SkyTrain for Surrey, not LRT!

FEDERAL ELECTION 2021: your VOTE matters!!!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE / 2021 FEDERAL ELECTION September 19, 2021・Surrey, BC

MONDAY, September 20th

is the final day to VOTE for your next federal government!!!

The Surrey-Langley SkyTrain is critical infrastructure that we need.

The last several elections have shown us that voters want critical high-quality transit infrastructure like the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. With more people than ever moving into South-of-Fraser cities seeking housing affordability, our residents—both old and new—expect to have great ways to connect both within our part of the region and to the greater region. And, with more development and growth than ever in Downtown Surrey, it’s time to build fast, backbone rapid transit corridors that link people to jobs and institutions in our growing city core.

How does this election affect the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain?

Project partners are currently getting ready to build and launch the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. Early construction works and planning for future transit-oriented development and growth have been commenced by the municipalities (Surrey and Langley) along the SLS corridor.

This includes the Fleetwood Plan, which proposes to add 100,000 additional residents and 12,500 additional employment spaces within one of the areas served by SLS; and the Langley City Official Community Plan, which calls for major changes to community zoning and development in anticipation of the future SLS terminus at 203 Street.

With these efforts underway, it’s important to ensure the line is completed and opens on schedule in the year 2025. However, the Mayors’ Council’s Chair (Jonathan Coté) recently indicated that the federal funding commitment (to provide $1.3 billion for the SLS) has yet to be formalized.

 

In order to deliver critical rapid transit projects including the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, we need to see the next federal government in Canada do the following:

☑ Maintain the current $1.3 billion federal funding commitment to build the full 16-kilometre Surrey-Langley SkyTrain.
☑ Ensure that the full Surrey-Langley SkyTrain meets its original 2025 opening-day timeline.
Support TransLink operations during the pandemic recovery so that it can deliver the region’s funding share.
☑ Commit to permanent transit capital funding so that we can plan for our next SkyTrain expansions to connect Newton, Semiahmoo Town Centre, and other destinations to the network.

How do the parties do on commitments for SLS and future expansion?

Since the start of this election period, SkyTrain for Surrey has been monitoring party platforms, debates, and candidate statements on developments regarding the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain and future expansion. As of September 19, 2021, we rate the below four federal parties on this issue as follows:

On mobile, scroll right to view the entire table →

 Liberal PartyNDPConservative PartyGreen Party
Maintains the funding commitment for the full 16km SLS
YES
Pre-election + election-time funding commitments to SLS.
LIKELY
Committed to rail transit, no specific commitment to SLS.
YES
Pre-election + election-time funding commitments to SLS.
LIKELY
Committed to rail transit, no specific commitment to SLS.
Ensures that the SLS will be opened on time in 2025
NO
Did not commit to SLS 2025 opening.
NO
Did not commit to SLS 2025 opening.
NO
Did not commit to SLS 2025 opening.
NO
Did not commit to SLS 2025 opening.
Supports TransLink operations and pandemic recovery*
LIKELY
Some support for operating funding (albeit undefined).
LIKELY
Some support for operating funding (albeit undefined).
UNCERTAIN
No platform commitment, no response to CUTA.
YES
Platform commitment to extended support for transit operations.
Commits to permanent transit capital funding*
YES
Platform commitment to support permanent transit funding.
YES
Platform commitment to support permanent transit funding.
UNCERTAIN
No platform commitment, no response to CUTA.
YES
Platform commitment to support permanent transit funding.

*We have referred to the Transit Election Report Card released by the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) to gauge federal party commitments for these items. View the report card and political party questionnaire on the CUTA’s website at: cutaactu.ca/election2021.

While both the Liberals and Conservatives have made the strongest commitments to Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, and the Liberals and Greens have the strongest commitments for long-term expansion, no parties have committed to ensuring that SLS will open on time in 2025.

About SkyTrain for Surrey

SkyTrain for Surrey is the community organization that advocated for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. From our beginnings as a petition calling for the scrapping of a street-level LRT proposal, we grew into a community of like-minded folk, taking on various projects such as making SkyTrain an election issue in 2018 as a registered advocacy group. SkyTrain for Surrey continues to call for high-quality transit infrastructure projects serving Surrey, Delta and the Langleys.

Media Contact:

Daryl Dela Cruz ​– Founder, SkyTrain for Surrey
Phone: +1 604 329 3529, [email protected]

 
#buildSLS – Our Federal Election 2021 Voters’ Guide