Working For Gas

Once again the people over at the Sightline Institute has done some research that should get us thinking about our priorities. In a recent project, the group looked at various income levels in the USA and how many hours must be worked in order to pay for 15 gallons of gasoline, which would represent an average fill-up for an average passenger car. They also compared this figure for 2008 with 1970, and over that span of time. In Canada with all the gasoline taxes, our figures would be much higher for sure.

So we see from the data that the average minimum wage earner works over 1 full day to pay for a tank full of gasoline. The middle class work 2.7 hours to pay for the same fill up, while an average CEO works only 36 SECONDS on average for that same 15 gallons of gas. While I never fault anyone for accomplishing financial freedom in life, I'm sure that many CEO's out there don't understand the needs of their staff and this great disparity, nor do they spend much time thinking about it. I wonder why the minimum wage and median income earners in our area are not more engaged in our struggle to get sustainable and affordable transit solutions to our area to reduce these gasoline bills. Is their love for the automobile that strong?

Light Rail Makes Sense

The Surrey Leader ran a story about light rail and the “Transit for Tomorrow” plan yesterday. You can read the article at their website.

In other news… While the US housing market and economy in general continues to claps, it looks like houses that are near light rail in Denver, Colorado are actually rising in value.

Homes near light-rail stations along the southeast line, which opened in November 2006, have increased by an average of nearly 4 percent over the past two years, according to an analysis by Your Castle Real Estate. But the rest of the Denver market declined an average of 7.5 percent.

"I know that it's always been a good neighborhood, but I didn't think it was like that," said Humphrey, who doesn't drive and frequently uses public transportation.

The closer a home is to the station, the more its value increases, according to the Your Castle analysis. Homes less than a half-mile from a station increased an average of 17.6 percent, while those 1 1/2 to 2 miles away increased just 0.1 percent on average. The data varied widely among stations, however.

We’ve been talking about the value of building light rail for some time on this blog. And this recent article is just another case that proves not only is light rail good for the environment and your pocket book, but its good for the economy. In Denver under the FasTracks program, the Regional Transportation District plans to create six new commuter-rail and light-rail corridors and extend three existing corridors by 2017. They are adding 192km of rail to their already 63.4km of rail.

New Bridge in Portland

I must confess that I’ve been pretty busy the past few weeks and have not had a chance to write a nice lengthy blog post. Maybe that’s a good thing. Anyway, tonight I give you another mini-post about bridges and Portland.

According to an article in the Oregonian, the next bridge to cross the Willamette River in Portland will be car-free. The bridge will carry light rail, streetcars, buses, bicyclists and pedestrians across the river. It is great to see this kind of innovation. The fewer lanes that need to be built on a bridge, the lower the cost. Also the government in Portland has decided to make their new bridge “not only about the engineering but the design. [they] would like for this bridge to be beautiful.”

I’m sad to say that in Canada our infrastructure is all about utility with little or no effort put into aesthetic. A certain overpass in Langley comes to mind when I think about ugly infrastructure. The Province’s fixation with ugly, weed-infested paved medians on highways also comes to mind. Langley and Surrey have the right idea as they actually plant trees and shrubs on their road medians, and even use nice pavers in some location. I digress…

The point of today’s post is to point out that planners in the Portland are building a transportation system that give people transportation options, and gives transit an advantage over the automobile. It's amazing the kind of transit system you can build when you don’t waste money on SkyTrain. I had to work that in there. :-)

Transit for Tomorrow

I have blogged several times about Paul Hillsdon who came up with a transit vision for the South Fraser eariler this year. Anyway, he is now running for council in Surrey and just recently released his “Transit for Tomorrow” plan. You can read more on his website. The Province also picked up on this plan, and you can read the full article on their website.

He says his transit plan can meet rapid growth throughout most of the lower Fraser region, including Surrey, the two Langleys, Delta, White Rock and eventually Abbotsford and the rest of the Fraser Valley. It centres on three light-rail lines:
- A 26.2-km Interurban Line ($697 million) running from Scott Road SkyTrain station in Surrey to Langley City Centre, that would eventually be extended up the Valley.
- A 10.2-km King George line ($306 million) to connect SkyTrain and the Interurban light-rail line with Surrey City Centre, Guildford and Newton town centres.
- A seven-kilometre 200th Street line ($210 million) linking the Interurban line with Langley City Centre, Willowbrook, Willoughby and Walnut Grove.