City of Richmond
"End" of Summer Means Return to Heavy Commutes
TransLink News Release16 August 2010
Children returning to school, workers back from vacation and post-secondary students going back to class create the annual “perfect storm” for commuters in the first half of September.
Traditionally, TransLink records its highest annual transit ridership in the two to three weeks after Labour Day, particularly until post-secondary students settle in to their new class schedules. Add heavy traffic on the roads, and the daily commute becomes a test of patience for many.
Last year, ridership on the entire system jumped over 9.9% from August to September, and the number of boardings was up 13.6% over the previous September. In recent months, the new Canada Line has been averaging close to 110,000 trips each weekday, SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium Lines see more than a quarter-million boardings daily, and the Broadway corridor is one of the most heavily used bus routes in North America, with 52,000 boardings on an average weekday – more than the busiest routes in New York City, Los Angeles and Toronto.
TransLink is reminding commuters that some of the ‘TravelSmart’ things we did to get around during the Olympics will work just as well in September or anytime, as options for trips in peak commuting periods.
TransLink has been able to maintain transit services at the unprecedented levels reached in late 2009 and the program to modernize the bus, rail and passenger ferry fleets and keep everything in good operating condition has significantly reduced service disruptions. But the heavy demand in early September can still result in line ups for transit and on the roads.
TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis says the experience of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics showed that there is a lot of new capacity on the system, and TransLink and its operating companies are working to use that capacity in the most efficient and effective way possible. “Nevertheless, heavy volume on buses and SkyTrain is always a fact of life, at least until the latter part of September, so one option people in Metro Vancouver have involves putting to work the same TravelSmart thinking they developed during the Olympics -- options that don’t involve driving alone or even making a ‘traditional’ commute,” he says.
- Rideshare – club together with others, either from your own workplace or nearby, to share the cost of a daily commute by car; split the gas and parking bills and get to use the HOV lanes. Visit http://ride-share.com to register and start looking for matches on time of day, start and end points, etc. Check and see if your company offers incentives for ridesharing – like a specific website or designated parking spaces.
- Telework – working from home not only helps beat the commute, but helps improve your work/life balance
- Adjust your personal commute – do you have to be in the office by 9? Can you leave before or after the traditional afternoon rush hour (4-6pm)? Delaying or advancing the start of your commute by even half an hour can make a big difference and help spread out the volume
- Bike to Work – take advantage of Metro Vancouver’s growing network of bicycle routes
By using their TravelSmarts, commuters, more than even before, can help themselves and others to an easier journey while making our entire transportation network more efficient and effective.
More information can be found at 604-953-3333 or online at www.translink.ca.
