About a month ago, I signed up for a car2go account. So far I’ve used it twice already and I’ve been pretty happy with the experience. Why car2go? In the case I miss the last SkyTrain home, the car2go would be a cheaper option than taking a taxi, and more time-efficient than waiting for the Night Bus. (It’s roughly $10 for a 20-minute car2go trip from downtown to Richmond, versus a $35 taxi ride. The earliest Night Bus gets me home around 3am). I share cars with my parents, so in the rare case that they need the cars, I Continue Reading
vancouver
Post-summer update
I can’t believe it’s September already. The weather is starting to become cool and wet, days are becoming shorter, marking the end of what has been an incredible summer (and year to date). It’s been a while since I’ve written here, so with the changing season I thought I’d share a bit of an update of 2016 so far. Some of these warrant their own blog posts, but until I have time to write the full thing here is a summary.
Side Project 1: Real Time Bus Map in Vancouver
Since TransLink released their new mobile Next Bus site with real-time GPS updates of bus locations, I’ve been trying to find ways to get the data and rehash it into something that Metro Vancouver transit enthusiasts (more specifically, enthusiasts who chase buses and monitor the transit system’s operation) will find useful. There were two main shortcomings of TransLink’s site from the viewpoint of a transit enthusiast: Can’t search for a specific bus. Often times transit enthusiasts “chase” a particular bus, usually a new bus, a fresh bus after a midlife refurbishment, or a bus with a new advertisement wrap. Can’t Continue Reading
LRT and Subways: The future of Vancouver?
Ivan Chan, a friend of mine, recently showed me one of his animation projects, “Environment Modeling of Street and Subway.” Looks like Vancouver doesn’t it, considering the street “furniture” and signs? Except Vancouver doesn’t have a street-level LRT nor a subway,… yet.
The wheels on the bus go round and round…
On September 2, 2006, a crowd of people watched as the buses whose home had been the Oakridge Transit Centre for the past years made their way to the new multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art garage called Vancouver Transit Centre. Many of the buses leading the parade were retired buses restored by The Transit Museum Society (TRAMS). I also took 3 video clips: 2102 pulling out of Oakridge V1109 The bus parade going down Oak Street