Cool trains, nifty buses running us all over town, happy little sea buses carting us over to the mountainous North Shore, why wouldn’t we have a TransitCamp in this town? I think for the most part though, the main issues raised at TransitCamp were more buses, more scheduled times, more access and more info is needed.
This wasn’t a day to rant about Translink (for some people) but it was a day to talk, discuss, brainstorm, address hot-button issues and make some cool art. Some of the session titles were: Ask the Gurus, Best Practices, Car Free Day/Events, Transfers, Building a Community within the Community, Social Media for Transit, Wireless Everywhere Transit… and more.
Here’s a short summary from the two sessions I attended:
Session One: Care Free Day & Safe Route Tsawwassen
Evolving from the free day we get on New Years, the topic of encouraging others to take transit instead of their cars generated much discussion.
Should a group of individuals sponsor a pro-active campaign, handing out cards and fliers to riders to promote another “free day” of transit? Something like this would certainly be at a cost to Translink and offering pamphlets to commuters wouldn’t be very effective.
The thought I shared with others in the room was to get Translink to participate in events instead of actually being the initiator ie. there’s a community festival out in Tsawwassen, and all those who attend are encouraged to come by transit. You could even have prizes for those who submit their fare stubs for added incentive. Translink could then be a PARTNER in the event alongside cycling coalitions or other societies and groups.
We also had a brief presentation from Carol Vignale. Along with Ruth who is an Elder with Tsawwassen First Nation, Carol’s group partnered with a member of the CNIB, and the Delta Police/Community Police Station to create “Safe Route Tsawwassen”. The goal here was to reduce numbers of cars coming to schools, provide information about safe routes to schools (new lines, remove shrubs, crosswalks etc.) and to build up the community shuttle program for Tsawwassen.
Carol, who was also on the GVTA committee and helped with the community shuttle bus initiative, offered up some great information about their group. She was also a part of their local cycling initiative [Canada.com Article]. Carol’s initiative really provides a great module that other communities could put in place and build upon.
A few more topics that came out of this session were: Getting better access to community data, an increase in dialog between riders and Translink, a summarization policies on their website ie. “What is Bill 44?”, and more communication about what resources are available, how they’re available and how Translink actually connects communities.
Session Two: Unwiring Transit and Other Public Places
Topics for discussion: Why is it so hard to get wifi in public spaces (not just cafes or apartments)? Most are City, Translink owned spaces so herein lies the problem. Are we getting wifi on buses? No, a recent article in a local paper basically made it seem like it but this is actually an internal communication system for operators, which won’t be for the public. However when they implement GPS tracking for the public it will work hand in hand with their new scheduling system, which you can text to get ‘next bus’ information for the stop where you’re waiting.
Back to the wifi discussion: Who would provide the blanket bandwidth at transportation hubs/stations? Who would provide the support? Where would it be, places you wait, places where you spend the most time?
What about bandwidth hogs? Where would the hot spot be? Could Translink partner with local shops as access points? Dave points out that in all these scenarios the biggest costs would be tech support and bandwidth.
This particular discussion seemed to really promote FreeTheNet Vancouver, then it turned into something about social networking and media then veered in all other directions before the conch blew announcing time was up.
Things got a little scrambled in a few of the sessions, which mostly consisted of pockets of people in deep discussion, but for the most part things stayed on track. I ducked out before the arts and craft fun times but still got to experience some great conversations. I’m sure more summary posts will pop up, but here are some samples from my photo-documentation this afternoon – the rest are in the Flickr Set.
I’m all about the fundraising here on Miss604, but ya know I’m also all about Ralphie. That’s right, little Ralphie from A Christmas Story who wants, “an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and ‘this thing’ which tells time.”
It’s the lovable cinematic Christmas classic that my husband and I quote in everyday life year round and it’ll be on the big screen this weekend along with It’s a Wonderful Life.
The best part? Your movie ticket helps get the Vancouver Masters Synchro team to the World Masters Games in Perth, Australia AND the US Masters Nationals in Las Vegas, USA
What: Double feature big screen showing of A Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life When: Sunday Dec. 9, 2007. Doors open at 12:30; First movie starts at 1 pm with a 45 min. intermission Where: The Frederick Wood Theatre, UBC [Google Map] How much?: $10/person; or $25/family (up to two adults and two children)
For more information check out the team’s blog (which is built on Drupal… nice!)
Last night John and I ventured over to Flux Bistro in Gastown for the Zero Ground album release party. Man, there’s nothing like hearing and experiencing live music.
Chad Nantais composed the entire album on his computer some time ago and after some suggestions from colleagues, he decided to bring it out into the real world. With a six-piece band, he delivered four of Zero Ground’s original songs to a very captive and crowded house.
Zero Ground is the soundtrack to a modern world where machines allow one person to re-create what was once accomplished by an entire band, and technology can create as emotional a connection as a human.
The tunes are instrumental with jazzy, funky riffs flowing from more than just guitars, drums, and piano. Chad has a history as a DJ, spinning hip-hop and house music but also a closeness to Motown since growing up back East. All of these elements come into play and it was really interesting to see it all meld together after only ever sampling a few electronic tracks online.
I must say though, after his “War Games” reference before launching into the tune “Shall We Play a Game” I was pretty sold. There are definitely great things in Chad’s future and we were pretty lucky to be a part of his exclusive premiere audience last night.
You can sample Chad’s tunes on his website or MySpace, but the CD is available for purchase at Zulu and RedCat Records. It’s also up on iTunes and CDBaby for online orders that ship by mail. He’s also up on the Podsafe Music Network so this could be very useful for all you podcasters out there.
The other day Buzz asked if I would co-host the Battle of the Sexes portion of the 95 Crave morning show. This week he’s filling in for Nat & Drew and collected some local female friends to come up with the “women’s” questions for the game.
The goal is to have the female host ask the male contestant questions usually females would know the answer to, and vice versa for the male host and female contestant.
First of all, it was pretty neat to be included in this group of women (Meg did a great job of it earlier in the week). Second, coming up with questions wasn’t as easy as I had thought.
I’m pretty glad that the female contestant got the questions right as I was telling Buzz I usually get the men’s questions before I get the women’s. In case you don’t listen to the audio above, Buzz asked the following to the female contestant:
Who was NOT a coach of the Vancouver Canucks? a) Pat Quinn b) Scottie Bowman c) Mike Keenan.
I asked the following, and it seems I’m getting some heat from Disney die-hards:
Which of these Disney characters was NOT a princess? a) Snow White b) Sleeping Beauty c) Belle.
The answer should be Belle, as a quick look in wikipedia to verify assures me that Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were both born to Queens however Belle was simply a merchant’s daughter. However, one cold argue that when Belle and Beast hooked up she became a Princess but… were there any vows exchanged? Hmm. Hey, I could have used my other question: “Ballet, Mule and Gore are all styles of what?”
Regardless, it was a good time, thanks again Buzz! Watch for 95 Crave remotely broadcasting from your neck of the woods next week with Nat & Drew’s Food Bank Fill Up.
People have been trying to revolutionize the way get our Translink bus schedules for a while now because, let’s face it, they weren’t exactly cooking anything up themselves until recently.
Yesterday they announced the new “Next Bus” service, where you can get instant schedule information for your bus stop, straight to your mobile phone by sms. Here’s how Translink explains it:
“They get the bus stop that is nearest to them, they find the five-digit code that’s there, and they can text that code to 3-3-3-3-3, and they will find out when the next six buses are due to arrive there.” [CKNW]
They also have a GPS system in the works where you’ll get actual next bus arrival times based on their locations.
Seems simple enough, eh. I’ll add it to my list of services to try out but still, it doesn’t help the buses arrive on time. Want to discuss applications, services rants and raves? Come on down to TransitCamp this weekend.
Carol, who was also on the GVTA committee and helped with the community shuttle bus initiative, offered up some great information about their group. She was also a part of their local cycling initiative [Canada.com Article]. Carol’s initiative really provides a great module that other communities could put in place and build upon.
Topics for discussion: Why is it so hard to get wifi in public spaces (not just cafes or apartments)? Most are City, Translink owned spaces so herein lies the problem. Are we getting wifi on buses? No, a recent article in a local paper basically made it seem like it but this is actually an internal communication system for operators, which won’t be for the public. However when they implement GPS tracking for the public it will work hand in hand with their new scheduling system, which you can text to get ‘next bus’ information for the stop where you’re waiting.
