“A no-brainer”: Reactions to 23 minute Park-Metrotown ride on North Shore SkyTrain

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Once again, SkyTrain appears to be preferred technology for a future rapid transit project in Metro Vancouver, specifically the proposed North Shore rapid transit line linking Park Royal in West Vancouver with Brentwood Town Centre and Metrotown in Burnaby.

Reactions poured in siding with expanding Metro Vancouver’s existing fully grade-separated driverless metro network, following Daily Hive Urbanized’s report earlier this week on the findings of a new highly preliminary study — commissioned by the District of North Vancouver — that compared the technologies of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), street-level Light Rail Transit (LRT), and SkyTrain.

Although no decision has been made due to the further analysis needed, TransLink and its Mayors’ Council are looking to implement a BRT line at least over the short term, with the permanent solution over the longer term to be decided at a later date. And within the near term, TransLink is planning to extend the existing R2 RapidBus across Burrard Inlet from its current eastern terminus of Phibbs Exchange to reach Brentwood and Metrotown.

The high-level analysis did not provide a cost estimate nor did it suggest the SkyTrain line’s alignment — where it could be elevated, tunnelled, and/or possibly at-grade.

But it did identify some possible options to build a new multi-modal replacement of the aging and structurally deficient Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, which could accommodate rapid transit. As well, for the BRT and LRT options, it places the route at street level along Marine Drive, 3rd Street, and Main Street on the North Shore, and Hastings Street and Willingdon Avenue in Vancouver/Burnaby.

TransLink previously indicated BRT could cost roughly $300 million. There is no cost estimate for SkyTrain, but it can be assumed to be billions of dollars in the range of making it one of the region’s most expensive transportation infrastructure projects.

Each of the three technology options had a route length of about 19.5 km and 10 station locations placed in the same general vicinity, providing key connections to Park Royal, Lonsdale Quay, Phibbs Exchange, Hastings Park/PNE, Brentwood Town Centre Station (Millennium Line), BCIT Burnaby campus, and Metrotown Station (Expo Line).

north shore burrard inlet rapid transit route map

Route and station map of Burrard Inlet Rapid Transit between Park Royal in West Vancouver and Metrotown in Burnaby. (Spannovation)

ironworkers memorial bridge replacement concept

Side-by-side twin cable-stayed bridges concept to replace the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, including space for SkyTrain/LRT. (McElhanney)

According to the analysis, out of the three options, SkyTrain would have the most competitive end-to-end travel time (23 minutes) and average operating speed (50 km/hr), and greatest long-term capacity (12,000 passengers per hour per direction). This is under half the travel time and average operating speed of BRT or LRT.

As well, SkyTrain would attract an average of 120,000 daily boardings by 2050 — three times the ridership of BRT, 20% more than LRT, and equivalent to the Canada Line’s average daily ridership in 2023. Ridership would be particular strong for the segment between Brentwood, BCIT, and Metrotown.

Here is a summary comparing the key performance statistics of the BRT, LRT, and SkyTrain options:

  • Bus Rapid Transit (BRT):
    • Average daily ridership: 41,000 boardings per day
    • End-to-end travel time: 58 minutes
    • Average operating speed: 20 km/hr
    • Maximum capacity: 1,300 passengers per hour per direction
    • New job access from North Shore: 20,000
  • Light Rail Transit (LRT):
    • Average daily ridership: 100,000 boardings per day
    • End-to-end travel time: 47 minutes
    • Average operating speed: 25 km/hr
    • Maximum capacity: 4,500 passengers per hour per direction
    • New job access from North Shore: 98,000
  • SkyTrain:
    • Average daily ridership: 120,000 boardings per day
    • End-to-end travel time: 23 minutes
    • Average operating speed: 50 km/hr
    • Maximum capacity: 12,000 passengers per hour per direction
    • New job access from North Shore: 180,000

Reece Martin, the transit planning consultant behind the popular RMTransit channel on YouTube, suggests the future rapid transit project should be planned as SkyTrain.

“SkyTrain pretty clearly the winner, even when it seems we are likely once again under-predicting its potential ridership. Light rail would be a mistake for a regional route like this,” wrote Martin in a post on X.

Political commentator Jake Landau says it would be “absurd” if this became a LRT project.

Some called it a “game-changer” for regional transportation, and an alternative to the congested road bridges across Burrard Inlet.

Surrey-Langley SkyTrain advocate Daryl Dela Cruz suggests the ridership estimate could be on the low end.

Brendan Dawe, an urban planning and real estate consultant with Urbanics Consultants, said, “it will be hilarious if we end up spending years playing this game again.” This is a reference to Metro Vancouver’s prior history of having prolonged debates over technologies — SkyTrain vs. street-level LRT vs. BRT — for previous projects, only to eventually ultimately land on proceeding with SkyTrain each and every time following analyses that favour SkyTrain. This includes the Millennium Line’s Evergreen, Broadway, and UBC extensions, and the Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley Extension.

“I would really love to see LRT in short streetcar lines that connect dense urban spaces like Central Vancouver, but SkyTrain is far more useful for longer, cross-region journeys like Metrotown to Lonsdale. The usefulness of the line and the locations it connects necessitates SkyTrain,” reads a comment on Daily Hive Urbanized’s article.

But there were also suggestions that there could be more stations to serve areas of interest, such as a station in the Burnaby Heights area on Hastings Street near the northern end of Willingdon Avenue — instead of a long station-less stretch between Hastings Park/PNEE and Brentwood Town Centre Station. As well, some suggested the station serving Lower Lonsdale should be closer to Lonsdale Quay to enable better connections to the SeaBus terminal and bus exchange.

“SkyTrain seems like a no-brainer, given the success the region has already had with the technology. But I do think it would need at least another couple of stations in Burnaby — one near Hastings and Willingdon, and another just north of Kingsway on Willingdon,” reads another comment on Daily Hive Urbanized’s article.

Other suggestions centred on integrating the project with a future rapid transit aline along Hastings Street between downtown Vancouver to at least the Hastings Park/PNE Station of the North Shore SkyTrain line.

Khelsilem, the Chairperson of the Squamish Nation Council, said he would like to see more rapid transit routes explored on the North Shore other than along Main Street, 3rd Street, and Marine Drive, with consideration to potential negative impacts to the First Nation’s large reserves around the northern end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge. Squamish Nation, which is building Senakw on their Kitsilano reserve in Vancouver, is currently in the process of drafting master plans for the high-density development potential of its Capilano and Second Narrows reserves.

squamish first nation reserve 2 second narrows north vancouver

Reserve 2 of the Squamish Nation at the north end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in North Vancouver District. (Squamish Nation)

Equally important, continues Khelsilem, any replacement of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge would need reserve land. The First Nation supports rapid transit to the North Shore, but emphasizes the need to be part of the consultation process.

Linda Buchanan, the Mayor of the City of North Vancouver and an outspoken supporter of North Shore rapid transit, says the region must focus on the Mayors’ Council’s identified priority of BRT for the route due to its significantly lower cost and ability to achieve it much sooner than later.

“We can’t afford to wait any longer and do nothing while arguably the most complicated transportation project in provincial history is planned by the region and then considered and funded by senior governments,” wrote Buchanan.

Should the North Shore rapid transit project use BRT, LRT, or SkyTrain technology? What kind of replacement crossing should be built for the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge? Let us know in the comments below.

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