WestEnder
April 28, 2010
Those who regularly ride public transit along Broadway between Commercial Drive and UBC know all too well the crowded buses and road congestion that characterize the route. Talk of improving Broadway’s transit system has been on the table for years, yet it was just last week that TransLink embarked on its first public-consultation workshops about the future of Broadway transit. The April 22 session, at UBC’s Student Union Building, was the first of five such workshops; future workshops are scheduled for May 4 at St. James Community Square; May 5 at West Point Grey United Church; May 11 at the Hangar on Great Northern Way Campus; and May 13 at Vancouver Masonic Centre. Each one runs from 6 to 9pm.
TransLink is asking the public to examine a number of transit options. The first is light rail transit (LRT), a driver-operated, electrically-powered system, which would operate at street level, in a tunnel, or elevated above traffic. The system could move 6,000 to 10,000 people each hour in each direction. Secondly, rail rapid transit (RRT) would be completely separated from traffic, similar to the Canada Line or SkyTrain. Depending on the type of system used, RRT could move 10,000 to 25,000 people each hour in each direction. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is the third option under consideration, consisting of low-floor buses running on diesel, compressed natural gas, or electricity, moving 2,000 to 3,000 people per hour in each direction. A combination of LRT and RRT are also possibilities, as well as an extended LRT route that would run from Arbutus to Main Street and Science World.
“We’re asking the public not to choose one, but to tell us if there’s something we’ve left off,” said Mike Shiffer, TransLink’s vice president for planning, strategy, and technology, in an interview with WE at the UBC consultation session. “The whole idea behind this process is to really look at a range of alternatives and an in-depth range of evaluative criteria... and arrive at a locally preferred alternative.”
The impact of construction on Broadway will vary, Shiffer says, and will also depend on which transit option is chosen. “It’s really too early to tell how the construction process would take place, until we know what alternative is decided on,” he says. “One thing I can say, though, is that we’re very sensitive to the context in which the service will operate. The community context is very important.”
Business owners along West Broadway, in Kitsilano, are concerned about the potential impact of Canada Line-style construction in their neighbourhood. A public meeting is being planned by west-side residents and business owners for the evening of May 26 at St. James Community Square.
“Certainly, a month is not nearly long enough to consult with the public... I think a lot more education has to go on with the public before they [TransLink] start asking them to fill in surveys and voice their opinions,” says Donna Dobo, director of the West Broadway Business Association and owner of Just Imagine, a children’s costume shop on West Broadway. “The businesses favour a modern, European-style tram which would be at-grade [on street level],” she says. “They’re much faster than buses. It would be slightly slower than [RRT in] a tunnel, but maybe only seven or 10 minutes [more] on the whole length of the run.”
Others favour different options altogether. Eric Chris, a transit critic and chemical engineer with a background in environmental management, lives near UBC along the current 99 B-Line bus route. Instead of the LRT, RRT, or BRT options presented by TransLink, he is interested in the possibility of a SeaBus-style ferry service from False Creek to UBC, similar to that which he experienced at the University of Queensland in Australia, where he was a student.
Chris contends there’s “no way” TransLink could avoid a situation similar to construction of the Canada Line along Cambie Street, which crippled many local businesses and created daily traffic slow-downs. “You’re going to have exactly the same thing,” he says. “I don’t see how you can not rip up the road. Either that or you’re going to have to bore [a tunnel], and if you bore under Broadway, it’s going to take forever to get to UBC, and it’s going to cost a fortune.”
Chris, like Dobo, is critical of TransLink’s public-consultation process. They both feel as though key decisions have already been made without public input. “You ‘choose’ what [TransLink’s] telling you [they] want to do,” Chris says.
“I want to hear the facts getting out to the people who live in Vancouver, so that they’re making informed decisions and recommending what’s really good for the community,” Dobo says. “Not what they [TransLink] think is good.”
PHOTO: Cars or buses? By Doug Shanks.
