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[3] Principals,
Policies |
[1] Transportation Issue [1.1] The Transportation Problem All links for Section [1]:
No one who lives in the Lower Mainland could fail to be aware of the great changes taking place. No longer a small city, Greater Vancouver is Canada's fastest growing metropolitan region, the third largest in the country. Already close to two million of us live in the lower Fraser Valley. Over the next twenty to thirty years another one million people could be joining us. In the 1960s, City Council decided not to build freeways in the city. As a result, Vancouver is the only major city in Canada without freeways. Yet transportation in the region and the city is dominated by the car. If you live in Hastings Sunrise, Grandview Woodlands, Killarney or one of the other many neighbourhoods through which commuters drive, you will know the transportation problems are translating into traffic impacts for your neighbourhood. In fact, despite peak-period queues on the bridges and freeway ramps, traffic moves pretty freely between Vancouver and the region, especially within the city. Peak-period travel times within the city are no longer than they were 30 years ago, some are better. But in the absence of freeways, travel around the city has been achieved mainly by squeezing more capacity from the arterial roads. Roads have been widened, left-turn bays added, parking restrictions imposed on many streets. As a result, many arterials are carrying very high traffic volumes, sometimes to the detriment of the adjoining neighbourhoods. As the region grows, more and more people will want to travel Downtown, and around the city. Unless the government and public put greater reliance on alternatives to the car we can expect many more cars in the city in the future. By 2021 the number of people travelling downtown in the morning peak will increase from about 95,000 to about 120,000, an increase of over 20%. Off-peak, the growth is likely to be just as great. Even in 1992, over a quarter of a million cars entered the Downtown each day. Nor is the problem restricted to the Downtown. By 2021, trips to the Downtown will represent only about one-third of all the trips in the morning peak. The balance of trips will be to destinations all over the city. Off-peak the distribution of trips will be even less focused on the Downtown. Experience from cities all around the world suggests that building roads encourages more people to use cars. The opportunity does not exist in Vancouver to expand the street system if growth were to be accommodated by cars. Other solutions are essential. Regional policy stresses land use changes and better transit. [top] Next section - [1.2] Regional Proposals For Transportation |