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B.C. Unveils Huge Transit Plan

Things are going fast (at least now it is) for the Canada Line... if only we could get our rapid transit lines going that quickly.
And $2-billion for 19-kilometres... vs. $2-billion for 8-kilometres... ugh...
 
Follow-up on the Evergreen Line:

Prime Minister Harper announces $350 million in more funding for Evergreen Line

Shane Bigham VANCOUVER (NEWS1130)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009 10:42 am

HarperBCfeb2609.jpg

Prime Minister Harper speaking in Burnaby today (News1130)

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The federal government has announced that it will committ another $350 million worth of infrastructure money to the Evergreen Line. Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the SkyTrain extension running from Burnaby to Coquitlam will help create jobs and prepare the country for the economic recovery.

The Canadian government has already put almost $67 million into the Evergreen Line. Construction will begin at the end of 2010 and is expected to be completed in 2014. The province has committed $410 million to the project, with TransLink committing $400 million as well.

About $173 million is still needed and is expected be raised through project partners including a possible public-private partnership deal. The project is expected to create about 8,000 jobs.
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For Immediate Release

2009OTP0039-000247

Feb. 26, 2009
Government of Canada

Office of the Premier

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

NEW TRANSIT LINE TO REDUCE CONGESTION, IMPROVE MOBILITY
AND CREATE JOBS UNDER CANADA'S ECONOMIC ACTION PLAN

VANCOUVER – Metro Vancouver residents will benefit from the construction of the new Evergreen Transit Line, thanks to a major new job-creating investment from the Government of Canada’s Building Canada Fund, announced Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Gordon Campbell today.

“The Evergreen Line demonstrates how our government’s Economic Action Plan is working,” said Prime Minister Harper. “In the short term, we are creating thousands of direct jobs in the Metro Vancouver economy. At the same time we are working together to ensure that local families and businesses have access to an expanded, efficient and environmentally sustainable transit system that will help Vancouver attract and keep the jobs of the future.”

“The Evergreen Line will mean more than 8,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction as well as an expanded public transit system, new economic opportunities and improved quality of life in Metro Vancouver,” said Premier Campbell. “I want to thank the federal government for making this timely investment and partnering with us to create jobs and keep British Columbians working.”

The Evergreen Line Project involves the construction of a new 11-kilometre rapid transit line running from the Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby to the Coquitlam Town Centre, via Port Moody. The system will use the same technology as the SkyTrain and be fully integrated into the existing system, linking directly to the Millennium Line, with connections to the Expo Line, the new Canada Line, the West Coast Express, and regional bus networks.

The Government of Canada has already provided $66.7 million for the Evergreen Line Project under the Public Transit Capital Trust announced in Budget 2008. The additional $350 million under the Building Canada Fund will flow after final project details are defined by the Province, a contribution agreement is executed, construction has begun and costs are incurred. The total construction cost of the Evergreen Line Project is expected to be $1.4 billion. The Province has committed $410 million to the project, and the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (TransLink) has committed $400 million. Construction is expected to start in 2010 and be completed in 2014. The remaining $173 million will be funded by project partners, including a possible Public-Private Partnership and potentially through transit-oriented land development.
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http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2009OTP0039-000247.htm

The northwest route was selected last year.
rapidtransitmapjg6.jpg
 
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Not that I am an expert on Vancouver, but isn't that network quite oriented around the suburbs? Wouldn't Burnaby and such tend to be the market for WCE or some kind of commuter rail arrangement? Also, has Vancouver ever considered running something to North Vancouver? It seems so close to downtown. Good for Vancouver though.
 
While downtown Vancouver has more jobs than any other area in the region, the rapid transit system is planned as a regional system - so not everything just funnels into downtown Vancouver. Jobs are more distributed around the region than in other cities.

Under the strategic regional plan, population growth is concentrated in the eastern suburbs both north and south of the Fraser River. There is supposed to be a rapid transit connection between Coquitlam and New Westminster - suburb to suburb. That link will be comprised of the Evergreen Line and the eastern part of the Millennium Line. From New Westminster, you can then connect to Surrey, which, in future, is stated to be the second largest metropolitan core in the region after downtown Vancouver (its central to the region and you don't cross a bridge from the Fraser Valley).

At present Burnaby has 2 SkyTrain lines and no Westcoast Express station. It's probably served the best in terms of rapid transit (although there is no north-south line in Burnaby).

North Vancouver's population doesn't warrant a rapid transit line, as its growth is limited by geography. That said, a third Seabus (15 min crossing time) is currently being built.
 
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Downtown Vancouver is certainly compact, but it is just beyond walking scale. While I'm not an advocate of circular routes, there should be some sort of circular subway that covers the Robson-Denman-Davie-Cambie circuit. Given the density of the neighbourhoods and the mix of uses, this thing should have high ridership potential from day one.

An elevated skytrain would be an eyesore in these parts, BRT isn't effective in downtown environments and neither, frankly, is on-street LRT. So a subway it would have to be.
 
I'm not so sure about the effectiveness of such a tiny loop given all the technical specifications of a subway in those environments.

For a far less amount of $, a system of bike lanes and paths has already been built. On most days of the year it is safe to bike in Vancouver. Bicycling can be considered the niche between walking and local buses, and should be considered as such.

Only trouble is, the high rate of bike thefts deter a lot of would be bikers. I'm sure resolving that problem will cost less than an entire subway.
 
officedweller said:
North Vancouver's population doesn't warrant a rapid transit line, as its growth is limited by geography.
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Or, for that matter, its SkyTrain accessibility is limited by geography, unless you spend oodles on spanning the Fraser or you gamble on a long-way-around connector via PoCo..
 
WRT downtown Vancouver, I think the downtown transportation plan calls for a circular trolley bus route around the downtown peninsula. The West End has more bus access than the Downtown South/Yaletown side - what has been implemented on the Yaletown side has been more community shuttles.
But with the Canada Line station opening in Yaletown, there will be easy access to the CBD. The Canada Line is said to be opening 3 months early.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Canada+Line+could+open+August/1336610/story.html
 
There are plans to eventually cover a good part of downtown with a streetcar/LRT network, for which the first demonstration project will be implemented during the Olympics (already mentioned in the TTC streetcar thread), as an "upgrade" of its current heritage line.

adma said:
Or, for that matter, its SkyTrain accessibility is limited by geography, unless you spend oodles on spanning the Fraser or you gamble on a long-way-around connector via PoCo..
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You mean the Burrard Inlet?
 
officedweller said:
Canada Line to open by Labour Day
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You guys should give yourselves a pat on the back. The utilities relocation began in October 2005 so you'll have built the whole thing in less than 4 years.

In other words, it took Vancouver less time to build a 20 km subway/elevated railroad with a major bridge crossing and a maintenance yard than its taking the TTC to build a 6 km streetcar ROW along St. Clair.
 
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