$14 Billion For Transit - Page 6

mr.x · #**101** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:21 AM**

i guess this pretty much kills any of our opposition to Gateway....

deasine · #**102** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by clooless

Awesome! Well, if it's true. I hope the poor tunnel workers want to stick around with all the shit the unions put them through. Are they still talking about tunneling down Broadway? I would have almost guaranteed that 10th Avenue would be the preferred route.

I think they would kill for any open job.

mr.x · #**103** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:22 AM**

If only the province had this kind of attitude for the Canada Line, instead of contracting it out.

officedweller · #**104** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:28 AM**

From my perspective I hope they use Sweet Leilani for the Evergreen Line first and simultaneously start the M-Line extension (I seriously hope they do not rename this line the UBC Line) as cut and cover under 10th Ave, then swing back and use Sweet Leilani for the commercial/retail sensitive part of the M-Line - on 10th Ave. near the West 10th village. A TBM staging area / starting point could be built near the University Golf Course to head eastwards to meet the cut and cover, then head back or be disassembled and the second tunnel bored.

*****

WRT the streetcar, that has always been a City initiative because it duplicates Translink routes. It's really a City pet project. As I've mentioned before, my view is that it would operate as a feeder line to the numerous rapid transit stations along the streetcar route (Waterfront, Yaletown-Roundhouse, Main Street, Olympic Village). The only unique destinations along the streetcar line would be Granville Island, Vanier Park and Stanley Park. That's a tough sell when weighed against areas with no rapid transit.

mr.x · #**105** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:33 AM**

Apparently, Derek Corrigan wasn't invited to the announcement

and on CKNW, he's saying it's too expensive - that we cannot afford it.

squeezied · #**106** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:54 AM**

^^ haha thats funny

bils · #**107** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Apparently, Derek Corrigan wasn't invited to the announcement

and on CKNW, he's saying it's too expensive - that we cannot afford it.

that's precisely why he wasn't invited

giallo · #**108** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:54 AM**

This news is a perfect political move. Who won't vote for the liberals after hearing this? I can't imagine anyone not wanting to see these projects go through.
Saying that, I'm really proud of our province and government for putting this kind of infrastructure on the front burner. It's a huge commitment, but one that most cities could only dream of.

excel · #**109** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 1:57 AM**

Lots of great news. Thanks for all the posts.

Jared · #**110** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 2:19 AM**

Wow...just wow. I totally did not see this one coming at all, I am completely blown away.

The plan certainly has a few gaps, notable no WCE expansion, and some of the BRT lines should be connected together (i.e. the one that crosses Golden Ears should go to Langley Town Center).

I am VERY happy the line is going all the way to UBC, not just to Granville or whatever. But I'm glad I'll be done my degree by 2011 and wont be lining up for the B-Line in 2019...

The Evergreen Line will hopefully be SkyTrain. The current Operations Centre @ Edmonds cannot handle so many extra trains (UBC Line, Expo Expansion), the Coquitlam yard seems like a sensible place do build another one (lord knows the West Side NIMBYS would not tolerate one...).

I am someone surprised they are not going under 10th avenue...I thought it was preffered as Broadway has all sorts of utilities and sewers under it. It also seems like a Waste to tunnel bore the whole thing, I guess cut-and-cover is just too much of a hot potato after the Cambie fiasco....

I'm temped to send a snarky email to the "Underground Bus Loop" person at UBC who laughed at my suggestion that the UBC Line might be announced before 2015.

Jared · #**111** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 2:23 AM**

oh, and good news about the smartcards, hopefully they'll switch to a pay-by-distance rather than a zone system, so people living near the zone boundaries don't keep getting screwed over.

deasine · #**112** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 2:32 AM**

Even though I am a proud provincial liberal supporter, I have to say I see the thin line of thread in this. It is a perfect political setup. Who will we look towards in the polls? I'm sure many of us have answered this already in this topic. But then here NDP doesn't respond really well... all I heard so far was for that Transportation critic who didn't really reject the plan... just said I wanted to see fares go down -_- I was expecting someone saying it's only a package of all the goods planned for the region together...

mr.x · #**113** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 2:32 AM**

Quote:

I'm temped to send a snarky email to the "Underground Bus Loop" person at UBC who laughed at my suggestion that the UBC Line might be announced before 2015.

lol, i can just imagine it right now....

The designer is sitting on his couch, working on the design of the underground bus loop with the blueprints in front of him on his coffee table. He turns on the tv, and the News Hour comes on with "$14 billion transit plan: UBC Line, etc."

what i've always imagined is a multi-level underground transit centre at UBC. You have the ground level entrance, followed by the bus loop level as well as the SkyTrain station concourse. You have 12 fare gates, and beyond that are 6 escalators leading to the train platform.

mr.x · #**114** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 2:33 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by deasine

Even though I am a proud provincial liberal supporter, I have to say I see the thin line of thread in this. It is a perfect political setup. Who will we look towards in the polls? I'm sure many of us have answered this already in this topic. But then here NDP doesn't respond really well... all I heard so far was for that Transportation critic who didn't really reject the plan... just said I wanted to see fares go down -_- I was expecting someone saying it's only a package of all the goods planned for the region together...

The existing zone fares wouldn't matter with the introduction of smart card and a distance-traveled fare payment system.

I heard the station platforms on the Expo would be extended by 2010!

I'm amazed that the News Hour at 6 spent 26 minutes of their 42 minute program on this story.

deasine · #**115** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 2:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.x2

The existing zone fares wouldn't matter with the introduction of smart card and a distance-traveled fare payment system.

I heard the station platforms on the Expo would be extended by 2010!

I'm amazed that the News Hour at 6 spent 26 minutes of their 42 minute program on this story.

Go tell that to the NDP transit critic...

oooo i like expansion. Yeah I had a cousin from hk come here for the entire summer (her parents forced her) and when we past under a skytrain guideway in car... I said that's our SkyTrain... she was like... uhhh is that it? why is it so short? and I'm sure u know HOW LONG the MTR trains are... yet they are still packed....

I'm amazed how they spent so long on the story too... I was expected for CTV to do the same 'cuz they usually make a big deal out of not-so-big things... like having a Canucks game with like three reporters down at GM Place... ahem.

alta-bc · #**116** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 3:02 AM**

Everybody is talking that the Evergreen Line will now be Skytrain. Who said that? For the last couple years all the proposals looked to be LRT. Is the route changing too?

Interesting that they are extending the Expo line platforms, makes me think even more what a shortsighted mistake the 40m platforms on the Canada Line will be.

Great news though, my jaw dropped when I heard the announcements today. Looks like our bus system will get a major overhaul too.

Stingray2004 · #**117** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 3:11 AM**

Well, I was only expecting the Evergreen Line announcement this month.

The proposed new rapid transit lines are still conceptual... but now have a firm 40% provincial funding commitment.

It's important to note, that both of the previous federal administrations have come on board financially on any provincial initiative over the past five years.

During the next 12-year period, this strategic plan may also be viewed as a bit static... new initiatives may also be put in place during that time frame... for example, new WCE routes, streetcar routes, etc.....that's what history has shown!

Jared · #**118** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 3:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by alta-bc

Everybody is talking that the Evergreen Line will now be Skytrain. Who said that? For the last couple years all the proposals looked to be LRT. Is the route changing too?

1) the route is the northern one, for which skytrain is a posibility

2) the price has jumped up significantly, skytain is more expensive than a glorified streetcar

3) provides an opportunity for a new skytrain maintanance center at coquitlam. the current one cannt handle all the extra trains from expansions and capacity upgrades

mr.x · #**119** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 3:11 AM**

Quote:

Interesting that they are extending the Expo line platforms, makes me think even more what a shortsighted mistake the 40m platforms on the Canada Line will be.

I told you so. -_-

AKA-007 · #**120** Posted **Jan 15, 2008, 3:14 AM**

What that NDP transit critic failed to mention is that the overall population density in HK is far greater than metro vancouver. I guess if we had a population of 7 million we might have a system comparable to the MTR.

On another note, it would be nice if the North Shore got some rapid bus improvements. So far it looks like it's probably going to get some much needed new busses. The extra seabus was probably added into the $14b to make that number just that much larger. The new seabus could increase frequency, but not travel times.