Ride Booker

If you value bikes as a viable mode of transportation sign the petition at People for Bikes.  We are lucky to have our offices in Whistler, BC as our bicycling network is phenomenal… not all cities have the same bike benefits.  One of the key measurements of which transport is environmental advantageous is the distance traveled.  Cycling and walking are only realistic options on a broad scale in places that have spent on infrastructure and design that make those choices available.

This week Patrick Condon spoke the the SLRD Energy Resiliency Task Force about the advantages gained by communities that design with the “street car city” in mind.  His estimates of green house gas emission reductions due to urban design were impressive to say the least.  Sustainable urban design, cycling corridors and increased walkability are clearly pieces of a puzzle that is slowly but surely coming together.  Our encouragement is that you lobby your local government and local business to commit resources in this direction.

At Transportation Whistler and Ridebooker.com we are focused on making sure that your transportation makes sense for your wallet and for our community.  If you are traveling to and from Whistler in a small group… get on the bus to Whistler.  If you are in a larger group consider a charter van or another shared option.  Large sweeping changes happen because of lots of small intentional movements in the same direction.  Your support of shared transportation alternatives and bike corridors are a couple those small steps.

Permalink: Shameless Promotion of Biking and Shared Transportation
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In the end all the fear and consternation was in vain.  VANOC pulled it off and did so by reducing “background” traffic by much more than 30% (some estimates say 60%).  The truth is very few people who were on the roads during the Games DIDN’T say “that was the easiest driving experience of my life, there was no one on the roads”.

The messaging worked so well that the actual contingency planning and transportation infrastructure didn’t have to.  Knowing what they know now I would expect if you were to get a senior manager at the VANOC transportation team alone and honest they’d tell you that they could have pulled this off for far less money.  Keep in mind that comment comes with the caveat of “knowing what they know now” in front of it.

All this to say that the congratulations for transportation success is owed to the communications staff at VANOC, Jan Jansen and his team at the RMOW and the community as a whole for buying into the process.  The lack of snow cannot be underestimated as snow clearing contingencies were never put to the test but after all is said and done the Vancouver Olympic transportation experience was a glowing success.

Last night at Whistler’s municipal council meeting former Whistler CAO and Games-time manager Jim Godfrey presented the Olympic lessons learned to the community.  The list of thank-yous was long and I was happy to see that the transportation team was top of his list.

The whole event was a real community effort and success.  For our part Transportation Whistler and Ridebooker.com carried 12,000 people in those two weeks.  We all worked hard during the last couple years to make this work.  Being a part of Whistler’s Olympic transportation effort was a joy due mainly to the efforts of Whistler local leadership.  Jan Jansen, Bill Murray and others did a phenomenal job making sure that the community transportation effort was pulling in the same direction.

Lesson learned: If you are having a big event… close public parking lots, gate your highway, massively upgrade transit and tell everyone and everyones mom that they can’t drive their cars.  It may sound crass and maybe it is… but it works!

Permalink: Post 2010 Olympic Transportation Review
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It is fairly widely known that the Quick Shuttle bus service connects Vancouver and Seattle.  What is becoming obvious, however, is that we have not gotten the word out well enough that you can be picked up along the way.  The primary rule for the Vancouver to Seattle service is that when using the service you must cross an international border (ie you cannot travel from Seattle to Bellingham).

This bus service can however take you from River Rock Casino to Seattle and from the Campbell River Store in South Surrey to Seattle.  To book the service book a YVR to Seattle transfer and choose River Rock or Campbell River Store as your pickup location as you book.  The River Rock Casino is in Richmond very close to the Vancouver International Airport (YVR).  The Campbell River Store is conveniently placed 5 minutes north of the US/Canada border – easier and more accessible than driving from White Rock to Vancouver to meet your bus.  If you have questions about our services email us at info@ridebooker.com.

Permalink: Bus Service to Seattle from River Rock Casino and South Surrey
Post tags: Quick Coach, Quick Shuttle, Scheduled bus, Seatac, Seattle, Vancouver Airport, Vancouver International Airport, YVR