Ride on an old Brill trolley bus

TransLink is celebrating 125 years of transit in the Metro Vancouver region this year.  Tomorrow, Sunday June 28th, 2015 between 11am-3pm, there will be an opportunity for the public to ride on one of the first-generation Brill trolley buses which operated in Vancouver between 1948 and 1984. This particular bus entered service in 1954 and was retired in 1984 when the second-generation Flyer trolleys entered into service.  It has been restored and preserved by the Transit Museum Society (TRAMS). The bus will be making a loop around Downtown Vancouver via: Southbound Cambie (stopping at Hastings – Victory Square) Westbound on Pender Continue Reading

Fun ways to get from Richmond to Downtown Vancouver on transit

I commute from Richmond to Downtown Vancouver every day for work.  Normally I take the Canada Line, which is a quick and reliable way to and from work.  As much as I like trains, some days it just seems boring; after all, the majority of the ride is underground. So I tasked myself to find five different ways to get to work (potentially one for each day of the week), if I wanted to take a break from the Canada Line.  Let’s assume we’re commuting from Richmond Centre to Waterfront.  Obviously we’re not optimizing for travel time. Option 1: 403, Continue Reading

New Xcelsior buses hit Vancouver streets

It has been quite a while since we’ve received new buses, especially a new model, here in Metro Vancouver.  This past Monday, the newest buses of the fleet, New Flyer Xcelsior XDE60s, commenced revenue service on the #49. West Vancouver also has some Xcelsiors, but they are the 40 foot diesel versions as shown on the right.  They have been in service since January. According to New Flyer, Xcelsiors boast several advantages such as better fuel economy, streamlined design, and a better experience for both the driver and passengers. These new buses look a lot sleeker than their predecessors, however Continue Reading

My take on free entertainment at the Richmond Night Market

I went to check out Richmond Night Market at its new location near River Rock Casino. Something they don’t advertise on their website is that there’s a $1.50 admission fee into the venue (side note: they must be making on the order of tens of thousands of dollars a night with this system, not even including booth rental fees!). I decided it wasn’t worth it since all I wanted to do was a quick wander.  I had my radio scanner on during the walk in from Bridgeport Station after seeing some of the traffic control personnel on their FRS walkie-talkies. Continue Reading

Finally fully working camera again, and some buses in the snow

In August of this year, some pressure from an unknown source cracked my LCD screen, and since then I have been using it without an LCD screen (quite difficult, but still usable).  A week ago, I ordered a replacement LCD from Foto Geeks and I received it today (coincidentally the day I was home).  Following Andy’s LCD replacement tutorial I successfully replaced the cracked LCD screen I have had almost for half a year.  Wondering what the cracked LCD looks like? The replacement was without problem except I made two scratches on the backlight, and nearly damaged the backlight ribbon Continue Reading