Quote:
Originally Posted by Whalleyboy
I don't I'm still at a toss up newton/south surrey route with skytrain and LRT on fraser. I really want to see new population/work growth numbers of south surrey/newton verus langley city/fleetwood. Cause while the long hall would be nice to have skytrain is it really worth it when it could serve more the other way? Plus white rock is more of a whole lower mainland destination they langley city cente is. So it would draw more people coming in both way all the time.
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The thing to consider though is how many people in South Surrey commute to Surrey. I still think that most people there either work locally (mostly in healthcare it seems) or commute right into Vancouver. Is it worth it to build a more expensive line to White Rock when it would be faster to actually take the bus on the bus lanes on the highway to the Canada Line rather than a single seat ride on Skytrain? That's why I think LRT to South Surrey is more appropriate, because it would be better scaled (price for capacity) for the number of people who would use it to get into Surrey.
Lets compare. It's about equaly length to build Skytrain from King George Station to either 64 ave (King George) or 168 st (on Fraser). Both would have large catchment areas around the stations and many feeder bus routes into the station. Expanding beyond that it gets quite different. On Fraser, once you pass Highway 15 you hit Cloverdale, Clayton, Langley and Langley city, and you bring transit closer to those in Aldergrove and even Abbotsford. On King George, you build a long way and the only community you get closer to is South Surrey. It doesn't get closer to anyone else. On top of that, destinations are split in SS; many will opt for bus travel to the Canada Line. While Skytrain to Langley is a captive audience: the one line will take them everywhere they want to go, and be the fastest possible way (as fast as driving). There are also expansion possibilities from Langley, whereas South Surrey is a dead end.
Going to Langley would hit a slightly larger population directly, have a larger nearby population, and have a captive audience. If you could only build one, Langley would be a much better return on investment.
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