IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 15, 2017
SkyTrain for Surrey is calling for the cancellation of the Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT line project. In the coming weeks, we will be taking this call to the TransLink project team, the City of Surrey and the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation.
We will also call for the acceleration of the Fraser Highway rapid transit project connecting Surrey and Langley. Although SkyTrain is being considered for this project, the current 10-year transit vision has delayed Fraser Highway rapid transit by at least 5 more years. This project is needed more than ever to curb growing automobile use South-of-the-Fraser.
In 2012, TransLink’s Surrey Rapid Transit Study suggested that a Surrey-Newton-Guildford LRT would produce a negative return on investment, offer little to no travel time savings compared to existing transit, and increase congestion throughout the community. As a street-level line running through 27 major intersections, it will be prone to frequent track closures caused by accidents, vehicle-train collisions, and other incidents, making transit less reliable than it is today.
We are disappointed that $58 million is being spent on LRT “early works”, even before the project team has revealed the final costs or a business case for the Surrey-Newton-Guildford line. This is a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money.
The first-phase Surrey-Newton-Guildford Line could cost in excess of $1 billion to build, and the cost of the full Surrey LRT network was recently pegged at $2.6 billion, which would make it the most expensive mistake in the region’s history. LRT will also saddle taxpayers with millions of dollars in operating debts.
Many of the Surrey-Newton-Guildford Line’s design features and benefits are not exclusive to Light Rail systems. SkyTrain for Surrey recently completed a list of 10 LRT features that can be incorporated into the existing transit system for a fraction of the cost.
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 as a Bus Rapid Transit system.
Our campaign directors: Daryl Dela Cruz (Surrey, chair), Jacky Au (Surrey), Spencer Whitney (Langley)
For further information
Daryl Dela Cruz, Phone: +1 604 329 3529, [email protected]