With heavy snow expected to hit Metro Vancouver this afternoon and into the evening, can commuters put their faith in the public transit system?
Both Friday and Monday afternoon commutes were marred by multiple delays on Canada Line because of snow, with hundreds of commuters getting stranded for hours.
READ MORE: Canada Line delays, snowy weather leads to Monday rush hour chaos
Weather-related problems affected the Canada Line again on Wednesday. TransLink said weather conditions disrupted Canada Line service between Bridgeport and YVR-Airport stations late Wednesday night. Buses took passengers from Bridgeport to YVR and all stations in between. Expo and Millennium lines were not impacted.
This despite TransLink’s efforts to be more proactive, deploying additional staff and resources.
Expo and Millennium lines
Commuters are being given an option to avoid the problem altogether and get home earlier.
Starting at 2 p.m., more trains will be running on Expo and Millennium lines to accommodate people leaving work early, so they are home before the storm hits.
Crews will continue to de-ice rails, but Skytrain attendants will also be positioned on trains to manually operate them should snow accumulation on tracks trigger intrusion alarms.
It is a solution TransLink has been deploying since the first snowstorm in December.
“A SkyTrain attendant is on the train and they can manually drive it back into the station and get it out of the way, so it does not block the system while they are getting it back up again,” said TransLink spokesperson Anne Drennan. “It also reassures passengers that someone can actually move the train.”
Canada Line
The issue that caused Monday’s commute havoc on Canada Line was a track problem on the bridge between Marine Drive and Bridgeport stations.
“The trains could not get up the incline, so the attendants were there so that if they had to manually move the trains back into the station, they could do that,” said Drennan. “Unfortunately, it’s not the final solution to the problem, but it does help.”
Today, TransLink plans to spray the exposed guideway with anti-icing and de-icing solutions and sand to prevent ice build-up.
All trains will be staffed on the guideway, at grade and elevated sections, should trains need to be driven manually.
Buses and trolleys
Bus routes will be plowed as usual and trolley anti-icing trucks will be deployed to spray the entire trolley overhead system.
In addition, as many articulated buses as possible are being switched for traditional buses. Although articulated buses are great for turning and maneuvering throughout the streets in Metro Vancouver and allow for quick movement of large numbers of passengers, when traveling up hills or on streets that have poor conditions, the back halves are heavy which can create some traction problems.
Push trucks will also be out to assist vehicles that are stuck or having difficulty on steep routes.
Just how much snow to expect tonight?
Global BC meteorologist Mark Madryga says snow will develop by early afternoon and will become heavy by late Wednesday: 10 to 20 cm will fall by mid-evening in the Lower Mainland before milder air begins the transition to rain by later Wednesday evening.
By Thursday, much milder air will take over, and rain will be dominant, along with a Vancouver high temperature soaring to 8 C.
– With files from Jon Azpiri
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