I'm really really worried about public transit. So I decided to do something brave and made a video on the internet about it. Follow About Here Facebook: / abouthere Twitter: / aboutherevideos
Uytae! What a much needed video. So happy to see you still grinding and making great content during this time. Vancouver is lucky to have a guy like you. Cute cat, I have a similar make and model lol. Stay safe buddy and keep up the bangers. #savetransit
This is exactly why public transit needs to be given a significant boost in the post-Covid19 stimulus spending. Not only for maintenance and operations, but expansion! We need to grow our systems so that they can bounce back stronger than before.
I can't believe that our governments are happier to prop up private industries like oil and airlines, that do nothing buy earn themselves money, while public infrastructure like transit, education, research and healthcare have to fight to stay afloat.
I think this is an issue that existed before. Outside of vancouver public transit has been horrible and has never received the funding it should have received. Vancouver is a major city yet we're the only city without a tube system, funding outside of the greater vancouver area is non-existent. COVID just gave people another reason to find another alternative that suites their lifestyle better (I've seen so many commuters riding bikes now, I doubt many of them will go back to buses now they've spent the money on new bikes etc...
@@CJSHM Uhm, most transit companies aren't private companies except some taxi companies maybe if these companies were private the government would pay them.
This is truly the darkest timeline. I’m glad people are recognizing what’s going on. I’m also very glad you’re not afraid to go into the equity aspect, which is often overlooked. #savetransit
It would be a disaster for equality of opportunity indeed. I heard your radio interview and read your opinion piece as well. This is a much-needed message. Thank you
You are correct about people who can afford to drive switching to driving for at least the time being. I was a transit user everyday heading into downtown. I haven't tapped my compass since March 12 and have been driving to work every day now. The problem post-pandemic remains how can you convince people to jam shoulder to shoulder back onto the skytrain if there is no vaccine?
I feel it. I was a big user of PT but I am not taking any public transportation since the pandemic started. I'm not just driving. I take a lot of taxis, ubers, cycling, e-scooters. The advantage is that I don't have to commute anymore too though. The remote work revolution has really helped congestion.
Vancouver 2022: Skytrain is full when you try and get on it after 3pm. And if there's a 6 minute service gap the escalators at metrotown have a bad time.
Uytae! I am so happy that you made this video and that you still have the resolve to grind out even more! I thank and applaud you for supporting transit when it will be most needed. Stay safe! #savetransit
This guy is the Vancouver version of Vox, production quality is great! If I had substantial wealth, I'd honestly fund you to make a weekly series on Canadian cities.
Kids: Mom, can we have City Beautiful? Mom: We have City Beautiful at home City Beautiful at home: (Glad to see the Covid hasn't weakened your spirits or your videos :) Love 'em!)
Oh lord, I hope you're wrong. US transit had a bad reputation even before this blasted pandemic started, now it's going to get even worse. Heck, mother even yelled at me for using the subway in DC when I went to clean out my college dorm to go home. Even worse is that I can't blame her.
I’m way more optimistic, in Seattle. We already invested billions in LightRail, and broke all ridership targets. That infrastructure isn’t going anywhere, while people will continue to move here from all the wasteland areas.
Very interesting. So far the only opinions on modal change I've heard have been from cycling websites who are hopeful that the sudden explosion in the number of people riding bikes will continue after motor traffic returns to the streets - something that I don't think is likely.
your content is awesome man! you are very well educated and well spoken and take the time to inform us all about important issues and your jab at ICBC was hilarious!!!!!
Lifelong hardcore transit rider here because I'd rather drink than own a car despite fact that 80% of my jobs (including now) have been as a Driver. That being said thanks for addressing this topic and I have two points I'd like to add... First I believe politicians in charge of Transit Budgets should be Required to be regular transit users in order to cast a vote either way when financing Transit ( either good or bad ) because sitting in an office ya drive to and from is way too much of a disconnect. Secondly youtuber Tom Scott revealed in a video about %100 free transit in.. ( some European city ) ...and says that virtually all city transit systems collect only about 2% of their budget from fare revenue. He said this place was forced to do surveys and ad campaigns in an attempt to get citizens on Transit. This is because even Free rides haven't been enough to justify the money spent to maintain public transit. It turns out people need certain things in order to get them to use public transit all the time. Things like high quality clean vehicles...a feeling if safety and security and 24 hour access ( safely). Dunno if my comment adds to this conversation but I'm almost ready to get involved in my local politics just to increase awareness about the deep benefits to public transportation and perhaps make a difference. I could go on and on about this ( even more...lol) but I'm waiting in my bus and gotta go now. This video got me to subscribe
that's why it's good that my country has a public transit system backed up by the government. and it's cheap, as I can take any number of busses in a time limit (1 or more hours depending on the type) for about 1.6$ (US).
I think the best solution is to have infrastructure for walking, biking and personal electric vehicles like scooters and EUCs (electric unicycle). If those vehicles are on a pedestrian walkway, set the top speed to 10 mph. On a road, set the speed to 30 mph and don't permit cars in city centers.
Toronto (GTA) and Ontario (Metrolinx) had a lot of projects planned for the next two years. It looks like the funding is still there and the projects will continue, but anyone in the GTA know that the public transit system is far behind what it should be. The federal government need to prioritize infrastructure investments in all municipalities afterwards. Interest rates are low and these projects are very safe investments.
I think trends in China aren't effective at predicting western trends. There's a lot of cultural differences, particularly around car ownership in China.
Hey bro hope you are well and having a great day so far. Just found you today and really pleased we have your videos are awesome bro. Fantastic editing skills and great footage bro. You have some very valid points bro. Thanks so much for sharing this. Stay safe and catch up again real soon God bless you.
Great job! I don’t drive - I live in New Westminster but when I’m at work, I work in Maple Ridge. One bus has been suspended R3, one bus is facing elimination 791... I’ll be down to one option 701. None of my coworkers live near me, transit has been my only option for my adult life.
No kidding - multiple new RapidBus lines, plans to start construction of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension, new double deckers for the first time, brand new SkyTrain cars... honestly, transit is a piece of public infrastructure. It needs to be supported far more than the airlines.
Great video, I agree we should all be worried. This trend is a bit ironic given that increases in traffic congestion have negative health outcomes. Less transit use and more cars on the road are bad for everyone. It's time to look seriously at tolling and congestion pricing.
The public transit cut hurt a lot here in Toronto! My bus used to come every hour, but now it comes every two hours, and now I'm thinking about getting a car. Thanks for shining light on this problem!! Your videos are wonderful!
Beijing’s bus system is surely losing rider but I don’t think it is because of SARS but because of the completion of the extensive subway network. Beijing’s public total transit ridership (bus + subway) is skyrocketed since 2003.
I also dont like driving cause it changes the culture of its residents. Cars create the car first model of street design and you get some very ugly and unwelcoming streets unlike walkable, bike friendly with public transit streets. House are further away from each other and you need a car to get milk. Where other public transit cities you can walk to get ect. The consequences of a car centric cities is more detrimental than we think. That's my 2 cents at least. Love your content btw keep the good work.
I agree with your critique of free bus fares, though it's unpopular. LA got rid of bus fares during the pandemic too and as soon as the pandemic lifted they ruthlessly cut a devastating number of our already skeletal bus lines! We have some wonderful transit activists here but they were so focused on trying to make the free bus fare program permanent that they've barely seem to have noticed that they gutted the system in the meantime! Who cares if the busses are free if they never arrive! I think fares are the one source of power riders have over the system.
Also... I know a lot of of people in LA (even people who don't own cars) who have stopped taking the subway because they became homeless shelters during the pandemic and now in 2023 have reached a tipping point where people no longer feel safe taking the subway so there are hardly any people left on them who aren't homeless. There have always been homeless people on the subway and they have every right to be there but not when smoking, urinating, blocking doors, or other issues make other commuters flee the system.
I’ve talked with Unifor reps (TransitLink union). The toll fairs only ever cover the cost of running the toll fair system. All other expenses (management, labour, maintenance, etc.) are covered by taxes. ... We could have “Free” public transportation without a tax increase!!
I'm hopeful that public transit will rebound slowly but surely. I know that when this pandemic subsides, one of the first things I'll do is take a ride on public transit😀😉👍
I rode public transit every day during covid (in Central Europe, a city of 2+ million) and did not catch covid. I wore a mask (it was legally required at the time).
Optimism factors for TransLink… 1. vaccine will be developed in a year or so 2. more testing and better control over community transmission 3. Less people get sick and die. 4. More people know quickly above via Internet or media. Information spread much quicker now, especially more people use Internet because of this crisis. 5. more congested road and parking (price and scarcity) 6. Once this over, fuel price goes back up. I think TransLink ridership will take V-shape recovery as economy.
well, looking at this a couple years on, the concern was valid but not for the 'everyone bought cars and wont ride transit anymore' reason...but rather remote work. us cities are frequently at 2/3 or less ridership vs pre-covid. the more remote work happening in a region and the more the system is designed to mostly bring people into/out of a single (former) business centre, the worse it is. translink looks like it was over 80% of precovid. us cities where toolbooth is big % of budget...bye bye transit. forget about new projects. expect service cuts (frequency cuts, route eliminations, and eliminated stops).
I'm glad that a lot of people see the value in this. I don't want to have to resort to cycling 300km a week because I can't get home from work in a reasonable timeframe come a couple of weeks from now. But nope, to the feds, the yachts of the 1% are more important than this essential piece of infrastructure.
I love watching the growth of your channel. You are passionate about such an important topic, we're lucky to have such an effective communicator as yourself to be repping transit!
Sharing it on Facebook. I love how you make videos, and this is such an important issue. Are those piano pieces played by someone in your production or are you accessing free, public-domain stuff?
Uytae you should do a second one of these in the next couple years. Translink is having a massive deficit and budget shortfall and service hours for skytrain and buses will be slashed if they don't get significant funding.
Interesting watching this now. A year ago, very few people would have predicted our global supply issues that are happening now; many areas, especially remote areas, are not able to get cars because of the shipping container crisis that’s affecting everything. Also, I personally have been shocked by how quickly the world is returning to pre-pandemic normals since vaccinations have rolled out. Maybe (hopefully) the decline of transit won’t be permanent!
Very thoughtful and thought-provoking video, well done! Are you planning a follow-up to assess whether your concerns became reality? I've used transit a few times in the last 3-4 months (normally I bike and ride a motorcycle) and it seems as if ridership has rebounded. Also, you didn't address working from home as a driver of your concerns (pun intended).
If people are worried about going on transit, then they will be worried about going to work (or atleast they should be because it looks like covid-19 can be spread in hvac systems, not 100% confirmed yet). So I don't think that it will be a ton of people just switching to driving. It will be a bunch of people refusing to go to work at all. And I think this is an amazing thing. There is absolutely no reason to have a large portion of people go into an office every single day anymore and its literally killing our planet to do so (among other pollutants). Yes, there are times where it is necessary, for client meetings or hands-on jobs or what not. But this pandemic is showing us that a lot of people can just work from home. So I think that instead of trying to bail out a company and return to how life was, we should evolve and adapt just like Translink will. Otherwise we are all fu...
I think big incentive for transit is to avoid congestion, and if the roads become congested, more people will switch back to skytrain once this crisis blows over. For that reason, I think we are OK. My main concern is whether the UBC extension and Surrey-Langley extension to the Skytrain will still happen. I really hope they do.
