Translink

I've been trying to use transit more.  I always did use it to go downtown, but now I am trying even harder to avoid using the car.

I have a Compass card.  It seems to work just fine.  It's reasonably convenient, although I still have to figure out where to have it to ensure it's available when I need it.

But one thing still bugs me.  The 90 minute time limit on trips.

The thing is, I've got a lot of trips between North Van and Delta.  A lot of them involve the 301, Canada Line, and 240.  Going north doesn't seem to be a problem.  But an awful lot of the time, going south, I have to pay a second fare by the time I get off the Canada Line and get onto the 301.  (It's still cheaper than taking the car, but it's annoying all the same.)

The *really* galling thing is, it's really close to that 90 minute time limit when I get off the Canada Line.  And, if the 301 was there, I'd probably make it.  But very often the 301 *isn't* there at the stop.  And, by the time it finally shows up, you guessed it!  Second fare time!  (A couple of days ago I raced to the 301 stop, only to see the back end of the previous 301 disappearing around the corner as it left.  And, of course, it was quite a while before the next 301 showed up, and ...)

(To make things even worse, yesterday it wasn't even the fact that the bus was late that caused the second charge.  The bus *did* pull in, with a minute or so to spare.  If we had been allowed to board at that point, it would have been covered under the original charge.  But no!  We had to change drivers!  And the new driver had to check the bus over, and make sure there were no dead bodies [I suppose] on board before he would let us on!  By which time, of course, the 90 minutes had expired, and, second fare ...)