standing room only in SkyTrain

licks2nite

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Nov 30, 2006
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Anybody riding SkyTrain in from New Westminster knows that more likely than not all seats are taken by riders that got on in Surrey. Incoming Surrey mayor doesn't care. Wants more of everybody else's taxes including those who live along the SkyTrain route, all the way into downtown Vancouver, to extend Expo Line along the Fraser Highway into Langley. That's what Surrey voters want says new Surrey mayor.

Seemingly unknown and unspoken, this issue is about what's wrong with communities up the south side of the Fraser Valley. Situation has already gone too far with the new 10-lane Port Mann Bridge for Fraser Valley residents who commute each work day to and from Vancouver. Fraser Valley communities including Surrey shouldn't have to be traveling such distances for things that inhabitants of these communities travel for, such as jobs, shopping and entertainment, each a topic in themselves.

"Jobs" topic, particularly spans the economic history of Canada since the end of World War II and Canada's continual loss of good paying export manufacturing jobs. That has left only low-paying retailing and warehousing work that requires both spouses to hold full time jobs to pay down a mortgage. Not to mention that such jobs are a drain on what's left of the Canadian economy since such jobs are dependent on importing products that is nothing but debt. Debt that is supposed to be paid back from somewhere.

From there Canada is suffering, selling Alberta crude at huge discounts. One of the few ways that Canada tries to bring back Canadian dollars that Canadians spend on imported products and imports that Canadian governments spend in the name of Canadians and immigrants, and one of the few dwindling ways that Canadian governments provide value to the Canadian dollar abroad to buy imported products. Just this past week, 90 good paying electrical component manufacturing jobs for the "New Flyer" bus company in Winnipeg are headed south. That's 90 more families that will likely have to have both spouses working full time to pay a mortgage. Increased personal transportation costs, day-care costs both personal and subsidized and lost quality time with family while communist values are upheld as somebody else raises their children.

Everybody should just say "no" to taxation and tell Fraser Valley residents, and every Canadian community for that matter, to address their real problem and get after their elected officials be they federal, provincial, territorial or municipal and restore Canada's export manufacturing sector and Canadian content in manufactured products. Settle producing corporations near their own communities and settle labour, environmental and taxation standards locally so that both employers and employees are privy to guaranteeing a lasting relationship while politicians conduct trade missions, not sweeping trade treaties that guarantee retail access to marginalized and slave labour overseas.
 

Lo-ki

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Jul 18, 2011
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Check your closet..:)
Great rant....100% bang on...
 

licks2nite

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Nov 30, 2006
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If the Surrey mayor is successful in getting SkyTrain out to Langley, Whalley/Guildford/Newton riders may have to stand just like New Westminster/Burnaby/Vancouver riders have to stand now. I rode SkyTrain into downdown Vancouver Saturday morning, a non-work day, and every seat was taken and many were already standing. Not many got off at Metrotown and the same riders kept seats all the way. New Westminster/Burnaby/Vancouver riders have nothing to lose in opting for removal of all seats in SkyTrain except in the return ride.
 

licks2nite

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Nov 30, 2006
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Great rant....100% bang on...
Thank you.

Who knew it was that simple.
I guess that it isn't that simple. The Surrey mayor looks that he's rather punish Surrey riders for taking all the inbound seats all these years if and when Langley gets on board and takes the seats that Surrey has been taking.

The same can be said about the Canada Line coming in from Richmond.
At least one part of the Canada Line is collecting 5 extra dollars. These guys out of Surrey just "sightsee" all the way in at a bargain price while everybody else stands for the same price.

Won't the same rubes come homing ~ back ?
They be a wandering People .
In the return ride, everybody has the same first crack at finding a seat as Surrey fills vacancies of anybody getting off.
 

rlock

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May 20, 2015
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If people remember, back when Skytrain was being built - and again later when the Canada line was built - the people who complained about these projects also complained that the system's capacity was too much, that it would never be filled and we'd have empty train cars. And now they complain about too little capacity. :drama:


Skytrain should be built out to UBC - it always should have been. They never should have stopped the Millennium line where they did. Now we will have 20+ years of land values increasing to thank when we pay through the nose for it to finally go where it always should have gone.

As for Surrey, I'm not sure I'd have aimed the train towards Langley, instead of keeping it going down King George towards White Rock. Whichever system they choose, they need to think about the next 50+ years, not how things are right now.
 

licks2nite

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Nov 30, 2006
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Something else to consider. The longer one SkyTrain line gets, the more likely something can happen to shut the system down. Further up the Fraser Valley snow accumulation is greater and more likely to stop a SkyTrain that would shut the whole line down all the way into downtown Vancouver. That's in addition to standing room only that already happens often from New Westminster all the way downtown. Incidentally, what's wrong with all these communities up the Fraser valley that so many have to be commuting into Vancouver and why can't that be fixed?
 

Lo-ki

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Jul 18, 2011
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Check your closet..:)
I LOVE my car......
 

80watts

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May 20, 2004
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Victoria
Is the Skytrain paid for?
What portion of the ticket goes to renewal/new lines?
What is the portion of house taxes that go towards it?
 

ddcanz

curmudgeon
Feb 27, 2012
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right here and now
Something else to consider. The longer one SkyTrain line gets, the more likely something can happen to shut the system down. Further up the Fraser Valley snow accumulation is greater and more likely to stop a SkyTrain that would shut the whole line down all the way into downtown Vancouver. That's in addition to standing room only that already happens often from New Westminster all the way downtown. Incidentally, what's wrong with all these communities up the Fraser valley that so many have to be commuting into Vancouver and why can't that be fixed?
We were Van city dwellers for years until we decided to purchase our home in the Valley- obviously for economic reasons.
My wife has a well paying job in the City. She loves it and has no desire to leave.
She drives for a half hour to KG Station then pays to park so she can train another 40 minutes.
Yes, we 'chose' this scenario.
But I don't give a fuck if commuters in NW or further west don't get a seat but she does.
If you don't want to stand then drive. Or thumb a ride. Or cycle. Or take a cab. Or car share. Or walk......
 

licks2nite

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Nov 30, 2006
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We were Van city dwellers for years until we decided to purchase our home in the Valley- obviously for economic reasons.
My wife has a well paying job in the City. She loves it and has no desire to leave.
She drives for a half hour to KG Station then pays to park so she can train another 40 minutes.
Yes, we 'chose' this scenario.
But I don't give a fuck if commuters in NW or further west don't get a seat but she does.
If you don't want to stand then drive. Or thumb a ride. Or cycle. Or take a cab. Or car share. Or walk......
Thanks, I'll walk. And all those older folks who don't get a seat can go whistle. That shouldn't bother me, should it? And if the whole line has to shut down hours for some nefarious or deranged character from either Langley or Cloverdale or Whalley or Newton invading the tracks, that shouldn't bother me either.
 

MissingOne

Don't just do something, sit there.
Jan 2, 2006
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... restore Canada's export manufacturing sector and Canadian content in manufactured products ...
This part is easy. All we have to do is decide that we're willing to work for the same wages they pay in Asia, Mexico, Africa or wherever.

Or alternatively we can all decide not to buy anything that isn't made in Canada or another high-wage jurisdiction.

See how easy it could be? All we have to do is have the entire Canadian population to agree to work for low wages, or to only buy more expensive products. You go first ...
 

Shanghai

Banned
Mar 22, 2015
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The solution is to get a wheelchair, or a grey wig and a walker with a built-in seat. Second choice, sit on your backpack that acts as a stool. Third, travel back to a less crowded station. Wait a few trains until one arrives that has seats. Start travel much earlier, or after rush hour is over.
 

emacky

Asian Big Titties Milf Hunter
Jul 19, 2006
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During the snowstorm there was a guy in a scooter and a massive line up trying to get on the SkyTrain....I don't think that guy ever got on during the few hours of rush hour
 

ddcanz

curmudgeon
Feb 27, 2012
2,689
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right here and now
Thanks, I'll walk. And all those older folks who don't get a seat can go whistle. That shouldn't bother me, should it? And if the whole line has to shut down hours for some nefarious or deranged character from either Langley or Cloverdale or Whalley or Newton invading the tracks, that shouldn't bother me either.
Sounds to me like your problem is more with the people in general- the "nefarious" types- who live on the south side of the river getting seats, rather than that there just aren't enough seats to go around after KG, SC, Gateway and Scott stations load their passengers.
Maybe just cap off the service on the south side completely and start the route from NW?
Extending the line to Langley isn't going to increase the likelihood of train shutdowns too much- the current system and conditions through NW, BBY and Vancouver seem to fail quite regularly already. The snow, birds, branches, rails etc. etc. through the northside cause at least 90% of the grief.
The transit system is broken and needs to be upgraded to accept the volumes of people that need it.. It's not because of population south of the Fraser. You can't blame the user because he/she gets on at a station where seats are more readily available.
Public transit is for everyone's use to travel wherever and whenever they want. Crying because the train is so full at your stop just smacks of sour grapes. Be thankful you even have the option.
Might as well just bemoan every bus stop in the city then where a full bus arrives and it's SRO.
 
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licks2nite

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Nov 30, 2006
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I LOVE my car......
For British Columbians, driving a motor vehicle is the pinnacle of skill attainable in a decimated economy, stripped of its export manufacturing sector, left to stock shelves, stand behind a cash register and record transactions on a computer. Business operators in British Columbia exist on welfare and by extension of that, employees in British Columbia live on welfare attending an occupational therapy, neither producing anything. A multi-decades long atrophy. Socreds running a peanut stand and their successors the Liberals running a lemonade stand. Both boasting that the NDP couldn't run either stand. A fantasy including the taxes made to make taxpayer think that British Columbians make contribution, and a central bank lurking in the background to create money out of thin air if taxpayer complains too harshly. Orphaned children in a live action video game, adjusting a playing level to suit their ability.
 
Ashley Madison
Vancouver Escorts