Expo Line - Surrey Langley Extension: Planning & Pre-Construction

[Klazu]

I am a big fan of LRT. Before moving here, I lived five years in Berlin and always preferred trams over subway, whenever practical. In Berlin they have these new long Flexity trams and I really liked them. Speed wise trams were actually not that much slower than subway, as in Berlin there are many sections with greenways dedicated for the tram traffic. Of course intersections with car traffic are slower.

Traveling on ground level, trams are so much more convenient to board than descending/ascending stairs or escalators to a subway or Skytrain station. They also normally have at least double the stations vs. subway and provide views vs. tunnel-running subway.

So there are definitely pros and cons.

However, considering how great Vancouver's Skytrain system is, I would love to see it expanding. For Broadway corridor I think there is no other option than heavy transit like Skytrain. I would also love to see Skytrain running down the Fraser Highway and maybe King George Bulevard. But everywhere else I would love to see trams:

- Few lines in and around Surrey and Richmond, connecting with Skytrain lines.
- A line or two between North and West Vancouver, connecting with Seabus.
- Lines along Marine Dr, Main St, Fraser St, Knight St, Arbutus, 1st Ave, 41st Ave and East Hastings, connecting with Skytrain.
- Circle line in Downtown, line along Robson St and a line around False Creek to Granville Island (could be part of the Arbutus line).

I would think one could implement such a tram network with 1-2 billion dollars, which is not that expensive considering how great rail network Metro Vancouver would then have. Such a network would finally put some real competition between public transit and personal car, whereas today driving is way too tempting for way too many.

So I think we need both systems in Metro Vancouver!