SkyTrain is the only viable choice for rapid transit in Surrey
- Reality Check
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- August 19, 2011
Surrey is a large city: chunks upon chunks of development, having risen from where there used to be forests and farm fields. A city that is, unfortunately, now plagued by inadequate transit service. Today, the citizens of the City of Surrey have but one chance to choose what type of transit system will be built in this city; it would be a problem if the wrong transit option is chosen to serve certain areas.
Transit needs to be built to serve the future
We simply cannot afford to build a system now that will have to be replaced in the future as a result of growing ridership and demand. This is a key reason why Surrey needs to see an expansion of the SkyTrain network.
Before SkyTrain was expanded to Richmond, it was linked to Vancouver with the 98 B-Line bus. 2 years after its introduction, the 98 B-Line was serving approximately 18,000 boardings per day [1]; however, most passengers had just converted from using the previous bus services, and just 23% of the 98 B-Line users were travellers who had converted from vehicle travel. When the Canada Line finally opened to Richmond, ridership exceeded expectations. By November 2009, just 4 months after opening, ridership had hit 100,000 boardings per day [2], causing serious overcrowding of the short 2-car trains.
How is the situation similar in Surrey? Within the next few years, Translink will be introducing B-Line bus service connecting Guildford, Whalley, Newton and White Rock [3]. It will take on two of the busiest transit corridors in Surrey—104 Avenue and King George Boulevard. Even before this service is introduced, Surrey is now looking to replace it—but with a street-running light rail system, instead of SkyTrain.
Although light rail will increase capacity over buses, it is questionable how long it will stand as an improvement. If this B-Line service is replaced with light rail, and ridership increases, then there will come a point where lineups and station platform overcrowding may occur due to the transfers that will have to be handled between the SkyTrain and the lower-frequency light rail trains at Surrey Central.
Surrey is much bigger than Richmond...
and, with our city growing at a rate as fast as or faster than the transit serving it, we would come to a point where service will not be that different from how it is today: overcrowded, infrequent, and unattractive, with most people still driving their cars. Are we ready to pay for double the transit expansion cost—that is, light rail in the shorter term, and another necessary upgrade to SkyTrain later?
Any major transit expansion for Surrey is probably going to be expensive and final for a number of years. Who would be ready to upgrade an inadequate transit line merely a few years after opening? It is not going to happen with the Canada Line and its overcrowded 2-car trains—and, unfortunately, it’s not going to happen with any form of expanded transit in Surrey.
Perhaps we should reconsider the most sustainable and economic choice for our transit expansion: SkyTrain.
Reality Check
Reality Check is the online blog run by the founder of SkyTrain for Surrey, a BC-based community organization that has advocated for the expansion of the Vancouer SkyTrain system, including our successful advocacy for the under-construction Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.
Media Contact: Daryl Dela Cruz – Founder, SkyTrain for Surrey ・ Phone: +1 604 329 3529, [email protected]