Translink’s Document Library

I’ll admit I’m a data miner. It’s no secret that I love data, connecting data, manipulating data, playing with data…

So when I discovered Translink’s Document Library Today, I was more than thrilled. By typing the words “pdf”, I can get all results in the library (since 99% of the documents are pdfs).

On average, I appears that Translink posts at least 10 documents a week! Transparency Guaranteed!

For Example, just Today, they published a

-49 page Annual Report for 2011
-96 page Q1 customer service report
-53 page March WCE Customer review
-2 maps of the detours of the 135 and 160

Phew!

Anyways, from now on, I’ll be accessing that page frequently, and publishing any interesting documents. And have fun scouring the website and uncovering me some “hidden” documents in the comments below!

Our Current Education 1- A Minute by Minute Account of What Students do During Class.

Disclosure: I’m in Highschool.

Though I’m young and have less education, I do have lots of ideas and opinions.

But I’ve got something that the majority of the population doesn’t: The ability to enter highschools and get the inside scoop of our education. Jealous?

_________________

A parent asks a child: “What did you learn at school today?”

Child: “Nothing”.

It costs taxpayers $8,472 a year to send a child to school to learn ‘Nothing’.

_________________

What Actually Happens in HighSchool? 

Backrounder: Highschool Students in Metro Vancouver attend 180 days of School per year, each student taking 8 classes a year.
There are 4 classes a day on alternating days, with each class an average of 82 minutes.

A minute by minute diary of what I do at HighSchool since December 6th: Page 1, 2, 3, 4.

Rather than reading my messy handwriting, I have organized the data into neat charts below:

Categories:

Exercises: Group Assignments eg. Labs, Group Discussion
Movie: Watching Movies or Videos
Work Time: Independent Quiet Work Time
Free Time/Wasted: Time spent off topic, Free Time on computer, or Free Time to do whatever we please (Socialize).
Lesson:  Teacher’s Lesson eg. Reading and Explaining Textbook
Review: Teacher Reviews Prior Lessons, or Teacher Check/Reviews Homework
Exam: Quiz or Exam eg. Writing essays
Presentations: Presentations by Classmates

DATA:

In Other Words…

An Essay/Exam every 5 classes
Free Time on the computer (or socialization time) every 3 classes
Presentations every 5 classes
A Movie every 25 classes

Average of 6 minutes of “Lesson”, 7 minutes of “Group Exercises”, and 6 minutes of “Review” Every Class.

In Other Words…

In the typical Class of 82 minutes, we spend…
53 minutes independently working (on math),
10 minutes “Wasted”
14 minutes going over previous Homework
5 minutes on today’s Actual Lesson

There’s an Exam every 7 classes.

In Other Words…

In the typical Class of 82 minutes, we spend…
31 minutes independently working (on work)
8 minutes “Wasted”
17 minutes on today’s Lesson
14 minutes Reviewing Previous Assignments
12 minutes doing Mini Quizzes (or 24 minutes every 2nd Class)

There’s an Exam every 10 classes,
a Lab every 4 classes

In Other Words…

In the typical Class of 82 minutes, we spend…
40 minutes independently working (on anything)
24 minutes doing what we please
12 minutes on today’s Lesson
6 minutes Reviewing Previous Lessons

There’s an Exam every 9 classes

In Other Words…

In the typical Class of 82 minutes, we spend…
7 minutes independently working (on work)
11 minutes socializing
24 minutes learning from reading the textbook
40 minutes watching movies

There’s an exam every 20 classes

In Other Words…

In the typical Class of 82 minutes, we spend…
16 minutes independently working (on french worksheets)
21 minutes talking useless/random nonsense
14 minutes teaching francais, either through the whiteboard or textbook
14 minutes reviewing and marking worksheets
9 minutes doing a quiz
8 minutes doing group exercises

There are French Project Presentations every 8 classes

Physical Education and Band would skew the results if included.

In a way, when the child says that he learns ‘nothing’ at school is somewhat correct. The only times when a teacher is actually needed in a highschool (for the lesson and review) only accounts for 23% of the time spent at school.

The lesson only accounts for 13% of the school time, while free/wasted time is at 17%.

________________________________________________

My Opinion, it is not correct for taxpayers to send students to schools where most of the time is used up with activities that can easily be completed at home.
(For example, if you knew what workbook pages or worksheets were to be done, then the 25% “Work Time” could be done at home.)

My Conclusion: 21st Century Education needs Reform. A dozen years into this century, and it has never been a better time to ask for an improved education system.

My Goal: To improve education circumstances in a way that would benefit current students (like myself), future students, teachers, and taxpayers.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 of this series, (I think will be called “What we learn at School”)
and Part 3 (I think it will be called “The Purpose of School”). 

AND REMEMBER: Those who we teach now, will teach others in the future. So we must teach our students well, and ensure that the education of our future workforce is of good quality.

_____________________________________________________

PS. Sorry for the Spelling Errors in the Graphs (Exercise). Spelling’s not my strong point.

Feel free to shoot me an email to ask me questions, or ask me to write about a topic, or contribute your education observations. Most people don’t have the inside scoop to our education anymore. 

The Case for a Pedestrian Street on Cambie

View Larger Map

Cambie Street: Named After John Henry Cambie of the CPR
A six lane street stretching from the Burrard Inlet to the Fraser River.

Since the Canada Line, it has been the corridor in Vancouver that has received the most attention, the most criticism. ie. Construction affecting business, and the proposed developments at 33rd, Marine, and Georgia. Cambie is already the fastest growing corridor, with the most construction of any street in the last 5 years. 

Time to think of new ideas. Time to change Vancouver. Pedestrianize Cambie Street.

As in the Map above, Cambie goes through more than 20 attractions. With the new developments coming, it may well be the densest corridor in Metro Vancouver.

Located in the Middle of Vancouver, it is the ideal street to remove from Cars. Just imagine daily events and cyclists and sunshine and people and kids. Time for Vancouver to catch up in the Urban Curve.

Gregor, do Vancouver a favour, and follow the great example of New York!

Cycling Cities are Happier

A recently revealed  happiness study put beside the “Top 10 Countries with Most Bicycles per Capita” Report results in an interesting find:

World’s Happiest Countries:

1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Netherlands
5. Canada
6. Switzerland
7. Sweden

Top 10 Countries with Most Bicycles per Capita:

1) Netherlands
2) Denmark
3) Germany
4) Sweden
5) Norway
6) Finland
7) Japan
8) Switzerland

Coincidence?

Comparing Transit to Television

“How can you remember all those bus routes?!”

It’s a question that people ask me often, and I have always struggled to answer.

We all know what channels 2, 3, 7, 9, and 11 are on the TV. Many people can also name channels 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 143 and probably a couple dozen more. You can remember all those channels even though you watch them less than once a month.  Can I ask you: “How can you remember all those TV channels?!” Did you notice that all but one of those channels above are also bus routes in Vancouver?

I bet there are some TV geeks that can recall all the channels on TV and what they show at what time.

Similarly, transit enthusiasts can recall all the bus routes and where they go at what frequency.

In fact, TV and transit are more similar than I thought. We go to channels 9 and 11 for the nightly news, channels 8 and 9 for comedy & entertainment, and channel 5 for learning. In transit, we may take the bus 49 for commute, the C26 for leisure, and the 19 for shopping. Each channel serves a specific purpose, (ex news or movie) and some channels may have different purpose at a different time. (ie. the 22 bus may get commuters in the morning, and errand goers in the afternoon.) To look for the shows at what time, we consult the schedules, which are in paper and online.

Channel 3 CBC is free. Could the 5/6 buses also be a free downtown shuttle?

The more channels you have, the more you pay, and if you don’t like the service, you can switch to another company. Or, you can switch to the reliable and free radio (bike) , or access the internet (car).

Conclusion: There are things that transportation planners can learn from basic TV procedures.

The Mixed Message of Visionaries – Who comes first?

Does Jay Walking Belong in the 21st Century?

Supposedly, Vision Vancouver is a pedestrian and bike friendly party. After investing “in improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, including separated bike lanes on the Burrard Bridge, Hornby Street and Dunsmuir”, they have also set out ambitious goals to “Continue to invest in making Vancouver’s streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians”.

So I must ask, does the “People are Fragile” Campaign stay within lines of their “Pedestrians First” Policy?

The “People are Fragile” Campaign focuses on

1. Pedestrians jaywalking.
2. Cyclists running stop signs.
3. Motorists failing to yield to pedestrians in both marked and unmarked intersections.

Conclusion: Pedestrians and cyclists still are behind motorists; they are still at the back of the line.

I believe that this campaign may have the opposite effect that the visionares were looking for. You have scared at least 100 people into not taking that bike or walking trip to the coffee shop, you have scared parents into not letting their kids walk to school. And because of fewer pedestrains, the effect of “Safety in Numbers” has been decreased, therefore increasing the pedestrian fatalities.

A much better form of the same campaign is the “Don’t Be a Jerk” Campaign in New York.

Even more disappointing is the campaign by the VPD:

The website is titled: What Can You Do to Keep Pedestrians Out of Harm’s Way?

This comes directly after the VPD’s opinion on the 30km/h zone on Hastings:

However, the VPD does not support this report’s recommendation for a 30km/h speed zone along Hastings St. Collision data suggest that the majority of pedestrian fatalities are a result of pedestrians entering the roadway when unsafe and, to a lesser extent, inattentive drivers.
…

Furthermore, the posting of additional
traffic restrictions in this area of the city will result in a significant increase in traffic complaints and citizens’ requests for enforcement. Unfortunately, strategic priorities and staffing levels significantly reduce our capacity to conduct effect enforcement in this area. The VPD would be supportive of engineering alternatives that don’t require increased police enforcement to reduce pedestrian/traffic collisions in this area.

In simple words: Pedestrians, yield to motorists and get out of the way, or risk being hit.

This begs the question: Who Comes First?

Tolling the Sea to Sky

The Beautiful Sea to Sky Highway

Why it needs to be done

As the result of 6 years construction and delays, improvements to the Sea to Sky brought 120 kilometres of improved road, 260 000 tonnes of new pristine concrete, highly reflective pavement markers, 80 kilometres of new passing lanes, median and shoulder barriers, improved sightlines resulting in more constant speeds & shorter travel times, and don’t take for granted the new centre and shoulder rubble strips. It’s all in the picture above. 

Cost to Taxpayers: >$800 million Capital Cost, with $790 million in maintenance costs over 25 years.

Cost to Users: $0

First, lets review the math: 790 million over 25 years is equal to about $86 600 per day, for the next 25 years, and with about 15000 vehicles per day on the section from Horseshoe Bay to Squamish, it works out to a $5.77 toll on the road one way from Horseshoe Bay to Squamish. This is a conservative estimate, as it doesn’t take into account that car volumes on the Squamish-Whistler portion is significantly lower. The round trip would double the cost to $11.54.

A similar number can be calculated in a different way: The distance Horseshoe Bay-Whistler along the Sea to Sky is about 100 km (62.5 mi), and with cars imposing 6.5 cents per mile in road service costs, it means that a car costs the road $4.06 one way, or a $8.12 round trip.

This is unfair, and just doesn’t make sense. Why are the people in Prince George, Kelowna, and the millions in Metro Vancouver subsidizing the few people who actually use it?

The Solution:

Implement a toll booth between Lions Bay and Furry Creek of $5. This will only apply to Northbound travelers; southbound travelers don’t need to pay a toll. With a $5 toll, the government can recoup at least 1/2 of the maintenance cost.

This toll is aimed at skiers and vacationers, who drive the 200 km on the Sea to Sky without paying a penny. $5 can’t be much, compared to the $70 they are spending sking, and 20-30 litres ($27-$40) of gas.

How it will work:

Like the historic toll booths on Hwy 5, and the current ones on the Golden Ears Bridge, Northbound drivers can choose between paying at the booth, or online/by mail. Southbound travelers can just travel through like normal.

An ideal location would be between Lions Bay and Furry Creek. Though this section of the Sea to Sky is full of cliffs, there are portions (specifically where the viewpoints are) that are at no risk to a landslide.

Since this toll is not targeted at residents in the communities along the Sea to Sky, the residents and businesses in those communities will receive one vehicle per household and business that can travel through the toll booth at no charge. ie. the businesses and residents of Furry Creek, Britannia Beach, etc. get one vehicle per property that can travel through the toll free of charge. Note: this can be any BC license plate that can be exempted, whether in Vancouver, or a neighbors.

A diagram of the Toll Booths (Purple)

At the location of the toll booth, there should be one through lane in each direction, with 4 toll booth lanes. Those Northbound travelers who elect to pay by mail/online, or are exempted from the fee, can go through without pausing like usual (similar to the Golden Ears Bridge).

Results & Impact:

This toll will generate approximately $37500 daily, or $13.7 million annually. Buses of course, are exempted from this toll, and the money can be used to pay for transportation projects in the Metro Vancouver Region. (Possibly, it can fund a transit service to Squamish! (Page 14, 4th paragraph))

BC parks like Porteau Cove, and Stawamus Chief, may be most severely impacted by the toll. But the $$ that is lost by those popular parks can be offset by the toll $$. The Whistler-Blackcomb Resort, and tourism in Whistler should not be severely affected, considering the amount they are already spending for a day on the slopes. Another region that the toll may impact are the family visits. But review the math above, and its not likely that $5 is going to change your trip.

If fun goers really want to save, and still have fun, they can consider taking Greyhound ($44 return), or buying the Ride and Ski Packages ($98 for return and pass).

Like all ‘tax hikes’, this one won’t come without criticism. Crtics might say that this adds another cost to already cashed strapped parents trying to keep their head above the water. What do you think? Do the people who drive up the Sea to Sky deserve 200 kilometers of free road at the expense of everyone else in BC?