Send in the clowns – Urban Land Instituteai??i??s Governorai??i??s Advisory Panel
Really, one tires of this nonsense that Broadway needs a subway.
If the truth were to be told, the Vancouver city fathers want a subway under Broadway because they feel it would make Vancouver a “world class city” and the current political party in power want to reward its developer friends with windfall profits up-zoning properties to allow densification.
As mentioned many times before on this blog, there isn’t the ridership to justify a subway under Broadway and with current planning not reducing auto capacity on Broadway, transit ridership will increase very little, yet the cost of operating transit on Broadway will greatly increase, with now a subway to maintain and operate on top of the cost of the buses operating above. There are no cost savings with a subway, unless there is a mass of ridership to sustain it and current ridership on Broadway falls way below this mark.
So send in the clowns with the Urban Land Instituteai??i??s Governorai??i??s Advisory Panel, with all the usual talking heads and self proclaimed experts to bleat for a SkyTrain subway.
I think the the Vancouver Sun and the city of Vancouver should realize by now that the public have caught on with your little con game and all the infomercials you print will not change that.
Advisory report suggests building Broadway transit line in phases
Ai??By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun July 13, 2014
VANCOUVER ai??i?? The City of Vancouver should consider building a new transit line along Broadway in phases, while restricting high density to the busy commercial core to preserve the cityai??i??s character in the neighbourhoods along the route, according to a new report.
Issued by the Urban Land Instituteai??i??s Governorai??i??s Advisory Panel, the report suggests the public should also be consulted, noting Vancouver ai???did not balance zoning changes with economic potential and community livabilityai??? when it built other mass transit projects ai??i?? specifically the SkyTrain ahead of Expo 86 and the Canada Line for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
ai???Invariably, stakeholders perceived that neighbourhood impacts were overlooked or under-represented in order to fast-track major transportation projects. ai???Blanket up-zonesai??i?? were applied at transit hubs, leading to rampant speculation and dislocation of residents and businesses,ai??? said the panel, which included experts from across North America.
ai???Although the panel recognizes that the market may ultimately dictate a lot of development decisions that accompany the growth in population and the increased opportunities that a mass transit line brings, it also recognizes that the local neighbourhoods and districts give Vancouver much of its charm.ai???
Vancouver has long been pushing for a subway line from Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station to the University of B.C., maintaining it is one of the busiest transportation corridors in North America. TransLink has cited the line, along with light rail in Surrey, among its top priorities, but the projects are stalled as regional mayors attempt to come up with new funding sources, such as a carbon tax or vehicle levy, to pay for them.
The panel noted that ai???existing transit along the Broadway corridor is a failure under current conditions,ai??? with 49 per cent of all westbound rapid bus passengers headed for Central Broadway, including Vancouver General Hospital, and 38 per cent continuing on to UBC, according to the report. Transit on the corridor is at capacity.
Even with conventional bus services running every two to three minutes, more than 2,000 passengers are left behind at the Commercial-Broadway Station every morning.
Zwei comments: These passengers are not left behind, rather they have to wait for another bus. This demonstrates very bad management, but if an extra 3 or 4 B-Line buses were to operate on this route or if the trolley bus line had stops every 400 metres to 500 metres (as in Europe) instead of every 200 metres, offering faster journey times, maybe the pass-ups would disappear. Bad management has more to do with pass-ups, than the need for a subway.
Here is something else to think about.Ai?? If buses were operating at one minute frequencies or less during peak hours, then you have the ridership that would demand LRT. If you have trams operating at one minute frequencies or less (keeping in mind one tram is as efficient as 3 to 5 buses), they you have the ridership that would demand a subway!
The “Gelbe” or yellow wall of trams in Karlsruhe, Germany
which necessitated the need for a subway.
But the development of the line should be done slowly, the report urges, noting a ai???one size fits allai??? rezoning across the Broadway corridor is not appropriate for economic or residential vitality.
The panel noted new development along the Broadway corridor should be concentrated in existing commercial zones, which are only about 60 per cent built out in the corridorai??i??s central core. It also suggests that institutional entities within the corridor such as the University of B.C. and Vancouver General Hospital participate actively in the planning of station locations and phasing, and ai???if at all possible, would provide financing contributions.ai???
The reportai??i??s recommendations come as many municipalities face public opposition in their quest to densify regional town centres in a bid to contain growth in urban centres and protect agricultural and industrial areas ahead of another one million more people coming here by 2040. Residents in Vancouverai??i??s Marpole, for instance, had complained the city was trying to shove density on them, as part of a pitch to connect two developments along the Cambie corridor, which will each add more than 4,000 people. City council has since revised the plan.
