Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, January 14, 2008
VANCOUVER – The B.C. Liberals laid out an ambitious plan Monday to double the number of transit trips in B.C. over the next 12 years at a cost of $14 billion.
The provincial transit plan outlined by Premier Gordon Campbell adds detail to long-discussed rapid transit line extensions, including a commitment to finish the 11-kilometre Evergreen Line between Lougheed Town Centre and Coquitlam Centre by 2014, a 12-km extension from Vancouver Community College to the University of B.C. by 2020 and a six-km extension of the Expo Line to Guildford in Surrey by 2020.
The heart of the plan to increase the number of transit trips from 200 million a year to 400 million is the purchase of 1,500 new buses and the installation of a “rapid bus system” in Kelowna, Victoria and on seven routes in Metro Vancouver.
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The 2020 Provincial Transit Plan for Metro Vancouver. Click on the links to the right of this story for a full PDF.
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Rapid buses are to run on dedicated lanes and road systems with signal priority for intersections; passengers will board from raised platforms similar to those used for trains and fixed rapid transit systems.
About half of the rapid-bus lines will be in operation by 2011; those connected with the as-yet unbuilt Evergreen Line and the Golden Ears and Port Mann bridges are projected to be complete by 2020.
Rapid bus service is intended to compete with the single-occupancy vehicle on both price and time, Campbell said.
“People will get from Coquitlam to the airport about 25 minutes faster,” he said. “They’ll get from Surrey Centre to UBC about 15 minutes faster.
“We want to give people back their time.”
Though “much maligned,” Campbell said buses are the workhorses of any transit system, adding that B.C. would soon be the only jurisdiction in the world to own a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses. Transportation minister Kevin Falcon said hydrogen buses would begin arriving by this summer.
He said alternative-fuel buses are a key part of the government’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent from current levels by 2020.
Buses are also more nimble and and can be rerouted to better serve commuting patterns that are increasingly suburb to suburb, Campbell said.
“It doesn’t make sense to have heavy urban transit systems in rural communities,” he said, adding that the plan would make B.C. a “global leader” in green transit technology and transit ridership.
About 12 per cent of weekday trips in Metro Vancouver are on transit. Campbell said the plan would raise that share to 17 per cent by 2020 and 22 per cent by 2030.
Falcon deflected questions about complaints from Cambie Street merchants whose businesses were affected by the construction of the Canada Line, saying only, “When you build major projects there are bound to be impacts.”
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan was more willing to admit that Canada Line construction was a disaster for Cambie Street and vowed the city would do a better job planning for the impacts of the UBC extension down Broadway.
“There is no way that is going to be repeated,” Sullivan said.
“I’ve been meeting with merchants on Broadway and urged them to form a [business improvement area] and have a voice in the this project,” said Sullivan, alternating between English and French.
The plan won a resounding endorsement from suburban mayors, many of whom were making unhappy sounds just a few months ago.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts led a rejection by south-of-Fraser mayors of the province’s earlier time frame to improve transit service gradually through 2031.
Watts, 49, had complained she wouldn’t see Vancouver-level transit service in Surrey until she was 72.
“[The province] has shaved 10 years off the time frame and this plan will bring rapid transit to the Guildford corridor and eventually to Langley,” said a happier Watts. “What remains is to establish stable funding for these projects.
“Once we know they are coming, the municipalities can plan their land use and make sure the densities are supportive.”
With only one month until the provincial budget is to be tabled, Campbell was adamant that the province has the financial resources to begin work on the capital projects and that Ottawa is receptive to his government’s plans.
“You don’t get the dollars until you have the plan,” he said. “We have the plan.
“The federal government has stepped up to the plate every time we have asked them on major projects, including the convention centre and the Canada Line,” he said. “They do have significant dollars available.”
The provincial government has pledged to provide 40 per cent of the money, with TransLink, the federal government and municipalities supplying the balance.
NDP transportation critic Maurine Karagianis
said British Columbians should be waiting for the other shoe to drop fiscally, either through a higher transit levy, higher property taxes or a carbon tax.
“There is no means of support, no carbon tax to support this and that makes me very suspicious,” she said, pointing out that British Columbians already pay among the highest transit fares in the country.
Sullivan said completing the plan’s major projects without tax hikes is a priority.
“I think we can do this without raising property taxes,” Sullivan said. “We have a plan, now we will figure out how to pay for it.”
Karagianis viewed the plan as a vindication of NDP policy. The Liberal plan is a near word-for-word lift of the pitches that NDP Leader Carole James has been making in the legislature, she said.
“We called for more buses and they are buying more buses; we wanted more SkyTrain cars, they are adding SkyTrain cars,” Karagianis said. “But the Liberals’ timelines are much too far away.”
“We need to implement some of these things much sooner. Additional SkyTrain cars could be done immediately.”
The $14-billion total figure includes the $2-billion Canada Line between Vancouver and Richmond, already under construction and due to open in 2009. The Evergreen Line is estimated to cost $1.4 billion, while the UBC extension down the Broadway corridor is to cost $2.8 billion. New SkyTrain cars will cost about $1 billion.
About $3.1 billion will be spent on new stations to extend the Expo Line and on lengthening platforms at existing Expo Line stations to accommodate six-car trains.
