Evergreen Line extension station names announced

Have you been wondering what the new station names along the Evergreen Line extension project are going to be called? Well, we’re excited to tell you the names were just released this weekend and they are:

• Lougheed Town Centre Station
• Burquitlam Station
• Moody Centre Station
• Inlet Centre Station
• Coquitlam Central Station
• Lincoln Station
• Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station

The line will provide a valuable transit link for Metro Vancouver residents when it opens in summer 2016. As TransLink’s CEO, Ian Jarvis said, “The Evergreen Line SkyTrain extension is a much needed link in the region’s transportation network and will be part of our communities for generations.”

To find out more, including a construction schedule for the next twelve months, check out the full news release, the Province’s Evergreen Line site or TransLink’s Evergreen Line page. There’s also a photo gallery from the announcement on Facebook!

Funding for the project is a partnership between the Government of Canada, the government of British Columbia and TransLink. TransLink will be responsible for operation and asset management of the Evergreen extension when it opens.

TransLink 101: keeping our system in a state of good repair

For February 2013, we’re going back to basics with TransLink 101—explaining TransLink and its work!

SkyTrain, by Michelle Lee

As you travel around on the transportation network, have you ever thought about just what’s needed to keep the system running safely, efficiently and reliably — also known as a “state of good repair“?

Right now, TransLink has an estimated $10.2 billion worth of assets and infrastructure – from buses and trains to radio towers across the region that support the communication systems on our buses. And because they form the backbone of  a transportation system used by hundreds of thousands of people very day, keeping them in a state of good repair is crucial.

So while people often talk about transportation expansion to meet the growing needs of the region, we also have to make sure we keep our existing assets in a state of good repair so we can extend the life of the system already in place today.

In 2012 we conducted an in-depth asset inventory and analysis to understand what’s needed to keep our transportation assets in a state of good repair, today and over the next few decades.

To help us better understand the process, why we did it, and why it’s so important, I sat down with Dave Beckley, TransLink’s Vice President of Engineering and Implementation.

Read more »

Cathy McLay, TransLink CFO, answers your questions about the 2013 supplement

Cathy McLay, TransLink’s Chief Financial Officer!

Earlier this week, we asked readers to submit questions about our 2013 draft supplemental plan and TransLink’s Chief Financial Officer Cathy McLay would provide answers.

We received a few questions, and here they are, along with Cathy’s responses!

[March 11, 2013: These have been updated with answers to all the questions we received.]

How will this supplemental plan impact TransLink’s operations and services?

Through operational efficiencies, and drawing on the cumulative surplus, TransLink is able to deliver the same service in 2013 and 2014 that was identified in the 2013 Base Plan.

What did TransLink do to improve your financial position since October 2012?

We’ve aggressively implemented some efficiencies earlier than planned. For example, shifting from conventional buses to community shuttles in less productive areas to reduce costs, reducing layover times on bus routes, reducing overtime costs, not filling vacancies, restructuring and streamlining operations, and not accessing the contingency fund.

Are you using your contingency reserve to absorb the shortfall in funding?

Even though TransLink has made great progress on improved revenues and cost efficiencies, the supplemental plan relies on drawing $3.3 million of TransLink’s cumulative reserve.

What is TransLink’s overall credit rating? Does the 2013 supplemental plan incorporate any possible downgrades to the organization’s credit rating? I ask about downgrades in the light of the funding difficulties.

TransLink’s credit ratings are AA-Stable with DBRS and AA2-Stable with Moody’s . We do not anticipate a downgrade with either rating agency and our plan is reflective of this. We do not believe that a downgrade would be warranted, as TransLink does not increase services or capital investments unless it has the identified funding to maintain the operating cost or debt repayments for our commitments. Generally speaking, TransLink revenues are diversified (multiple steams of revenue) and are fairly predictable. Our financial policies restrict TransLink to drawing down our reserves to a minimal level in order to weather economic shocks.

Do the numbers for 2013 include the impact of any possible decline in ridership due to the January 1, 2013 fare increases?

The plan includes price elasticity for ridership, which was also included in the 2013 Base Plan.

The trend in future will be to have more service hours through the use of community shuttles rather than conventional vehicles. If the cost per service hour is less with a smaller vehicle, shouldn’t that allow TransLink to operate more service hours overall in the region while keeping costs constant?

We manage to multiple priorities, looking at the best way to provide the committed service at the lowest possible cost, while managing overall risks. If there is a financial surplus, the organization looks to the most cost-effective ways to meet TransLink’s overall mandate.

Some routes are seriously overcrowded right now. Why doesn’t TransLink draw down on its cash reserves to operate more service hours?

Like all businesses, TransLink must manage its risks and be fiscally responsible. The reserves are intended to manage unforeseen economic shocks. However, we are drawing on the reserves in order not to be in a position to cut services.

The UBC and Surrey Rapid Transit studies have just been released. There doesn’t appear to be any financial planning for these future lines. Why is that given ten years of future comparative numbers are provided?

Our plans include only the services for which we have identified and committed funds. Once funding is identified and committed to these projects, our plans would be refreshed to reflect both the revenue commitment and the matching capital and operating expenditures.

If you have any other questions, ask them here in the comments and, as always, we’ll sleuth out the answer for you!

Remember, consultation on the 2013 supplement is open until March 15: give us your feedback on the plan, then we’ll incorporate it and present it to the Mayors’ Council later this month. (It’s up to the mayors then to decide whether to approve or not.)

Thanks again to everyone who participated with their questions!

Help wanted: volunteer to advise the Northeast Sector Area Transit Plan

Out for a stroll in Port Moody. She could be on our Public Advisory Committee!

Are you interested in transit in your community? And do you live, work, or study, in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Belcarra, or Anmore?

Well, TransLink needs your help!

We’re looking for people to sit on a new Public Advisory Committee (PAC), to provide community perspective into our newly-launched Northeast Sector Area Transit Plan process.

If you’re interested, there’s more info and an application form over at translink.ca/nesatp. Applications, submitted online or through the mail, are due March 18, 2013.

What’s an area transit plan?

TransLink’s area transit plans identify long-term visions and near-term priorities for an area’s transit network and are undertaken for seven areas within Metro Vancouver.

The plans consider community input, current and projected land use and growth and transportation-related data findings, such as automated passenger counts. The Northeast Sector Area Transit Plan will coordinate transit planning with municipal land use planning while considering the future of the area.

Stakeholders and the public will have a variety of opportunities to provide feedback during the 18-month process, including through public consultation events and online surveys.

Check out the Area Transit Plan program overview page for more detail!

Questions about our 2013 supplement? Ask TransLink’s CFO!

Cathy McLay, TransLink’s Chief Financial Officer!

Last week, we announced our 2013 draft supplemental plan, which proposes removing a time-limited property tax from TransLink’s funding.

And this week, we’d like to offer the opportunity to ask our Chief Financial Officer Cathy McLay your questions about the supplement!

Ask and ye shall receive the answers in a special Buzzer blog post on Friday, March 8, 2013.

Feel free to submit your questions between now and Friday via:

• the comments below,
• via email to thebuzzer@translink.ca
• or via Twitter to @thebuzzer

We’ll round them up and get Cathy to answer as many of them as possible on Friday! Now go on: ask away!

Service optimization 2013: your feedback helps move bus changes forward

A snap from one of our service optimization consultations in fall 2012.

Heads up: after a ton of consultation, we’ve now finalized plans for bus service changes slated for late 2013.

You can now download the full report that details our updated plans for major bus route changes in 2013, and summarizes the public feedback!

Here’s a quick recap of what we’re talking about:

• Service optimization is the ongoing TransLink program looking at how to make the best use of our transit resources, guided by 10 principles confirmed by the public.
• For optimization in 2013, TransLink staff proposed changes to 34 bus routes across the region.
• We did extensive public consultation on our proposals from November-December 2012. (11 open houses! Online questionnaire! More than 800 comments received!)
• Based on this feedback, we’ve modified some of our proposals and confirmed the others.
• And on Monday Feb 25, we’ve posted our Consultation Summary report at translink.ca/serviceop2013, which details our updated plans for bus route changes, and summarizes public feedback.

Not in place until late 2013/early 2014, and changes vs cuts

Now all caps for the important bit: THESE CHANGES ARE NOT SLATED TO TAKE PLACE UNTIL LATE 2013/EARLY 2014! They likely won’t go ahead until December 2013 at the earliest, given the time needed to get bus stops and vehicles in place and allow for more detailed planning and scheduling.

And another all caps: THESE ARE BUS CHANGES, NOT CUTS. These changes don’t reduce the overall transit service hours in the region—instead, they reallocate the hours to better match where people are travelling. Put another way: there are reductions of some services, but in most cases they are matched by reinvestments of service in the same area (or a redesign of the services to better match the area).

Your feedback spurs revised proposals

Most of our proposed changes went over quite well, but a few drew a significant response.

So we’ve revised several proposals based on public feedback, including:

• C1/C2 – a revised proposal was developed in consultation with community groups in Burnaby Heights, retaining the current route and reducing frequencies during off-peak periods only [link to revised proposal PDF (will be under Burnaby arrow on service op page)]
• 211 – based on the range of concerns raised over the proposed removal of the Fairway Drive loop, we will be retaining the existing route instead
• C48 & C49 – a revised proposal was created to ensure service coverage in Thornhill, Ruskin and Whonnock is maintained, leaving the C49 unchanged and improving the usefulness of the C48 with a connection to West Coast Express and extension via McClure Drive in Albion [link to revised proposal PDF (will be under Maple Ridge arrow on service op page)]

Again, you can see all the details over at translink.ca/serviceop2013!

Thank you

Finally, we’d like to give a huge shout-out to everyone who participated in the service optimization process. Your contributions help us build real transit solutions that work for our communities!

And we’re happy to say that so far, service optimization has been returning successful results. In 2011, the program helped TransLink provide 14 million new rides without added investment in service, increasing bus productivity by 3.1 per cent and generating a 5.5 per cent increase in transit revenue.

Feel free to leave any questions or followups in the comments!

A check in on the 2013 bus service optimization consultation process

Caitlin gave us her feedback. Will you? Click the picture to see a larger version.

It’s the halfway point of the 2013 bus service optimization consultation. We thought we’d check in with one of the organizers of the open house events and the online questionnaire to see how it’s all going.

I sat down with Peter Klitz, a senior planner in TransLink’s Service Planning group, who gave me the low down on the feedback we’re hearing, some thoughts on the subject of optimization and the topics people are asking about.

Generally well received

Overall, Peter says the five in-person consultations thus far have been well received in most of the communities we’ve visited. Roughly 30 people on average have attended each open house so far, and there have been roughly 250 online questionnaires filled so far. TransLink’s meetings with two city councils and a few community groups have also been well received.

Optimization is not a substitute for area transit plans

Peter and his team have also been monitoring the comments on this subject here on the blog. He says he finds some of the comments refer to the changes not going far enough or being big enough in scope. To those comments Peter says,

“The process through which we optimize service is not meant to replace the area transit plan process. Area transit plans takes a look at the overall longer-term needs of a sub-region where you look at opportunities to significantly restructure the network. Through that process we look at the tradeoffs and benefits of making more significant changes to how the network functions.”

In other words, area transit plans are more macro in planning scale, while optimization is more micro in scale and looks for ways to fine tune and make existing services more effective and more useful to a greater number of people.

Some concerns and some great ideas

Peter told me that because of the scale and nature of the service changes in the northeast sector of Metro Vancouver, particularly the Coquitlam area, we have received a number of comments from residents – which is not unexpected.  Some people are concerned they might have to walk a bit farther or make a connection between services.  There’s also been some concern about the impact on local community shuttle services when conventional buses are discontinued or converted to minibus.

In response to these concerns, Peter told me that the Service Planning team is gathering all the input we receive and investigating the feasibility of modify some of the proposals to mitigate the possible impacts of these changes. Peter noted one example which came up through consultation, which is best put in his words:

“There’s a proposed change to the service of the C24. We had a gentleman tell us that this change would remove service from a section of North Road where there is a fairly wide gab between 97 B-Line stops. The resident suggested adding a stop to the 97 B-Line stop to mitigate that impact to service. Not a bad idea!!  It’s a change that’s very possible for us to do and it’s something that we hadn’t necessarily thought of.”

With five more open houses remaining for members of the public to take advantage of, Peter told me why he thinks people who are interested in transit in Metro Vancouver should take advantage of these opportunities,

“If you like the proposed changes, or don’t like these changes, or if you have some ideas on how to modify them in order to reduce impact on riders, let us know. As planners, we’re not saying we have all the answers. A good idea can come from anywhere or anyone.”

For more information on this consultation or to take the online questionnaire you’ll want to go here. For easy reference, here’s the list of the last five open houses:

December 4 – 5pm – 7:30pm – Aldergrove Community Secondary School, Small gym, 26850 29th Avenue, Aldergrove

December 5 – 4pm – 7:30pm – Pitt Meadows Family Recreation Centre, Lobby, 12027 Harris Road, Pitt Meadows

December 6 – 4pm – 7:30pm – The ACT Arts Centre & Theatre, 11944 Haney Place, Maple Ridge

December 11 – 4pm – 7:30pm – West Vancouver Memorial Library, Welsh Hall, 1950 Marine Dr  West Vancouver

December 12 – 5pm – 7:30 – Gilmore Community School Gym, 50 South Gilmore Avenue, Burnaby

Broadway rapid transit: the view from TransLink

A lineup for the 99 B-Line.

As you may know, there’s been much discussion about rapid transit along Broadway to UBC in the news today!

That’s because the City of Vancouver staff made a presentation recommending endorsing a subway out to UBC along the Broadway corridor yesterday. There’s been an ensuing discussion about what the right technology is and what UBC would also like, and that’s triggered a great number of articles like the ones here: CKWX, Globe and Mail 1, Globe and Mail 2, Vancouver Courier, Metro, Vancouver Sun, Georgia Straight, and 24 Hours. (And blog posts: Stephen Rees, Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs.)

The view from TransLink

All this aside, from TransLink’s side, we’re well aware that rapid transit is needed on Broadway to meet their immense demand.

However, we’re also conscious that cities in Metro Vancouver are eager to make investments all across the region to help meet their transportation needs. In 2013, we’re planning to facilitate a regional dialogue to figure out those investment needs and tradeoffs. (The process will help develop the sequel to our Transport 2040 long range plan!)

And as well, we are in the process of finishing the UBC Line Rapid Transit Study, a study that identified and evaluated a range of options for rapid transit on Broadway. (We’re also finishing a simultaneous study in Surrey.)

When the studies are concluded by early 2013, we will have a better understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs of different solutions that have been evaluated and consulted on publicly. Please do look at the UBC Line Rapid Transit Study site, or the Buzzer’s past UBC Line study posts!

For those studies, both TransLink and the Province of BC have been jointly looking at the rapid transit options, in close partnership with agencies including the City of Vancouver and UBC, among others. And their perspectives will be valuable input into the coming regional dialogue about transportation investment needs.

I’ve also pasted the image below of all seven options that are being considered as part of the UBC Line Rapid Transit Study, for those interested:

The full range of options being considered for the UBC Line along the Broadway corridor.

Proposed changes to UBC community shuttle routes: have your say online or at the open house!

Have your say about proposed changes to the C20 and C22 routes on the UBC campus

As we mentioned last week, we’re in the midst of public consultation on 2013 bus service optimization. Two of the bus routes that we’re looking at  are the C20 and C22, community shuttle routes that serve the UBC campus.

See the detailed proposals, then attend the open house, or complete the online questionnaire

UBC and TransLink are working to improve existing service on the two community shuttle routes that provide bus service to the UBC campus.

The proposed changes include a possible route change to the C20, and shifting some service from the C22 (a lower-demand route) to the C20 (a higher-demand route). You can read the details at UBC Campus and Community Planning.

There’s a public open house scheduled for Monday, November 26, where you can come and talk to UBC and TransLink transportation planners about the proposed changes and give your input. Here are the details:

Open House: Monday, Nov. 26, 2012
Affected Routes: C20, C22
Time: 4 – 7 p.m.
Venue: Thunderbird Arena, Main Concourse
Address: 6066 Thunderbird Boulevard, Main entrance on Wesbrook Mall

If you can’t make it to the open house, do not despair. After you’ve read about the changes, fill out the online survey. It opened today and will be open until Sunday, December 2.

Feel free to share any questions below and we’ll get answers for you!

Full details of proposed 2013 bus service optimization changes are now online: send us your feedback, or come to an open house!

See the detailed proposals and complete the online questionnaire

Service optimization helped us do more with less in 2011. Click for a larger version!

Hey hey: the full details of our proposed 2013 bus service optimization changes are now online!

To see PDF diagrams of each proposed service change, just visit the Service Optimization consultation page, and click the name of each consultation date.

Then once you’ve had a look, click the Take the Questionnaire button on the same page and give us your feedback!

First three open houses are this week!

As mentioned two weeks ago, we’ve also scheduled a series of open houses around the region where you can come talk optimization in person. Here’s the details for this week’s events:

Nov. 20, 2012 – Vancouver
Affected Routes: 2, 22, C21, C23
Time: 4 – 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre – Room B
Address: 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver, V6Z 2W3

Nov. 21, 2012 – Coquitlam
Affected Routes: C24, C29, C30, C38, 153, 159, 177, 179, 189
Time: 4 – 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Evergreen Cultural Centre – Studio Theatre
Address: 1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam, V3B 7Y3

Nov 22, 2012 – New Westminster
Affected Routes: 101, 154, C98, C99
Time: 4 – 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Royal City Centre – Community Room
Address: 610 6th St., New Westminster, V3L 5V1

Seven more open houses are planned: here’s the full list of dates and venues.

Feel free to share any questions below and we’ll get answers for you!

Service optimization consultation starts November 19, 2012

If you picked up the November issue of the Buzzer, you’ll already know that we’re going to start consulting with the public about service optimization in mid-November–November 19 to be specific.

What’s service optimization? In short, it’s part of our ongoing program of managing the transit network by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the network and reallocating services from unproductive routes to where there is more demand. But don’t take my word for it, check out this video of Peter Klitz, a senior planner in TransLink’s Service Planning group. For a more detailed and thorough description of what service optimization is, read our interview with Brian Mills, TransLink’s director of service and infrastructure planning.

November 20 – 4pm – 7:30pm  – Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Room B, 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver

November 21 – 4pm – 7:30pm  – Evergreen Cultural Centre, Studio Theatre, 1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam

November 22 – 4pm – 7:30pm – Royal City Centre, Community Room, 610 6th Street  New Westminster

November 28 – 4pm – 7:30pm – Surrey City Central Library, Meeting Room 120, 10350 University Drive, Surrey

November 29 – 4pm – 7:30pm – Mollie Nye House, 940 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver

December 4 – 5pm – 7:30pm – Aldergrove Community Secondary School, Small gym, 26850 29th Avenue, Aldergrove

December 5 – 4pm – 7:30pm – Pitt Meadows Family Recreation Centre, Lobby, 12027 Harris Road, Pitt Meadows

December 6 – 4pm – 7:30pm – The ACT Arts Centre & Theatre, 11944 Haney Place, Maple Ridge

December 11 – 4pm – 7:30pm – West Vancouver Memorial Library, Welsh Hall, 1950 Marine Dr  West Vancouver

December 12 – 5pm – 7:30 – Gilmore Community School Gym, 50 South Gilmore Avenue, Burnaby

The service changes resulting from this consultation are expected to happen in mid-to late-2013. And remember, there will still be the usual quarterly service changes happening this December, which are not part of this consultation.

So, mark the date of your local event in your calendar, and visit the service optimization page to let TransLink know what you think of the proposed changes for next year!

Cycling is at its highest levels yet in Metro Vancouver: more insight from our trip diary survey

Cycling trips and bike mode share in Metro Vancouver, 2011

As Bike to Work Week kicks off this week, we’ve got a plethora of cycling stats for you from the 2011 TransLink trip diary survey.

(As you might remember from last week’s post about popular modes of travel in the region: we do a trip diary survey with over 22,000 households in our region every three to four years, building “snapshot” of a day of Metro Vancouver transportation. We’ve been analyzing the results of the 2011 trip diary now, and we wanted to share what we’re learning about the region with you over the coming weeks and months!)

It turns out cycling is at its highest levels yet in Metro Vancouver, making up 1.8 per cent of trips in the region. That’s 106,500 trips per day, with 55% to and from work!

Again, our press release has the highlights:

The number of bike trips has grown faster than the Metro Vancouver population

• The total number of bike-only trips increased 26 per cent between 2008 and 2011, from 84,300 to 106,500; while the regional population increased 5.8 per cent from 2,186,200 to 2,313,000. Notably, the number of bike trips in the City of Vancouver increased by 35%
• 55% of bike trips were to and from work

Bikes are integrating into the transportation network

As well as the 106,500 daily bike trips, another 6,200 bike trips were combined with other transportation modes:
• 65% connecting with transit
• 18% connected with a car as the driver
• 13% connected with a car as the passenger

Cyclists are making use of TransLink’s integration of cycling into the overall system:
• All buses are equipped with bike racks
• Bikes may be brought onto SkyTrain or West Coast Express (with restrictions as to the number of bikes per car and time of day)
• Lockers available at most SkyTrain stations and many park-and-ride facilities

Who cycles?

• 75% of people who bike are between the ages of 25 & 64; that age group makes up 62% of the general population
• Men are still more likely than women to ride: 71% of cyclists are men
• Experience with other cities shows women are more likely to ride bikes where there are networks of traffic-protected bikeways.

Region-wide, there were 4.9 bike trips per 100 residents per day.

• Vancouver (combined with University Endowment Lands) had the highest rate of bike use: 12.1 trips per 100 residents, with the heaviest concentration of bike use along the Broadway Corridor
• Richmond/Delta: 3.4 trips per hundred
• North Shore: 2.8
• Burnaby/New Westminster: 2.6
• Langley/Surrey/White Rock: 1.7
• Northeast Sector: 1.7

It’s great to see an upward trend, but there is definitely still lots of potential! The region’s long-term vision, as outlined in the Regional Cycling Strategy, is a 10% cycling mode share by 2040—the trip diary notes that 22% of motorized trips were shorter than 5 km, and many of these trips could be converted to bicycle trips. And TransLink market research from 2010 indicates that nearly 50% of people in the region cycle sometimes, with 25% of people cycling at least once week in at least one season and another 22% cycling at least once a year.

The full briefing paper and graphs for sharing

As always, for all the details, download this in-depth briefing paper, which shares the analysis we’ve done regarding regional mode share based on the trip diary results. You can also see (and share!) these spiffy graphs developed from the info below. (Click to enlarge each one!)

It’s again very useful to know how our region’s doing, especially as we’ll be discussing our 30-year long-range transportation plan in the coming year or so. Feel free to ask us any questions!

More trips in Metro Vancouver, and more bike and take transit: initial findings from our 2011 trip diary survey

People in Metro Vancouver are taking more trips in a day, and are more often choosing transit and cycling. So says the early results from our 2011 Trip Diary survey!

Guess what? In 2011, more people were taking trips around the region, but more and more are taking transit and cycling. Those are just some initial conclusions from our 2011 Trip Diary survey that we’re able to share today!

The trip diary, which draws data from over 22,000 households in our region, is a survey we do every three to four years to get a “snapshot” of a day of Metro Vancouver transportation. We’ve been analyzing the results of the 2011 trip diary now, and we wanted to share what we’re learning about the region with you over the coming weeks and months!

The first set of analysis we have is about regional mode share—or how popular each method of transportation is in our region. Here are some of the highlights we pointed out in our press release today:

People in Metro Vancouver are choosing sustainable transportation for more of their trips, but cars still account for the majority

• Transit use as a proportion of all trips increased to 14 per cent in 2011 from 13 per cent in 2008 — there was a 17 per cent increase in the total number of trips taken on transit. While transit mode share is 14 per cent, the survey found that 19 per cent of people used transit on any one day and 52 per cent used transit in the past month.
• Cycling trips accounted for 1.8 per cent of all trips – its highest region-wide mode share yet, and a 26 per cent increase since 2008.
• Trips taken by walking stayed at 11 per cent.
• The share of people using cars for their trips is down from 2008, but cars still account for the majority of trips: 57 per cent by drivers and 16 per cent by passengers (from 58 per cent and 17 per cent respectively).

Demand for transportation continues to grow – there are more people making trips and individuals are making slightly more trips

• A total of 6.1 million trips were taken on a typical fall weekday last year – 5.9 per cent more than in 2008, slightly higher than the increase in the region’s population (5.8 per cent) over that time.
• People are making more trips per day – 2.77 trips, versus 2.70 in 2008.
• People in their 40s had the highest average number of daily trips – 3.5 for women, 3.1 for men; likely due to increased family activities at that time of life.

It’s a positive trend, but it’s still a long way to go to achieve the region’s long-term transportation goals (outlined here in Transport 2040).

The full briefing paper and graphs for sharing

For all the details, download this in-depth briefing paper, which shares the analysis we’ve done regarding regional mode share based on the trip diary results. You can also see (and share!) these spiffy graphs developed from the info below. (Click to enlarge each one!)

It’s all very useful to know how our region’s doing, especially as we’ll be discussing our 30-year long-range transportation plan in the coming year or so. Feel free to ask us any questions!

Notes from the SFU City Conversation about TransLink funding

The SFU City Conversation panel discussion on transit funding in Metro Vancouver.

As previously mentioned, I attended the SFU City Conversations talk today called “Out of Service: The Future For TransLink?” And here are my notes from the event, in case you were wondering what happened! (Corrections welcome, of course: I was just taking notes and could certainly have misheard things.)

First, there were three speakers on the panel, and each made a short presentation before the floor was opened up to questions and thoughts from the public. They were:

• Nancy Olewiler, chair of the TransLink Board
• Anne McMullin, President and CEO of the Urban Development Institute, Pacific Region
• Tanya Paz, representing new advocacy groups Get On Board and the Sustainable Transportation Coalition

Speaker presentations

Nancy gave a presentation about TransLink’s transportation plan for 2013 and the funding challenges we currently face with declining gas tax revenue. Rather than rehashing the whole thing, I’ll just direct you to our website which covers the same material!

Anne McMullin spoke about development and land use as it relates to transit. She noted that rarely do people talk about transit opportunities with higher densities, and said that the UDI believes population growth should be focused in places with transit infrastructure. There’s a need to remove obstacles to developing near existing transit, and infill development must be made more appealing to build than developments on the outskirts of cities. Each person who lives near a SkyTrain station provides TransLink with more revenue with little to no cost on the system. She discussed how transit is now a key item for homeowners choosing a place to live, but municipal taxation often isn’t going to improve transit or connect people better to transit.

Read more »

SFU City Conversations talk about TransLink funding, Thu Oct 4

Hey! Sorry for the short notice, but SFU is holding a City Conversations lunchtime talk tomorrow about transit funding that might be of interest to you and yours.

Out of Service: The Future For TransLink?

When: October 4, 2012
Time: 12:30-1:30 pm
Location: SFU Vancouver, Harbour Centre, Room 1900

Except for funding the Evergreen Line and some bus service when the new Port Mann Bridge opens, TransLink has no money to meet growing transit demand. So, now that we’ve widened our freeway and built the world’s widest bridge– copying the Los Angeles strategy of the past 60 years– where’s the money for transit?

The provincial government says not here, the Mayors Council says not from property taxes if the province doesn’t chip in, gas taxes are down, and on and on. Thus, no 300,000 hours of expanded bus service, no frequent bus service on Highway 1 except at rush hour, no expanded Seabus service, no B-Line service to White Rock on King George Highway, no bicycle programs or work on the Major Road Network. Even Los Angeles has stopped building freeways, now that its residents voted to tax themselves to build rapid rail lines, subways and fast bus routes.

Now comes the Lower Mainland reaction. Transit coalitions are forming. Cities are mobilizing. Business groups that called for more roads now call for more public transit.

To explore the possibilities, City Conversations has invited Nancy Olewiler, chair of the TransLink Board; Tanya Paz, representing new advocacy groups Get On Board and the Sustainable Transportation Coalition, and Anne McMullin, President and CEO of the Urban Development Institute, Pacific Region. Then it’s your turn to identify the needs and help define the strategies. Get on board!

A timely topic considering we’re discussing our transportation plan for 2013! Anyway, I’m planning to attend, and I’ll send some tweets and do a little wrapup post after the event. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Full details of the talk and more about the City Conversations program can be found on the SFU website here. Thanks to Gordon Price for the link!