Have long SkyTrain delays over the past week shaken your confidence in the system?
Posted July 22, 2014 8:27 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – People were moving quickly in and out of the SkyTrain stations this morning, but that was not the case yesterday afternoon.
The Expo and Millennium lines stopped running for nearly five hours, leaving a lot of commuters stranded on their way home from work. It was the second time in less than a week that the lines stopped running because of a computer issue.
So, have these delays caused commuters to lose confidence in the SkyTrain system?
We spoke with one man who says it took him three hours to get home from work yesterday due to the delays. But he was back using the line this morning because he says there is no better alternative.
“Well, the bus for where I am going in New West would take 2.5 hours and the SkyTrain takes about an hour and 10 minutes,” he explains.
Another commuter says he plans to keep taking the line because it is cheaper than driving and paying for parking.
“The bosses understand, obviously… they live in the city too. If you don’t have a car, it is the only means necessary to get around: public transport. You have no other choice, get the bus or get the train,” he tells us.
Another says the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to taking the SkyTrain. “It still saves me time, saves me money and gas… I save the frustration in driving. I’m not going to quit the SkyTrain.”
One commuter says the system breaking down once in a while is par for the course when it comes to public transit.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the, time they are working, so it is not too bad if you are delayed once every couple of months. It is not that big of a deal. I don’t think it is that big of a deal ever.”
Most people we spoke with want TransLink to give them a refund for the delay and inconvenience from yesterday’s shutdown.
The transit authority says it will be issuing a statement later this morning about the cause of the delay.
