The Olympic streetcar line connected Cambie Street with Granville Island during a trial run during the 2010 Games in February and March. (CBC) The Olympic streetcar line connected Cambie Street with Granville Island during a trial run during the 2010 Games in February and March. (CBC) TransLink has laid out some plans for a new East-West rapid transit line in Vancouver but first it wants the public's input on the options.
The six options under consideration include an upgraded bus system, a streetcar line, or a SkyTrain extension running along West Broadway to UBC.
Alternative routes are also under consideration, including a streetcar line along the south side of False Creek and a combination of a trolley line and a SkyTrain extension.
Critics of the regional transit system have long demanded a rapid transit line along the route, but any plans to build another route through Vancouver are sure to be controversial.
Business owners along Broadway have already vowed to fight any plans that would threaten their operations, after construction of the Canada Line shut down many small business along Cambie Street before the Olympics.
Meanwhile, the provincial government has been demanding for years that the regional transit authority first build a long-promised rapid transit line to Coquitlam, but Translink has said it does not have the money for the so-called Evergreen Line.
Now the regional transit authority is looking for public input on the Vancouver option and has created a website and scheduled a series of public information nights for its study.
All the sessions run from 6 p.m. PT to 9 p.m at the following locations: