SCC
2008 Election

The Surrey Civic Coalition is committed to advocating for better public transit and for better transportation alternatives for the residents of Surrey. With the price of gas constantly rising, people in Surrey deserve help to cope with the cost of getting around. 

In the last year, the provincial government and TransLink have announced that they will be tolling three bridges in North Surrey: the Port Mann, the Patullo, and the Golden Ears Bridges. This is despite the fact that no other major city in BC will face tolls- tolls on the Coquihalla Highway were recently lifted, and new bridges in Pitt Meadows and in Kelowna (the new five-lane Bill Bennett Bridge) will remain untolled. What’s more is that the improvement to the Sea-to-Sky Highway and the George Massey Tunnel will also be paid for without tolling residents who use those routes. These tolls will be patently unfair for all residents crossing the Fraser River to and from North Surrey, as there will be no nearby reasonable untolled alternatives. The SCC believes that Surrey’s Mayor and City Council needs to speak up against these tolls for bridges in Surrey, unless all crossings in the Lower Mainland are tolled as well.

The Surrey Civic Coalition knows that when it comes to public transit, we badly need more buses on more routes, as soon as possible. Depending on the plan that you look at, TransLink is short between 500 and 800 buses (or more). As a result, we have extremely poor transit service in Surrey. Skytrain is notoriously overcrowded during peak hours; service ends completely on some routes outside of peak hours, leaving riders waiting at bus stops alone in the dark for up to an hour or more, or stranded altogether; and important bus routes such as the 351 from Crescent Beach to Vancouver are being cut out in light of the new Canada Line Skytrain Line extending to Richmond. Not only is transit service exceptionally poor south of the Fraser River, we pay amongst the highest fares, per-kilometre, in all of Canada for a transit trip from Surrey to downtown Vancouver on Skytrain. The zone-fare system discriminates against people in Surrey- a one-station trip on Skytrain from Scott Road to Columbia Station costs a two-zone fare ($3.75) yet someone in Vancouver can travel on a bus all the way from Joyce Station to UBC on a one-zone fare ($2.50). The SCC promises to fight for fairer transit fares for people in Surrey.

As drivers in Surrey, the SCC candidates know that congestion on the Port Mann Bridge has to be dealt with. To that end, we look forward to the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge for the future. However, we also recognize that twinning the Bridge will not solve congestion on that route for the long run. We will push for the implementation of Rapid Bus Transit over the Port Mann Bridge, along with associated queue-jumper lanes. The SCC candidates are strong advocates of 24-hour Skytrain service, of reviving passenger rail along the Interurban Line throughout Surrey, and of increasing the presence of Transit Police and security guards at bus loops, exchanges, and Skytrain stations throughout Surrey to make riding public transit at night safer.

The Surrey Civic Coalition promises to stand up for Surrey when it comes to transportation in our city. We will oppose tolls on our bridges, and fight for our fair share of funding for expanded public transit.