VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The province says
new research shows there isn't enough demand for commuter rail service between Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in the short term, but at least some people in the Valley disagree.
The study says people in the Valley make about 800,000 trips every day, one per cent of them are by transit. It also says 80 per cent of people stay close to home when they travel, so at best, rail service is a long term possibility. That's why the province is suggesting coach bus service instead of rail as the best way to connect the Valley and Metro Vancouver, at least for now.
But John Vissers with the group
Rail for the Valley says more people would take transit if it was an option. "The reason numbers are low is because there's no service. To use low ridership numbers as an argument against a system that doesn't exist doesn't make a lot of sense."
Vissers also says rail service would cost much less than the $70 million a year that the study suggests.