Late Distribution
for Council November 5, 1996
A9
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: October 30, 1996
File No. 4102-2
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services in consultation with the Director of City Plans
SUBJECT: Protocol Agreements on the Development of LRT and Review of Transportation Governance and
Funding in the GVRD
RECOMMENDATION
A. That Council approve the Protocol Agreement on the development of Light Rail Transit in
Greater Vancouver and authorize the Mayor to sign on behalf of the City of Vancouver.
B. That Council receive the Protocol Agreement for a Comprehensive Review of Transportation
Governance and Funding in Greater Vancouver for information and request the GVRD to provide
the municipalities regular updates on the status of the negotiations.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council has many transportation policies which are Regional in nature, including support in principle of the
GVRD Transport 2021 Plan.
A Broadway/Lougheed LRT to Lougheed Mall and Coquitlam Town Centre via Port Moody be the first priority line
for new Light Rapid Transit.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to present the proposed protocol agreement on light rail transit for approval and
to advise Council on the status of discussions on governance and funding of transportation in the lower
mainland.
BACKGROUND
In May 1995 Council recommended that a Broadway/Lougheed LRT line to Lougheed Mall and Coquitlam Town Centre
via Port Moody be the number one priority line. This was subsequently supported by the GVRD and was contained
in the Province s Ten-Year Development Plan for BC Transit released in September 1995.
The BC Transit Plan called for the LRT to be complete by 2005. The Plan also noted that the Province was
facing financial limitations and so it would be necessary to negotiate new cost- and debt-sharing arrangements
with local governments and the Vancouver Regional Transit Commission. The LRT is estimated to cost $900
million. The Province has only ´ to of this amount and so the local share could be in the order of $400
million.
In July 1996, Council reviewed a staff report on the Status of Light Rail Transit and the City s Role . This
report is attached as Appendix A. The report noted that the Province (through BC Transit and the Crown
Corporation Secretariat), the GVRD and municipal representatives were developing a draft Protocol Agreement
that would define the roles of the various organizations in the next phase of the LRT Project and provide a
mechanism to negotiate cost-sharing of the Project.
During discussions of the Agreement on LRT the GVRD Board decided that it should also approach governance and
funding of Regional transportation services on a broad and strategic level. In subsequent discussions on the
draft Protocol Agreement on LRT, the GVRD began to include discussions on the greater issue of funding and
governance of transportation in the Region. This approach was formally approved in a meeting between the GVRD
Transportation Task Force and Provincial ministers on October 3, 1996 and the GVRD Board on October 4, 1996.
Subsequently, two Protocol Agreements have been prepared. One deals with the first phase of the development of
LRT leading to a go/no-go decision and the second defines the terms for a comprehensive review of the way in
which transportation in Greater Vancouver is governed and funded, including Broadway LRT.
Both of these Agreements were reviewed and approved by the Strategic Planning Committee of the GVRD on October
24, 1996 and were scheduled to be before the GVRD Board on November 1, 1996.
THE TWO PROTOCOL AGREEMENTS
Attached as Appendix B is the Protocol on the Development of Light Rail Transit in Greater Vancouver and as
Appendix C is the Protocol Agreement for a Comprehensive Review of Transportation Governance and Funding in
Greater Vancouver.
PROTOCOL ON DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT
This agreement defines the relationship between the Province, BC Transit, the Vancouver Regional Transit
Commission, the GVRD, Vancouver, Burnaby, Port Moody, Coquitlam and New Westminster on the first, or
development phase of the LRT. The development phase is the work that will be done over two years leading to a
go/no-go decision on the Project and will include refining ridership and trip patterns, alignment and station
locations, identifying impacts and mitigation options, developing complementary land-use plans where necessary
and undertaking public consultation.
The Development Phase will be administered by a Steering Committee co-chaired with one chair appointed by the
Province and the other by the GVRD. The City will appoint one member to the 11 member committee.
City staff will participate on many issues including resolution of a final alignment, ridership, system
capacity, and the fit of the LRT within the City. Fitting LRT on Broadway will have a major impact on:
- the street system and traffic patterns
- the adjacent land uses, including access, noise, visual appearance, etc.
- urban design
- the City s infrastructure, including utilities
- pedestrian, bicycle and existing transit services; and these will all have to be resolved.
Staff resources may be reallocated from within the participating departments (mainly Engineering and Planning)
or by hiring extra staff. The cost of some of these resources, especially those allocated to resolving
technical issues and mitigation, may be attributed to the LRT Project thereby reducing the City's cost
exposure.
The Protocol Agreement identifies two land use related activities:
- Mitigation: The Agreement proposes consultation with communities, neighbourhoods, and businesses to
address local concerns raised by LRT implementation, the emphasis being on identifying measures for
mitigating negative local impacts and improving the quality of transit service. The Project Director
will be responsible for this work. Work approved by the Steering Committee will be funded by the
Province and VRTC.
- Land-Use Planning: Agreement to proceed with the line is subject to adoption of municipal growth
policies and by-laws to
support or surpass the targets in the Livable Region Strategic Plan. Vancouver is asked to provide staff
(paying 100 percent of the costs) for land use planning. City staff will be responsible for developing and
overseeing a workplan and public consultation process to provide complementary land use plans, development
process, and other commitments (such as inclusion of targets in an adopted City-Regional Context Statement) to
achieve LRSP growth targets and maximize LRT market potential.
The 1993 Richmond Rapid Transit Line study addressed similar land use topics. Based on that experience, a
number of issues will require early attention by the Project Steering and Technical Committees including:
- composition of technical committees to include engineering and land use planning expertise;
- agreement on mitigation measures and public process;
- coordination between public processes for mitigation (led by the LRT Project Manager) and City-led LRT
land use planning and the CityPlan Community Vision Program in Kensington-Cedar Cottage;
- agreement on housing and employment expectations associated with the LRT line (to date there are no
agreed Regional Strategic Plan targets by municipality); and
- agreement on the level of detail required for land use planning during the "Development" phase
(strategic directions, station area plans, or rezoning).
Council has expressed an interest in moving forward on the planning and design of the Broadway LRT. This is a
heavily used transportation corridor with very high transit ridership that warrants LRT as a key component of a
much needed package of transit improvements in the City and Region. The Broadway LRT will not only better
serve an existing high ridership demand but, with the support of the eastern municipalities, be very
effective in shaping underutilized lands through Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam as SkyTrain has to the
southeast and into Surrey.
The Protocol Agreement provides the mechanism to start the necessary work ultimately leading to a decision on
implementation. Staff recommend the Agreement be approved and the Mayor be authorized to sign on behalf of the
City.
Following adoption of the Protocol Agreement and after the Province announces the go-ahead for the Development
Phase of the LRT, the Administrative Framework (as described in the Protocol Agreement)will be initiated.
Staff will then meet with the Project
Steering Committee and Project Director, ultimately leading to a report back to Council on work programs and
resource requirements to undertake this phase of the LRT including the land use process.
PROTOCOL AGREEMENT ON A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF TRANSPORTATION GOVERNANCE AND FUNDING IN GREATER VANCOUVER
Transport 2021, the Regional transportation strategy, was approved in 1994. Since then only limited progress
has been made on the implementation of transportation initiatives in support of Transport 2021. Specific
actions include the preparation of a draft BC Transit Five Year Plan, a better understanding of the
implementation of Transportation Demand Management Measures (TDM), and an identification of some major road
improvements. However, this progress has not proceeded in a strategic manner that brings all the necessary
components together in a rational way. This is largely because decisions are made by different levels of
government (mainly Provincial), with differing priorities and different levels of available funding. As well,
the Provincial budget crisis and subsequent priorities means the Region is not getting sufficient Provincial
funds to provide the necessary transit and transportation infrastructure to achieve Transport 2021 in a timely
fashion. Of particular concern, is the funding necessary to support the needed transit infrastructure and
operating costs. This puts at risk the whole Regional growth strategy.
The notion of an agreement with the Province on governance and funding of transportation generally, in the
Region, makes sense. If successful, it would allow a more strategic approach to the development of Transport
2021 actions including the potential development of new sources of revenues. As such, it is worth exploring
different ways to achieve this and the Protocol Agreement on a Comprehensive Review of Transportation
Governance and Funding Greater Vancouver provides the mechanism to do this.
The Broadway LRT is estimated to cost $900 million. The Province has only ´ to of this amount and the local
share would be the difference. Therefore, it is very important to the GVRD and local municipalities that there
be a fair resolution on local governance of the LRT given the local share of funding may be in the order of
$400 million.
The Development phase of the LRT is scheduled to take two years (to the end of 1998). The review of
transportation governance and funding will take place at the same time, with a scheduled agreement on a new
funding and governance arrangement for review by the parties, other authorities and the public by September
1997. This is well in advance of the completion of the development phase of LRT. Therefore a funding and
governance arrangement would be in place should the Development Phase conclude the LRT Project should proceed.
The GVRD will be monitoring both processes and advise of any divergence, especially where it may impact local
funding and governance.
Council is not a signatory to this Agreement so it is recommended this draft Agreement be received for
information. However, because of the importance of this matter, the GVRD is requested to provide Council with
regular updates on the status of negotiations.
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