Cam I Am

Well, it’s not quite like that, but still…

The past several days, I’ve had a nail in one of my tires in my truck. Yes, I know that it needs to be fixed, and it will tomorrow, but that’s not the point. In the meanwhile, I’ve been adding air to my tires on a daily basis to compensate for the slow leak.

This brings me to my point. What the hell is with all of these gas stations
(aka service stations) to charge 50 cents or even a dollar for air! Some claim that it goes towards a charity, but I highly doubt this. The petroleum companies make millions and millions of money off of us. Even gas station owners do well (I have recently spoken to a couple who have confirmed this). They can’t afford to run a compressor? They need to charge me for air?

So, have made a point of marking in my GPS in my truck the stations that still provide “free” air.

I don’t pay to breathe it.. I’m not going to pay to put it in my tires…

After several years of going to this building, I’ve finally decided to take a picture of something that has always confused me about the parking situation. As you will see below, I parked in what is clearly marked as “Visitors Parking”. The confusing part is the sign that is posted there.

Umm.. what?   No Parking In This Area?   How can this be called Visitors Parking if I can’t park there? 

I have an issue with Translink.  I went to an event last night that was in downtown Vancouver.  Instead of driving from Maple Ridge into downtown, I decided to take transit. 

It’s been years since I’ve taken the bus or SkyTrain, but I thought that I’d give it a shot.  The venue that I was going to has limited parking and I didn’t want to fight for a parking spot.  I decided to drive into Burnaby, park near Lougheed Mall and take the Skytrain into downtown.

What’s the deal with all the signs clearly stating “No Park & Ride”?  I understand that Lougheed Mall doesn’t want a full parking lot of people who aren’t shopping there, but you would think that Translink would try and make some provisions for this. 

In a time when people are generally more aware about being “environmentally friendly” and are trying to find alternative ways to commute, there should be measures taken so that this could be accomplished. 

Why doesn’t Translink provide parking facilities for commuters?  This seems to be a big problem.  I did eventually find street parking a few blocks away, but I shouldn’t have needed to do this.

If Translink truly wants to promote transit as a viable alternative, they really should consider some changes.

First, more park and ride lots. 

Second, work on improving the West Coast Express.  I’ve heard that there are issues with CP Rail not wanting to give up “track time” for this because it would open the gate across the country for other municipalities to want the same treatment, but something needs to happen.  When the Greater Toronto Area has a great system like GO Transit with trains running all day, surely the GVRD could do the same.

Third, expand your rapid transit plans.  Once the future UBC, Evergreen and Canada Lines are done, these further ideas should be looked at. Skytrain should run into Maple Ridge (not just the projected line to Coquitlam.  The Surrey line should be run right into Langley.  That’s when you start to have a rapid transit system that is usable for the majority of people living in the Lower Mainland.

So..  my message to Translink..   Get with the program!  Start creating COMPLETE and VIABLE solutions to transit, or you’ll never get us out of our cars.