91原创 Township heard about transit desires from local residents at a pop-up event held at one of the community's busiest bus hubs on Wednesday, April 23.
The pop-up at Carvolth Exchange on 86 Avenue was part of the Township's years-long process of updating its Master Transportation Plan.
The last full update of the plan was in 2009, and it only provided "limited guidance" on active and sustainable transportation, according to the Township's statement on the planning process. In addition, it was written before there was any real possibility yet of extending SkyTrain from Surrey to 91原创, and before Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was being considered for 200 Street.
Transportation engineer Tammy Liu was at the Carvolth pop-up and has also taken questions from the public at previous pop-ups and open houses.
She said they get a lot of requests from people about buses 鈥� for more frequency and route coverage.
"Transit is the first priority people have identified," Liu said.
While TransLink, a regional transit authority, has most of the responsibility for bus schedules and frequency, the planning is also looking at other issues around transportation.
Liu and her colleagues have also fielded questions about cycling, walking, and micromobility, and they have received specific requests, for things like cross walks or bike lanes.
At previous input events, people were asked to put feedback notes on maps, said Liu.
Drivers, transit users, pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair and mobility scooter users are all to be considered in the process of creating the new Master Transportation Plan. Road safety and the design of both rural and urban roads is to be part of the project's vision.
The new Transportation and Mobility Strategy (TMS) planning has been in the works since 2023, with the first of multiple rounds of public engagement held in early 2024.
Further rounds of public engagement were being held throughout this past winter and into spring, and in this phase, the Township is drafting plans for transportation networks. After one more round of public consultation, the plan is scheduled to be completed by November of this year.
of the work done so far lists a number of goals 鈥� such as having an adaptive, safe, and efficient transportation network 鈥� and some key targets, including reducing the number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries, increasing the share of trips made by walking, cycling, or transit, and reducing the amount of greenhouse gases created by travel.
The summary also looks at the number of people using "sustainable transportation" for their daily trips. That includes transit, walking, and cycling.
The 2021 Canadian Census and a 2017 trip diary put the number of trips by sustainable transportation at between seven and 9.4 per cent in the Township. That's far below cities like Burnaby or even Surrey.
The summary includes the goal of raising sustainable trips to between 30 and 50 per cent of the total by 2050. The fact that a considerable portion of the Township is and will remain rural was noted as a limiting factor.
An online survey about transportation and transit options
