6

automobile is.

{"public transit versus the private

| ne of today’s most pressing issues.
Arguments: about the. most efficient . and -
economical methods of. moving: hundreds of

thousands of people daily into, out of and around
‘a sprawling metropolitian area like Greater

Vancouver have, to date, generated far more heat

than light, and remarkably little in the way ‘of

F

week, Russell Hicks.

immediately practical solutions... That’s why
FOCUS is happy to welcome, as its guest this -

Mr. Hicks has’ worked out “They would’ board the

a.whole* refreshing . new
approach to the ‘question of.

‘rapid transit in the Greater

Vancoiver area. It's an'idea

which could probably be ~

implemented faster and at
considerably less cost than
most other ‘rapid transit
proposals. This may be due,
to: the fact that Mr. Hicks
has a gut understanding of
transit: problems denied to
‘the deskbound “experts” on
the'subject. oo

“By profession he’s a bus

- driver. :

__——He’s quite. a few other

- this

things as well: a former

Burnaby alderman and also «

the NDP. candidate in North
Vancouver-Burnaby at last
month’s. federal © election
(when ‘he notched up a very
respectable ~12,000-plus -
votes, equivalent to 73. per
cent of Conservative winner
Chuck Cook’s total). Under

. these various hats he’s done

a lot of

thinking about
transit. : :

Here, in Mr.~Hicks’ own -

words, is his idea, which he
calls--

SON OF
SEABUS (SOS)

“The future’. of transit
depends on its ability to
compete with the motor car.
Not just in regards to costs of
transportation —~- a victory -
already won by transit even
without subsidies — but to.
compete in speed and
convenience.

“Each transit system may
have a milieu that is par-
ticularly suited for some
special approach. The
approach I feel is best suited
for the geography of the
Lower Mainland is water
transit.

“‘Water transit defined in
context is fast.
Bus carriers, moving on
waterways at speeds
comparable to those of the
SeaBus, will carry not in-
dividuals but the buses that
passengers boarded a few
blocks from their homes.

“An example may clarify.
A bus coming from Deep
Cove bound for Granville
and Hastings would travel
slowly through heavy rush
hour traffic to Phibbs Ex-
change, where it could lose
five minutes to exchange
passengers. It might then
continue in the slow-moving
Second Narrows Bridge
traffic, then poke along on
Powell Street (stopped by a
train at Campbell Avenuc) to
Granville and Hastings.

CHANGE BUSES

“The waterborne transit
system of ‘Son of SeaBus’
would pick up the same bus,
the one that passes so close
to your home, plus five
others from a variety of
collector routes. It) would
plunge along the inlet, while
the passengers used this timo

to chang bses « " ferry,

- destination.

expensive.

bus going closest to their
ultimate downtown
All six buses
would have alternate
downtown destinations for
this reason.

“No exchange time is lost,
as this function is performed .

en route.

“Bottleneck. bridges and

- inadequate traffic arterials

are. bypassed, — possibly
twenty minutes are shaved
from the trip and the nerves
are not frayed by the
frustrations of driving.

“It is an improvement on
SeaBus for the obvious
reason that passengers are

not expected to use up their

time and energy. walking
from bus to boat, then from.

boat to bus. The only time a -

passenger leaves the bus he
originally boarded is when
its. destination does not suit
him as much as another bus

onthe same ferry. He has six
; Toutes to choose from.

“Someone is bound to be
pointing with scorn to the
costs of the vessels. They are
However,
expense must be measured
against the costs of alter-
native systems — whether
transit or ‘one-car-per-
person’ systems. The latter
is what we have now and we
know it is expensive and
inefficient. To make it more
efficient would require more
bridges and traffic arteries,

the.

- colossal expenses so that

even more traffic can reach

the core area to sterilize .

even more land with parking
lots,

“Rail rapid transit requires |

bridging from all but a few
population deénsity centres
and the undergrounds run up
high costs in land
acquisitions, building
removal and engineering of
subways.

“These systems un-
doubtedly have a place
alongside of water-rapid
transit, but where water
routes can be used, they
should be.

_ WIDE POTENTIAL

“Water-rapid transit has a
potential not just for North
and West Vancouver, but for
other aréas. Coquitlam for
example. The bus passengers
could bypass the Barnet
Highway, the bottlenecks bn
Hastings and all of Burnaby,
while their buscarrier cruises
down the inlet from ‘Port
Moody to a downtown
embarkation point.

Fe ie Se, Ee
SO ATT AR TAI SL

. ad
Caveeeeseeedenteooreceseeaeneeas

oy
"*

:
B:
;
Ki
ae
a
fy sj
‘)
"

;

muters; daily harrassed by
the traffic congestion of
Broadway’ and - Fourth

Avenue, would find, instead,
.a bus ‘routed to avoid this

traffic smoothly boarding its
own bus carrier at Jericho
and swinging up False Creek
to:.the -foot: of Cambie or
wherever the. buses

disembark to again turn their.

own wheels towards ‘their
downtown destinations.

“The bottleneck of Pat-
tullo Bridge could be
bypassed by Surrey and
Delta buses crossing the
Fraser from South . West-
minster to embark from their
carrier at the foot of
Columbia in New West-
minster or even go right

down the Fraser to the South

foot of Granville in Van-
couver.

“The possibilities may not
be endless but I see ‘Son of
SeaBus’' or _ water-rapid
transit as an answer to
mobility, competitive in cost

“What do | thin
“Weight Control

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Mr. Hicks’ plan might goa
long way towards. providing
the speed and convenience
that could lure thousands

“more commuters away from
their cars for good - at a

fraction of the cost of |
equivalent subway or
monorail systems, not to

speak of the savings in motor
fuel. -

have arrive

~
d

d

My guess is that a trial six-

~ bus ferry and loading ramps

_ vat ‘two or three terminals -

might be provided for a mere
three or four million dollars,
maybeless.. _

To.a transit system which

‘lost 60 million dollars last

year for lack of passengers it
could be a pretty cheap way
of testing an idea’ whose
moment -- in this water-girt
metropolis -- may have

-artived.

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