Rapid bus coming to Langley
Great news out of Victoria on the rapid bus line down the twinned Port Mann Bridge. It's not a light rail line, but it's a start. Of interest to Langley commuters (whom I represent as a Township Councillor):Median on/off ramps for HOVs and express buses in the vicinity of 200th Street to 204th Street in Langley; a transit loop in the vicinity of the 200th Street interchange in Langley; a minimum of 1,000 park-and-ride spaces south of the Fraser River. The express bus service will be connected directly to HOV lanes and will not mix with general traffic, so travel time for the full trip between Langley and Burnaby will be less than 25 minutes – as fast, or faster, than by car.
I wish it would happen sooner, but the new bridge has to be built to get these things across. Capital projects of this magnitude take time--especially when you factor in the public consultative process needed.
I do believe this is a start, but rapid bus transit will never attract a huge percentage of suburban drivers out of their vehicles. It's very simple: drivers in Surrey, Langley, and Abbotsford have been trained by TransLink's Vancouver-Burnaby power axis to drive everywhere. By holding out proper transit service from the south Fraser region, entire generations have grown up with no choice but to drive. To get large numbers of them out of their cars will take an attractive, modern, high-end light rail solution that goes where they want to go.
We know that the vast majority of south Fraser trips are within the south Fraser region. While this line will help in some ways, it's just a small step toward the overall solution in Surrey and Langley--a light rail line. I do believe this could be a helpful northern portion of my 200th Street light rail loop idea--rapid bus to the north Fraser to 200th, a light rail line down to Willowbrook and turning west along the Surrey portion of the interurban line. It would give commuters connection to both the rapid bus and SkyTrain. A future extension of the 200th line across the Golden Ears Bridge to the West Coast Express would another transportation choice for the south Fraser.
I've been away, but I suspect Mary Polak took some flak for her comments to the Times that there isn't enough density in the Valley for rapid transit yet. I believe there is enough continuous density (present and planned) along 200th and the Surrey Interurban line to support light rail. There is also enough in Abbotsford proper. The big problem is the sea of farmland between west Langley and Abby (We are "cities in a sea of green," as the Vancouver planners always put it). Putting light rail through there is going to cause a lot of ALR speculation and pressure (in fact, one VALTAC member I spoke with told me that the ALR land along the Interurban should be taken out and used for a series of 12-20 storey residential buildings. I can't support that--and I don't know who could).
Anyway, let's get light rail in west Langley and Surrey sorted out first, then add another loop into Abbotsford, and further in Chilliwack.
2 Comments:
Light Rail esp. along 200th. It's
a costly venture at this point and there are other regions with more pressing needs.
After the Second Port Mann, and SFPR, attention will need to be taken on the George Massey Tunnel as a priority.
The 200th LRT is a nice project to dream about, but Langley isn't big enough.
Come back to us in about 10 to 15 years and we'll see where we are at.
LOL! Is this the bus that starts running in 2013? Or is it 2014?
I'll bet people will be really excited about this promise! And ladies and gentleman, please be advised that this particular promise has been issued so far in advance of either the 2009 or the 2013 election that it's really most unfair to label it an election promise.
Rather, it's a promise issued with all the solemn reliability that attaches to any promise made by Premier Gordon M. Campbell himself! Yes folks, this is real serious stuff, alrgiht!
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