Dear Editor:
Re: Businesses Bristle at B-Line Plan, Dec. 7 front-page story.
I am excited about the planned B-Line bus service with bus only lanes here on the North Shore. Myself and others in West Vancouver whom I know, that own cars, often use the existing Blue Bus service to get to and from Downtown Vancouver. It is usually faster than driving a car to Vancouver, especially in the late afternoon and early evening when the traffic congestion in the vicinity of Marine Drive and Taylor Way is heavier. It is faster because of the eastbound bus only lanes past Park Royal South and leading onto the Lions Gate Bridge. Extending bus only lanes to go past Park Royal North and through Ambleside and Dundarave for the B-Line service will make it even faster for Blue Bus service to and from Vancouver.
I think that the only way that the B-Line service can work to meet TransLink’s objectives of reducing the number of cars on Marine Drive and improving the flow of traffic, thereby reducing congestion, is to have dedicated bus only lanes. It doesn’t make sense to me to have B-Line buses sharing the curb lanes with cars through Ambleside and Dundarave. B-Line buses every eight minutes during peak times added to the existing Blue Bus service in these curb lanes would increase congestion. Even with the existing Blue Bus service, some car drivers don’t like to travel behind buses through Ambleside and Dundarave, so move to the centre lane to pass them.
I think local businesses will benefit from the B-Line service. Workers will benefit from the improved transit service with more choosing not to drive to work, which would free up parking places for car driving customers. Frequent loading and unloading of B-Line buses means more people walking by businesses, so they would be more likely to become customers than those driving by in cars. The vastly improved B-Line bus service to and from North Vancouver will attract customers from there to the businesses in Ambleside and Dundarave, including those from the developing Lions Gate Village near Marine Drive and Capilano Road.
By reducing car traffic on Marine Drive, the B-Line service will contribute to meeting the objectives of both the District of West Vancouver’s Strategic Transportation Plan and it’s Community Energy and Emissions Plan. B-Line service is also a priority recommendation of the Integrated North Shore Transportation Planning Project and will likely become an important component of the Ambleside Town Centre Plan.
Peter Scholefield
West Vancouver
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