CITY OF VANCOUVER

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON
TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC

NOVEMBER 3, 1998

A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1998, at 11:50 a.m., in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall, following the Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic meeting, to consider the recommendations of the Committee.

PRESENT:	Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Don Bellamy Councillor Jennifer Clarke Councillor Alan Herbert Councillor Lynne Kennedy Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor Gordon Price Councillor Sam Sullivan
ABSENT:	Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario (Civic Business) Councillor George Puil (Civic Business)
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE:	Ken Dobell, City Manager
CLERK TO THE COUNCIL:	Denise Salmon

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy,
SECONDED by Cllr. Herbert,

THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor Owen in the chair.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Report of Standing Committee
on Transportation and Traffic
November 3, 1998

Council considered the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of the attached report:

Cl. 1: Transportation Priorities and Resource Needs - Overview Report
Cl. 2: Rapid Transit Work Program - Phase I, East - West Boundary Road to Broadway Drive and Phase II Along Broadway to Western Terminus
Cl. 3. Rapid Transit Project - Independent Consultant Review

Clauses 1, 2 and 3

MOVED by Cllr. Clarke,

THAT consideration of the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this report, be deferred to a future meeting of Council.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

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NOTE FROM CLERK: It was agreed this matter would be dealt with immediately following the City Services and Budgets Committee meeting of November 5, 1998.

* * *

RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy,

THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Clarke,
SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,

THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ENQUIRIES AND OTHER MATTERS

1. Leave of Absence - Councillor Kennedy File: 1254

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,
SECONDED by Cllr. Herbert,

THAT Councillor Kennedy be granted Leave of Absence for November 5th, and the week of November 16-19, 1998.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

2. Leave of Absence - Councillor Daniel Lee File: 1254

MOVED by Cllr. Sullivan,
SECONDED by Cllr. Bellamy,

THAT Councillor Daniel Lee be granted Leave of Absence for the week of December 7-10, 1998, for Civic Business.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

3. Leave of Absence - Councillor Clarke File: 1254

MOVED by Cllr. Herbert,
SECONDED by Cllr. Don Lee,

THAT Councillor Clarke be granted Leave of Absence for the week of November 16-19, 1998.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The Council adjourned at 11:55 a.m.

* * * * *

REPORT TO COUNCIL

STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
ON TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC

NOVEMBER 3, 1998

A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on Transportation and Traffic was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1998, at approximately 9:30 a.m., in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall.

PRESENT:	Councillor Gordon Price, Chair Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Don Bellamy Councillor Jennifer Clarke Councillor Alan Herbert Councillor Lynne Kennedy Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor George Puil (left meeting at 9:50 a.m. on Civic Business) Councillor Sam Sullivan
ABSENT:	Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario (Civic Business) Councillor George Puil (Civic Business)
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE:	Ken Dobell, City Manager
CLERK TO THE COMMITTEE:	Denise Salmon

ADOPTION OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic meeting of October 6, 1998, were adopted.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Transportation Priorities and Resource Needs -
Overview Report File: 5757

2. Rapid Transit Work Program - Phase I, East -
West Boundary Road to Broadway Drive and
Phase II Along Broadway to Western Terminus File: 5757

3. Rapid Transit Project - Independent Consultant Review File: 5757

Items 1, 2 and 3 were dealt with concurrently, and have been minuted together for ease of reference.

The Committee had before it the above noted reports (all on file), in which the General Manager of Engineering Services, and Directors of City Plans and Central Area Planning, in consultation with the Director of Finance (October 19th report), Director of City Plans and General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Directors of Central Area and Community Planning, and the Director of Finance (October 27th report), and General Manager of Engineering Services and Director of City Plans (October 15th report) proposed:

· to bring together a number of transportation initiatives which have significant staff resource and funding implications to allow Council to view the full work program in order to establish priorities and funding for the rapid transit project, and

· terms of reference and a cost estimate for an independent consultant to evaluate LRT technology compared to SkyTrain and the alignment along the Broadway corridor for the city portion west of Commercial Drive and the Vancouver Community College Station.

Dave Rudberg, General Manager of Engineering Services, provided an overview of the three reports before Council, and Ann McAfee, Director of City Plans was present to respond to questions. Mr. Rudberg advised a fourth report entitled "Rapid Transit Project -Special Commission, SkyTrian Review" had been circulated for Council's information only, and would be dealt with as a Report Reference at this afternoon's Regular Council meeting.

Clauses 1, 2 and 3 Cont'd

With the aid of schematics and overheads, various phases of the project were highlighted, and the importance of the critical link west of Commercial noted. Points of concern included the constraint of time lines, lack of information on ridership, budget affordability, and need to maintain basic bus services as a backbone of the transit system. Appropriate community consultation, and establishment of priorities and allocation of resources was also discussed. Mr. Rudberg further advised the Downtown Transportation Plan and Transportation Plan Monitoring Program would require deferral to 1999 to meet resource requirements for work on the Rapid Transit Project.

* * *

Councillor Puil left the meeting on Civic Business and did not return, and Councillor Kennedy arrived from Civic Business, during discussion of the above.

* * *

The following delegations spoke to this matter. Points raised are summarized below:

Tamin Raad (brief filed)
Deming Smith, Coalition for SkyTrain Review
Bill Andrews, lawyer working with Coalition for SkyTrain Review
Malcolm Johnston, Light Rail for Vancouver Committee (brief filed)
Diane King
Peter Boothroyd (material filed)
Don Buchanan, Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST) (material filed)
Marilyn Pollard, President, Little Mountain Neighbourhood House (material filed)

· the need to expand the scope of the Rapid Transit Technology and Alignment Review to include the entire Broadway-Lougheed corridor, and Boundary to Central Broadway
· if entire Broadway-Lougheed corridor is studied, cooperation and funding be requested from affected municipalities in the corridor, as well as the GVTA
· sources of funding should not include deferral of either the Downtown Transportation Plan or the Transportation Plan Monitoring Program, which forms a key cornerstone to the Plan
· resources should be taken from the City's Street and Lane Paving Budget -- as the City's Transportation Plan indicates this as the largest area of expenditure with potential for further reallocation

Clauses 1, 2 and 3 Cont'd

· a request should be made to the Rapid Transit Project Office to extend deadlines to allow City staff adequate opportunity to fully address possible opportunities and impacts arising from the project, including social and environmental issues
· the $140 million annual cost to service the debt on the existing SkyTrain system could have bought 280 trolley buses every year since it went into operation
· support for staff's recommendation for an independent consultant review
· best opportunity for the City to influence the project's time frame would be through the GVTA; the GVTA must agree on the design, scope and cost of the project prior to its contribution of funding for 40% of the capital costs of the project
· too much rapid, not enough transit
· there is not the ridership on transit corridors to justify the investment for SkyTrain
· huge subsidies to operate SkyTrain has hobbled transit expansion for the past 20 years
· Diane King urged Council to approve initiation of the "Pilot" phase of the Building Line Study in 1999 (Rec. G, Administrative Report dated October 19, 1998)
· Marilyn Pollard urged Council not delay funds of $1 million earmarked in the City's 1997-1999 Capital Plan for construction of a new Little Mountain Neighbourhood House; the process to apply for matching funds from the Federal Government is already underway

Jacquie Forbes Roberts, Director - Community Planning and Frank Ducote, Planner, responded to questions of Council related to public consultations, critical areas along the route, and implications related to type of technology chosen. After further discussion, Council members agreed on the need to defer decision on this matter to allow for further consideration of funding sources, with reference again made to the lack of specific data, and the project's tight time frame.

The following motion by Councillor Clarke was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

THAT decision on this matter be deferred to a future meeting of Council.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The Committee adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver