Independent film maker Damien Gillis has just released a mini-doc that exposes one of the weakest arguments of the provincial government’s Gateway Project – namely that we need to wait six years before bus service can be restored to the Port Mann Bridge.
Hear Eric Doherty and Stephen Rees of the Livable Region Coalition tell us how by using a queue-jumper lane we could put buses over the bridge tomorrow. As Campbell continues to take heat over the conflict between his GHG reduction goals and Gateway, this issue threatens to add more fuel to the fire. The video takes a close look at comments by the key players in Gateway, exposing some of the faulty logic and misrepresentations they rely on to perpetuate the myth that better transit requires more bridges and roads…and that said motor vehicle infrastructure somehow benefits the environment.
The Youtube video is here.
that is a nice video but….
i understand everybody is all concerned about GHG but i think its becoming the next nimby rant. soon 1/2 million people will be living is surrey (plus more beyond) and we got two lanes coming into vancouver. and these people need to travel not only to coquitlam but to new west, richmond, burnaby.
I can not see queue buses as the answer. First, commuters have to get to these buses. as everybody knows, generally surrey is a mass sprawl which makes buses seem extremely inefficient to the user. how would people living around newton, scott road, cloverdale or white rock access a queue jumping bus? and how exactly will the bus access the highway. sure, there are one or two roads with parking but the overpass and gilford is a mess as well.
second, what about those large trucks? they still need to cross the bridge.
to ensure proper transportation in the region, i think a lot more than a new bridge will solve the problem. surrey needs to be totally redesigned with much heavier emphasis on heavier rapid transit (ie skytrain) (but not tied in with any bridge because i think between competing infrastructures, the car will always win in surrey). nevertheless, i’m sure the costs would be billions.
and regarding GHG, its just a selling point. the average joes really are not thinking about it when they jump in their car in the morning and head off to work. they just want to get there faster. the only people complaining about this are the people in newwest, burnaby (where i live) and vancouver who are scared of more traffic (which is of course is totally understandable)
Even in Vancouver a lot of people use their cars when good transit is readily available. Case in point – Cambie businesses that heavily rely on curbside parking for customers. Likewise, South Granville businesses screamed when the original plans for the 99 B-Line removed curbside parking. Those parking spaces aren’t reserved for out-of-town customers.
I always wonder if condo-hucksters like Bob Rennie are the ones leading the anti-Gateway movement. Houses cost more than $700,000. Condos are $500,000. The only people who can afford Vancouver have no kids, or make a lot more than $60,000. To state it another way, the people who are against it don’t seem to have anything in common with the average family. I’d love to see the demographic make up of Vancouver’s city planning department.
Them telling me to buy a home in Vancouver so that I don’t have to cross a bridge is like telling a peasant in China to stop working in factories that pollute. Great utopian idea, but not remotely possible. Give me a real solution. $1000 per sqft of ecodensity in SE False Creek is not an answer.
I always hear the analogy that twinning the Port Mann is like having a fat man let his belt out a notch. I have a different analogy. Not twinning the Port Mann is like keeping your growing teenager in baby clothes because you liked it more when he was cute and cuddly.
The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that we need better transit for the South of Fraser region. Regardless of whether twinning and highway expansion occur, we still need to spend money on buses and rail service. The TransLink South of Fraser Transit Plan is nearing completion. Information sessions are being held starting Nov. 7 in Surrey, Delta and Langley. Let’s hope that TransLink gets enough funding to implement it.
Why hasn’t Doherty presented his queue jumper plan to Surrey City Council? Is that because it’s intended for consumption in Vancouver and Burnaby?