What I Would Build in Vancouver | Crayoning with Reece

I know RM said he doesn't like fantasy transit, but it's still important to advocate for bigger and better services when cities lag behind.

There's something about looking at fantasy transit maps that are so appealing to me. Especially how they highlight areas of cities that are more important than they otherwise seem for a person who is unfamiliar with the city

They first started talking about the Elizabeth line Line in about 1942, so there is still time for it to become a reality.

There should be a rail connection to both ferry terminals as they are major transportation hubs.

I think people underestimate how fast Surrey is growing. Surrey will soon pass Vancouver in population and the transit offerings for many areas are shockingly bad, if existent at all. Vancouver has a lot more dense corridors to easily expand but the delayed approach to Surrey's mobilization scares me a bit.

That plan looks great! Just three suggestions. 1 revive the Olympic village LRT and possibly make a Vancouver tram network that connects with arbutus, west end and Olympic village. 2 extend the Canada line to north Vancouver with the Inland line at a mega tc by the rocky mountaineer station. 3 merge Granville and city centre stations into a single stop. This would allow for a major downtown hub in central Vancouver and not cause any confusion for new riders. Plus get customers from Richmond and Yvr to Chinatown, pacific central station, and surrey.

Great video! Please do make that dedicated West Coast Express video - it would be so nice to see an expanded longer distance and more frequent passenger rail service. How nice would it be to take a weekend trip from Coquitlam to Chilliwack by train?!

I think Vancouver's current plans are pretty sensible, like the North Shore-Metrotown line seemingly being next in line without much controversy, but yeah I do agree that mode choice and a faster line South of the Fraser are issues. The West End is also a continual blindspot of the network. So I think your blueprint is pretty good.

I feel this plan is somewhat Vancouver centric. In this arrangement, surrey and Langley remain as commuter based housing oceans. Surely it makes more sense to build more office space in surrey central and Langley city so people can work closer to home, and improve connections between different areas of the south of fraser with better transit. After some 60 years of construction, all we have are 3 branch lines that all meet in the same place, which would make it impossible to really move around surrey if you don’t live in, or are going to, surrey central. A network of Canada line esque, lower capacity elevated skytrain lines to better connect the south of Fraser region will be necessary to reduce car traffic and usage, so I propose: A line running from Scott road to Newton, via 120th and 72nd to act as an upgrade to the R-6 when it reaches capacity. An extension of the north branch of the Fraser line down 200th to meet Langley central expo at a cross platform transfer A line running from guildford mall south along 152st then curving around north Fleetwood to intersect the 160st expo station, and then running along 84ave and south down 152st and west along 72ave to act as an extension to the Scott road line. A new east-west line starting at 160st expo and then running west along 88ave creating connections with both sides of the Scott line, and the south branch of the fraser line, and then running over a pair of rail bridges to stop in queensboro and then terminate at 22st station in new west. If knight street can get a 7 car expo skytrain line, and arbutus can get a tram train, then surely Scott road, and 200th should get it aswell.

I would love to see a canada line expansion that goes past Richmond into the Ladner Delta/Tsawassen region. It would really clear up traffic congestion in the tunnel. My dream would be stops at Ironwood, Cascades Casino, Ladner Bus Exchange, Tsawassen Mills, and Termanating at Tsawassen Ferry Terminal. I think this would be a really positive development change and could get a lot of cars of the road and encourage more cycling in these regions that are nearly entirely car dependent.

Even the LIRR has cross-platform transfers! On the Montauk Branch, part of my ride to NYC is getting off at Babylon for either the express or local train to Penn Station and it's a simple walk across the platform. Cross-platform transfers are simple yet very effective thing for a system to have. And agreed about high-density housing! As more people become environmentally aware, on top of those who either can't afford a car or can't physically or mentally drive one, building transit-oriented development is a must as a way to solve the housing crisis. Hangzhou for example has the Regent International apartment building home to 7,500 people (according to JR Urbane Network; though people have exaggerated to say 10K to 20K), workspaces, a mall, and is connected to two Hangzhou Metro lines! The Hangzhou Metro itself went from one line in 2012 to 13 lines as of 2023 and over 500 km! And that's not mentioning the fact Chongqing has a 19-story residential building with a monorail station right inside it (it has noise reduction equipment to isolate it from the residences). More companies are evolving to have an urban mindset, like Costco which already has an urbanized Vancouver location next to Stadium-Chinatown station. IKEA has taken a sustainable approach as well in Vienna!

Surrey and Langley simply have so much potential when it comes to density thanks to the Expo Line expansion. These cities need to realize that the reason the housing crisis in North America exists because there isn't enough high-density housing, let alone affordable housing! Cars in NA are seen as a symbol of freedom, but for those who don't have or can't drive a car, having walkable cities with solid transit is freedom. And for the Lower Mainland region to get to a true walkable transit region, it needs to improve its regional rail. There needs to be bi-directional service north of the Fraser, and south of the river an entirely new line like Chilliwack - Abbotsford - Langley - Surrey etc. Ideally this would be through-running, cross Burrard Inlet near Stanley Park, and continue up the Sea-To-Sky Highway to Whistler or Pemberton. It needs trains to the ferry terminals at Horseshoe Bay and Tsawwassen (and perhaps a light-rail shuttle to the Point Roberts border so people can walk across to Port Roberts if they want to), train ferries, and regional rail on Vancouver Island. The island USED to have VIA rail service, the linear pattern of development there is good for rail, and the corridor for it remains intact, it just needs maintenance. Of course for all this to work, the communities it would connect would have to have effective local transit as well.

New high-speed route (200kmph capable) along mostly existing right of ways. Pacific Station -> Braid(skytrain) - -> Scott Rd -> Nordel (s. end of alex fraser), -> Panorama Ridge -> 152nd -> 176 -> to the border. Now you've built the 1/4 quarter of a fast rail line to Seattle, and added hugely needed capacity from South Surrey (missing in your plans). Extend Canada Lline south, over the Fraser on the new crossing (bridge/tunnel project), to Tswassassen Mills and the ferry terminal) Expo and Canada Lines are already at capacity, building it out to Langley is going to be a colossal mess; as the trains are already full when they get to New West in the morning; you need an alternate route to get people off of skytrain for those in Surrey.

Oregonian here! I went to Vancouver for the first time in July, car free, taking Amtrak and my bike. Thank you Reece for your Vancouver videos. I felt so much more confident that I could go car free because you have highlighted services so well. Being car lite living in Portland and having lived car free in Seattle, I'm so happy to see you pushing for lofty transit goals. Portland has really stalled out for now, where as Seattle is steaming ahead with ST3. It's good to see others dreaming big and using their platforms to push for progress. if you ever need Portland transit B roll, let me know!

Looking at the Phase 5 SkyTrain map, it really made me feel like Vancouver would need to reach NYC/HK level densities to be able to fund and really take advantage of that level of rapid transit service (which I wholeheartedly welcome!)

Please please do a video on Vancouver regional rail! We need a heavy rail connection south-east through the valley south of the Fraser, connecting Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Langley, and Surrey to Vancouver with faster and long-distance service, and north to Squamish and Whistler. Track to Whistler already exists, and in the valley there are existing sections that could be used, and new track would not be difficult to build, as much of it would be crossing farmland or running alongside/inside highways.

They're starting to build high rise apartments in the Township of Langley along 200th Street and there are developers trying to get them in Aldergrove on the old mall site that they tore down I think last year or the year before. We don't need the SkyTrain now, but we will soon.

Ambitious ideas for Vancouver's transit. Youd have to include massive overlap in the construction of these lines so that you dont wind up taking more than 50 years to get it all built.

Something that needs to be considered is a Connection to YVR to various emerging Downtown Cores. YVR to/from Surrey Central should be heavily considered given that Surrey Central is positioned to be Metro Vancouver's Next downtown

I'm actually wondering if the Vancouver-Seattle-Portland HSR would change your alignment of the Fraser Valley Express line? I would imagine such a line could share tracks through the Surrey-Vancouver section with a form of local express service that could, for example, branch out as far as Abbotsford.