Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[worldwide]

but if these people really wanted to take transit why would they move to car heaven in the first place?

i agree we need better transit in the valley, and i take transit all the time out there both on translink services and valley max busses. i know what its like, but we need to build transit in the city first and foremost. anything more than commuter rail at this point is not in the metro areas best interest.

[mooks28]

Originally Posted by worldwide

but if these people really wanted to take transit why would they move to car heaven in the first place?

i agree we need better transit in the valley, and i take transit all the time out there both on translink services and valley max busses. i know what its like, but we need to build transit in the city first and foremost. anything more than commuter rail at this point is not in the metro areas best interest.

They moved there because you can't raise 2 kids in a 450 square foot apartment, which is all they could afford in Vancouver.

You're not going to get any transit for anyone if you don't have political will -- and you'll never get political will if all the money goes only to one area, the City of Vancouver.

[jlousa]

Originally Posted by mooks28

They moved there because you can't raise 2 kids in a 450 square foot apartment, which is all they could afford in Vancouver.

You're not going to get any transit for anyone if you don't have political will -- and you'll never get political will if all the money goes only to one area, the City of Vancouver.

Acutally there was a recent study that with each less car you could afford an extra 200,000 on your mortgage. So just by going from a 2car to a 1 car family you can very easily move from you langley townhouse to the same size townhouse in east vancouver.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by worldwide

but if these people really wanted to take transit why would they move to car heaven in the first place?

i agree we need better transit in the valley, and i take transit all the time out there both on translink services and valley max busses. i know what its like, but we need to build transit in the city first and foremost. anything more than commuter rail at this point is not in the metro areas best interest.

They don't all have to commute to Vancouver - in fact, many people in langley commute to their own area in the South of Fraser (SOF) and Richmond. There is not enough transit from SOF to Richmond and not enough transit within SOF.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by worldwide

but if these people really wanted to take transit why would they move to car heaven in the first place?

i agree we need better transit in the valley, and i take transit all the time out there both on translink services and valley max busses. i know what its like, but we need to build transit in the city first and foremost. anything more than commuter rail at this point is not in the metro areas best interest.

I think we need to look at surrey as being its own city with its own needs and become the downtown of the SOF

sort of like Seattle and Tacoma or Seattle and Bellevue

Vancouver is well served for what it is - surrey and areas outside of Vancouver are poorly served

[deasine]

Todays Budget Annoucement:

B.C. commits $370 million in new money to transit
Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
VICTORIA - The B.C. government made a small downpayment Tuesday on its $14 billion transit plan - committing to spend $370 million in new money over the next three years on buses and rapid transit.

On Jan. 14, Premier Gordon Campbell announced an ambitious plan to double transit ridership in B.C. over the next 12 years at a total cost of $14 billion.
In Tuesday's provincial budget, the province committed $370 million in new money between now and 2010 to begin work on some of those programs.

The money includes $219 million in new capital funding: $33 million to expand the province's bus fleets, $44 million for new rapid bus routes in Kelowna, Victoria and Metro Vancouver and $142 million to begin work on new rapid transit lines, in particular the Evergreen Line to the Tri-Cities.

It also includes $151 million in new operating funds to keep those services running and for TransLink to buy more buses.

"Our provincial transit plan, a $14 billion plan to 2020, begins and is funded in this budget," said Finance Minister Carole Taylor.

The $14 billion plan announced by Campbell in January included $2.9 billion in previously announced projects, including $2 billion for the Canada Line, which is already under construction.
Of the $11.1 billion that remains, the B.C. government has pledged to pick up about $4.75 billion, hoping the rest comes from other levels of government including Ottawa, TransLink and municipalities.

The $370 million announced Tuesday represents less than eight per cent of that total.
It is also dwarfed by the nearly $1.9 billion the province is planning to spend over the next three years on new roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.
The Gateway Program alone, which includes plans to twin the Port Mann bridge, is scheduled to receive $438 million in funding over the next three years.
Taylor said the share of transportation funding that goes to transit versus roads will rise in coming years.

"That number will grow as the plans get developed, as consultations with municipalities get concluded and we can do actual construction," she said.

Taylor also said that the Gateway Program will help promote the province's transit plans - by allowing bus service across the Port Mann - as well as reducing idling by cars stuck in traffic.
"If you get traffic moving, that would help in terms of the usage of fuel and the carbon emissions," said Taylor.

The transit plan announced by the government in January included plans to build a 12-kilometre rapid transit line from Vancouver Community College to the University of B.C. and to extend the Expo SkyTrain Line six kilometres to Guildford - both by 2020.

Most of the money for rapid transit over the next three years, however, will go to help build the Evergreen Line between Lougheed Town Centre and Coquitlam Centre, a project slated to be completed by 2014.

As for new rapid bus routes, the highest priorities at the moment are routes in Kelowna and Victoria, as well as a bus linking White Rock to Richmond in time for the Canada Line's opening in late 2009.

At the moment, about 12 per cent of weekday trips in Metro Vancouver are on transit. Campbell said in January that the new plan is designed to increase that to 17 per cent by 2020 and 22 per cent by 2030.

Increased transit use is part of the government's climate change goal, which calls for greenhouse gas emissions to go down 33 per cent from current levels by 2020.
[email protected]

[AKA-007]

Edit: moved post to here

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Acutally there was a recent study that with each less car you could afford an extra 200,000 on your mortgage. So just by going from a 2car to a 1 car family you can very easily move from you langley townhouse to the same size townhouse in east vancouver.

There was another recent study done by the obvious group that suggested most people don't buy 2 cars just for fun, but rather because they need them. So thats akin to saying that if you "just" cut off one of your arms, you would save 50% on all future glove purchases.

[jlousa]

Actually that same study goes into that quite in depth, the reason most families need that second car is because of living in the suburbs (needing a car to run errands/get to work), if they lived in the city most families would manage just fine with the one car. Of course there will be exceptions, but I felt the report made a great argument.

[mr.x]

$370-million and counting....keep it coming Campbell!

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Actually that same study goes into that quite in depth, the reason most families need that second car is because of living in the suburbs (needing a car to run errands/get to work), if they lived in the city most families would manage just fine with the one car. Of course there will be exceptions, but I felt the report made a great argument.

It would still depend where both parents worked no matter where they lived. If they work in 2 different areas and start at different times, 2 cars is essential. I think most people are smart enough to lose a car if they can get by with only one.

[zivan56]

^^ Exactly...having one broken into frequently is more than enough. Unless you have a car collection, you would probably rather pay less for insurance, gas, and repairs.

[worldwide]

Originally Posted by EastVanMark

It would still depend where both parents worked no matter where they lived. If they work in 2 different areas and start at different times, 2 cars is essential. I think most people are smart enough to lose a car if they can get by with only one.

assuming they both need the car to get there which im highly skeptical of.

its more of a want than a need

[officedweller]

It's usually about time availability.
One could take the bus, but that would mean the other has to do most of the "on the way to/from work" errands like picking up the kids (from daycare), drycleaning, groceries, take-out.

[SpongeG]

people need to change thier lifestyles is what it boils down to and thats not going to happen too soon

[quobobo]

To be fair, it seems to me that our current policies really aren't encouraging families to live or work in the city. Tons of restrictions on development (largely supported by nearly every community group in the name of "maintaining neighbourhood character") - you better believe those inflate the cost of living in Vancouver. Likewise, our hugely disproportional taxes on business definitely aren't encouraging businesses (and therefore jobs) to stay in a central location which would be better for transit.

[deasine]

I always wanted something like a weekend drivers license to encourage people to only drive the car on the weekends and ride transit to work during weekdays (the license plate must be in a different colour/design). If it was relatively cheaper, I think many would do this, at least I would (if I was a driver). But enforcing it is a different matter.

[SpongeG]

maybe if coop programs were more advertised or widespread

I just found out Burnaby has a COOP program - there is a car sitting across the street at the Lougheed Town Centre Station

Vancouver has ZIP as well as the coop

maybe if Surrey and more suburbs got a program like it going people could get rid of their cars

people would discover they can have the benefits of car usage without the money spent on car ownership

[deasine]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

maybe if coop programs were more advertised or widespread

I just found out Burnaby has a COOP program - there is a car sitting across the street at the Lougheed Town Centre Station

Vancouver has ZIP as well as the coop

maybe if Surrey and more suburbs got a program like it going people could get rid of their cars

people would discover they can have the benefits of car usage without the money spent on car ownership

Yeah not many people know about ZIP car - which I find amazing and smart. But ZIP car can only work in an urban environment like downtown/yaletown, where everything is very close around (i.e. supermarket's just downstairs), people living near they work, and would only leave to other parts of the region during weekends to visit.

[officedweller]

DPB City staff report for the GM Place office tower:

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/dpboard/2008/PDF/800%20Griffiths%20Way%20-%20DE411483.pdf

Staff want to require the developer to extend Stadium Station to the south side of Expo Blvd - this will happen anyways with the platform extensions: