Spring weather for the Winter Olympics and other tidbits

I just realized that in less than a month, the Winter Olympics will start in my hometown of Vancouver. And apparently, there's no snow in the mountains.

Those who know Canadian weather will know that Vancouver is the second-warmest major city in Canada in winter (the other being nearby Victoria). It almost NEVER goes below freezing there, and snow in the city is very rare (and usually melts in less than a day).

However, the city gets loads of rain in winter and all the rain turns into snow in the mountains, making for prime skiing and snowboarding conditions. From what I heard, this year, that hasn't materialized and there is almost no snow in the mountains. One of the Winter Olympic venues, Cypress Mountain, has apparently been closed to the public so they can MAKE snow (which is unusual in itself for Vancouver's ski mountains) and maintain it until the Games.

Above: A photo taken in the summer of the Olympic rings between Vancouver International Airport and the Arthur Laing Bridge leading to the City of Vancouver.

The opening ceremonies will be at BC Place Stadium, and it'll be the first-ever indoor opening ceremony in Olympic history. With the buckets of rain that the city gets in winter, that's a good choice, and probably a good way to deter the TV viewers from looking around the stadium's exteriors and wondering, "Where's the snow?"

Also, there's the issue of the Downtown Eastside (DTES). For those outside Vancouver, the DTES is known for being possibly the poorest area of Canada and has a high rate of crime, prostitution, drug deals and open drug use. The previous mayor of Vancouver didn't really do much to fix it, and now it's too late to do anything. It's just a stone's throw from the "good" part of downtown, where a lot of visitors will be staying. Just wait -- there will definitely be some media coverage about this and many will ask, "Why is there a huge open air drug den in the middle of this city?"

This is going to be one interesting Olympics.

Canada Line goodness

After many years of political red tape, the long-awaited rapid transit rail line between Richmond, Vancouver International Airport and Vancouver will become a reality in the form of the Canada Line. It was originally announced that it will open on Labor Day, but by the sounds of it, it might open as early as the BC Day long weekend, which is at the start of August.

That means for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, visitors coming from the airport will be able to avoid having to cram into a small taxi cab and use a train line instead.

While I love the fact that the line is finally here, I do have some nitpicks with its construction and planning. The station and train lengths are a mere 40 meters and there is no room for further expansion. This is an alarming lack of long-term thinking by the private company that had the construction contract for the line.

Also, all Richmond, Delta, South Surrey and White Rock buses that normally run as express buses to downtown Vancouver will instead terminate at Bridgeport Station of the line. As a regular passenger on the Richmond routes to downtown Vancouver, I can say with certainty that despite the line's and the local buses' increased capacities, there will be a serious overcrowding issue. My peak-hour bus from Vancouver is already bursting at the seams at 15-minute frequencies. The local route (which will be the only option after the line opens) will run at 12-minute frequencies. Now, if a 15-minute frequency can't handle the Vancouver-Richmond passengers alone, how do you expect a 3-minute increase to make any difference when you add local Richmond riders to the scenario as well? It will not work.

Above: A Canada Line train during practice runs, as seen from No. 3 Road at Alderbridge Way in Richmond.

Also, for some areas in Richmond's western parts, such as my house, the commute time will actually increase as a result of the new routings. Besides those living within a kilometer of No. 3 Road (where the line runs), there is no benefit. There will be no other alternatives for Vancouver-bound commuters.

For the Delta, South Surrey and White Rock routes, the extra transfer will end up with little to no savings in commuting time. While the impact is minimal for them, it seems a bit unnecessary. However, I'm hesitant to say anything beyond that because I don't take those buses during peak hours.

If the line opens early (as planned), the route changes won't be in effect until the next schedule rotation, which will be in September. By then, I'll be far away from here and will avoid the circus that will be Vancouver public transit commuting. Hopefully all the problems will be rectified by the time I return. But knowing the local transportation agency around here, I wouldn't be surprised if they remain clueless.

Anyways, here are some related videos, pics and links:

My photo gallery of the Canada Line.

Videos courtesy of the Buzzer Blog:

Approaching Vancouver City Centre Station:



Leaving downtown Vancouver:



Transition from underground portion to above-ground, at Marine Drive Station:



Crossing the bridge to Richmond:



Arriving at Richmond-Brighouse Station, the terminus in Richmond:



Arriving at Vancouver International Airport's YVR-Airport Station:



Projected ridership situation:



Okay, I was kidding about the last one. I think. Actually, I don't know if I'm joking about that.