Tag Archives: Vancouver

Transit envy, part II

Last weekend, Chicklet, Nerd, and I got our Vancity bus (and Skytrain!) on and loved every minute of it. We rode lots of shiny new trolleys, eavesdropped on Canadian conversations, and walked our tails off.*

As promised, the highlights:

Creative digital displays:

Sorry bus
Polite Canadian bus drivers apologize when they can’t pick you up.
Bus root for Canucks
Guess this one didn’t work out so well.

These messages alternate with the standard stuff: the route number, “out of service,” and et cetera. I imagine that the Canucks messages are annoying to some people, since it means you have to look longer to see which bus is coming, but we tourists enjoyed them very much.

Amazing views**:

View from Vancouver bus
Not a bad view from the C21
Vancouver bus stop
Not a bad place to wait for a ride.

Shelter ads:

Vancouver bus shelter ad
Vancouver bus shelter with advertising

The ads are tasteful and attractive (as ads go), provide additional light (and thus, improve safety), and most importantly, provide an additional source of revenue to Translink.

Metro has a demo shelter ad in the International District, but it’s the only one in the county. Metro can’t sell shelter ads because of city sign ordinances that prevent advertising in the public right of way. These ordinances were written to prevent billboards and absolutely need to be revisited. Surely, some sharp lawyers and legislators could craft language that would allow for this particular exception.

Lots o’ true transit geeks:

Ikea run
Bus chicks like Ikea, too.
Plant on bus
And bus nerds occasionally purchase house plants.

Folks up north are apparently not shy about transporting stuff on the bus. Methinks (and this is just a guess) it is because a fair number of people who live in the city live without cars.

Next time we visit, we’re staying for longer than 24 hours.

*Chicklet also got lots of beach time, and (while Chicklet napped in the Ergo) Nerd and I saw a cool exhibit at SFU about black communities in BC. Thanks for hipping us to it, Paulette.
**Of course, for this bus chick, Seattle’s views are number one on earth, but Vancouver is just a hair behind.

A bus-chick-friendly holiday

The Bus Fam has just (as in, 30 minutes ago) returned from another car-free mini-vacation to Vancouver. (More on the trip sometime next week.) The Friday train up there was sold out, so we had to take Amtrak’s overflow bus (so not the same). We did get to ride the train home today, which was especially cool, since it happens to be National Train Day.

A poster for National Train Day at King Street Station
A poster at King Street Station

Not a bad day to travel for a family of transit geeks. They gave Chicklet a sticker and everything.