200th Streetcars in the Vancouver Province

Earlier this week, Province columnist Brian Lewis interviewed me regarding the 200th light rail idea, and has an excellent piece in today's Vancouver Province:

A streetcar advocate named Bateman
Young, idealistic councillor pushing for rail, not rapid buses, to serve fast-growing area

Brian Lewis
The Province

Thursday, June 12, 2008

He's young, idealistic and enthusiastic, but above all else 32-year-old Langley Township Coun. Jordan Bateman has a burning desire for streetcars.

And if Bateman succeeds in his quest, streetcars will become a signature for the rolling hills of Langley Township in the way they're a signature for the steep hills of San Francisco.

Bateman wants a modern streetcar system as the primary public-transit provider along the fast-developing 200th Street corridor, which runs in a north-south direction along the so-called spine of Langley Township.

Right now, roughly two-thirds of the township's population, or about 76,000 people, live along this corridor between 196th and 216th streets, and in another 20 years that should increase to 80 per cent of the population, or about 185,000.

Furthermore, the Township has already approved higher density along the corridor, allowing highrises up to 20 storeys.

"Most of our growth is along this corridor," he says, "but I'm convinced that a modern streetcar system is better than TransLink's plans for a rapid-bus system along 200th Street."

As examples, Bateman cites successful modern streetcar systems in Portland, Ore., Seville, Spain, and Melbourne, Australia.

"In those places the streetcar created a much better kind of development than buses," he said. "Streetcars attract higher ridership than buses, and they're more successful at getting people out of their cars."

The 200th Street right-of-way is wide enough to accommodate a separate streetcar rail bed, he adds, and the route could also cross the new Golden Ears Bridge to tie in with the West Coast Express heavy-rail service into downtown Vancouver.

And no, Bateman maintains, streetcars running along 200th Street from Langley City's shopping core and points south to the north at Walnut Grove would not negatively impact a call by many residents south of the Fraser to see the old east-west Inter-Urban route utilized for light-rail transit from Surrey to Chilliwack.

"I think the two plans complement one another," he says.

A 200th streetcar also strengthens the case for the Inter-Urban because the development it will create increases the need for an east-west link between Surrey and Langley.

"As it stands now, we have very poor public transit service in Langley Township but we also know that the majority of trips by car that originate here terminate here as well." he also says.

His next step, Bateman explains, is to join rail-advocacy groups such as the Valley Transit Advisory Committee and South Fraser On Trax this summer and build a proper business case and costing for the proposal.

"We have to be able to prove to governments that while streetcars may be more expensive than rapid buses, they also have greater benefits and they're the cheapest form of light rail," he says.

The status quo -- TransLink's plan for rapid-bus service on 200th 20 years from now, or more -- isn't acceptable, he adds.

"Going by TransLink's plan we won't see that service until my young daughters have young daughters of their own," Bateman says.