IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 14, 2016 – Surrey, BC
SkyTrain for Surrey campaigners are concerned that an ‘LRT for Surrey’ forum which was hosted and sponsored by the City of Surrey has continued to leave major issues that have been raised with proposed LRT project unaddressed, and has not made participants aware of these issues.
Daryl Dela Cruz, our founding director, states the following:
“’Growth shaping’ should come second to making sure there’s actually a significant transit improvement when there’s an investment of billions of taxpayer dollars. This is the big thing that LRT supporters in Surrey just don’t realize.”
SkyTrain for Surrey has presented these issues throughout the local community, at City Council meetings in Surrey and Langley and to the TransLink Board of Directors. Some major issues raised by the campaign include:
- A lack of travel time savings against existing transit options (such as the 96 B-Line, 501)
- Questionable reliability of the proposed on-street alignment
- Lack of dialogue on transit and commute impacts during LRT construction
- A poor business case found in the 2012 analysis by TransLink and the M.O.T.
- Safety drawbacks from running trains at the same level as pedestrians and vehicles
- Need for a system that is more aggressive at combating increasing automobile use South of the Fraser.
SkyTrain for Surrey is leading the opposition campaign against LRT in Surrey, and recently presented a 1300-signature petition calling for SkyTrain instead of LRT to the TransLink Board of Directors. Our supporters were pleased to hear earlier this year that a SkyTrain alternative on Fraser Highway continues to be considered by TransLink as part of the phase 3 Surrey Rapid Transit Study, and is now being studied more intensively by the City of Langley. It is time for Surrey to do the same.
About SkyTrain for Surrey
SkyTrain for Surrey is a local grassroots organization calling for a SkyTrain and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network instead of the currently-proposed on-street Light Rail system in Surrey. Our campaign has called on decision-makers to build the Langley Extension of the SkyTrain Expo Line, in conjunction with an extension of the 96 B-Line to Coquitlam Centre and White Rock.
Our campaign directors: Daryl Dela Cruz (Surrey, chair), Benedic Dasalla (Surrey), Jacky Au (Surrey), Spencer Whitney (Langley)
For further information
Daryl Dela Cruz, Campaign Chair, Phone: +1 604 329 3529, E-mail: [email protected]