In today's Langley Times editor Frank Bucholtz discusses a recent transit forum in Langley, and how he liked what Stephen Rees had to say about growth and municipal planning being centred around the car since 1945, and how this much change.
Mr. Bucholtz points out that in his mind Mr. Rees differentiated himself from the "Vancouver anti-growth crowd" that he says does not understand how the South Fraser region differs from Vancouver. Rees said that the Lower Mainland will keep growing "and you can't stop it". SFOT agrees with Rees on this very logical point. But if we will follow the patterns of other municipalities using best practices, we can begin to build our communities around people. Higher density development/compact communities, community rail, neighbourhood streetcars and light rail within a 5-10 minute walk.
We have pointed out this lack of smart growth at the South Fraser OnTrax website on The Issues page and some remedies are offered on The Solutions page. We will soon have an entire section of the website devoted to Transit Oriented Development (TOD). An area that is of great interest to the authors of this Blog. So much so that we are about to embark on acquiring credentials in this area of study. We are very happy that the local press like the ideas put forth by Stephen Rees.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY OF B.C. WILLING TO LET PEOPLE RIDE THE RAILS
The new president of the railway is open to passenger rail. Read all about it in the Langley Times.
200th STREET STREETCAR IDEA GETS MORE PRESS
The Langley Times covered Councillor Jordan Bateman's presentation.
Three Langley Times articles this week, plus multiple stories in the Langley Advance. Looks like light rail is getting some much-needed attention.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Top Reads On This Blog
The South Fraser OnTrax Blog is being well-read with daily readership numbers soaring since it was first launched on April 7, 2008. Of several thousand page views, these were the most popular:
# 1 Councillor Bateman Presents 200th Street
# 2 South Fraser Community Rail in 2012
# 3 South Fraser Gets News Rubbers
# 4 Best Way to Langley
Note that until this week, the SF Community Rail in 2012 was #1. I guess this 200th Street streetcar idea has captured reader interest. Views of the presentation are also healthy!
BATEMAN NOTICE OF MOTION
Councillor Bateman's Notice of Motion will be voted on between 4pm-4:30pm. We encourage all of our supports to be there in the Township Council chambers with us if you can.
SFOT INAUGURAL MEETING
The South Fraser OnTrax (SFOT) inaugural meeting is coming up this Thursday, May 8th at the Township Civic Facility. Please sign up for our mailing list here if you plan to attend (not mandatory, but a good idea). The meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm - 9:00pm, but our goal is to end a little early, unless the attendees have questions. We can always mix and mingle at the conclusion of the agenda!
SUSTAINABLE LIVING AND TRANSPORTATION WORKSHOP
Things are coming together for an excellent workshop program! If you have previously participated in the Township's Sustainable Community Planning sessions or wish you had, you will not want to miss this one! Best of all, our program will only take two hours of your Saturday morning, and then you can enjoy the great outdoors! As with our meetings and all events, we promise to respect your time. We will be ON Trax and ON time.
# 1 Councillor Bateman Presents 200th Street
# 2 South Fraser Community Rail in 2012
# 3 South Fraser Gets News Rubbers
# 4 Best Way to Langley
Note that until this week, the SF Community Rail in 2012 was #1. I guess this 200th Street streetcar idea has captured reader interest. Views of the presentation are also healthy!
BATEMAN NOTICE OF MOTION
Councillor Bateman's Notice of Motion will be voted on between 4pm-4:30pm. We encourage all of our supports to be there in the Township Council chambers with us if you can.
SFOT INAUGURAL MEETING
The South Fraser OnTrax (SFOT) inaugural meeting is coming up this Thursday, May 8th at the Township Civic Facility. Please sign up for our mailing list here if you plan to attend (not mandatory, but a good idea). The meeting is scheduled for 7:00pm - 9:00pm, but our goal is to end a little early, unless the attendees have questions. We can always mix and mingle at the conclusion of the agenda!
SUSTAINABLE LIVING AND TRANSPORTATION WORKSHOP
Things are coming together for an excellent workshop program! If you have previously participated in the Township's Sustainable Community Planning sessions or wish you had, you will not want to miss this one! Best of all, our program will only take two hours of your Saturday morning, and then you can enjoy the great outdoors! As with our meetings and all events, we promise to respect your time. We will be ON Trax and ON time.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Langley Advance Poll - Update
The Langley Advance is taking an unscientific poll of potential Interurban ridership. as we reported earlier. As at 11:20 pm this evening, Friday, May 2nd the results show:
Again, too bad they didn't have Surrey, Abbotsford and Chilliwack as the possible choices. Maybe another poll is in order next week? It would be telling.
Again, too bad they didn't have Surrey, Abbotsford and Chilliwack as the possible choices. Maybe another poll is in order next week? It would be telling.
Abbotsford Inter-Regional Transportation Select Committee
Wow that’s a long name… Anyway, it’s a new committee out of the City of Abbotsford that I was invited to sit on last night.
The purpose of the committee is to:
-Collect input from stakeholder regarding Inter-Regional Transportation East and West, with a particular emphasis on connections to Langley and Surrey.
-Outline transportation priorities form a community perspective.
-Review possible alternatives for “Rapid Transit” connections.
-Study preliminary economic cost/benefit analysis of options.
-Review historical data regarding rail connections.
-Submit a final report and make recommendations to Abbotsford Council by October 2008.
The first meeting went fairly well. There was representation from the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, City of Abbotsford, MLA John van Dongen, transportation planner Stephen Rees, University of the Fraser Valley, and sustainable transportation advocates.
Of course any transportation meeting in the Lower Mainland wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory debate about Gateway. There was also discussion about the Interurban, rail connections to Mission and the West Coast Express, and building a new four-lane highway where 16th Avenue is.
Luckily the Terms of Reference is focused on Surrey to Abbotsford transportation and “Rapid Transit”. There also seemed to be a general agreement that the Fraser Valley lacks sustainable transportation options. My hope is that this group will be able to present a truly visionary transportation plan to Abbotsford Council that re-balances our transportation system by building proper, sustainable transit with complementing land-use.
During the discussion about transportation last night, (I think) Councilor Harris told the Chamber representatives that she believed we must think beyond Single Occupancy Vehicles. Councilor Dave Loewen seemed very interested in the recent developments in the Township of Langley re: a ridership study for community rail. He basically said that it would behoove the City of Abbotsford to get involved with community rail and the Interurban.
I’m really excited to see where this group will go. I think it has the ability to set the stage for a policy shift within the City of Abbotsford. I'll keep you posted as things unfold with this committee.
The purpose of the committee is to:
-Collect input from stakeholder regarding Inter-Regional Transportation East and West, with a particular emphasis on connections to Langley and Surrey.
-Outline transportation priorities form a community perspective.
-Review possible alternatives for “Rapid Transit” connections.
-Study preliminary economic cost/benefit analysis of options.
-Review historical data regarding rail connections.
-Submit a final report and make recommendations to Abbotsford Council by October 2008.
The first meeting went fairly well. There was representation from the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, City of Abbotsford, MLA John van Dongen, transportation planner Stephen Rees, University of the Fraser Valley, and sustainable transportation advocates.
Of course any transportation meeting in the Lower Mainland wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory debate about Gateway. There was also discussion about the Interurban, rail connections to Mission and the West Coast Express, and building a new four-lane highway where 16th Avenue is.
Luckily the Terms of Reference is focused on Surrey to Abbotsford transportation and “Rapid Transit”. There also seemed to be a general agreement that the Fraser Valley lacks sustainable transportation options. My hope is that this group will be able to present a truly visionary transportation plan to Abbotsford Council that re-balances our transportation system by building proper, sustainable transit with complementing land-use.
During the discussion about transportation last night, (I think) Councilor Harris told the Chamber representatives that she believed we must think beyond Single Occupancy Vehicles. Councilor Dave Loewen seemed very interested in the recent developments in the Township of Langley re: a ridership study for community rail. He basically said that it would behoove the City of Abbotsford to get involved with community rail and the Interurban.
I’m really excited to see where this group will go. I think it has the ability to set the stage for a policy shift within the City of Abbotsford. I'll keep you posted as things unfold with this committee.
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