The Surrey Rapid Transit May/June 2011 summary report (click on ‘What We Heard’ to get the report) is now available on the TransLink website. The month-long public consultation process included in-person workshops, a questionnaire and a webinar all focusing on the alternatives, trade-offs and designs for possible future transit in Surrey. There are a bunch of posts on both Phase 1 and 2 if you’d like to read and/or hear about the studies to date. Below is a snippet of some of the questionnaire results and comments received during the process. Of course, more detail is provided in the report.

Public consultation took place from May 26 to June 24, 2011, on the preliminary design assumptions and evaluation of the alternatives. Thousands of page views and almost 400 feedback questionnaires were submitted, and over 750 comments received. The following results were recorded:

• 63% did not feel there was need to add, move or remove a proposed station location
• 67% did not feel there was need to change the proposed alignment (that is, whether the alternative is at street level, the location on the street, in a tunnel or elevated)
• Providing sufficient space for station platforms and sidewalks were the highest priorities for how road space is shared among the different uses
• 67% agreed or strongly agreed with giving rapid transit priority at intersections; 17% disagreed or strongly disagreed and the rest were neutral
• 56% agreed or strongly agreed with the preliminary evaluation results, 16% disagreed or strongly disagreed and the rest were neutral

Phase 2 will finish up next year with a refinement of the alternative designs based on public input and a finalized evaluation. TransLink will be back out again next year for further discussions and public consultations. I’ll let you know more about future consultations once I know.

The UBC Line Rapid Transit March/April summary report (click on ‘What We Heard’ to get the report) is also available to download now. This was a very well-attended consultation process with a lot of feedback. Consultation was done in the form of workshops, a questionnaire and a webinar. Take a read of these posts for a backgrounder on the study and links to more information. Here are a few highlights from the report:

From March 30 to April 22, 2011, public consultation took place on the preliminary design assumptions and evaluation of the alternatives. There were fifteen-hundred feedback questionnaires received and many discussions during the workshops. The following results were recorded:

• Varying levels of agreement with the design assumptions for each of the seven alternatives
• Many agreed or strongly agreed with restricting left turns to facilitate rapid transit movement (47%), 37% disagreed or strongly disagreed and the rest were neutral
• Sidewalks was ranked the highest priority among the different road space uses by most people (45%)
• Most people agreed or strongly agreed with the preliminary evaluation results (62%), 10% disagreed or strongly disagreed and the rest were neutral

As with the Surrey Rapid Transit Study, the alternative UBC Line designs will be refined based on feedback given, and a finalized evaluation will be presented in early 2012. A big thanks to everyone who participated in these consultations! The feedback will help shape these potential projects and hopefully get more people using public transit in Metro Vancouver.