"I love this project": BC transportation minister on SFU Gondola | Daily Hive

"I love this project": BC transportation minister on TransLink's SFU Gondola

Whistler Blackcomb Peak to Peak Gondola (Shutterstock)

It appears the provincial government has a favourable position on TransLink’s project to build a gondola public transit line serving Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Burnaby campus.

“I love this project… I think it’s going to be a really cool addition to the skyline of the city. I also used to spend some time at SFU and the bus service up there was quite perilous in the winter,” said Rob Fleming, the BC minister of transportation and infrastructure, during a Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event earlier this month.

He told the business community the gondola would allow the public transit authority to redeploy some of the buses that currently run up and down Burnaby Mountain, allowing bus drivers and vehicles to be repositioned to increase transit services elsewhere in the region.

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“The costs aren’t too bad from what I’ve seen. There is a strong business case for it,” he continued.

But he says it is still up in the air how the cost for such an investment will be split between the levels of government and TransLink. He highlighted that the provincial government has already come in to cover TransLink’s share of the costs for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line due to the public transit authority’s ongoing financial challenges arising from the pandemic. It has also provided the public transit authority with ongoing operating subsidies throughout the pandemic, with the latest infusion covering revenue shortfalls through 2025.

For this reason, Fleming suggested he would like to see TransLink take on some projects on its own, as its finances begin to recover over the coming years.

The funding discussions are ongoing between the City of Burnaby, SFU, TransLink, and TransLink’s Mayors’ Council. He also suggested having Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley’s involvement in the discussions will help take the project to implementation.

During the same event, Fleming noted a tunnel under Burrard Inlet for the future permanent rapid transit solution to the North Shore is unlikely, and suggested that while there is still some remaining lifespan for the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, it will eventually need a renewal project over the long term.

Long lines for a bus at Production Way-University Station. (Build the SFU Gondola)

SFU students walking down Burnaby Mountain after disembarking broken TransLink buses. (Build the SFU Gondola)

Buses stuck on slick roads during snowfall at SFU Burnaby Mountain on January 10, 2020. (Daryl Dela Cruz)

Students walking up Burnaby Mountain on January 10, 2020 to reach the SFU campus, after their buses became stuck on the road. (Daryl Dela Cruz)

Buses stuck on slick roads during snowfall at SFU Burnaby Mountain on January 10, 2020. (Colin Fowler)

Planning for the gondola restarted shortly after a change in municipal political leadership in 2018. The project was first envisioned in the 2000s, but it received lukewarm support from the City’s previous elected leaders.

In early 2022, after conducting public consultation, Hurley and Burnaby City Council announced their endorsement for TransLink’s recommended route of a direct, straight-line gondola path from SkyTrain Production Way-University Station to the top of Burnaby Mountain.

Based on 2022 estimates, the direct, straight-line route option carries the lowest construction cost of $210 million and the lowest operating cost of $5.6 million annually. It also has the lowest environmental footprint of the three options and the highest ridership potential, with an end-to-end travel time of about six minutes and frequencies of up to less than a minute. The travel time is less than half of the existing No. 145 bus route, one of the main bus routes to SFU Burnaby, which will be discontinued upon the gondola’s opening.

The gondola’s peak hour capacity, using similar technology and cabins as Whistler Blackcomb’s Peak to Peak Gondola, will reach 3,000 passengers per hour per direction during peak hours — more than the 99 B-Line. Each cabin will have a capacity for about 30 passengers.

translink burnaby mountain sfu gondola route 1

Route 1 for the Burnaby Mountain Gondola between SkyTrain’s Production Way-University Station and the Simon Fraser University campus is a direct, straight-line route. (TransLink)

Straight line, direct route for SFU Burnaby Mountain gondola from Production Way-University Station and the SFU campus, compared with existing bus route options. (TransLink)

Artistic rendering of the SFU Burnaby Mountain gondola terminal station. (SFU)

Earlier this spring, Infrastructure BC indicated the gondola’s procurement — the bidding process seeking a design and construction contractor — could begin in 2025 fora construction start in 2026.

TransLink’s Transport 2050 10-year priorities notes the gondola is targeted for implementation within the first phase of the 10-year timeline, between 2025 and 2027. TransLink staff previously estimated an 18-month construction timeline for the project.

Also earlier this month, a delegation of Metro Vancouver mayors travelled to Ottawa to lobby the federal government to expedite its promised new annual permanent transit fund starting in 2024/2025, instead of the original timeline for 2026/2027. This would help prevent delays in rolling out the projects under the 10-year priorities.

TransLink recently told Daily Hive Urbanized it is working towards completing the gondola’s business case and securing funding through a future update to its Investment Plan.

The public transit authority has been securing contractors to perform various planning works, with the procurements for these activities open, closed, and/or already awarded. This includes the September 2022 procurement for a contractor to design the base terminal that will be integrated with Production Way-University Station, an awarded contract for archaeological services, and a currently open contract seeking public engagement/communications services.

It was stated earlier this year most of the technical planning for the gondola project will be conducted in 2023.

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