Week 4: February 6-10
Feb 11th, 2012 by Calvin
At our meeting on Friday, Andre and Lindsay informed the rest of the group about their meeting with the West Vancouver Seniors’ Activity Centre. It turns out that they ended up obtaining some ridership information and also had an opportunity to ride the bus. As a result, they were able to get a substantial amount of data what we could use in our final report.
On Monday and Tuesday, several of us went to North Vancouver to ride the Silver Harbour Go Bus. On Monday, Lindsay and Michael went, while Calvin and Linus went Tuesday afternoon. Each day, we met up with John, the bus driver, and had an opportunity to talk to him about the bus program before actually going for a ride. During the rides, one person would highlight the route on a roadmap, while the other person would record the number of people who got on and off the bus at each stop. A couple pictures of the Go Bus are shown below:
Overall, the Silver Harbour bus rides were very helpful. John was very friendly, and gave us a lot of information about not only the program itself, but also his passengers. For example, he would tell us if a passenger was a regular rider or a first time user. However, there was one big challenge that we discovered through these visits. Getting a concrete map of the Go Bus route was virtually impossible, due mainly to the fact that John changes his path every day to accommodate the specific needs of his clients. This style of operation is a contrast to the other agencies, which tend to have set routes that their buses follow. For our report, we will need to discuss this, and present a map that provides a general idea of the area the Go Bus serves.
Over the last few weeks, we have obtained a substantial amount of data from the three seniors’ groups. With the end of February fast approaching, our goal for the coming week is to begin writing the final report, which will be part of our deliverables to BEST at the conclusion of this project.
It’s great to hear that you have gotten onto the buses and are able to collect useful data!
As you enter the final stages of your project, I’m reminded that CIVL 202 is a “technology and society” course, and I’m wondering what you think about the role “relationship building” plays in the successful completion of your project.
Keep up the good work. I’m looking forward to seeing your final report to the client. (not part of the CIVL 202 deliverables but I hope you will send me a copy anyway!)
Regards,
SN