Hear and See the History of the Interurban Tomorrow

Author and historian Henry Ewert will be lecturing on the history of the Interurban Line and will also be showing an extensive collection of photos chronicling the history of the line tomorrow afternoon.

Details:
Saturday, November 21 from 1pm-3pm
Douglas Recreation Centre
20550 Douglas Crescent, Langley

Big Frakking Parking Lot

If you missed the news yesterday, Langley is getting a $54.6 million, 1000 spot park and ride lot. It’s actually more than that:

Eastbound access from Highway 1 to the Park and Ride and Transit Exchange will be created, with underpass access on and off Highway 1 connecting to HOV lanes being extended as part of the Port Mann Bridge/Highway 1 project.
202nd Street will be extended to cross under Highway 1 and will permit Transit and

HOV vehicles access to Highway 1. This will also provide a new north/south transit connection from 200th St. to the Golden Ears Bridge. The Park and Ride will have room for approximately 1,000 vehicles.

This is welcome news for sure, and I’ve seen how successful park and ride lots can be in suburban areas (park and ride lots are very successful in Calgary), but Langley has bigger plans; it wants to be a truly urban, transit-friendly centre. For that to happen, we need to do two things to RapidBus to support this goal while we wait for light rail. First, the new Highway One RapidBus does not go down 200th Street into Langley City or into the depths of Walnut Grove. Transit service runs every 30mins down 200th and every hour in Walnut Grove today. We know that transit needs to run every 15 minutes or better for people to use it, so RapidBus needs to go down 200th Street and into Walnut Grove. Maybe we need two difference lines? Secondly, 80% of all trip in the South of the Fraser stay in the South of the Fraser. RapidBus goes along Highway One, which bypasses most of the urban areas in the South of the Fraser. Unless there is major chance to transit service, only the 388, 501/590, 595, and two community shuttle buses will tie into the RapidBus line on the south side of the river. All these buses run every 30mins of worse. Something will have to change unless this service is solely for people like me who commute into downtown Vancouver.

Anyway, it is great to see transit investment in Langley and I’m very happy.

Ottawa Approves Light Rail Trains

In a blow to Bus Rapid Transit and metro-style technology (like our SkyTrain), the City of Ottawa's transit committee has approved light rail trains. According to the Ottawa Citizen:

The city had also looked at metro-style rail technology, which is used in cities such as Montreal and Toronto.

However, those trains have higher floors that are difficult for some passengers to climb onto because a lot of the mechanics are under the train cars.

The heavier trains would also require expensive grade separation of the corridor and fencing off of the corridor in areas such as the Ottawa River Parkway.

GHG Emissions from 1990 to 2006 in Canada

I came across a very interesting report from Environment Canada called “Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions: understating the trends, 1990-2006.” The report is based on data from Statistics Canada in March 2008. I was pleasantly surprised to find that GHG emissions have seemed to peak in 2003, and we are starting to see a downward trend. Though as you can see from the following charts, we still have a long ways to go to get our GHG emissions under control.

Click Chart to Enlarge

Click Chart to Enlarge

We are 22% over 1990 GHG emission levels. Looking at the previous chart, you can see that our industrial processes are become more efficient which is a good thing, but there has been a large increase in GHG emission due to road transportation. If you look at the total absolute level of GHG emission fossil fuel industries are responsible for a full 49% of GHG emission increases, transportation 29%, and electricity at 17%. Alberta is responsible for 49% of GHG emission increases, following by Saskatchewan at 22%, Ontario at 13%, and BC at 10%. All other provinces account for 3% of all increases since 1990.

From LiveSmartBC

A full 15% of GHG emission increases are from passenger (not goods movement) transportation in Canada, building walkable transit-friendly communities with good public transit will help reduce GHG emission from transportation. As of last year, BC had one of the most progressive GHG reduction strategies in Canada. Sometimes I have to wonder how we are going to meet our goals.

Looking at the South of Fraser, we are building the South Fraser Perimeter Road, expanding Highway One, completed construction on the Golden Ears Bridge, Highway 10, Highway 15, and Fraser Highway. What major transit projects have we completed in that same time period in the South Fraser? Nothing...

Another area that BC will have to reconcile is GHG emissions and our Oil and Gas sector. The Province wants to expand this sector in a big way, but how it will reduce GHG emission at the same time? I don’t know. Alberta is responsible for almost half of Canada’s GHG emission increases since 1990 in large part from their Oil and Gas sector. How BC will be different than Alberta?

Finally in BC, 11% of GHG emissions are from residential and commercial building. You can read about BC’s Green Building Code at the government’s website which should help in a big way.

We are lucky to have hydroelectric generation in BC. GHG emissions from electrical generation account 2% of BC’s total. We must stay proactive in to ensure that we have "green" electrical generation for the future.

Liveability and the Township

Last night, Township of Langley Council heard from Urban Development Institute about development in the Township. One of the items brought up was that it can cost double to develop in the Township as opposed to other neighbouring municipalities. They identified that it is because the Township requires developer to pay for things like trails, bike lanes, parks, and amenities. They suggested that the Township reduce these developments costs. I actually think it’s a good idea that the Township maintains its development policy; charging higher fees to provide a better urban fabric. Also, Urban Development Institute noted the disconnection between transportation planning and Metro Vancouver’s regional plan. On that note, Township Council approved a report from Township Staff on Metro Vancouver’s updated Liveability Region Strategy. Since I last blogged about this topic, the latest draft of the plan designates the Carvolth area (200th and the Freeway) as industrial and mixed employment center. The Township would like to see the following and I would strong encourage Metro Vancouver to allow this:

The significant potential of the Township’s Carvolth area, which is strategically located around the 200 Street/Highway #1 Interchange, must be recognized in the regional plan. With the completion of the Golden Ears Bridge and TranLink’s plan to develop a major bus exchange and park and ride in the area, Carvolth is set to become a major centre for mixed use and transit-oriented development. It will offer residential, commercial, and office uses, and provide opportunities for different types of employment.

The Township still has some issues with the proposed Urban Containment Boundaries, Future Growth in Fernridge, and Sewer Servicing which you can read about on their website.

One of the major issues that needs to be addressed is the disconnect between our region’s growth plans and transportation plans. It is completely obvious that it is hard to build a mixed-use, transit friendly neighbourhood without transit, yet this is what we are being told to do currently. Maybe as part of TransLink 3.0, there should be a requirement to build transit service with mixed-use, transit friendly community as identified by our region…

November 10th 2009 SFOT Meeting with Port Metro Vancouver

As promised, though I had to journey from Langley City to Fort Langley to Walnut Grove to get a CD, I have uploaded the audio from our meeting last week with Peter Xotta from Port Metro Vancouver. You can download the audio and read the post about the meeting. Enjoy!

News Roundup

First we go for Quebec. In Montreal, they are spending $1.5 billion to reconstruct the Turcot Freeway Interchange. According to the CBC, "A report from Quebec's environmental board that slams renovation plans for a busy Montreal highway interchange doesn't offer enough suggestions to better promote 'mass transit,' the city says."

"At the very least, the Turcot project should be done to deal with mass transit and to deal with the whole question of how we can get people to convert from their cars into other means of transportation," DeSouza told CBC News on Thursday

Meanwhile in Calgary, it look like transit service will be cut according to the Calgary Herald.

After rapidly expanding service to meet a booming city's needs and encourage people to drive less, Calgary Transit is cutting back several routes in the city's hard-times budget for 2010.

"From a percentage point of view, it's not very big," Ald. Brian Pincott said.

"We've got to make sure we're providing service that allows regular Calgarians to get to work, especially in these times, and I want to make sure we're not harming that."

Back at home, the Vancouver Sun is demanding that the Province step up and fund transit properly in Metro Vancouver.

The management structure of TransLink does need fixing, as the comptroller-general suggests. We need a system that won't get so bogged down in regional squabbling over priorities. We may also be able to reduce administration costs. But those changes alone won't address the major challenge facing TransLink, the need for more general revenue.

That means looking for funding from senior levels of government. If that's not forthcoming, it means looking at some measures that won't be popular -- raising fares, higher fuel taxes, more tolls or congestion levies. One surprising finding in the comptroller-general's report is that the transit portion of property and utility taxes collected in Vancouver is the lowest of any of Canada's major cities.

Finally in the Toronto Star "Making a case for toll roads":

Should we put tolls on existing roads in the Greater Toronto Area?

The case for tolls, or "congestion charges," was strengthened this week by a report from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report makes a compelling argument for tolls as an effective tool for regulating traffic congestion, cutting air pollution and funding public transit.

According to the OECD, tolls elsewhere have successfully reduced congestion – by levels ranging up to 22 per cent in Stockholm – and also cut carbon dioxide emissions.

SFOT Meeting with Port of Vancouver

We had a great meeting on Tuesday evening with Peter Xotta from Port Metro Vancouver. Peter is the Vice President of Planning and Development for the Port. I would encourage you to download the audio from our meeting, but I want to highlight some of the information I learned.

Nathan Pachal, Councillor Grant Ward, Bill Taylor, Peter Xotta

One of the larger changes happening at the Port is the way that they interact with the community. As a federal organization, the Port has the ability to ignore municipal zoning and not pay property taxes. The Port does pay something called a PILT (Payment in Lieu of Tax) amounting to $6 million annually to municipalities in which the Port owns property. Though the Port has the ability to ignore the community in which it operates, the Port is now starting to consult with communities; realizing the importance of partnering with, and listening to the concerns of, our region. To that end they are making a real effort to reach out. The Port is working on something called PMV 2050 which is their long range master plan for the Port and our region. They are also working on plans to improve air quality, deal with truck traffic, noise, and reduce their environmental footprint. I was told that by 2011 their long term plan should be complete. Some of the exciting sustainability initiatives that have happened recently are the addition of shore power for cruise ships to reduce GHG emissions when they are in port. Also, the Port has a tiered fee system for ships that use the port facilities. Ships that use cleaner fuel, pay lower fees. Right now about 30 to 35% of the ships are paying the lower dues, so there is lots of room for this program to grow. Also, the Port is taking a serious look at short sea shipping (running ships up the Fraser River) and rail shuttling to reduce truck traffic.

On the topic of Rail, the Port sees rail as very important for the future sustainability of commercial trade. As part of their new model of working together with all levels of government, the Port (with other organizations) has been working to improve rail in the region, the Roberts Bank Corridor Project being one example. The Robert Bank Corridor has been a bit controversial in Langley as many people would like to see the trains gone from Langley. I asked why trains couldn’t be diverted away from Langley. I was told that there would not be enough capacity on other rail lines to do this. It would trigger massive, costly expansion on the other lines. I was told that for at least the next 25 years, there will not be any double-tracking of the rail line going through Langley. One of the Port’s major priorities that it would like to see addressed is a plan for replacing the over-100-year-old New Westminster Rail Bridge. The bridge is owned by the Government of Canada and the Port estimates that it would cost $300 million to replace. The new bridge would allow for both freight and passenger rail operations. There was recent talk about making the new Pattullo Bridge a joint rail/road bridge. It has been decided that the bridge will not be a joint structure due to liability issues and construction costs.

I asked about many of the environmental concerns raised by many in the community like the Pacific Flyway. I was told that the Port takes this issue seriously, and I’m hoping to get some more information about the mitigation measures they are taking. Another interesting thing that the Port is looking into is using the material from river dredging to create new land, possibly for ALR use.

It was really great to hear about the Port from Peter and really how important it is in Metro Vancouver. Did you know that the Port accounts for 40% of all port traffic in Canada? That makes it pretty important for our nation. Also, the Port receives $0 funding from government. While the Port definitely has positive externalities for our region, it will be interesting to see how they address the negative externalities in the coming years. I am looking forward to their 2050 long-range plan. Peter said that with all the infrastructure being added and expanded in the region, we will not even recognize it in the next 5 years. If we manage the new infrastructure properly, we will have a system that will work well into the future, but I fear we may not, and may even lose our region’s livability in the process.

Lest We Forget

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ppym1/294389370/

Meeting Tonight

We will be hearing from Peter Xotta, Vice President of Planning and Development for the Port of Vancouver. He will be speaking on sustainable at the port and sustainable goods movement tonight.

Details:
Date: November 10th, 2009
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Township of Langley Municipal Facility
4th Floor, Yorkson Creek Meeting Room
20338 – 65 Avenue, Langley

See you there!