It’s a fantastic thought: Watching the Canucks win at Rogers Arena and then hopping aboard the SkyTrain for an express ride back to the North Shore.
In fact, it’s a total fantasy (the Canucks winning and the SkyTrain to the North Shore). At least for the foreseeable future.
But we aspire to great things, don’t we? We welcome discussions of a fixed rail link for North Shore commuters. What could be more civilized than efficient, electric trains that bypass traffic congestion?
But, we suspect the North Shore’s population would have to grow by an order of magnitude to justify the billions required for a new rail bridge or tunnel across Burrard Inlet. And let’s not forget the birthing process we endured to pay for an expansion of our bus and SeaBus capacity.
Regardless, we commend those like MLA Thornthwaite and Mayor Mussatto for having the vision to bring this up for long-term planning. And absolutely we support the creation of a feasibility study as a first step in an informed debate. That debate, mind you, should not be a question of what’s in our immediate personal interests because many of us will have taken that great B-Line to the sky before the North Shore SkyTrain ever gets rolling.
In the meantime, if we want to solve traffic congestion, we have some cheaper and faster options at our disposal: mobility pricing, carpooling, dedicated bus lanes, and more affordable housing closer to where people work.
If we could get those things in order, now that would be really fantastic.
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