ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic

FROM:

General Manager of Engineering Services in consultation with the Directors of Current Planning and of City Plans

SUBJECT:

City Participation in Transport Canada's Urban Transportation Showcase Program Competition

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. THAT Council endorse City participation with TransLink (GVTA), the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and other regional municipalities in the Greater Vancouver Grant Application for Transport Canada's Urban Transportation Showcase Program Competition.

B. THAT upon confirmation of Federal funding, staff report back seeking a formal Council allocation of funds to cover the City's share of the Showcase Program project costs.

C. THAT Council approve "in principle" the allocation of

CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

The Senior Government Cost Share Fund was created by Council and approved by Public Plebiscite in 2002.

The City of Vancouver Transportation Plan approved by Council in May 1997.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to obtain Council support for City participation in the Greater Vancouver Grant Application for Transport Canada's Urban Transportation Showcase Program Competition, and for approval in principle for funding the City's share of the Showcase Program project costs. The purpose of the Grant Application is to secure matching funds from the Federal and Regional Governments to develop projects related to sustainable transportation.

Should Transport Canada award the grant to the Greater Vancouver Application, staff will report back seeking a formal Council allocation of funds.

BACKGROUND

In 2001, the Greater Vancouver Regional District and Translink (GVRD /GVTA) applied for a grant from Transport Canada under the Urban Transportation Showcase Program (UTS Program). The Program was developed to encourage cities to adopt more energy-efficient transportation, land use patterns and practices. It is designed to demonstrate, evaluate, and promote air quality improvements and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. As transportation sources create about 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the Vancouver region, encouraging sustainable transportation choices will result in improved air quality.

Under the UTS program, at least four grants are expected to be awarded in the fall of 2003, and the projects should be completed by March, 2006.

In December 2002, the Federal Minister of Transportation announced that the Greater Vancouver Grant Application was one of 15 finalists, and one of three in Western Canada.
If the Greater Vancouver Grant Application is successful, Transport Canada and the GVRD/GVTA will each cover one-third of the project costs. The City will be responsible for the remaining one-third of the project costs in the City of Vancouver.

DISCUSSION

The UTS Program is an opportunity for the City to explore solutions that address the issues of urban transportation, greenhouse gas emissions and livability, in partnership with other government agencies. The effectiveness of these solutions will be monitored and evaluated, with successful projects leading to more widespread application.

Six projects are outlined in the Grant Application. Staff worked closely with staff from the GVRD/GVTA to develop a range of projects that have significant potential benefits to the City of Vancouver. The projects are:

A. Hybrid Bus Demonstration Project
B. Central Valley Greenway
C. Travel Smart: Individualized Travel Marketing Program
D. Main Street Transit Improvements
E. SkyTrain Station Precinct Improvements
F. Goods Movement Study

Each project highlights best practice in a particular area. They include increasing transit priority, goods movement efficiency, improving pedestrian amenity, experimenting with household-based trip reduction strategies, and piloting technological improvements such as hybrid buses.

The projects are described below. The costs and cost sharing are presented in the Financial Implications Section of this report.

Project Descriptions

A. Hybrid Bus Demonstration Project

This project will examine how new technology, in the form of hybrid (diesel/electric) buses, can improve the performance and the public perception of transit. Hybrid buses use a small diesel engine to power an electric generator that together power the bus. A hybrid bus can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 41 per cent over a standard diesel bus and other exhaust emissions by 65-97 per cent. They also reduce noise emissions to 70 decibels, approaching that of a trolley bus.

Staff will work with GVTA staff to identify a major bus route for this demonstration project that has significant potential benefits to the City, and that can be effectively monitored and evaluated.

B. Central Valley Greenway

The Central Valley Greenway is one of the fourteen greenways identified in the 1995 Vancouver Greenways Plan, and is an integral part of the Greater Vancouver Regional Greenway Vision. When complete the Greenway will provide residents of Greater Vancouver with a virtually flat, continuous 19 kilometre route linking key residential, employment and shopping areas, schools and post-secondary institutions in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster. The Greenway will be designed to accommodate and encourage pedestrians, recreational cyclists and commuter cyclists.

In Vancouver, the Greenway links Stanley Park, through the downtown, and the False Creek Flats with the proposed VCC Station. It then follows the Millenium SkyTrain Line to Burnaby, linking VCC, Commercial, Renfrew and Rupert Stations. The section of the Greenway from Commercial to Renfrew Stations is nearly complete. Development of the remainder of the route will occur incrementally over the next few years. As well, the Program will provide for the design of the downtown portion on Helmcken Street. The critical link in the success of the Central Valley Greenway will be the connection from Clark Bridge to the False Creek Flats twenty-six feet below. The UTS Program provides the opportunity to build this connection within the next few years for a fraction of the cost if the City were to build it alone. Without this cost sharing it will likely not be developed for several years, and will continue to be the missing link for cyclists commuting into the downtown. Once complete, the Central Valley Greenway will reduce travel time for cyclists and encourage a shift from the car to walking and cycling.

C. TravelSmart: Individualized Travel Marketing Program

This project will test an innovative and proven method of influencing travel choices. Conventional trip reduction programs typically provide information to the general public. TravelSmart has been successful in increasing the use of alternative transportation by using "individualized marketing". Individualized marketing identifies households that use, or are interested in using, alternative transportation; provides individualized support and resources to these households; and rewards those already regularly using alternative transportation.

A key TravelSmart objective is to test the effectiveness of "individualized marketing" where no changes are made to transport services and infrastructure, land use planning or transport policies. The aim is to deliver immediate changes to transportation mode choice at low cost.

The GVRD/GVTA will identify three areas for the program; an inner-city neighbourhood in Vancouver, a regional town centre and a suburban neighbourhood. Each context is different and will provide insights into how such programs need to adapt to local conditions. TravelSmart's results will be compared to "On Board", the GVTA's employer-based trip reduction program.

Staff propose the Kitsilano neighbourhood to pilot the TravelSmart program because it provides an opportunity to measure the program's effectiveness in a relatively dense urban context with a well developed walking, cycling and transit infrastructure.

D. Main Street Transit Improvements

The Main Street/Downtown bus route is used by more people, more often than nearly any other local bus route in the region. Transit service on Main Street can be slow and unreliable due to congestion delays, frequency of stops, and the length of the route. These delays affect travel times, operating costs, and ridership. Ridership also depends on pedestrian accessibility, safety and comfort. The project will look at the Main Street corridor between Marine Drive and Hastings Street with the goal of improving travel times and reliability, lowering operating costs, increasing transit ridership, and improving the public realm.

E. SkyTrain Station Precinct Improvements

The goal of this project is to encourage the use of transit and particularly SkyTrain by improving and enhancing the SkyTrain station precincts in Vancouver at Commercial/Broadway, Main and VCC. The benefits of the project will include improved sidewalks, lighting, street furniture, bus shelters, bicycle lockers, traffic calming, signage, signals and signal priority, crossings, and potential site re-development. Consideration will be given to longer term goals that require greater consultation, policy coordination and integrated planning such as new bicycle routes, and new local transit services.

F. Goods Movement Study

The database from the recent truck freight study will be used to improve the truck modeling capability of the computer transportation model. This will be directed towards facilitating the movement of goods, improving efficiency and competitiveness and addressing environmental concerns, particularly noise and diesel exhaust. It is also proposed that strategic planning for goods movement be carried out in the context of location of industrial parks, the port, airport, and other major truck traffic generators.

Staff note that this study is particularly relevant to the Port and has potential applicability to Knight Street.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Transport Canada will fund a maximum of one-third of the UTS Program project costs. The estimated total value of improvements in Vancouver is $ 16.6 million. The proposed City share for these improvements is $4.63 million or 28 per cent. Under the current Capital Plan $2.63 is available for work related to these projects. An additional $2.0 million is required to cover the City's portion of the proposed UTS Program improvements in Vancouver.

Table 1 presents the estimated costs of the projects and the proposed government cost sharing. The Transport Canada share for the Vancouver projects is greater than one-third, but is approximately one-third on a regional basis.

Table 1.

        

Potential Cost Share Allocation For City of Vancouver UTS Program Projects

  
         

Project

Estimated Cost

Partner Share

    
   

Transport Canada

GVTA

Vancouver

Hybrid Bus

$ 1,600,000.00

$ 530,000

$ 1,070,000

no cost

CV Greenway

$ 6,390,000.00

$ 2,130,000

$ 2,130,000

$ 2,130,000

Travel Smart

$ 900,000.00

$ 300,000

$ 600,000

no cost

Main Street

$ 4,500,000.00

$ 1,500,000

$ 1,500,000

$ 1,500,000

Station Precinct

$ 3,000,000.00

$ 1,000,000

$ 1,000,000

$ 1,000,000

Goods Movement

$ 200,000.00

$ 100,000

$ 100,000

no cost

         

Total in Vancouver

$ 16,590,000.00

$ 5,560,000

$ 6,400,000

$ 4,630,000

Transport Canada requires that municipal commitments to cost sharing (in the form of Council resolutions) be included as part of the application. In order to do this, the City of Vancouver, the GVTA, and the GVRD need to make a commitment to their share of the costs, with municipal approvals preceding regional ones.

CONCLUSION

The Greater Vancouver Grant Application is one of 15 finalists for a Transport Canada grant under the Urban Transportation Showcase Program. The Program was developed toencourage cities to adopt more energy-efficient transportation, land use patterns and practices.

If the Grant is successful the City of Vancouver will contribute $4.63 million and receive an additional $11.96 million in funding from the Federal and Regional Governments. The funds will enable the City to undertake a series of innovative transportation projects.

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© 2002 City of Vancouver