paulhillsdon.com

I’ve been taking SkyTrain regularly for two years now, and I’ve never once seriously felt scared for my safety until last night. Putting that into context, realistically, it says the system is quite safe. However, that doesn’t mean improvements should not be made to ameliorate the transit experience for all users. 

Maybe it was because I was going westbound at midnight on a Tuesday night Millennium Line train, a situation I’ve never been in, but three things happened last night that made me reevaluate my position on turnstiles and staff numbers. Up until yesterday, I had been a vocal opponent of turnstiles (cost to benefit ratio was too low), and I thought having more staff at stations was just a waste of money (considering how lazy most of them are). Here’s what made me change my mind. 

1. Dead, empty SkyTrains. From Braid to New Westminster, there was two other people on the train with me - a very low number and enough to make me start to feel uncomfortable. See, it’s all about the ghost town effect. I feel safe walking around at night downtown because I know I’m going to see a few people each block. It’s the eyes on the street that make me feel protected. However, in the ‘burbs, where everything is eerily quiet and nobody is around after 10; that’s when I get freaked out. Anybody could pop out from a bush! If something happened, I seriously doubt anyone would come help. 

That’s what happened on the SkyTrain. Normally returning eastbound on an Expo Line train, there’s at least 5 random strangers with me. We have a collective sense of protecting one another from creepers or hooligans. Once you go lower than that, it starts to get unnerving. 

After New Westminster, I was completely alone on the train until Patterson. It was soooo scary! See, any weirdo could’ve hopped onto my train (and these were the MK I trains, so no walking from one end to another). I would’ve been stuck on the that train with this person until the next station. Anything could’ve happened and I had no exit strategy! 

What was even more nerve-racking was stopping at a completely empty Metrotown station at night. That never happens!

2. Troublemakers. At Patterson, two rowdy teens ran up to my train as it was stopping and starting banging on the doors. Freaked the hell out of me, considering the likelihood of them joining my empty train and me being stuck with them till Joyce! Luckily, they hopped on the third car instead. 

Once I got off at Joyce though, there they were again. Bouncing up and down and tagging walls, just as the female SkyTrain attendant wasn’t looking. Very alarming stuff - especially after hearing a story from my female high school counsellor that made her hate the SkyTrain: one night she and another lady got stuck on a train with a bunch of wild teenagers that starting roughhousing on the car - leaving herself and the other woman fearing for their lives in the corners.

3. Creepers. Rather than the teens joining me at Patterson, this old guy with a trench-coat came onto the train. Seemed normal enough and besides, he was on the other side of the train. He starts looking around and I assume he’s trying to find a good seat. Then, he starts coming my way. Walking slowly, scanning the ground with his feet. Brushing aside papers and garbage. He makes eye contact. He’s close now and I’m scared shitless. Trench-coat. Maybe he’s a pedo, maybe he’s a murderer, maybe he’s a psycho. I just don’t know. He continues scrounging the floor. Oh my god - I’m stuck on here with him until the next station! 

He sits down in the middle of the train and pulls out a Bible-looking book. I see crosses hanging from his pocket and neck. Woo - maybe he’s just a weird religious guy. The next station is… Joyce. Okay, I’m finally here. Why is he getting up? This is my station not his. The door opens and he’s not moving. Oh my god, he’s waiting for me to go - maybe he’ll grab my bag, my wallet?! I quickly rush past him and towards the stairs. 

I see him scan the station then get on the eastbound train. Weird. Maybe he’s just a scrounger - trying to collect lost items of value off the train. Still, he’s crazy creepy! 

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So there’s my story. Those three experiences over one night have completely changed my opinion of safety both around and *on* SkyTrain. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post with my ideas on how to improve this horrific safety situation. 

As you may or may not know, TransLink has been in the process of updating it’s main technology services for a few years now. For example, they upgraded the CMBC’s radio network to improve correspondense between drivers and central communications - at the same time this upgrade allowed for GPS or Auto-Vehicle Location technology. They are also currently upgrading the CCTV systems on SkyTrain, including digitizing their storage mechanism from good ol’ videotape to something a bit more 21st century. While I don’t have the scoop on all this “under-the-hood” improvements, I’ve got some new and interesting info. 

One of the more visible tech additions of late has been the installation of AVL (aka: GPS), APC, which is Automated Passenger Count, and the audible annunciators. All three are relatively cheap. The technology is part of the communications system and is thus installed. These other technologies that it enables, such as dynamic displays, are currently under installation.

Thanks to all TransLink staff that helped procure this information! 

Auto Vehicle Location or AVL

AVL is the central part of Coast Mountain Bus Company’s new TMAC communications radio system. Thanks to the technology in this new system, a whole host of functions are now possible:

•  real time fleet tracking for operations and customers
• Computer Aided Dispatch
• improved emergency response
• off-line performance analysis
• on board annunciators and dynamic displays

The real time dynamic displays are on about 600 vehicles right now, with installation to be completed across the fleet by fall. 

Automated Passenger Count or APC

APC is being installed on 15% of the bus fleet, which translates to about 200 vehicles. The deployment decision varies based on bus and service type. The installation is complete and was paid for under the Capital Budget. APC will continue to be installed on 15% of new expansion buses. APC was studied for implementation on SkyTrain, but there are no immediate plans for installation. 

Audible Annunciators

The annunciators that are currently being installed at the same time as the AVL dynamic displays occured to due to several reasons: TransLink’s Access Transit Strategy, improved customer service, following industry best practices, in addition to a Canadian court case that required stops to be audibly spoken for the blind (in this case, the annunciators allow the drivers to worry about one less thing).

The annunciators will be installed across the fleet by fall. 

SkyTrain CCTV

SkyTrain’s Closed Circuit Television system is being modernized as we speak. The storage system is being converted from videotape to digital and will be complete shortly. The cameras themselves will be upgraded in 2009/2010. 

The more I learn about public space, sustainable transportation, and climate change, the more I realize, despite Vancouver being a world leader in these matters, we’ve still got a lot of improvement to do. One of the best places on Earth can be found in Downtown Vancouver - that little slice on heaven on the Burrard Peninsula. But for all it’s wonderful aspects, like the seawall, English Bay, Robson St., Gastown, and Yaletown, one of the major parts that it lags behind in is efficient usage of street space. 

Considering how advanced the area is in terms of urban livability, I find that streets Downtown are still primarily designed as car thoroughfares and nothing more. Which is rather retarded considering how car usage in the area has been dropping steadily over the years. 

The fact of the matter is that bicycle has seen a resurgence across the world, that fossil fuel powered vehicles will go the way of the dodo, that walking needs to continue to be encouraged, and it is through this sustainable transportation infrastructure that vibrant economies and communities can develop and flourish. 

With that said, I reimagineered Davie St recently. Davie is one of several main commercial drags Downtown, and the redesign has taken such usage into consideration. Currently,

• the sidewalk is far too narrow for all the pedestrian traffic it handles, 
• the bus route (#6) is overburdened with riders and isn’t the best service possible, 
• the road is unsafe for cyclists and skateboarders (both of which I see along Davie all the time), 
• and there is a lack of amenities like benches and plants/greenery along the route. 

All of this changes with this proposal. 

The proposal removes two car lanes and reallocates this as

• an expanded sidewalk (for a total of 4m wide, which is the width of Burrard),
• a physically separated 2m wide greenway (similar to the new Carrall St. redesign),
• a less obtrusive flex space with more area for plants, bike parking, bus shelters, newspaper bins, and public art.

Furthermore, the redesign includes a streetcar line. As many know, Vancouver grew up around the streetcar, and the cheap rail technology is looking better everyday to cities around the world as a way to combat climate change, encourage economic development, and get people out of their cars. 

I personally hate riding the bus Downtown simply because it’s so stop-and-go. The drivers don’t make the situation any better because they’ll speed or slam on the brakes, rather than providing a smooth ride - this type of transit service won’t be tolerated in a decade with over 1/4 of the population as seniors. Plus, the route is almost always packed with people! And to top it all off, service isn’t all that frequent for such a busy route. 

The streetcar addition addresses this issues as follows:

• Streetcars provide a much smoother ride due to being on rails. With some good training and tough enforcement on the drivers, we could ensure that acceleration and deceleration are smoother than the SkyTrain.
• Streetcars have an economic incentive for development that buses don’t have. This alone could encourage redevelopment and higher densities along the relatively old and low-rise road. This development could also pay for the inclusion of a streetcar. 
• With the inclusion of a greenway along Davie, such a safe and convenient route could encourage people to get off transit and onto to human powered transportation like bikes or rollerblades.

So what do you all think? Is Vancouver ready to take the next step and transform Downtown’s streets like Davie from car-oriented thoroughfares to bustling multi-modal public spaces?

My friend has just upgraded from publicizing his writing on Facebook Notes to Blogger, and his initial post will blow you away with it’s tongue-in-cheek review of everyone’s dearest automated rail - our lovely SkyTrain. Here’s a few snippets:

The Millennium Line stations can be sorted into three different categories: girly names, excessively long names, and other. The “girly name” group encompasses stations like Sapperton, Braid, Rupert and Renfrew — stations at which no self-respecting man will ever disembark the train, for fear of total emasculation (in the event that this occurs, the revoked manliness can be restored at the hyper-masculinely-named Holdom, a title which evokes images of pure, raw, ball-grabbing maleness). The most egregious of these offenders is Rupert, which in a little known coup was named in tribute to TransLink B.O.D. member David Unruh’s love of the ursine scarf aficionado.

The Canada Line is the nearest it’s been to completion in eons — aeons, even — and I intend to be the first one aboard to soak in the Richmond-bound delight when the cherry pops in 2009. Never again will I be stuck in that all too-common position of thinking “I have twenty minutes to get to Lulu Island before my sugar sculpture collapses, but no means by which to get there.”

Check it out in it’s entirety at Hearts in the Margins!

From The Province:

People love their cars and need more roads, so gas taxes should be directed to encourage the car culture, not fund public transit, says Maureen Bader, spokeswoman for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

WOW. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything that could be more *wrong*! It’s like saying, people love to drink, so let’s build a ton of bars! With free drinks for all! 

*shakes head*

At a press conference yesterday to promote the CTF’s 10th Annual Gas Tax Honesty Day, Bader attacked Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s federal Conservatives and Premier Gordon Campbell’s B.C. Liberals as unprincipled tax-grabbers.

“About 30 per cent of the price you’re paying at the pump here in Vancouver is in tax,” said Bader.

“In Vancouver, 20.5 cents of each litre is provincial tax. What’s worse is we’re about to be hit with a carbon tax. Starting July 1st we’re going to be paying an additional 2.4 cents per litre, then we pay GST on top of that.

“This is just wrong.”

Yes, the gas tax is getting high. I would possibly argue a little too high, considering we aren’t seeing very many big improvements to cycling or transit infrastructure. However, market demand isn’t going to suddenly drop - even with people supposedly reducing car usage - so trust me, getting rid of the gas tax will do nothing but provide customers with a short term reduction in gas prices. Ironically enough, if you were to slash the tax tomorrow, demand would spike as people would rush to fill up - causing the price to increase!

She called on Ottawa to transfer five cents per litre of the federal gas tax to municipalities for roads.

Now, this does make a bit of sense, as long as municipalities aren’t forced to use the money for roads. Cities have been demanding a bigger transfer of the gas tax or GST for years, because they just don’t have the means to support the infrastructure they require. It’s the smart cities that would put this money into providing alternatives to the car, not building more roads and highways for the status quo. 

And she questioned the widely accepted opinion of world scientists that human CO2 production is causing dangerous global warming.

“More and more scientists are coming on record and saying that man-made global warming is probably not the cause of the global warming that we have been experiencing over the past few years.

“We’re spending billions of dollars, and really, what we’re doing is allowing politicians to essentially finance their next election campaign,” said Bader.

I’m not even going to touch this one, because we all know how ridiculous her claims are. I thought we got past the point of asking “is this happening” and “did we cause it”, to “how are we going to fix this”.

She sneered at governments’ funding of public transit.

“Taxpayers have got to ask themselves: ‘Do we really need to have a $14-billion Cadillac transit plan when all the government is really expecting to see is maybe a five-per-cent increase in transit use?’ People here want to use their cars.

I agree. $14 billion for such a small increase in usage is a complete waste of money. However, we must look at what we are paying for. Due to the construction of the Millennium Line as SkyTrain, it would be foolhardy to not complete it, with the eastern UBC Line extension, and the western Evergreen Line extension, in a different technology. In a sense, we are locked into the expensive proprietary SkyTrain. But, it must be built - and frankly, we need it ASAP. 

Once we spend the billions for those routes, then we can begin to look at cheaper alternatives that wil increase transit usage such as Light Rail Transit or Bus Rapid Transit. 

And don’t forget about one of the cheapest modes of transport, not just in acquiring the vehicle, but also the construction of infrastructure - cycling!

“Governments cannot pick winners [in business] and they shouldn’t be determining for us what we should be doing with our money and with our time.

“It didn’t work in the Soviet Union, it’s not going to work here either. People are driving more now than they ever have and gasoline prices are the highest that they have ever been.”

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon couldn’t be reached for comment.

To summarize,

• BC is not Soviet Russia, 
• we need a gas tax to fund alternatives *before* everyone stops driving due to insane fuel prices, 
• climate change is real and needs to be solved, 
• Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation doesn’t speak for all taxpayers, and 
• Maureen Bader is an ignoramus. 

If you didn’t know, Portland, Oregon, is *the* leader of sustainability in the US. A key part of their success has been in providing a variety of transportation options. Since the 80’s, they’ve built multiple LRT lines, expanded their bike boulevards and cycling network, built the Portland Streetcar, and built the Portland Aerial Tram. Portland’s public transportation agency, TriMet, is now set to add a new service to their long list of options: Commuter Rail. 

In 1996, a feasibility study for a commuter rail line was initiated by Washington County, the cities of Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville and Sherwood, TriMet, Metro, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The project to establish a new 14.7-mile passenger rail line between Beaverton and Wilsonville has received strong support from the public and business community. It is the first commuter rail line in Oregon and one of the few suburb-to-suburb commuter rail projects in the country.

Because the line uses existing freight tracks in a dedicated corridor, construction impacts are minimal.

Passengers will ride in self-propelled diesel train cars. TriMet is working with Colorado Railcar to design and build the vehicle.

Sound familiar? 

Maybe that’s because the former Interurban rail corridor in Surrey is also an existing freight line, it is also a suburb-to-suburb route, and it’s also about 14 miles (actually only 12.22 miles or 19.66 km) in distance from Scott Road Station to Cloverdale. 

Plus, WES’ corridor was formerly home to two passenger rail services. Oregon Electric Railway and Southern Pacific Railway used to run Interurban rail services quite similar to those that were ran in the past by British Columbia Electric Railway.

Portland’s WES commuter rail service is set to open this fall. What can we learn from their experience?

1. Get everyone on board

The first feasibility study for the line was bi-partisan, bringing together various agencies and levels of government.

This initial collaboration is something we have not had going in the South of Fraser, with TransLink, Surrey, Langley Township, and The Province all launching their own studies, for various reasons, all with different conclusions. 

2. Ensure there is political will

With WES, immediately after the first study, the project gained it’s first political ally in Tom Brian, at the time, a member of the Oregon Legislature. He secured funding for follow-up studies. For 10 years, various politicians, at various levels, worked hard to secure funding to build the project. This resulted in the cost of WES being paid for by the federal government, State of Oregon Lottery Bond Proceeds, TriMet and GARVEE Bonds, and contributions by local governments and Washington County.

While a number of organizations continue to call for “Rail for the Valley”, there is no consensus among citizens, let alone politicians about how or where expanded transit South of the Fraser should be. For this, among other reasons, bringing back rail on the Interurban route isn’t being unanimously championed.

3. It doesn’t take long to achieve 

The whole time span from the first study to the opening of the service is 12 years. Consider this though: 3 of those years was spent just doing the initial study! It took seven years for design, engineering, environmental assessments, and funding to be secured. Construction took a total of two years. 

Realistically, bringing back rail in the South of Fraser could be achieved even faster than WES’ experience. BC Hydro already owns the right-of-way to the route, something Portland didn’t have. Not to mention, Southern Railway has already stated it is keen on incorporating passenger rail service on the route. And considering how fast Kevin Falcon can push projects through, rail out here could be built quite quickly - in a matter of years. But we aren’t at this stage yet. 

We in Surrey are still at step 1 and until we set some of our initial problems straight, we will never be getting commuter, or community, rail service happening anytime soon. Always keep hope, and transform that hope into action - then maybe we can get this off the ground.

It’s been proven time and again in public transit that, if you build it, they will come. Just ask any of those Greater Vancouver commuters crammed like sardines in SkyTrain cars during the morning or evening rush hour.

This is happening now despite arguments made during the planning of the existing rapid-transit system that not enough folks would use such a service.

Now, we’re hearing similar criticisms from those who oppose using the old Inter-Urban route for light-rail service in the Fraser Valley. There’s not enough population density, they say.

The folks displaying this attitude clearly have a hard time seeing beyond their noses.

Transit must be planned in a long-term context. And all growth projections for south-of-Fraser communities, from Delta to Chilliwack, agree that this region alone will one day have a population larger than that of the whole of Metro Vancouver today.

Surrey already has the largest number of children enrolled in K-12 schools of any municipality in the province. And its population is expected to surpass that of Vancouver in the next 20 years.

Also, the 18-24 demographic in the Fraser Valley is growing at six times the provincial average.

The most efficient and “green” way to move large numbers of people is via light-rail transit.

Given the population growth in this region, this transit option should be a no-brainer.

So, build it and they will come. Just ask the sardines.

[The Province]

Once The Province hops on the bandwagon, you know something is going here.

It’s my understanding that there are two things holding back restored rail service on the Interurban route: TransLink and Kevin Falcon.

TransLink tends to operate in its own little bubble and isn’t nearly as progressive as one would hope. Not to mention they are continuously behind schedule in implementing their plans. You may attempt to blame that on lack of funding, but when they refuse to even try a cheap, innovative idea like rail for the valley, you know that the planners there are rather stuck up in their data analysis and can’t quite think outside the box. Not a personal attack here - just TransLink as a whole ;)

Their excuses include lack of density and population along the route. Of course, they don’t mention the big key that The Province’s editorial mentioned - build it and they will come. If you give us roads and highways, of course development will be car oriented. Open a railway and the shift won’t just immediately happen, it will happen over the course of years. But it will happen. Just look at the success the Millennium Line now is with all the new high rise developments around the stations - not that long ago it was called a major failure and waste of money. Which is exactly why we shouldn’t build an expensive fancy system that will take years to attract sufficient ridership. Restore Interurban service cheaply at the beginning and begin upgrading, adding new trains, and double tracking the route as ridership increases. Cheap, effective method to wean us off cars!

TransLink is giving the same crap to Vancouver with their Downtown Streetcar plan. Ironically enough, a new streetcar system in Vancouver and restored community rail in Surrey would both cost just over $100 million. Anyways, TransLink’s excuse is that the streetcar will take ridership away from bus routes and that they hadn’t incorporated a streetcar in their long term transit expansion plans for Vancouver. God, what a friggin’ stupid excuse. Buses can be diverted elsewhere in the region! And talk about a bureaucracy if they can’t even see what a smart idea it would be to have a sleek, modern streetcar linking many of the attractions in Downtown Vancouver.

The second reason rail for the Valley isn’t coming anytime soon is Kevin Falcon. Before Gateway came along, he gladly gave $75,000 provincial dollars to Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society. Ever since though, there’s been no money, nor any provincial support for the restoration attempts. First, he decided highways are the best solution to traffic congestion for the Valley. Then, after some arm twisting by his boss, Mr. Campbell, he included a short SkyTrain extension into Surrey as part of the Provincial Transit Plan. Falcon has, however, also promised that the Province will launch a study into the possibility of restoring rail service on the Interurban route - although I haven’t heard of any progress on this initiative. So unless he suddenly changes his mind, I don’t see him supporting rail for the Valley. And expect the typical spin in the study.

Which is all quite unfortunate, because all we would need is one of these two to hop on the rail bandwagon and it would get done like *that*.

Time to enter politics, eh?

I was rummaging through some statistics this morning about Surrey. Stumbling upon the Transportation graphs, I found something rather bewildering - the stats showed that SOVs, or single occupancy vehicles, were, beating the trend, so to speak, and decreasing in usage in Surrey! 

This is quite amazing, especially considering our options out here in terms of transportation alternatives. 

It’s a spectacular feat and a wonderful trend. Especially since Vancouver won’t get all the attention now!

Private vehicles were the primary mode of transportation in 2006 of those who commute to work.  The share of commuters traveling by vehicle as driver declined from 2001 to 2006.  This was accompanied by a complimentary growth in travel by vehicle as a passenger and by public transit.  Carpooling activity may be captured by either category of vehicle use since this statistic tracks an individual’s most common mode of transportation. 

The primary mode of transportation throughout Metro Vancouver in 2006 is vehicle as driver. This mode is used by a smaller share of the commuting labour force in the inner municipalities of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster.  The Metro Vancouver average excluding these municipalities is 75.8%.  Surrey is in line with this at 76.1%. 

What the paragraph above tells us is that Surrey residents are doing the best they can to go out of their cars with the resources they have. It is the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, and New West that have some of the best transit in the region - for this exact reason, they were taken out of the equation. So, in terms of comparing our driving usage with other places that have crap transit - we’re about equal. Just imagine our transit usage if we had viable alternatives - like rail or BRT!

Been doing some studying on restoring rail service to the Interurban. I see its long term value as a commuter rail route that will facilitate far better movement between towns and city cores in the Valley, but still enabling long distance travel east to Chilliwack or west to Vancouver. The advantage of standard at-grade rail has always been its flexibility and cheap price, so I don’t like the idea of immediately making it into an LRT system. Besides, LRT is more suited for an urban setting with high densities - something that, truthfully, isn’t the strengths of most communities along the Interurban’s route (as compared to other areas of the Valley).

In any case, there are many arguments against restoring service, from cost to population density to competition with planned BRT routes - however, these are obviously excuses. If there’s the political will to get something done, it will get done.

As of this moment, at my current understanding of the problem, there’s a few things going on.

1. The FVHRS is restoring an original Interurban vehicle to run as a historic/tourist train between Cloverdale and Sullivan. They are years behind schedule, and won’t likely be done the restoration until late 2009.
2. TransLink does not support restoring rail service on the route because it cannibalizes its current transit expansion plans for the Valley. All public transport must be either run, or have the approval, of TransLink.
3. As much as it would like to bring rail back, the City of Surrey does not have the capital funds to upgrade the route for, even community, rail service - let alone a real, strong, regional transit connection. Thus it is pursuing partnerships, and providing limited funding, to help FVHRS get it’s historic/tourism train off the ground.
4. The federal government is doing a review of allowing passenger service along national rail corridors that could impact any rail revival attempts.

So, what is the estimated cost to bring back the Interurban?

Well, according to the UMA Study done for the City of Surrey:

…operating an accessible, modern Community Rail service every 20 minutes during peak weekday periods between the Cloverdale and Scott Road Stations, with a connection to the Scott Road SkyTrain Station on a single track with sidings, with some limited double track sections in the station areas in order to provide accessible service, and a signal and communications system for the corridor. The high order of magnitude cost estimate for this service is projected to have a total capital cost range of approximately $80.0 million (i.e. using British Parry People Mover vehicles) to $110.0 million (i.e. using Talent LRT vehicles) and an annual operating cost of approximately $6.0 million. This is on top of the $9.0 million capital cost sunk for Phase One, noted above bringing the total capital cost for Phase Two range to $90.0 to $120.0 million range.

The capital costs include the following components: right-of-way and grade crossing improvements; passenger stations; adding vehicle storage and maintenance facilities and track access to the maintenance/storage facility at Sullivan Station; modifying some industrial sidings; double tracking the station areas to ensure physical separation of right and passenger services; providing adjacent station parking and pedestrian access improvements;providing new LRT- like vehicles; installing fare revenue collection equipment; and implementing a train communication and signal system to ensure safety of the system.

Course, running peak service is rather retarded. I mean, yes, it will aid a few of us who travel downtown, but it certainly doesn’t help the majority of residents who travel, throughout the day, *in* the South of Fraser area. That’s why I liked the old Interurban timetable I found. Service wasn’t at super high frequencies like that of the SkyTrain, but it was more than peak periods - it was a couple runs throughout the day. And it had specials for the weekends!

According to the UMA Study, Southern Railway currently only runs…

… up to four freight trains daily (two in each direction). One train usually leaves from their New Westminster yard about 4:00 pm or 5:00 pm going eastward and returns westward to New Westminster between 10:00 pm and 12:00 am. Another train leaves the New Westminster yard between midnight and 1:00 am and returns to their New Westminster yard between 6:00 am and 7:00 am depending upon the level of coal/freight traffic moving on the main freight rail service line out of the region.

So, theoretically, there’s no reason we couldn’t run service beyond peak periods. Seems like the busiest times for the route are around 12am. And I can actually testify for this, considering I can hear the train when it runs through Cloverdale, a couple of blocks from where I live.

I truly believe that it’ll take a real pilot project, where people can get on a train and ride it along the route, to really bring the community support out in droves. I suppose that’s kind of what the City of Surrey is trying to do by supporting the FVHRS’ initiatives. However, I have a different idea.

So, based on what we know, here’s the times the tracks are busy:

• 4 pm - 5 pm
• 10 pm - 1 am
• 6 am - 7 am

Now, TransLink already has a commuter rail system - the West Coast Express. It’s my understanding that that service has five actual trains, with god knows how many cars that are attached to each “set”. They are used in peak periods on weekdays only.

So, here’s my proposal:

TransLink should take a West Coast Express train after rush hour Friday night, and plop it down in the railyards in Surrey near the Patullo Bridge. Then, starting from 7 am to 4 pm, run the service, up and down the route.

Theoretically, if it takes about 40 mins from New West to Cloverdale, you could create a timetable that would have the train coming back to each stop, every hour, in an alternate direction. Take a look:

Let the freight go by from 4 to 5, and then put it back on for evening service. Do this all weekend. See how it goes. Watch for the reception it gets.

And you wouldn’t have to spend a penny. Maybe get some wooden step stools to get on and off the train. And make it free. Let families hop on and take the route roundtrip depending on their departure point. Let people take surveys of the service. Have sketches showing what a possible rail system would look like.

We have the train. We have the time. We have the initial agreements from Southern Railway.

Let’s make it happen. Once people see how revolutionary this would be for Surrey, and the possibilities it opens up to the whole Fraser Valley, the campaign to bring back rail will be unstoppable!

As we all know, transit in Vancouver is woefully underfunded. Unlike with BC Transit systems across the province, the provincial government isn’t required to give a penny to TransLink. As such, TransLink has to cover all operating costs with three options: fares, property taxes, and the gas tax.

Historically, the provincial government paid all capital expenses of building the two SkyTrain lines. However, with the Liberals in office, they’ve lessened the province’s bill by requiring TransLink to pay a portion of the construction of new rapid transit lines. For both the Canada Line and the Evergreen Line, it amounts to $400 million each. Huge expenses when you consider TransLink also has to pay other, less PR worthy capital expenses - such as the expansion and upgrade of our region’s bus network.

At the cost of about half a million each (standard low-floor diesel buses here), TransLink could have bought 1600 buses for $800 million. That’s more that the whole, existing fleet!

Anyways, I’m on this topic because I was thinking about the cost of our road infrastructure. We tend to think of roads as far cheaper, because it basically amounts to laying tarmac on the dirt. When we think transit, we think about either the vehicles or the new infrastructure (aka: railways) to be built or obtained. The problem with thinking this way is we remove the vehicles from the road’s equation. That is to say, we must also incorporate the cost of buying a car to drive on the road. Just as a railway is useless without trains, so too is a road without cars (not completely true, but let’s just go with it for the argument’s sake).

Now, let’s take the recent widening of Fraser Highway through Surrey from a variable two laned road, to a consistent four laned highway. The expansion has taken place over a number of years, with funding coming from all sorts of partners, but the total cost is $45 million. Now, for most that follow the news, seems like a fairly cheap price for what is a road expansion that spans across Surrey (total of 13km). Certainly, when the number is under a $100 million for roadway expansion; well that number is a whole lot smaller than the billion dollar + Canada Line.

But let’s factor in the car now. Let’s say about 60% of Surrey’s population owns and drives a car - this is factoring in both kids and transit users. That goes from 400,000 people to 240,000.

Now, let’s assume about 2/3rds of these drivers own used vehicles - about an average cost of $4000. The other 1/3rd own/lease new vehicles for an average of $20,000. So, 160,000 people at $4000 each comes to $640 million. The other 1/3 at 80,000 people times $20,000 each comes to $1.6 billion!

Total cost for the drivers: $2.16 billion.

And that’s the cost just every few years. Cars get replaced over time with new ones and the investment cycle restarts.

Now, obviously, this calculation is rather skewed. I mean, it’s not like I took the total cost of road infrastructure over the years. Especially in a place like Surrey, where you would probably go to multiple destinations that are already poorly served by other transportation options, a car seems like a good investment.

My runaround point here is that our perception of the costs of road infrastructure aren’t realistic. Now, imagine if the public put their money completely into public transit. That would mean that the system would have over $2 billion to play with for expansion - every couple years. That means we could have four new SkyTrain lines in a decade - four times the rate we’ve been building the system. That’s over 1,000 new buses every year. That’s 16 LRT lines!

Just imagine what the system would be like with that kind of annual funding. People wouldn’t need cars - you’d be able to get here, there, and everywhere - all on well funded public transit.

The difficult part is transitioning the funding mechanism from roads and personal vehicles to a public transportation system…