Proponents keep pushing LRT for Victoria
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefA proposal for a C$950 million light rail transit network serving Greater Victoria, British Columbia, continues to garner vocal support from numerous public officials.
“In public transit’s analysis, by any long shot, LRT trumps the bus rapid transit and that’s important. The economic benefits are clear: $1.4 billion in economic benefits," said Member of Parliament Denise Savoie, a representative of the region, at an LRT rally earlier this week.
The Victoria Regional Transit Commission on May 17 chose LRT over other public transit options, including Bus Rapid Transit, despite LRT’s higher initial capital costs. The Capital Regional District, representing 13 municipalities on Vancouver Island, and the British Columbia Transit Board also have endorsed an LRT line, linking Victoria and Langford, B.C. But all three entities assert they need support from senior levels of government.
“We must have the province[of British Columbia] and the feds in,” Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin said at the transit commission meeting in May. “They have to be in to make this project a reality. If they are in, we will make this project a reality.”
BUt Savoie and others say the funding itself already is available. “From a federal perspective, the Building Canada fund has budgeted, from 2007 to 2014, C$10 billion and we know that one of the sub-funds still has 90% unclaimed. So there’s C1 billion in one of the sub-funds that just hasn’t been touched,” Savoie said.
Savoie and others support a proposal by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce’s for a third-party review of B.C. Transit’s LRT plan. But they disagree with the chamber of commerce’s desire of holding a voter referendum on LRT, at least prior to identifying sufficient funding for any proposed project.
