TransLink offers free transit today in wake of SkyTrain shutdown on Expo Line

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      This morning, it was another hellish day on the Expo Line when the SkyTrain was unable to travel between Joyce Station and Waterfront Station.

      TransLink has tried to make peace with its customers by declaring that for the rest of today (May 22), transit will be free for all modes of travel.

      The trouble began when a bird's nest caught fire underneath the guideway east of Main Street Station during maintenance work. It damaged a communications cable, disabling the system.

      The decision to offer complimentary bus, train, and SeaBus travel comes a week before the deadline for mailing ballots in the Lower Mainland transit plebiscite.

      The Mayor's Council has brought forward a list of $7.5-billion in road and transit improvements over the next decade to try to alleviate congestion and get more people using the transit system.

      If the plebiscite passes, the federal and provincial governments will each have to provide approximately $1.4 billion for three light-rail lines to be built in Surrey and a subway to be constructed from VCC-Clark Station to Arbutus Street underneath the Broadway corridor.

      Comments

      2 Comments

      James1580

      May 22, 2015 at 10:38am

      If anyone needed another reason to vote no. I believe anyone trying to get into Downtown Vancouver this morning now has a big one.

      Jon Q. Publik

      May 22, 2015 at 11:33am

      @James1580 please explain to the fellow readers how voting no will prevent future bird related fires delaying transit?