Ken Sim's ABC outlines SkyTrain vision on Hastings Street to PNE and North Shore

"Gold Line" route option concept of a SkyTrain extension from downtown Vancouver to Park Royal in West Vancouver via Hastings Street, Hastings Park/PNE, Second Narrows, and Phibbs Exchange. (North Shore Connects)

If elected, mayoral candidate Ken Sim and the ABC Vancouver party will advocate for a new SkyTrain extension between downtown Vancouver and the North Shore.

ABC has outlined that such a SkyTrain line would branch out from the existing Expo Line, running east-west along Hastings Street from Waterfront Station. Upon reaching Hastings Park/PNE, the SkyTrain route would swing northwards across the Second Narrows to reach the North Shore.

Such a SkyTrain line concept was previously conceived as an option by North Shore Connects — a partnership between North Shore municipalities and First Nations — for bringing fixed rapid transit to the North Shore.

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Sim’s Hastings-North Shore SkyTrain promise was made in a rare joint announcement that was also attended by mayoral candidates of other Metro Vancouver municipalities — incumbents Mike Little of the District of North Vancouver, and Richard Stewart of Coquitlam.

All three mayoral candidates noted that regional public transit investments of this scale are not decided by just one municipality, but rather the entire region under TransLink’s Mayors’ Council. They emphasized the need for the mayors to work together.

“We need to work together and that is the point of us being here today. To show that we can, and will work collaboratively to ensure that Metro Vancouver gets the funding it deserves. And eventually, so we can all take the Skytrain to the PNE,” said Sim.

Stewart stated, “major investments are built from consensus and making it easier for people across Metro Vancouver to get to Hastings Park would benefit residents throughout the region.”

And Little added, “the North Shore has been cut off from the South Shore for too long, it’s time for us all to get together and make this rapid-transit connection a reality.”

Additionally, ABC is promising their majority control of Vancouver City Council would support increased density along Hastings Corridor to provide new housing and economic opportunities, which would further support the case for a major investment in SkyTrain.

According to North Shore Connects, the SkyTrain route from Park Royal in West Vancouver to downtown Vancouver via the Second Narrows, Hastings Park/PNE, and Hastings Street could have 11 stations over its 18 km route. It would generate roughly 50,000 new transit trips, with about 75% previously private vehicle trips, and produce travel time cost savings of $552 million annually.

translink transport 2050 rapid transit expansion

Transport 2050 plan for additional grade-separated rapid transit (SkyTrain) and bus rapid transit (BRT). Click on the map for an expanded version. (TransLink)

north shore connects burrard inlet rapid transit skytrain

Burrard Inlet Rapid Transit concepts of two North Shore SkyTrain lines via the Second Narrows: Gold Line from Park Royal to downtown Vancouver via Hastings, and Purple Line from Park Royal to Brentwood Town Centre Station and Metrotown Station via Willingdon Avenue. (North Shore Connects)

However, TransLink’s Transport 2050 plan calls for a new bus rapid transit (BRT) line along Hastings Street between downtown Vancouver and Hastings Park/PNE. There would also be a BRT line across the North Shore to reach Brentwood and Metrotown in Burnaby via Second Narrows, connecting to Hastings Park/PNE. The North Shore’s BRT line is intended to be a “temporary” rapid transit line, until TransLink, municipalities, First Nations, and other stakeholders are able to finalize a “permanent” rapid transit line, which could ultimately be SkyTrain.

North Shore Connects and the City of Burnaby have already expressed their preference for a North Shore SkyTrain line that runs to Metrotown instead of reaching deep into Vancouver.

Other than Hastings-North Shore SkyTrain, Sim’s party has also vowed to push for a new bus rapid transit (BRT) line along Marine Drive from SkyTrain Marine Drive Station to River District in the East Fraser Lands. This is amongst the nine BRT lines planned by TransLink across the region, with this particular BRT set to terminate at 22nd Street Station in New Westminster.

As well, ABC will continue to advocate for TransLink’s proposed SkyTrain extension of the Millennium Line from Arbutus Station to the University of British Columbia (UBC). While the project is being planned by TransLink as SkyTrain, it still needs billions of dollars in provincial and federal funding.

It is also stipulated by the Mayors’ Council that UBC SkyTrain will not proceed until the BRT plan gets underway, with the “temporary” North Shore BRT from Park Royal to Metrotown taking priority within the next five years.

Other than UBC SkyTrain and nine BRT lines, other regional rapid transit priorities include the SFU Burnaby Mountain gondola, a potential short SkyTrain extension between Coquitlam Central Station and downtown Port Coquitlam, and a potential SkyTrain extension along King George Boulevard from Surrey City Centre to Newton.

As for the other major mayoral candidates and their rapid transit ideas, Forward Together mayor Kennedy Stewart has proposed a “Vancouver Loop” SkyTrain network that introduces a SkyTrain line to the 41st Avenue/49th Avenue corridor between UBC and Metrotown. A loop is created when the future Millennium Line extension between Arbutus and UBC and the existing Expo Line are accounted for.

Colleen Hardwick of TEAM for a Livable Vancouver has vowed to cancel UBC SkyTrain, and replace it with 58 km of street-level light rail transit across Vancouver, including building LRT to UBC. Although TEAM is against UBC SkyTrain, they want to see a SkyTrain extension from the Millennium Line’s between Arbutus Station to downtown Vancouver’s West End.

The civic election is scheduled for Saturday, October 15.

forward together kennedy stewart vancouver loop skytrain

“Vancouver Loop” SkyTrain concept, with the inclusion of the under-construction Broadway Extension to Arbutus (solid dark orange line), planned Broadway Extension between Arbutus to UBC (solid light orange line), and proposed 41st/49th Avenue extension between UBC and Metrotown (yellow line).(Forward Together)

team colleen hardwick vancouver lrt network

TEAM For A Livable Vancouver’s proposed street-level LRT and SkyTrain network expansion. Click on the image for an expanded version. (TEAM)

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