Why then, is LRT one of several viable options for the UBC transit line — especially considering that Broadway and 10th Avenue are used by far more cars and trucks than the Coquitlam and Port Moody roads where the Evergreen SkyTrain will run?

What TransLink staff forgot to mention, at open houses in 2009, is that the posts and beams of the elevated guideway will drastically cut off the view of anyone living on the second and third floors of many apartment buildings along the route.

The Bombardier LRT trial was an eyeopener for many that had previously dismissed LRT sight unseen. Interestingly, last summer I was asked on several occasions by U.S. tourists how to go to the "Olympic streetcar line."

It is not too late for TransLink to resurrect the plans they made for Evergreen LRT, as they still can't find the money needed to complete the Evergreen SkyTrain.

J-L Brussac

Coquitlam

A tram in Athens Greece

Mr. Serle, a man of letter from south of the Fraser is much less read on transit and transportation issues and is one of the most ardent supporters of SkyTrain. Mr. Serle can't seem to understand the concept that SkyTrain costs up to ten times more than LRT to install and that there is only one taxpayer. He also continues the notion that being elevated is better because (in Mr. Serle words); " because it runs above and below the ground, SkyTrain, unlike the proposed non-automated LRT, does not hinder regular, fossil-fuel-powered vehicular movement."

But, if auto movement is not hindered, there is no incentive to use the elevated metro.

The convenient argument is a canard as LRT is more convenient, because operates on the pavement, where the customer wants it, than SkyTrain, where the customer must climb stairs to cold wind swept stations or descend into claustrophobic stations.

One can build all the SkyTrain one wants, but what schools and hospitals must be closed to pay for much more expensive SkyTrain.

 We need more SkyTrain

Published: April 07, 2011 11:00 PM

Editor: Malcolm Johnston (The Times, April 6) should not feel at liberty to speak for the entire South Fraser region.

Most important, before it spends public transit funds on such follies as light rail (LRT), TransLink should acknowledge that not only is SkyTrain probably the safest and basically most efficient mode of public transit, but it’s also the most ecologically friendly.

Indeed, I strongly believe, most public transit funding should go towards extending SkyTrain to wherever the potential utilization of its services warrant — such as to UBC.

Such transit is simply too convenient to be denied to regular public transit utilizers. You can often count on the exact minute, if not second, that it will arrive and leave. Furthermore, because it runs above and below the ground, SkyTrain, unlike the proposed non-automated LRT, does not hinder regular, fossil-fuel-powered vehicular movement.

There are plenty of naysayers who complain about the expense of SkyTrain. However, SkyTrain’s benefits far outweigh its expense.

Frank G. Sterle, Jr.,

White Rock

The SkyTrain guideway creates is an urban blight, which despite claims to the contrary, does hinder auto traffic.