The Petitions
Everyday, the freeway between Chilliwack and Abbotsford is packed. There are line-ups at the major intersections bordering the freeway, Whatcom and Vedder Roads. A very steady flow of traffic constantly occupies the Number One. It’s not like further west, in Surrey and around the Port Mann, and in Vancouver. But it’s definitely busy. Not all of this traffic is necessarily stopping in one of the two cities other. Some is passing right on through, but a good deal of it is bound for a destination in Chilliwack or Abbotsford, be it a UFV campus, Seven Oaks or Willowbrook, a financial institution, or a restaurant.
Both cities are part of the Fraser Valley Regional District, a level of government on the same level as Metro Vancouver, or any of the other regional districts in B.C. The FVRD also includes Mission, as well as the smaller districts of Hope, Agassiz, and Yale. Though public transit systems in all of these areas are managed by BC Transit, there is a startling lack of integration within the region.
Obviously, the two major population centres are Chilliwack and Abbotsford. Each operates transit systems that function independently of each other, and the Abbotsford system is joined up with the Mission system, which together are called ValleyMax. The two systems contribute to the operation of a connector bus, the #31, which runs from transit loop to transit loop over Highway 11, the Abbotsford-Mission Highway, and during peak periods offers 15 minute service, and half hour service all day.
Similarly, there is a connector service between Abbotsford and Aldergrove, though it’s not very frequent at all, only running 6 times per day. Even so, it serves around 100 people per day, connecting Abbotsford to Metro Vancouver through Aldergrove for those who rely on transit. The Aldergrove Connector, of course, is only in place because of a petition campaign ran by Aldergrove senior Edith Griese, who was fed up with not being able to visit people in Abbotsford when she chose. She got 7 000 people to back her up, and voila, she had her bus. They should have named it the Edith Griese line while they were at it.
So with those connections in place, it seems patently obvious that a route between Chilliwack and Abbotsford is the glaring shortcoming of the regional system. There are obviously many areas where the systems need improvement, but the number one area is the Chilliwack-Abbotsford connection. There is Greyhound service between the cities, but it`s expensive and infrequent, and requires additional transfers to connect in to the municipal transit systems. A round trip will cost you $13.30 for a refundable ticket, or around $10 for a non-refundable ticket. By comparison, a municipal service should be much cheaper. In Metro Vancouver, a cross-regional route, say the 502 from Aldergrove to Surrey, which I happen to ride regularly, costs the same as a short inner-city route, that cost being $2.50. Regular fare for the ValleyMax and Chilliwack transit systems is $1.75, which is what a connector service should cost as well, though a top-up of $1.00 is charged for the Aldergrove route, to bring the fare up to $2.75. This really shouldn’t be the case; I don’t believe it’s standard practice for transit authorities to charge more for longer routes, as this simply confuses things. System funding should make all routes available at the same cost.
It’s true that the personal automobile is the dominant mode of transportation in the region. I don’t believe that this is because it is better. I think this is because the service level for people to do otherwise simply hasn’t been provided. Transit service faces a long, uphill battle in the FVRD, but the first priority has to be the Chilliwack to Abbotsford service. It’s essential for students commuting between campuses, seniors wanting to travel between the cities, and the general public that doesn’t really want to drive but has no other choice. Now that UFV will have a U-PASS in September ‘09, it is paramount that this service is implemented as soon as possible. The petition is online, at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/chilliwackabbotsfordconnection. It has 123 signatures online, and a bunch more in hardcopy, and that’s only a start.
Let’s speak up and make it known that we want authorities to make public transit a higher priority, and provide for immediate funding for this route. And let’s not forget about Rail for the Valley; we need rail AND bus service, and tthat petition is now online too:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/rail-for-the-valley.
Students for Sustainability and I can’t do it by ourselves. I’ve tagged you in this note because we all need to become advocates. We won’t succeed with one or two people here or there tugging at the politician’s shoulders; we need to be a loud, persistent voice demanding that commitments to public transit are made and lived up to. E-mail enviro@ufv.ca for copies of the petition that you can print out and distribute, and send around the link. We can’t do it without you!
