Quote:
Originally Posted by logicbomb
Phase 0, and the entire streetcar network wasn't ever really in the cards. Plans were just conjured up by City Hall to justify the expense of purchasing the Arbutus ROW. There's just no political will to fund a network that's been made redundant by cleaner battery powered buses and the new Broadway Skytrain. The ROW is also taking up a rather large footprint on land that could be developed.
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Not true. The Arbutus Greenway was identified 25 years ago as a possible route for transit to Richmond - but Cambie was selected instead. There was then an exercise in 2000 to reserve it for a greenway and future transportation use, and that led to the legal dispute with CP and the subsequent purchase agreement with the city. In 1995 there was no clear indication of whether, or when CP might abandon the use of the line.
The Downtown streetcar was a separate exercise in the mid 1990s to develop a Downtown network, building off the track right of way in False Creek South acquired by the City. The purchase of the 1.5 km False Creek South rail corridor occurred after BC Transit commissioned a study in 1991 for a streetcar system from Granville Island to Science World, and City of Vancouver commissioned a complementary study in 1994.
The idea that the Arbutus Greenway route could be linked to the Downtown route came years after the possible Downtown streetcar network had been identified.