March 18, 2024

Activists say Massey Tunnel shouldn’t be replaced; transit should be increased

Activists for the Council of Canadian Delta/Richmond chapter say replacing the Massey Tunnel will not fix traffic congestion -- increasing transit capacity will.  The group is rallying outside a Ministry of Transportation open house in Delta today. Eric Doherty with the council says by adding more buses through the tunnel -- bottle necks … [Read more...]

Broadway corridor transit debate

People on both sides of the Broadway transit debate weighed in at a Vision Vancouver organized town hall meeting at St. James Community Square. Gren Coombe lives just down the street from where the meeting took place, and says he wishes it was a multiparty event, "You get the mayor and his cohorts up there, and you just get their view. It would be … [Read more...]

C-T-F takes issue with Transit Police report

The Canadian Taxpayer's Federation takes issue with the latest, generally positive report on Transit Police. The "Five Year Trend" report goes back to 2008. That report says 74 percent of the time users feel safe riding the system, an improvement from 2009. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says while the combined violent and property crime rate on … [Read more...]

Transit Police Release Comprehensive Report

It's called a 'Five Year Trend Report' and goes back to 2008 looking at stats until 2012. The report says survey results show 74-per cent of the time transit users feel safe riding the system. That's up from 64-per cent in 2009. Crimes against the person were only marginally lower in 2012 compared to 2011 but were about nine-per cent lower than the … [Read more...]

Mayors frustrated over Province putting off transit decisions until May

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says she's frustrated that any decisions on transit expansion in the Lower Mainland is going to have to wait until after May’s Provincial Election. Transportation Minister Mary Polak has said just that, as have other mayors already. But watts appears okay to wait, reiterating that the first thing to be done after May … [Read more...]

No big transit decisions until election is over

Transportation Minister Mary Polak has made it clear that she and Metro Vancouver mayors will not make any decisions on transit expansion before May's election. Deadlines have sailed by after months and months of talks between Polak and the mayor's trying to agree on project priorities, as well as how to pay for them. Some  mayor's blame the … [Read more...]

Transit fare cheats still not paying up

Despite a change in legislation to force fare cheats to pay their fines, Translink says they aren’t yet seeing much of a difference. Spokesperson Derek Zabel says rate of payment of fare evasion tickets is up by less then one percent compared to 2010. We are seeing about an 18-percent return right now but there is a lot of people within that … [Read more...]

Mayor: build rapid transit along Broadway, or fall behind

Vancouver's mayor says the province's economic future risks falling behind, if rapid transit is not built along the Broadway corridor. Gregor Robertson says a subway system out to UBC would cost 2.8 billion dollars,  money he says would have to come from other levels of government. "Capital, talent and jobs are pouring into the corridor. And … [Read more...]

Surrey’s Mayor says next transit project isn’t up to Metro Van mayors

The Mayor of Surrey says despite what the Transportation Minister says it is not the role of mayors to chose the next transit project to go ahead. Dianne Watts says both skytrain expansion in Surrey and rapid transit along Broadway can both go ahead. "I am sure the minister well knows that the independent board has that task and it is within … [Read more...]

Surrey protests possible transit cuts

Threatened with service cuts, Surrey residents and members of council have gathered in protest. Almost 100 people are waving signs in the rain, opposing any transit service cutbacks. Mayor Dianne Watts has just told the crowd any transit cuts are not acceptable. She says the city needs more transit, not less. Watts says Translink has given her a … [Read more...]