The major transportation challenges over the next decade will include how to provide adequate transport – of all modes- to a growing region. Although “big ticket” items will call for a lot of money, planning and ribbon cutting – such as the Evergreen Line,a rapid transit line to Coquitlam and Port Moody; future rapid transit expansion in Surrey and along the Broadway corridor; and large-scale provincial highway initiatives like the Gateway Project; funding for maintaining public transit services via Translink – the public transportation authority that is responsible for maintaining and expanding public transit services – is historically lacking and unreliable.
In the City of Vancouver, there is a shift in transportation thinking thanks to a new citywide transportation strategy (Transport 2040) prioritizing pedestrians, cyclists and public transit users over personal automobile use. The VPSN has been a long-time stakeholder and advocate of the Transport 2040 plan and we have endorsed various elements of the Plan and other transportation initiatives including the expansion of the cycling network in strategic places like along the Union St./Adanac corridor and Point Grey and Cornwall Roads, as well as removing the elevated Dunsmuir Highway Viaduct and re-allocating road lanes on the Granville Street Bridge for sustainable transport. On the Broadway corridor front, we do not champion one technology or mode, over another, but we do encourage the integration of pedestrian and cycle facilities and good public realm design.
