Most local politicians and officials support the commuter
train, but say it shouldn't be regarded as an alternative to
LRT.
"It has to be a two-pronged thrust," says
Alderman. Warnett Kennedy, chairman of city council's
transportation committee.
Ald. Mike Harcourt, chairman of city council's planning
committee says "I can see all kinds of things falling
apart" if an LRT system isn't built. Without LRT, he
says, traffic increases will "keep exploding on a year
to year basis."
The results of the increased congestion, aside from the
frazzled nerves of anyone trying to get around, will include
increased commuting time, increased expenditure on gasoline
wasted while idling in traffic jams, more minor traffic
accidents and higher costs for goods as trucks also try to
get through the jam.
"It's just pound foolish not to proceed with
LRT," Harcourt says. "We'll get the worst of every
world and it will lead to pressure for totally retrograde and
dinosaur solutions, which are freeways."
Harcourt believes the public is ahead of the politicians
in wanting rapid transit, but is afraid public patience is
starting to wear thin. If there is no visible progress toward
rapid transit in the next couple of years, Harcourt fears the
pressure will begin building for freeway development to get
the cars moving faster. "That's a really scary
scenario."
Harcourt says some thought is being given in provincial
government circles to handling future transit needs with
increased buses, but he believes LRT is cheaper in the long
run.
Readers familiar with British Columbia will recognize the name
Mike Harcourt. He later became mayor of the City of Vancouver,
then eventually Premier of the province of British Columbia.
During his years as Premier, the province bought 24 more SkyTrain
cars, and opened the West Coast Express commuter train service
(total investment approximately $170 million). There has been no
concrete progress on light rail transit aside from some more
reports. The latest one - the BC Transit Ten Year Plan
- is quite encouraging, however, as it has a date by which a
Broadway-Lougheed LRT line should be constructed.
The government's spending on roads, on the other hand, has
been well into the billions of dollars. One project alone, the
Vancouver Island Highway Project, is expected to cost $1.4
billion. What is worse, more provincial money has been spent
improving roads ($100 million to widen the Barnet Highway, $53
million to remove three road bottlenecks) in the north-east
corridor than was spent to create the West Coast Express.
