Ontario metropolitan areas have dominated Canadian light rail transit (LRT) development in recent years, but the mayor-elect of Surrey, British Columbia's second-largest city, wants to join the LRT party.
Mayor-elect Linda Hepner, formerly Surrey's economic development officer, was elected by a majority of voters despite a three-way contest on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. Addressing local media upon her victory, she declared, "You're going to see that light rail on the ground by 2018. I am incredibly confident." She added, "I am building that light rail. We have got to connect this city."
LRT also is supported by outgoing Surrey Mayor Diane Watts, and was included last June in the Metro Vancouver Transport Plan, which received input from numerous mayors and municipalities. A citizens' group, The Better Surrey Rapid Transit, has its own report instead calling for an extension of the SkyTrain Expo Line.
Mayor-elect Hepner has objected to Surrey paying C$144 million (US$127 million) to regional transportation authority TransLink without seeing requisite benefits, such as the Skytrain extension to Surrey itself, which remains a distant prospect.
Instead of waiting for up to 20 years, Hepner campaigned for a C$2 billion (US$1.8 billion), 6.2-mile initial starter line connecting Surrey's downtown with its Guildford and Newtown neighborhoods. A second, 10-5-mile addition would run to Langley, B.C. Funding sources have yet to be determined, though Hepner suggested a private-public partnership (3P) might be considered.
Hepner said she will campaign for LRT in an upcoming referendum, urging the public to support whatever revenue tools are proposed to pay for needed transit. She did note she would formulate an alternate plan if LRT fails to be approved.
Numerous Canadian skeptics are doubtful that the mayor-elect can formulate an LRT plan and garner enough local, provincial, and federal support for it to be in place by her proclaimed deadline, if at all. Among them is Prof. Anthony Perl, professor of Urban Studies and Political Science at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
“By breaking with Skytrain technology, which is proprietary, Surrey would save a lot in expanding rail through their rather large and low density municipality,” Perl points out as a factor in LRT’s favor. “[One] could use the same budget and get at least 50% more route miles because there are half a dozen suppliers who would bid on LRT projects, while there is only one supplier of Skytrain. Skytrain prices reflect that monopoly position on the supply side.”
But, Perl notes, “By publicly announcing that LRT will arrive in 2018, presumably in time for the next municipal election, Mayor-elect Hepner has blown any savings on the price of any LRT system that would go in versus Skytrain. Once there is a drop-dead deadline, suppliers know they have the customer in a situation where price matters less than completion date.” He adds, “You pay quite a premium for that certainty. 2018 is practically ‘next day delivery’ when it comes to an LRT system that has not got beyond preliminary engineering studies to date.”
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