A press release from Matthew Laird, Green Party candidate for New Westminster:
Green Party candidates from Burnaby and New Westminster and their supporters will be holding a rally Saturday morning at the Fraser River Discovery Centre in support of Rail for the Valley.
“With this special excursion of the Royal Hudson along the Southern Rail line to Cloverdale we wanted to come out and remind Metro Vancouver residents that there was a time when passenger rail service to Cloverdale and Abbotsford operated on a daily basis,” said New Westminster Green Party candidate Matthew Laird.
“The argument put forward by Gordon Campbell and Kevin Falcon that population levels along the southern shore doesn’t warrant rail service has no credibility. At the turn of the 19th Century the population of the Fraser Valley was a fraction of what it is today, yet interurban service was economically viable. Along the northern shore of the Valley, with a population less than half than the southern shore, we see the West Coast Express expanding capacity to keep up with demand for commuter rail.”
“We have both a government and opposition party clinging to blacktop politics and the failed philosophy that the solution to traffic congestion is building more roads. Not only will this philosophy increase car dependence, it will have a serious detrimental effect on New Westminster and Burnaby. Our roads are already clogged beyond just rush hour; imagine more lanes of traffic arriving at our borders. The safety of our children trying to cross these busy roads. Exhaust of cars and trucks going past our schools and parks. The first casualty of the Gateway project will be the liveability of our cities.”
“Not one city anywhere in the world has solved traffic congestion through highway expansion. Traffic is like a gas, it expands to fill the vacuum. The Ministry of Transportation's own studies even point out greenhouse gases will rise due to an expanded Port Mann and Highway 1. These same studies failed to examine a transit-first solution, knowing this was the only solution which would reduce pollution and congestion.”
“A recent study by the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability showed for the same $3.1 billion to replace the Port Mann Bridge, the province could cover the entire south of the Fraser with 200km of light rail, connecting to Maple Ridge and Coquitlam. There would even be enough money leftover for expanded rapid transit in New Westminster and Burnaby. “
“Premier Campbell's delusion that expanded highways will mean a cleaner environment and reduced congestion and Carole James signing on to this agenda re-enforces the lack vision and understanding by the Liberals and NDP. When our car loving cousins to the south are pouring tens of billions in to expanded public transit; when Toronto just signed a $1.2 billion contract to replace its fleet of streetcars, the largest streetcar purchase in North American history; the fact we are still following the highway expansion philosophy of the 50s shows how out of touch we are with the direction the world is going.”
“There is a better way to encourage increased transit usage, imagine for a second a West Coast Express rapid rail service whisking commuters between Abbotsford and downtown Vancouver. Comfortable seats, free onboard wifi, commuters could gain enough productivity during their journey they could spend less time in the office and more time with their families. Certainly a better solution than unproductively sitting in a car for an hour each direction.”
“By mode shifting commuters in such a fashion, this is how you gain increased efficiencies on existing infrastructure and free road space for needed goods movement in a much more fiscally prudent and sustainable manner. The taxpayer is not an endless money source; let's stop throwing money at problems and instead use our tax dollars smarter. Better for the environment, a better use of finite taxpayer dollars, a better plan for BC.”
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