Staff endorse SkyTrain as best option
TransLink mayors to weigh in Thursday
A SkyTrain line is being recommended instead of light rail to extend rapid transit from Arbutus to the University of B.C.
The endorsement is in a staff report that will be considered by TransLink’s Mayors Council at their meeting Thursday, and Vancouver council next week.
“Once the technology has been approved, it will allow us to go to the federal and provincial governments and start securing funding for this,” Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said Monday. “There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm among the other mayors for this project, and I’m very excited that this is moving forward.”
Stewart has been a strong advocate of extending rapid transit to UBC. Procurement has begun for the Millennium Line extension from VCC-Clark Station to Arbutus through a bored tunnel under Broadway. It’s estimated the project will cost $2.83 billion and be completed in 2025.
The second phase of the 10-year transportation plan for the region set aside $3 million to develop concept designs and undertake pre-business-case work for the line to UBC. The last evaluation of options for the line was done in 2012, so last year TransLink undertook a study to consider technology, operating assumptions, demand forecasts and costs.
Four options had been considered: optimized B-Line bus service, light rail from Arbutus to UBC, light rail from Main Street-Science World to UBC and SkyTrain from Arbutus to UBC.
The updated study found that by 2030 the B-Line and parallel corridors would be overcrowded. By 2045, both light-rail routes would be near or over-capacity, and parallel corridors would be crowded. SkyTrain would also be nearing capacity, however, it could be doubled with higher frequency and longer trains.
A preliminary cost estimate, in 2018 dollars, for a fully tunnelled SkyTrain extension would be $3.3 billion to $3.8 billion. However, the report notes inflation would push the cost to $4.1 billion-$4.8 billion if procurement begins in 2025 and the project is completed in 2030. A final decision hasn’t been made about whether the line would be in a tunnel or elevated.
Michael White, UBC’s associate vice-president of campus and community planning, said the university is “delighted” planning is underway for the extension.
“TransLink staff have led a very thorough investigation about what technology we should be planning for to the university,” White said. “Clearly, after all the work has been done the evidence very strongly supports an extension of SkyTrain to meet the long-term demands and needs of this part of the peninsula.”
Barring any policy directions from TransLink’s board or the Mayors Council, staff will proceed assuming that SkyTrain will be the chosen technology.
Business-case development could begin as early as mid-2020, at an estimated cost of $30 million-$40 million. That expenditure is not currently funded.