New Greater Vancouver Transportation Infrastructure Projects - Evergreen SkyTrain Canada Line Updates & Olympic Rail Line Vancouver Streetcar Network

More Updates Regarding the Proposed Vancouver Evergreen SkyTrain Line – Over Budget and Trying to Find More Funding – August 2009

If you think that the proposed Evergreen Line SkyTrain system in Greater Vancouver servicing Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam is a slam dunk, think again. According to Metro News Vancouver, the B.C. government now needs to find an additional $175 million for the Evergreen transit plan SkyTrain Line in order to get started. TransLink says that the scenario is for the livability of the region at large, and is a requirement for major transit plans for the Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam and Port Moody cities for the upcoming decade. The province now needs to come up with an additional one hundred and seventy five million dollars in order to fund this long-term B.C. Vancouver transit plan which will include the construction and implementation of the Evergreen SkyTrain line. Just proposed were 3 different plans, all with varying degrees of costs and budgets. Depending on the plan, there may be an increase in fuel taxes, vehicle levy and increase in transit fairs (higher than inflation) in order to fund the new Evergreen Line SkyTrain project. The second plan is a fall back option, which is the original plan of building a bare bones transit system to the tri-cities. The third option is the new one presented by TransLink and requires $450 million in total funding and will include the maintenance and upgrades, design and construction of the Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody Evergreen SkyTrain Line in adition to the rapid transit expansion down Broadway and through Surrey in addition to three hundred new buses. The Evergreen Line Skytrain system is expected to have a profound influence on the livability and convenience for commuters to and from the downtown core from Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, and Port Moody. With the transit system in place through the Evergreen Transit Plan, the property values and real estate values of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody are expected to skyrocket as it will make it much easier for residents to commute to and from their respective cities.

About the Vancouver SkyTrain Evergreen Line

Fast Facts about the new Evergreen SkyTrain Line: The length of the rail line is approximately eleven kilometres of which there are portions that are at grade, tunnelled underground and elevated above ground. The number of proposed stations for the Evergeen SkyTrain Line is anywhere from six to eigh and the linking major population Greater Vancouver centres include: Coquitlam, Port Moody, Burnaby, Vancouver, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, Anmore and Belcarra. The travel time between Coquitlam City Centre to the Lougheed Town Centre will be only about thirteen minutes, cutting down travel time significantly for thousands of commuters. In addition, the maximum speed for the Vancouver Evergeen Line Skytrains will be approximately eighty kilometres per hour. Seamlessly connecting with the current Millennium Skytrain Line, the Evergreen Line will connect to other major centres in the Lower Mainland with ease. The estimated cost of construction for the Vancouver Evergreen Line SkyTrain wil be about $1.4 billion and the construction is slated to start in 2010 and go on for four years. The Evergreen Line SkyTrain Stations will have up to eight stations on the opening day with six primary SkyTrain Stations already confirmed as being: Douglas College/Coquitlam City Hall, Coquitlam West Coast Express, Ioco (near Barnet Highway and Ioco Road intersection), Port Moody/West Coast Express, Burquitlam, and Expansion fo the existing Lougheed Town Centre. In addition to these 6 primary stations, there are also proposed two additiona Evergreen Line SkyTrain Stations that will be considered with the shape of land, ridership, transit oriented development and other factors. The project benefts for the Evergeen Line Vancouver SkyTrain will include facilitating economic growth and creating more regional jobs, increase in transportation choices for commuters, improvement of the transit network throughout greater Vancouver in addition to providing faster, more frequent and more convenient rapid transit from Coquitlam to Vancouver via Port Moody and Burnaby. The Evergreen Line is a new rapid transit line that will connect Coquitlam to the rest of the western municipalities. It will be very fast, frequent and convenient SkyTrain line and from one end to the other should only take 13 minutes. The SkyTrain Evergreen Line will have seamless integration with current SkyTrain lines including the Millennium and Expo Lines in addition to regional lines, Canada Line and the West Coast Express train. The Evergreen Line is an essential element of The Provincial Transit Plan and the Federal Building Canada Plan.

About the Vancouver SkyTrain Canada Line

Taken from a Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. press release for information about the up and coming SkyTrain expansion line from Richmond to downtown Vancouver. At a length of nearly 19 kilometres, the Canada SkyTrain Line in Vancouver real estate market will be an automated rail-based rapid transit service connecting Vancouver with central Richmond and the Vancouver Airport. This ultimately will link growing residential, business, health care, educational and other centres in the Lower Mainland and adding transit capacity equal to 10 major road lanes through Richmond and Vancouver. The Vancouver SkyTrain Canada Line extension will connect with the existing rapid transit lines at Waterfront Station and major east and west transit services, creating an enhanced SkyTrain network to serve the region. Did you know? The Canada Line Skytrain expects about 100,000 riders per day in 2010 and approximately 31 million passengers per year. By 2021, this number is expected to grow to about 45 million passengers per year on this Canada Line by itself. Employment in downtown Vancouver and Richmond is expected to increase by 23% and 70%, respectively, by 2021. About 500,000 people travel daily between downtown Vancouver, central Richmond and the Vancouver International Airport along Main, Cambie, Oak and Granville Streets. The Vancouver region processes 100 million tones of cargo and serves 15 million air passengers and one million cruise ship passengers annually. The SkyTrain Canada Line will help alleviate some of the pressures associated with this mass move of people. The average commuter trip time in the downtown Vancouver/Richmond transportation corridor has increased by 36% in the last 10 years (from 19.5 minutes to 26.5 minutes). Vancouver’s downtown peninsula and central Richmond are expected to see population increases of 50% and 75% respectively by 2021. The number of vehicles in Greater Vancouver real estate community is increasing at a faster rate than the population, adding about 20,000 more cars per year. The population of Greater Vancouver is expected to grow by 450,000 during the next 10 years reaching over 3 million by 2021.

Vancouver Canada Line SkyTrain – Linked Real Estate Prices May Soar

According to Real Estate Weekly newspaper: If the SkyTrain experience is duplicated, property owners with land near Canada Line stations should expect a spike in real estate values when the $1 billion plus rapid transit line opens next year. According to a report from New Westminster based Landcor Data, from 1986 to 2007 the value of land within 500 metres of SkyTrain Stations in Vancouver increased 628 per cent, compared with 352 per cent for other land in host municipalities during the same period. The study also found that multi-family housing starts in Vancouver in the 10 years after SkyTrain’s Expo line opened increased by more than 600 per cent near such key stations as Surrey’s Gateway, New Westminster’s Columbia Street and the Joyce Street station in Vancouver. But the Landcor study found that not all stations experienced such explosive growth. For example, housing starts near the Broadway SkyTrain station fell 22 per cent in the 10 years after it opened and have declined a further 40 per cent since. The King George and Surrey Central stations also saw sharp drops in housing activity after the Skytrain arrived. The key Canada Line Vancouver SkyTrain stations include: Broadway-City Hal SkyTrain Stationl: While retail and light industrial properties dominate north of Broadway, transformation of the area is already spilling over the south side of Broadway to the Cambie Village at West 16th where several new residential developments are taking shape. Oakridge-41st Skytrain station: the pending real estate redevelopment of the Oakridge Centre shopping complex site on a key bus route to UBC. Additional redevelopment opportunities along Oak Street should get a boost from the improved transit connections.

City of Vancouver Unveils Olympic Rail Line – Vancouver Streetcar Network Nears Reality

According to 24Hrs Dharm M: The dream of a Vancouver streetcar network connecting downtown to Granville Island through the False Creek area hinges on the whims of TransLink. Yesterday, Mayor Sam Sullivan officially launched the Downtown Streetcar 2010 Demonstration Project. The 60-day pilot project, starting January 21, 2010, will offer transit users free regular light-rail service to and from Granville Island and the Olympic Village Station in False Creek on two state of the art Bombardier trams or streetcars, with each carrying 200 people. “We’re putting $8 million into this already so believe me this is going to be permanent,” Sullivan said. “We have plans that ultimately this streetcar will go right out to the convention centre.” Costs for such a Vancouver streetcar line are in the $100 million range, according to Sullivan. NPA mayoral candidate Peter Ladner is eager as well. “any increase in transportation choices in the city is exactly what I would like to see,” Ladner said. Ladner added a rapid transit line to UBC would take priority over a Vancouver streetcar network. Vision Vancouver council candidate Geoff Meggs said adding light-rail transit to the grid can’t come soon enough and would prefer it if pilot projects were scrapped for permanent plans. TransLink CEO Doug Kelsey needs big results form a pilot project before the transit authority can even consider making plans. “[Light rail] will have to earn its right into the overall network,” he said. According to MetroNews Vancouver Monica M: Vancouverites will have a new “sustainable” light rail transportation system during the 2010 Olympic Games, Mayor Sam Sullivan announced yesterday. The Olympic Line – Vancouver 2010 Streetcar will run from January 21 to March 21, 2010 and will connect Granville Island to the Canada Line Olympic Village Station located on Cambie Street and West Second Avenue. “The service aims to showcase an accessible, sustainable transportation option,” Sullivan said. The service is not free, but will be incorporated into TransLink passes. The City of Vancouver has spent $8.5 million upgrading the Downtown Historic Railway and hopes to extend the line to Stanley Park, UBC and along the Arbutus Corridor in the future. An estimated $100 million is required to expand the service to Science World, and $50 to $100 million incrementally to take it to Stanley Park ad Waterfront Station. Counc. Peter Ladner said the next steps are to approach TransLink, the provincial and federal governments for funding.

The SkyTrain Evergreen Lin Controversy Heats Up

A great article in the News Section of the Georgia Straight in February 2009 by Charlie S. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised in his January 27 budget speech that federal Canadian funds will flow for the proposed $1.4 billion Evergreen SkyTrain rapid transit line to Coquitlam. That has the major of Coquitlam, Richard Stewart, in a celebratory mood. However, Port Moody major Joe Trasolini says he’s not convenience that the Canadian federal funds for the Evergreen Skytrain line will actually materialize because the Conservative government didn’t include Evergreen SkyTrain Line funding as a line item in the January federal budget. IN a phone interview with Georgia Straight on January 27th, 2009, following the budget speech, Trasolini pointed out that the federal infrastructure budget of $407 million for improvements to Via Rail. There is support, but no line item specifically expressing that the funds will go directly to the Coquitlam Evergreen Line Skytrain project. The proposed rapid transite line would run from Lougheed Mall to Coquitlam via Port Moody. Most of the area is represented in Ottawa by Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, who did not return a call from the Georgia Straight. TransLink has pledged $400 million for the proposed Skytrain Project called the Evergreen Line, while the B.C. government has promised $410 million. The as yet unknown private partner that builds the rapid transit Evergreen SkyTrain line is expected to cover $200 million of the cost. Proponents hope that Ottawa will provide $400M, but Trasolini claimed that only $67 million has been commited thus far. Stewart cited three reasons why he thinks Ottawa will furnish another $330 million for what he described as a SkyTrain like project: Flaherty’s comment in the federal budget speech; the federal government’s Buildign Canada program, announced in 2007, which provides $33 billion for infrastructure renewal over seven years, and a Conservative promise in the 2008 budget to contribute $500 M for transit and rolling stock improvements in Greater Vancouver, Peterborough and Montreal. Meanwhile, a local critic of SkyTrain systems told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview that there won’t be sufficient ridership to justify an Evergreen SkyTrain line to Coquitlam. He also predicted that the proposed SkyTrain Evergreen Line project will end up costing much more than $1.4 billion.