100 kilometres of SkyTrain line can cost as much as $9 billion but the same length of light rail can be done for as little as $800 million.
By Mike Chouinard
(Published in The Times (Chilliwack) on Tuesday, February 19, 2008.)
The solution to the transportation problems in the Fraser Valley and beyond will not come from high-priced rapid transit lines like SkyTrain.
That was the message at a forum of light rail advocates in Chilliwack Saturday afternoon.
The event was organized by a group called Rail for the Valley, which started last year. They brought in speakers for the forum, such as Malcolm Johnston of another group called the Light Rail Committee.
Johnston contrasted the experience this region has faced with expensive and disruptive rapid transit projects with that in cities such as Calgary, which has a light rail line.
"SkyTrain has huge operating costs that Calgary doesn't," he said.
He said SkyTrain can be effective for people who live and work close to the line, but for many it is not accessible. Johnston said ultimately consumer demand will settle the issue and he thinks the experience of many cities shows light rail is the path to take.
"Transit in the 21st century is a consumer-based product," he said.
Johnston pointed to statistics showing 100 kilometres of SkyTrain line can cost as much as $9 billion but the same length of light rail can be done for as little as $800 million - something he suggested TransLink, which governs transportation in the Vancouver region, was ignoring.
"Economy is not in TransLink's lexicon," he said.
Another speaker, Nathan Pachal of the Valley Transportation Advisory Committee agreed about the costs of the current system, adding it is leaving most people out of the loop.
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