Yellow Fever
April 2nd, 2011, 06:09 AM
Rapid transit to UBC: TransLink drives on with consultation plan
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun April 1, 2011
METRO VANCOUVER — TransLink is forging ahead with consultation plans for a future rapid transit line to the University of B.C. even though it doesn’t have the money to pay for the long-awaited Evergreen Line.
The transportation authority this week released seven potential designs for expanded transit to the university, using three different technologies: bus rapid transit, light rail transit and rail rapid transit. The designs, all of which would run along the busy Broadway corridor, could include a combination, include proposed stops, travel times, costs and projected riderships.
The move is aimed at reducing passenger congestion along the 13.4-kilometre route, where UBC students argue 4,000 students are passed up every day by full 99 B-Line buses. In most cases, the proposed rapid transit lines would run at street level and in the middle of the road.
“We can’t escape the fact that one million more people are expected to be living here in the next 20 to 30 years,” said TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie. “We have to do something to be ready for them.”
The consultation is part of TransLink technical reports for both a future UBC rapid transit line and extending the SkyTrain in Surrey to the Guildford area, as part of Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy.
Hardie said once the planning is done, the project will be able to move ahead as soon as the money becomes available.
“It’s also going to be help us in the process to get an idea of how much more it’s going to take to build out the transportation options,” he said, noting that the proposed designs range from as little as a few hundred thousand to as much as $3 billion. “We really need to sit down and have people consider these options.”
Under the proposed designs for the UBC route, rail rapid transit is the most expensive at $3.2 billion but would have the capacity to carry the most passengers — between 137,000 and 146,000 —in a tunnel from Commercial Drive to UBC in 20 minutes. Adding extra buses along the existing routes to UBC, would be the cheapest to build at $325 million but would take half an hour to cover the route and only attract a daily ridership of 75,000.
By comparison, the Canada Line — the 19.2 km route between Vancouver and the airport in Richmond — cost $2 billion to build, while the 20.3-km Millennium Line cost $1.2 billion.
The UBC planning study comes as TransLink considers options to come up with its $400-million share of the $1.4-billion Evergreen Line linking Burnaby, Coquitlam and Port Moody. The regional mayors’ council on transportation, which has rejected any plans to increase property taxes for transit, is working with the province to consider everything from road tolls to gas taxes, congestion charges and vehicle levies to pay for not only the Evergreen Line but future transit projects.
North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton, chairman of the mayors’ council, said it’s important that TransLink continue with the planning for future projects, noting that while the Evergreen Line is first in the queue, the region has other projects waiting in the wings such as the UBC line and the extension in Surrey. At the moment, he added, TransLink is able to sustain its existing levels of service, but it could face a serious crunch if gas prices continue to rise and more people turn to transit.
“Obviously there’s going to be added pressure,” Walton said. “There is some urgency in our trying to find out what these long-term options are.”
The UBC rapid transit expansion has long been on the regional wishlist. In 1999, a proposals for light rapid transit from Commercial to UBC, was seen as having highest capital cost and annual operating cost, while rapid bus had the lowest capital cost and was the cheapest way to attract new transit riders. One of the other proposals also called for SkyTrain as far as Arbutus, which would have a capital and operating cost comparable to rapid bus and would attract the highest number of new riders because the route would combine buses.
TransLink is looking for feedback on the proposed UBC transit line’s alignment, how the road space should be shared and where potential stations should be.
Participants can voice their opinions by attending a workshop, completing an online questionnaire, by attending an April 4 webinar.
The consultation process is part of phase two of TransLink’s University of B.C. Line rapid transit study.
ksinoski@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Rapid+transit+TransLink+drives+with+consultation+plan/4532493/story.html#ixzz1IKr7GtiY
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun April 1, 2011
METRO VANCOUVER — TransLink is forging ahead with consultation plans for a future rapid transit line to the University of B.C. even though it doesn’t have the money to pay for the long-awaited Evergreen Line.
The transportation authority this week released seven potential designs for expanded transit to the university, using three different technologies: bus rapid transit, light rail transit and rail rapid transit. The designs, all of which would run along the busy Broadway corridor, could include a combination, include proposed stops, travel times, costs and projected riderships.
The move is aimed at reducing passenger congestion along the 13.4-kilometre route, where UBC students argue 4,000 students are passed up every day by full 99 B-Line buses. In most cases, the proposed rapid transit lines would run at street level and in the middle of the road.
“We can’t escape the fact that one million more people are expected to be living here in the next 20 to 30 years,” said TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie. “We have to do something to be ready for them.”
The consultation is part of TransLink technical reports for both a future UBC rapid transit line and extending the SkyTrain in Surrey to the Guildford area, as part of Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy.
Hardie said once the planning is done, the project will be able to move ahead as soon as the money becomes available.
“It’s also going to be help us in the process to get an idea of how much more it’s going to take to build out the transportation options,” he said, noting that the proposed designs range from as little as a few hundred thousand to as much as $3 billion. “We really need to sit down and have people consider these options.”
Under the proposed designs for the UBC route, rail rapid transit is the most expensive at $3.2 billion but would have the capacity to carry the most passengers — between 137,000 and 146,000 —in a tunnel from Commercial Drive to UBC in 20 minutes. Adding extra buses along the existing routes to UBC, would be the cheapest to build at $325 million but would take half an hour to cover the route and only attract a daily ridership of 75,000.
By comparison, the Canada Line — the 19.2 km route between Vancouver and the airport in Richmond — cost $2 billion to build, while the 20.3-km Millennium Line cost $1.2 billion.
The UBC planning study comes as TransLink considers options to come up with its $400-million share of the $1.4-billion Evergreen Line linking Burnaby, Coquitlam and Port Moody. The regional mayors’ council on transportation, which has rejected any plans to increase property taxes for transit, is working with the province to consider everything from road tolls to gas taxes, congestion charges and vehicle levies to pay for not only the Evergreen Line but future transit projects.
North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton, chairman of the mayors’ council, said it’s important that TransLink continue with the planning for future projects, noting that while the Evergreen Line is first in the queue, the region has other projects waiting in the wings such as the UBC line and the extension in Surrey. At the moment, he added, TransLink is able to sustain its existing levels of service, but it could face a serious crunch if gas prices continue to rise and more people turn to transit.
“Obviously there’s going to be added pressure,” Walton said. “There is some urgency in our trying to find out what these long-term options are.”
The UBC rapid transit expansion has long been on the regional wishlist. In 1999, a proposals for light rapid transit from Commercial to UBC, was seen as having highest capital cost and annual operating cost, while rapid bus had the lowest capital cost and was the cheapest way to attract new transit riders. One of the other proposals also called for SkyTrain as far as Arbutus, which would have a capital and operating cost comparable to rapid bus and would attract the highest number of new riders because the route would combine buses.
TransLink is looking for feedback on the proposed UBC transit line’s alignment, how the road space should be shared and where potential stations should be.
Participants can voice their opinions by attending a workshop, completing an online questionnaire, by attending an April 4 webinar.
The consultation process is part of phase two of TransLink’s University of B.C. Line rapid transit study.
ksinoski@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Rapid+transit+TransLink+drives+with+consultation+plan/4532493/story.html#ixzz1IKr7GtiY