LIGHT RAIL PUSHED
Mayor defends decision not to use more costly SkyTrain for transit expansion
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner is once again defending her city’s decision to build light rail instead of SkyTrain when rapid transit is expanded in the coming years.
Hepner made the case for light rail during a speech at a Surrey Board of Trade luncheon, where she and TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond talked about the future of transit South of the Fraser.
A 10-kilometre, 11-stop, light-rail line connecting Surrey’s SkyTrain stations to Newton and Guildford is part of the second phase of the Mayors’ 10-Year Vision for transportation in the region, with a 16-km, eight-stop extension to downtown Langley five years after the first line is complete.
“Cities in Canada and around the globe have chosen light rail for its impact on city-shaping and people-moving,” Hepner told the business crowd. “In Surrey, we can’t do that with bus rapid transit … and we can’t do it with SkyTrain.”
She argued that with the growth that’s expected in Surrey over the next 25 or so years — at least 250,000 more people by 2041 — bus rapid transit won’t be able to handle the capacity, nor will the city’s roads be able to accommodate the cars.
Hepner said light rail has the capacity to shape the city in a way SkyTrain can’t because of its flexibility in terms of where it can go and the fact it’s at street level. She told the luncheon attendees that light rail could be extended to include areas such as Cloverdale, South Surrey and more of Langley in future.
“The sheer geography of our city is a pretty significant argument in terms of covering us off with rapid transit as we grow into the largest populated city in the province,” Hepner said.
Cost is a major factor. As it refined its business case for the second phase of the mayors’ plan, the province asked TransLink to find out how much the line to Langley would cost if it used SkyTrain instead of LRT.
The result is that SkyTrain would cost about $950 million more to build and the operating costs are 40-per-cent higher. A cost estimate for the light-rail line hasn’t yet been revealed.
Hepner also said light rail is a proven technology that’s used all over the world, and there are a dozen projects in the works or planned in Canada.
“We are not guinea pigs in a mass-transit experiment,” she said.
Desmond said that a B-Line bus that currently runs between Guildford and Newton, along the route of the proposed light-rail line, is wellused and leads him to believe “the potential for light rail is very bright.” He said rapid transit will help reduce and manage congestion.
After the luncheon, Hepner said she feels the need to make the case for light rail because it’s a new technology for the region.
“I do believe that residents need to be informed of what the rationale was way back whenever the mayors’ vision started some number of years ago,” Hepner said. “I believe that it does take a little bit more understanding. People are a bit worried.”
A group called SkyTrain for Surrey has consistently criticized Surrey’s choice to build light rail and called for cancellation of the project in favour of extending the SkyTrain’s Expo Line.
Hepner said she doesn’t believe light rail will solve all of Surrey’s transportation problems — it’s a piece of the puzzle.
“I think an integrated network is the answer for the entire system, but light rail is certainly a big part of it,” she said.