Effective transportation development has been a longstanding issue within Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
In September, transit re-entered the headlines with the signing of the Regional Transportation Agreement between the Province of British Columbia and the Mayor’s Council on Regional Transportation. According to the agreement, TransLink will develop capacity for revenue generation and sustainable transportation.

The Provincial Transit Plan pledges to invest $4.2 billion into transit in Metro Vancouver by 2020, including the $1.2 billion dollar Evergreen Line to connect people commuting to Vancouver from the tri-cities (Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, and Coquitlam). TransLink, with limited financial resources, will have to contribute $400,000 to pay for the Evergreen Line.

“What we have to do…is come up with some discussions on new funding mechanisms that can support the kind of expansion that’s going to be required in the region,” said TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie. “The Evergreen line is something that was committed to by the region, and the province, and the federal government some time ago.”

Construction for the Evergreen Line is planned to start in 2011, and it will be four years until before it is open for use.
In goal three of the Provincial Transit Plan, the government endeavours to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the transportation sector through investing in rapid transit infrastructure, public transit, transit priority measures, integrated cycling and walking networks, along with increased land use density around transit stations and corridors. As most transportation emissions come from vehicle traffic, public transportation is an efficient way to decrease usage of fossil fuels and allow for sustainable connections between communities across the lower mainland.

Commuters to and from UBC realize the importance of effective transit through the area and to surrounding communities in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. For communities south of the Fraser, there is virtually no alternative method of transportation other than driving into Vancouver. TransLink’s technical review of “Rapid transit service along the Broadway Corridor from Commercial Drive, West to UBC,” better known as the UBC Line, is in progress.

However, it’s unlikely to be continued until more funding is allocated.

“The Evergreen Line is an existing commitment; the other lines would require new sources of revenue to support, and those sources have not been identified yet,” said Hardie.

In a speech at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in Whistler on October 1, Premier Gordon Campbell said that the province will commit funding to transit in the future, although he did not specify when this would be.

“The province is working with the Mayors’ Council of TransLink to make sure…that we can provide for that transit service that’s so critical in the long term with sustainable funding,” said Campbell. “We can’t pretend that it doesn’t cost something to do it. I can tell you it costs us something not to do it as well, and equally important, it costs our families lots if we don’t do it and we don’t do it well.”

While funds have yet to be earmarked for additional transit development, the Government of British Columbia has committed to major highway expansion. The Federal Pacific Gateway Strategy is set to cost approximately $10 billion, dealing with traffic issues and increasing the capacity for trade with Asia. The controversial British Columbia Gateway Project will take $4 billion of this, and will deal with the transport of products and mitigate the significant problem of congested highways and traffic into Vancouver. Specific projects include the twinning of the Port Mann bridge, expansion of Highway 1, and a new North Fraser Perimeter Road and South Fraser Perimeter Road.

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