Tag Archives: Surrey light rail

Transit funding and election speculation

April 5, 2017 By in Around B.C., Transit, Skytrain, LRT Tags: , , Leave a comment

Focus on Surrey: the B.C. government’s $2.2 billion transit announcement, March 31, 2017. Transit minister Peter Fassbender, MLA for Surrey Fleetwood, is flanked by Marvin Hunt, MLA for Surrey-Panorama, first elected to Surrey City Council in 1988; and by technology minister Amrik Virk, MLA for Surrey-Tynehead, formerly a prominent RCMP officer in Surrey. The photo by Arlen Redekop is clipped from the Vancouver Sun.

British Columbia’s Liberal government took a surprising step late last week with a rapid transit announcement that exceeded most expectations.

The Province will match the federal government’s $2.2 billion pledge toward Phase 2 of the 10-year transportation plan put forward in 2016 by the Metro Vancouver Mayors Council. This phase includes construction of a Clark Street to Arbutus SkyTrain extension in Vancouver, and the Newton-Guildford light rail line in Surrey. Continue reading →

Surrey’s poll on light rail transit

February 16, 2016 By in Surrey Langley White Rock, Transit, Skytrain, LRT Tags: , 3 Comments
Light rail transit, central Phoenix, 2012

Light rail transit, central Phoenix, 2012

Kudos to the City of Surrey for posting detailed tables from its recent opinion survey on light rail transit. Too often, governments hide the results of taxpayer-funded surveys from the taxpayer.

As reported earlier, Surrey is acting outside its jurisdiction in developing a plan for local rapid transit. This activity is intended to move regional, provincial and federal authorities to come up with the cash for detailed design and construction. Surrey is the 12th-largest municipality in Canada, and growing rapidly. City government is hoping that Ottawa in particular will go beyond the conventional limit and pay 50 per cent of the cost of a new stand-alone rapid transit system. Continue reading →