Ridership on the Canada Line is demonstrating to the provincial government and TransLink the need to get on with the Evergreen Line, the Lower Mainland’s next big rapid transit project.
Transportation Minister Shirley Bond lauded the 36 million “passenger boardings” the Canada Line enjoyed during its first year of operation in a release Tuesday. In July, the line’s average daily ridership was nearly 100,000.
TransLink has committed to adding two more trains during peak daytime periods next summer.
Bond said the success of the line demonstrates a need to be “aggressive” with construction plans for the Evergreen Line.
She said, “In the months ahead the province will be moving forward with the Evergreen Line, another rapid transit project that will bring significant benefits to people and business in the region.”
The proposed line would connect Coquitlam to Vancouver via Port Moody and Burnaby.
Funding shortfalls, however, have left the project in limbo for years.
In July, the ministry issued a request for qualifications seeking partners to help design, build and finance the $1.4 billion project.
The qualification process closes September 7 and the provincial government has said construction on the new line will begin early next year with a 2014 completion date.
BIV reached TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis Tuesday morning and he said Canada Line’s success bodes well for the fate of the Evergreen Line.
“We have to think long term on this,” said Jarvis. “There will come a time with what’s going to happen to the cost of fuel [that] you’ll need an effective rapid transit network. If it is reliable, clean and safe, folks are going to use it. So yes, it does provide evidence of support for further investment in rapid transit.”
But TransLink still needs to find $400 million to build the new line and Jarvis said sources for that money have yet to be identified.
Still, he confirmed the project is TransLink’s next major undertaking.
“In terms of the next priority in extending the rapid transit network, it’s definitely the Evergreen Line.”