Vancouver's Streetcar Drama | CBC Short Film by Uytae Lee

The City of Vancouver piloted the Olympic Demonstration Line ten years ago to promote the idea of streetcars as an alternative to buses and skytrains in the city. Uytae Lee learns that differing perspectives and priorities at TransLink make it very unlikely that it will return anytime soon.

Video
Uytae Lee

Writing
Uytae Lee
Beulah Lee

SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @aboutherevideos @uytaelee
Facebook: @abouthere

[laellocher]

Great video. CBC Vancouver should push more YouTube content like this. Much better for the medium and more engaging than just putting out the regular news clips directly from TV format. I hope the views and engagement will reflect that.

[dominikgerhart]

What people forget is the " rail bonus" as we call it in Germany. A bus drives on the same road as a car, so drivers think " I could use my car as well" A streetcar on its own track means independence from traffic. And it adds to attractivity if you ride smoothly while passing traffic jams.

[AboutHere]

It's an honour to share this video and it's so cool to read everyone's comments! Thanks again for letting me do this CBC.


Side note, I'm actually a pretty big fan of the Arbutus streetcar. I think it could be successful as long as the city rezoned properties adjacent to the line for higher density developments.


Also, streetcar, LRT, or tram? I'm still quite confused as to what the proper term is...

[TagusMan]

Streetcars and trolleys civilize cities, add some old world charm while making them future forward. Not every city is mentally ready for so much cool all at once.

[WhyWorldWet]

I love his low-key humor, haha. "Who makes that decision...GOD" baha

[stevevassallo]

In spite of some serious issues, Toronto’s refusal to succumb to the big oil, auto and tire lobby of the 1920’s and 30”s meant that we retained what every big city had back then and what every big city wishes they had today. Red Rocket Baby.

[dandagames]

“Streetcars from the FUTURE also known as Brussels”

[vacafuega]

This was extremely trippy to watch as I've lived in both Vancouver and Brussels... So it took me forever to understand the trams were from another city, cause they looked so familiar! Trams are so user-friendly and approachable. I hope this somehow comes to fruition.

[ct]

I live in New Zealand why am I addicted to watching these videos?! They're so damn good!

[stevanspringer]

We loved the streetcar. Wish they kept it!

[mansoortanweer]

The Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo finished the ION Rapid Transit, an LRT, a year ago in June. The great thing they did with that is they increased ridership on the route that would go on to become the ION's tracks, pretty much ensuring use once the service went online. They did this by designating a central corridor to be the spine of the transit system along King Street, putting buses on that route and then also having additional buses supplementing said route. This way, they had a ready and willing ridership ahead of the creation of the ION and the transition to the trains was smooth and with relatively little headache.

[robertwerner]

I grew up in Vancouver, was a volunteer at the 2010 Olympics, rode those streetcars almost every day during that time, and now live in San Francisco. Every day I take the J-MUNI streetcar to my downtown job. It a superb service and Vancouver would greatly benefit from streetcars too.

[mungmungie]

He's missing a number of points entirely.

Comparing the #50 bus is a red herring.

The initial phase, operating between Science World and Granville Island, would connect SkyTrain, Canada Line, the #3 Main and the #15 Cambie, in addition to the #50 and the #84. This is especially good news for the people who live in the Southeast False Creek neighbourhoods.

That's not all: Science World attracts over 600, 000 visitors annually, and Granville Island, over 10 million. Connecting those venues, plus all the restaurants, pubs, and entertainment venues along or near the route is a no-brainer. That's before we even consider the impact that tourism might have.

Entirely omitted was the issue of ridership generated by the Squamish Nation's plan for developing Senakw. Extending the streetcar toward Vanier Park opens up a potential catchment of more than 10, 000 people.

Does a streetcar have to cost an arm and a leg? Nope. Much of the infrastructure is in place, to the extent that a fully functional service between Granville Island and Cambie would cost about $8 million, and completed through to Science World, about $25 million--complete with rolling stock.

For more information, have a look at the Facebook page "Friends of the Olympic Line / Vancouver Civic Railway."

[hasanjamil]

The streetcar goes through different areas of the city. If you have the infrastructure, you might as well use it to make those areas of the city more accessible.

[canadian]

Running streetcar to GI seems like a waste (as you say), but carrying on down Arbutus, and out to Stanley Park ... that engages a lot of Vancouver.

[akasha]

I use these exact trams every day in Brussels (lines 19 and 25), and they are indeed very comfortable (especially more comfortable than being in a traffic jam).
Two remarks; Firstly, cities in Europe tend to have much higher population densities than in North America (Vancouver 5500people/km² vs 7400people/km²), which makes mass transport more efficient in Europe almost by definition.
Second, also the STIB-MIVB (Brussels Transport) calculated that building 1km of metro costs the same as 10km of tramway. One option might look fancier than the other, but is not always the best choice

[FlingGibstopper]

Ah yes my favorite part of living in vancouver, the unapologetically bipolar weather. Raining monday, snowing tuesday, sunshine wednesday, snow again thursday, and rain to top the week off.

[darrenmooreq]

I’ve been asking people about those tracks since I moved here in 2016. Awesome video! 👌

[neu_veau]

If they’re similar times- build the streetcar and use the 50 busses for a new route or to ease congestion on another peak line

[andrewndify]

The weather changed made me laugh hard. It was perfect