Public Transportation for British Columbia to cut down on clogged roads and road rage

I have, as have the majority of people I have talked to, longed for better public transportation for a number of years.

It costs around $4,000 to $6,000 (based on 24,000km) a year to operate a vehicle according to a BCAA study. This does not include lease, insurance, or finance payments. Some couples with young children have to spend a fortune to keep up with all the activities of their young family and the necessities of life.

We need Public Transportation that is Affordable, Sustainable, Reliable, (even when it snows) and Safe. It would be great if this Public Transportation could be Interurban going past Universities, Airports, Shopping Centers, Work Places and needless to say be close to Homes. Then we would have a choice in transportation most of the time. We would also be cutting down on air pollution and be less stressed out when going from one place to another.

The best Public Transportation has already been suggested by a great number of people and that is Light, Modern, Interurban, Passenger Rail. Instead of spending Billions for SkyTrain and having to spend Billions more on more roads and Bridges, Passenger Rail Would be in the Millions. Yes we would need a few more roads and Bridges but not as many and we would cut down on road rage and clogged roads.

From experience I learned that if you do things in the same way all the time you will more than likely get the same results. Again needless to say Passenger Rail would be great for the South Fraser Valley.

What I Learn Today about Road Safety

Good day, so I just got out of a driver’s training class that was put on by the British Columbia Safety Council at my work. It covers all the basics of safe driving, plus the environmental impact of driving. Anyway, I got talking with the instructor of the course (he used to work at ICBC and has friends in the Ministry of Transportation).

I first wanted to know his thoughts about road geometry, speed, and safety. As you might know, I have some issues with the way the Ministry of Transportation builds roads as do local transportation engineers. If you build a road like a freeway it doesn’t matter what posted speed you have, human nature is such that people will drive at what they think is comfortable. He agreed with this statement and added that people in the MoT know how to build roads with modern standards like narrower lanes to slow traffic to a safe level, but it is political interference that prevents the ministry from being truly innovative. He also said that Europe is light years ahead in traffic safety and road design. The South Fraser Perimeter Road is a perfect example of a project that turned from a 4 lane road to a freeway due to the political process. As it stands, the Ministry of Transportation's mandate is to get as many car, as fast a possible, through an area with little regard to context (urban compared to rural.) If we want to see a modern Ministry of Transportation that treats all modes of travel equally and understands the complexity of the urban environment, it will have to come direct from the BC Minister of Transportation. Anyway, here is an interesting chart about pedestrian fatalities. It is no wonder that the City of Vancouver is lobbying for 40km/h speeds on local streets. These reasons are why I’m a firm believer of the complete road concept.


Pedestrian Collisions

At 30km/hour only 2.5% of pedestrians are killed
At 50km/hour about 20% of pedestrians are killed
At 55km/hour about 50% of pedestrians are killed
At 65km/hour about 90% of pedestrians are killed

Source: Ashton and Mackay 1979, European Traffic Safety Commission 1995, Department of Transport (UK) – New directions in speed management: a review of policy

Heavy Rail Traffic Relief Needed

Langley Times Editor Frank Bucholtz is keenly aware of the heavy rail situation in Langley. Frank offers this opinion piece for us and also provides a balanced view on the proposed Mufford/Glover overpass.

In the recent past we have stated that both are needed. We need to complete an overpass and we need to do what we can to get heavy rail traffic reduced in Langley as much as possible. The replacement of the New Westminster rail bridge is also something we have discussed. Like us, Frank also identifies a case for emergency vehicles as well. We agree with you Frank and we hope our leaders consider this advice.

Lengthy freight trains through Langley Township are not likely to disappear anytime soon, and if the recent kerfuffle over the Langley Events Centre illustrates anything, it is how hard it is to get funds from the federal government.

Yet extensive work over the past four years by previous Mayor Kurt Alberts and the previous council has secured funding of $300 million from various partners — including TransLink, the port authority and the rail companies, the province and Ottawa — for a rail overpass solution to the safety concerns (particularly for emergency vehicles) at the Mufford/Glover intersection and several other locations along the rail line.

This funding could be in jeopardy, since Green and some of his supporters are questioning the road route through the ALR lands near Milner that is proposed, along with overpass plans.

The overpass plan announced by former federal cabinet minister David Emerson in June, 2007 includes $75 million in federal funds for projects in Delta, Surrey, Langley City and Langley Township.

If the Township decides it does not want an overpass at Mufford and Glover, then the funds for that project, which is arguably one of the most complex and expensive of the nine proposed, will go to other projects.

None of the other municipalities appears ready to look this particular gift horse in the mouth. Thus it is likely they will get the funds Ottawa and the other partners have set aside for overpasses.

Critics of the Mufford overpass plan have some legitimate concerns, notably alienation of farm land and the funneling of traffic onto 216 Street and 64 Avenue, east of 216. However, the Township should not throw out the baby with the bath water, and should make every effort to work with the senior governments to ensure an overpass is built at or near Mufford Crescent.

This community needs relief from heavy rail traffic.

— Frank Bucholtz

No Gas Tax?

Happy New Year! I hope you had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve. Anyway, I saw a link from the Price Tags blog to an article in Crosscut and the Albany Democrat-Herald about the governor of Oregon's plan to move away from gas tax in 2009 and replace it with a distance based tax. The makes total sense as people are driving less and driving more fuel efficient vehicles. Gas tax is not a sustainable funding source to pay for transportation. Our own Translink is seeing a decline in gas tax revenue. It’s ironic that as more people drive less, less money is going into transit.

The Oregon plan is to have GPS receivers track the distance people go and bill them accordingly. For the people that have privacy concerns, the government would still allow the old gas tax system. Road pricing is coming to North America. User fees are really the only sustainable way to fund transportation and help manage congestion.

Let's take this one step further, why not have distance based transit fares. This is happening in many cities all over the world like the BART rail system in San Francisco. In Metro Vancouver, we could apply this to our whole system. Our Minister of Transportation, Kevin Falcon, wants to see smart cards replace the current fare system on our buses and trains. This technology allows for a very flexible payment system. All our buses now have GPS systems installed. Whether we like it or not, we are getting turnstiles on SkyTrain. Hook all theses systems up together, and we could have a fair distance based transit system. The zone based system really isn’t fair, and I hear people complain about it. North Road is one of those areas where people have to unfairly pay for two zones even if they’re just going a few blocks.

With a distance based road and transit system, we would be able to fund a fair, sustainable transportation system. Those people in Oregon are really on to something.