Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiggy
And Vancouver was able to build that because of the Olympics.
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The story of the Canada Line is an interesting one.
Lots of transit planners hated the idea, not because they didn't think it was needed, but because they couldn't justify building a train to the airport before building a train to UBC. The 99-B Line being the busiest bus line in North America being the main push for it (build where the most riders are, then a lot of those buses can be freed up to improve transit service elsewhere).
People accused planners of significantly overestimating ridership projections for the Canada Line to justify its funding ahead of the Olympics (so there was a very vocal group who considered the Olympics bad because it was pushing the Canada Line as the major transportation project for one event rather than pushing the most needed project). Surrey didn't support it because they wanted an expanded light rail network. Burnaby didn't support it because 'it didn't benefit Burnaby', people along Cambie were probably the biggest opposers because they didn't want construction.
The planning for the line itself went through a lot of changes as well. Everything from 3 track portions to allow 24h service to having matching capacity as the Millenium and Expo lines. Richmond didn't want a skytrain portion because they didn't want guideway shadows and instead wanted it built at grade. The compromise to have a single-track skytrain portion was come to instead, which of course reduces the frequency times. During construction to save cost stations were reduced to 40m from 50m, which means that once the line reaches max frequency, the only way to increase capacity further is to undergo the even more expensive station expansion to 50m to allow 3 car trains. The only way to increase frequency is to re-do the single-track portion in Richmond.
So the whole project was under-built amidst political and timeline concerns regarding cost and aesthetics (as well as inter-city pettiness). With the intense pressure on finally getting the most needed line built to UBC, capital to allow an increase to capacity and expansion may be hard to come by. While the success of the line in surpassing the 'inflated' ridership projections shows it wasn't a mistake in building the line, being a victim of it's own success means it will be a pain in the ass for TransLink for a long, long time and also shows the folly of short-sighted cuts amid political pressure.
Whatever your position is on the arena and its funding, let the Canada Line be a lesson in what happens when you skimp on a project to save some money. Or hell, just look at 7th Ave. Sure you'll get a functional piece of infrastructure, but you'll be paying for it in other ways in the long run.