As part of the planning process towards the 2037 Master plan Vancouver International Airport is holding an Open House today-Wednesday October 12, 2016 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the Observation Deck of the Domestic Terminal Building. The airport has been located on Sea Island in Richmond since 1929 and is 12 kilometers from downtown and on the Canada Line.
There are six areas that the new Master plan will address:
- Terminals – An update about YVR’s extensive study to assess potential options for terminal expansion at the airport, including the rationale and analysis used to select the recommended option.
- Airside/Airspace – Options are provided for the future of YVR’s airside and airspace operations.
- Ground Access – An overview of current ground access at YVR and potential options to improve future ground access for YVR passengers, businesses, goods movement and Sea Island employees.
- Environment – Information about YVR’s Environmental Management Plan and our priorities designed to maintain an environmentally sustainable airport.
- Amenities – A description of YVR’s current amenities offered on Sea Island and an overview of potential future amenity investments.
- Land Use – An overview of land areas and their designated uses
Open House
- Location: Vancouver International Airport, Domestic Terminal Building, Observation Deck
- Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2016
- Time: 4p.m. to 8p.m. (Drop In)
Pre-registration is not required for this event.
- Email: yvr2037@yvr.ca
I forget the source (possibly the Globe & Mail), but the feds are said to be considering putting major assets on the block and using the revenue from sales to fund key projects. One idea was to sell Canada’s airport infrastructure to the private sector, leasing back only the spaces and facilities they actually use (i.e. CBS, air traffic control, etc.), then putting much of the money in transit and other initiatives, and avoiding increasing the national debt.
To those who pay attention to reports documenting the history, geological capacity limits and price variations of world fossil fuel resources, this is a most interesting idea. It’s also interesting to urbanists who look at how energy underpins all aspects of city life, and how the world economy is controlled by the laws of physics, not just by a cabal of banker conspirators with political connections (place tongue in cheek here).
Right now there is a glut, and the price of fossil fuels is low, relatively speaking. To gauge the future of transportation only on today’s circumstances, especially air travel, would be foolhardy. This is why the fed’s move could prove wise and prescient. They’d be getting out before the price of fuel rises dramatically in the early 2020s when US shale is expected to end the glut through serious depletion, causing a recession, then a price crash, only to rise / crash again in repeat cycles.
The fuel surcharges on flights are bound to increase and knock down the number of people flying and affect the justification for airport expansion. The only thing that can be predicted with a degree of exactitude is the overall upward trend of prices in a jagged line while cheaper conventional oil resources deplete further, leaving the expensive hard-to-get sources (deep sea, oil sands, shale …).
This is one eventuality that makes city building and intercity travel so interesting today. Building cleaner electricity-based transportation, energy systems and compact, walkable and transit-oriented communities makes a lot of sense today. But tomorrow it will be absolutely essential.