Quote:
Originally Posted by BCPhil
If there is any change the WCE needs, it's more trains. That thing is packed every day leaving Waterfront. I haven't really been on the early trains, but the 5, 5:30 and 6:20 trains usually leave with every seat taken.
Not only is the WCE faster for a lot of downtown to suburb trips (especially if you are going to Port Coquitlam and beyond), but the level of comfort is unmatched on the rest of Translink. It's a premium service that attracts premium riders: people who have more than enough money to drive, and wouldn't be caught dead on Skytrain.
Walnut Grove does have a giant park and ride, with Express bus service direct to Lougheed station on HOV lanes with dedicated, direct exits. Pretty sweet.
It's funny how when we talk about Skytrain we are obsessed with TOD, but why not pair TOD and commuter/intercity rail as a conversation?
The long term promise of the Evergreen line might have encouraged planners in the Tri Cities to zone for high density, but without the WCE people would not have been as willing to buy into it.
People usually aren't interested sacrificing years of their lives on the hopes that promises will be fulfilled and they will have reliable transit. The WCE was an attractive service that allowed for TOD style development around WCE stations and planned Evergreen line stations for decades.
As great as the upgrades to the Sea to Sky are, it is still an unreliable road that can't handle much more traffic volume if there were a population boom in Squamish.
Squamish has a lot of developable land and is well situated to be a vibrant exurb/suburb of the lower Mainland. There is a decent local economy, and the proximity to winter sporting venues could make it an attractive location for University satellite campuses.
But you can't really start dropping thousands more people there without infrastructure. Further upgrading the highway could cost billions. Whereas decent speed intercity/commuter rail could be quite affordable.
If the service was extended to Whistler, then trains travelling regularly in both directions would serve commuters travelling to the city, Whistler workers living in Squamish, and tourists looking for an easy way to visit Sea to Sky.
In my opinion, waiting for there to be a problem before fixing it is the same as planning on people making poor decisions.
If we want more places for people to live in the region (like Squamish) then we have do things to encourage it, not hope people make a bad personal decision then reward their mistakes decades later with the infrastructure they always needed.
If we don't want to encourage and help people to live in places like Squamish, then the alternative is ever skyrocketing real estate prices or the consumption of more ALR lands.
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Except there's studies on both Commuter Rail out to the Fraser Valley and Squamish, showing it to be an unprofitable service.
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AphyHYpEjmp-gppfX1FXQe7_SB5OOQ
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AphyHYpEjmp-gppgBou5Rp3HwtQQfw
That doesn't make it worthless, but Translink has only so much cash to burn, and it likes to make money, and there's the constant nagging from the municipality about their own preferred transit projects.
It's one of those things that gets stuck on the 'eh, maybe later' backburner as a result. Note that even very high ROI and cheap projects like the BMG are on the backburner.
I think the line to Whistler would actually be the first one to be built though, unprofitable or not, there's not much room to expand the Upper Levels at its narrowest point in North Van without destroying housing. That, and the connections across the Inlet, not the Sea-to-Sky, is the big limiting factor to Squamish's growth. Seabus needs to be turned into some sort of 3rd crossing.
So it becomes a necessity to divert people off the Freeway, regardless of profitability.
Abbotsford can do what Langley is trying with Carvloth once the HOV is extended there. Not possible under the NDP, but Gateway left provisions for its eventual extension.
https://sfb.nathanpachal.com/2013/11/the-carvolth-neighbourhood-plan.html
TBH, not sure how well it's actually being followed, the area is developed as mid-density auto-oriented so far. It is a long-term plan, though.
https://cb8de5fc-a-90652bf5-s-sites.goog...P69-aCmx_x5k18AjMAG7VImza&attredirects=1
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