Affordable and accessible public transportation emerged as a key topic debated among five mayoral and city councillor candidates at City Centre library on Oct. 8. <\/p>\n
The town hall was hosted and sponsored by Movement, Surrey Citizen, Dogwood BC, and Women Transforming Cities. <\/p>\n
Three mayoral candidates who joined the panel were Doug McCallum (Safe Surrey Coalition), Mike Starchuk (Imagine Surrey) and Igal Ammons II (New Surrey+). Two council candidates were Jasroop Gosal (Surrey First) and Werner Spangehl (Surrey NOW). Surrey Connect, the slate led by Brenda Locke, was not present.<\/p>\n
To start the discussion, MovementYVR delivered a presentation on why Surrey is in critical need of more rapid public transportation. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince 2020, Surrey transit service has increased by about 9%. Investments in bus lanes and shelters in places like Scott Road have been paying off. Ridership has increased the most on the routes that have had the most increase in service,\u201d Denis Agar, MovementYVR executive director, said in the presentation. <\/p>\n
Candidates were given three minutes for introduction and two minutes to answer each question given by the moderator. <\/p>\n
\u201cSkyTrain in Surrey is the backbone for the transportation system,\u201d said Doug McCallum, formerly Surrey\u2019s mayor for 13 years, promising to \u201cimmediately start to build SkyTrain along King George Boulevard to Newton once elected.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCallum listed affordability, safety and infrastructure as his slate\u2019s \u201cmost important\u201d platforms that closely link to transportation development. <\/p>\n
\u201cFar too much emphasis has been put on the route and the type of transportation,\u201d McCallum said when asked how to fund and improve safer crossing, sidewalks, lighting, seating, shelters, shade, tree canopies and access to public washrooms. \u201cOur top priority is to improve the environment around the bus stops in Surrey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want some of that money we\u2019ve given to (the federal and provincial governments) to come back to provide better infrastructure and transportation to our cities,\u201d he said, adding that such a strategy was what he leveraged to build \u201cmajor infrastructure projects that will do Surrey good for the next 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSurrey absolutely needs better east-west transit connection,\u201d said Jasroop Gosal, representing Surrey First in Linda Annis\u2019s stead. \u201cBut we need to make sure we\u2019re building the right infrastructure in the right places.\u201d<\/p>\n
The construction of new rapid transit corridors should be directed to locations with rising needs, such as Newton to South Surrey, City Centre to Newton, City Centre to Guildford along 104 Avenue, Gosal said, referencing a 2025 Surrey road survey by the Surrey Board of Trade. <\/p>\n
\u201cSurrey has grown at such a rapid pace, but our infrastructure hasn\u2019t kept up,\u201d Gosal said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we absolutely need is less \u2018flip-flopping\u2019 from one mode of transit to another. We need to commit, get on with it and actually build it,\u201d he said, adding that they need to make sure to get a fair share of investment and use \u201ctaxpayers\u2019 money efficiently and effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from expanding the rapid transit network, Surrey First\u2019s platform for affordable transit includes double sidewalk construction and improving the city\u2019s 50 highest priority intersections to \u201cmaximize and ensure that people are safe as they are commuting and traveling to and from transit locations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA washroom shouldn\u2019t be that desperate of a human right,\u201d said Mike Starchuk, former city councillor and BC NDP MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale. <\/p>\n
Starchuk and Imagine Surrey advocate for building facilities and improving utilities in transportation hubs and along transit routes, including bus shelters, public washrooms and bus parking spots. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur plan is very simple, we (will) bulk buy (passes) and create the Surrey Pass,\u201d Starchuk said, referring to the plan to adopt a $70 one-zone fare in Surrey. He believed that by buying more, the cost would be lowered. <\/p>\n
Another key platform in Starchuk\u2019s campaign is to build and maintain 50km of sidewalk over the next term. He suggested taking back the city\u2019s right to put up bus shelters from Pattison Outdoor Advertising when the contract expires to speed up the pace of construction. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs the city is continuing to grow \u2026 we\u2019re going to need to have hubs of transportation that are strategically designed, so that we\u2019ll be able to connect all of these various areas of the city. The best way to do that is through efficient bus transportations,\u201d said Werner Spangehl, speaking at the panel on behalf of Surrey NOW leader Troy Van-Vliet. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing that we want to do is an audit and then a zero-budget exercise,\u201d Spangehl said when asked how to find a budget for public transportation projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we start getting some fiscal accountability (and) start getting some accurate budgeting done \u2026 we\u2019ll be able to spend on a lot more things that we would prioritize.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that his slate would prioritize building express bus lanes to connect transportation hubs because \u201ca train is not something that\u2019s affordable within the next term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Igal Ammons II, leader of New Surrey+, said he is advocating for a city for all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t waste my time introducing a lower speed limit. I would deal with the people who speed it and address the reason why they want to,\u201d Ammons said when asked whether he would introduce a new speed limit to ensure safety for non-drivers. <\/p>\n
Ammons\u2019 approach to address transportation issues is to build more utilities, such as daycares, schools and businesses inside neighbourhoods to \u201cto keep the traffic down.\u201d His platform includes building \u201can overhead link\u201d that would connect Surrey residents to the rest of B.C.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard from riders all across Surrey that this is a huge missing link when it comes to getting around the city. If you\u2019re wondering how to fix this, you can just imagine the kind of experience you\u2019d like your grandmother to have if she\u2019s going to the bus,\u201d Agar said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Affordable and accessible public transportation emerged as a key topic debated among five mayoral and city councillor candidates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-931498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}