Davie from car-oriented thoroughfares to bustling multi-modal public spaces?