SkyTrain, not LRT, best option for rapid transit to UBC: TransLink staff

A new report drafted by TransLink staff says an extended SkyTrain line not light railor an improved B-Line bus service would be the best way to extend rapid transit to the University of British Columbia.

The report, which is going before the TransLink Mayors Council on Thursday, looked at different transit options as well as ridership demand forecasts and costs.

Staff considered four main options:

• Optimized B-Line bus service
• Light rail from Arbutus to UBC
• Light rail from Main-Street Science World station to UBC as well as LRT from Arbutus to UBC (two parallel lines)
• SkyTrain from Arbutus to UBC

The study axed the bus and parallel rail options because they'd either be overcrowded or over capacityby 2030 and 2045, respectively.

The SkyTrain wouldn't be immune to overcrowding, but staff said the issue could be better managed by running trains more frequently and using longer trains.

The report also found that SkyTrain would be the most reliablewhen it comes to being on time.

In Phase Two of TransLink's 10-Year Vision, which has already been approved and funded, the extension of the SkyTrainMillennium Line west toward UBC only reachesArbutus Street. That project, which will tunnelunderneath Broadway and is slated to carry 5,100 more passengers an hour in each direction than the bus service it will replace,is expected to be finished by 2025.

The report said extending the line beyondArbutus Street to UBC, as highlighted in the study, would cost between $3.3 billion and $3.8 billion, before inflation. It hasn't been decided whether thatline would run underground or on an elevated track.