BCLocalNews.com – Fraser Valley Transit Study shows dated thinking about rail
Fraser Valley Transit Study shows dated thinking about rail
Published: December 29, 2010 2:00 PM
Updated: December 29, 2010 2:21 PM
The long awaited $400,000 Fraser Valley Transit StudyAi??Ai??has stale-dated by the September release of the independent Rail for The Valley/Leewood Interurban Report.
The RftV/Leewood gives actual costs forAi??Ai??a 21st centuryAi??Ai??Fraser Valley interurban and the building of an affordable TramTrain in three phases, costing less than $1 billion in total.
The RftV/Leewood Report showed that a phase oneAi??Ai??Scott Road Station to Chilliwack diesel LRT service could be had for under $500 million or just over $5 million per km, much cheaper than new highway construction.
Using established railAi??Ai??operations with similar characteristics, theAi??Ai??phase one diesel LRTAi??Ai??could be operated for under $10 million per annum.
The provincial study, with no foundationAi??Ai??of an actual rail line, was said to cost over $70 million per year to operate.
Really? Why is the cost of operating a rail service so high? Could it be that the author of the report wanted to please his paymasters, the provincial government in order to secure future work?
If the author of the study has got it so wrong with the annual operation costs (were they a mere guess?) for a rail service, then what else has he got wrong with the study?
The timing of the release of the study is key. Releasing the study a little over one week before Christmas, means the the provincial government wants to hide public comment of this anti-interurban report, while giving a foundation for Liberal premier wannabees to quote from, rejecting the Fraser Valley Interurban project.
It is simple old school politics.
Dated studies, combined with dated thinking and anti-LRT/interurban politicians equals transit paralysis in the Fraser Valley, for decades to come.
Malcolm Johnston
Rail For The Valley/Light Rail Committee
via BCLocalNews.com – Fraser Valley Transit Study shows dated thinking about rail.
