Downtown Transportation Plan The Transportation Challenge

2 The Transportation Challenge

The transportation challenge facing the downtown is to accommodate more people travelling into
the downtown in the future without adding traffic lanes to the bridges and roads leading to the
downtown. At the same time, there is an expectation to minimize congestion. At first glance the
challenge appears enormous. This plan presents a strategy that meets the challenge.

The Vancouver Transportation Plan, 1997, recognized that road capacity is finite and that even
if more roads were to be built they would soon be congested with more cars. That solution is to
reduce the demand for auto trips by providing further transportation choices, particularly transit.

Downtown’s economic health is closely tied to its transportation network. Transportation is as

much about economy and liveability as it is about travelling and commuting. Business downtown
depend upon the transportation system to allow employees and customers to travel easily to their
place of business. As well, many of these businesses rely on the road network to deliver and
receive goods and services. If roads become congested, the cost of business would increase and
the downtown economy could suffer. Businesses might then relocate to more accessible locations
where they can be more competitive.

Congested roads also affect the liveability or the desirability of being downtown. This is especially
important because of the residential neighbourhoods in the downtown peninsula. Reducing traffic
congestion and resulting air and noise pollution, creating more pedestrian friendly streets,
providing more sustainable choices like transit and bicycling will help keep downtown an
attractive place for businesses and residents alike.

The downtown transportation system must also address it’s role as an entertainment and
recreation destination. Downtown is home to the region’s largest sports venues (BC Place stadium
and GM Place arena). It is also the region’s primary tourist destination with major convention
facilities and over 55 percent of the region’s hotel rooms. The tourist industry is anticipated to
grow 6 percent annually to 2021 (Colliers International). The cruise ship industry currently attracts
over one million passengers annually.

The Vancouver Transportation Plan acknowledged the complexities of the downtown

transportation system by recommending the preparation of the Downtown Transportation Plan.
Specifically, it recommended the preparation of a “...transportation and circulation plan for the
Downtown, including a complete review of the Downtown transit system to improve service and
choice, improve regional connections and airport links, evaluate alternative transit vehicles (such
as mini-buses), establish priorities for ‘Great Streets’, improve route and destination signage,
create pedestrian priority areas and implement bike lanes and street improvements.”

To the benefit of Vancouverites, downtown Vancouver is economically successful and already very
liveable. Vancouver has been ranked as the most liveable city in the world. To maintain this
status in the future, efforts must be taken now to avoid the transportation problems facing many
other major North American cities. The Downtown Transportation Plan is the means to this end
and will help guide transportation decisions to 2021.

The importance of future transportation planning is demonstrated by the current success of the
existing downtown transportation system. For more than half a century, Vancouver has nurtured
an economically healthy and liveable downtown. In the 1940s and 1950s, the focus was on
adjusting to increased auto use. It was apparent then that, while road access is important for
commerce, attempting to satisfy all demands for road space would require unacceptable trade-
offs with the objective of a liveable downtown. Plans for downtown expressways were formulated
in the 1960s but were later suspended because of the disruption they would have created, both in
terms of land occupied and neighbourhoods affected.

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Building public transit links (particularly rapid transit) to the downtown peninsula then became
paramount to maintaining suitable access. A passenger ferry from Lonsdale Quay in North
Vancouver to Waterfront Station began operating in 1974. The region’s first rapid transit line,
SkyTrain, was opened from downtown to New Westminster in 1985, with an extension to Surrey a
few years later. In 1992, the region’s first commuter rail line was opened from Mission to
Waterfront Station.

The result of the past efforts is a highly accessible downtown. This success is reflected by its
large concentration of residents, employment and trips within the city. With 560 hectares,
downtown comprises about five percent of the city’s total land area. However, it is home to 13
percent of the city’s residents, accommodates 39 percent of the city’s jobs, and receives 21
percent of the city’s trip destinations. In the future, more residents, more employment and more
trips destined to the downtown are anticipated. The Downtown Transportation Plan builds upon
the success of the past to meet the needs of the future.

This section provides the context for the development of the Downtown Transportation Plan.
Section 2.1 provides the city and regional context for downtown transportation planning.
Section 2.2 sets forth a vision for downtown and for a downtown transportation system.

2.1 The City and Regional Context

Plans for the City of Vancouver and for the Greater Vancouver region provide the context for the
development of the Downtown Transportation Plan. Recommendations of the Downtown
Transportation Plan support plans for the city and region.

2.1.1 City of Vancouver

In 1991 Council adopted the Central Area Plan Goals and Land Use Policy. The plan expressed the
policies of the City of Vancouver related to office zoning, displacement of support activities from
downtown, lively retail, central area housing, providing density bonuses, liveability and high
density living. The main land use direction was to create more housing capacity by consolidating a
compact downtown core central business district (CBD) and an uptown (Broadway corridor) office
district. The reduction of zoned capacity for offices outside the CBD and uptown areas was
another objective. This has since become widely known as Vancouver’s “living-first strategy” for
its Central Area. Other policies included protecting support service opportunities, creating
complete neighbourhoods on the downtown peninsula with all necessary amenities, creating areas
for “choice of use” (offices and housing), targeting retail to desired pedestrian shopping streets
and adjusting land use policies to allow uses and scale that preserve heritage character.

Transportation objectives were an explicit aspect of the new land use policies. Orienting new
office development to transit was one objective of office land use consolidations and deletions.
They included consolidating zoned office capacity around rapid transit stations, bringing overall
office and transportation capacity closer together and increasing housing on the downtown
peninsula to reduce commuting times and congestion, and reducing the need for inner city
neighbourhoods to accommodate through commuters to downtown. By calling for streets to be
the “focal point of public life,” the Central Area Plan calls for public realm improvements to
foster movement on foot.

The Central Area Plan was followed in 1995 by CityPlan, the City of Vancouver’s overall guide to
future planning, development and civic decisions. It acknowledges that the public wanted to
emphasize transit, walking and biking to slow traffic growth in neighbourhoods and improve the
environment. CityPlan reinforced the vision for downtown. Finally, and perhaps most importantly
for this report, it recommended the undertaking of a City of Vancouver Transportation Plan.

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Also in 1995, a Vancouver Greenways Plan that identified conceptual multi-use and richly
landscaped corridors providing greater priority to pedestrians and cyclists throughout the city,
including downtown, was approved. The purpose of Greenways is to expand the opportunities for
urban recreation and to enhance the experience of nature and city life.

The City of Vancouver Transportation Plan (1997) set forth transportation policies for both the City
as a whole and downtown for the period to 2021. It specified that growth in trip demand would be
met by the existing road network. It recommended greater transportation choice and a more
balanced downtown transportation system. It nonetheless acknowledged that the car would
continue to be the major form of transport for trips by people travelling outside neighbourhoods,
especially for trips for which transit does not offer a good alternative. It stressed the importance
of good truck access to the city and of improving delivery access to the Port of Vancouver and the
International Airport. This Downtown Transportation Plan is viewed as fulfilling the overall policy
guidelines set forth in the Transportation Plan for downtown trips and transportation facilities.

2.1.2 The Greater Vancouver Region

The GVRD’s 1993 regional transportation plan, Transport 2021, provides transportation policies
and programs for the region. It identifies the need for regional land use policies that cluster
population and jobs so that people can have an opportunity to live close to work. It recommends
changing the look and feel of neighbourhoods and “streetscapes” such that walking and bicycling
is given an opportunity to take hold. It proposes Transport Demand Management (TDM) as a tool
to influence travel behaviour. This includes “carrots”, such as encouraging telecommuting,
encouraging employers to discourage car commuting, installing high-occupancy vehicle highway
lanes and giving buses priority over cars. “Sticks” including higher and more generally applicable
parking charges, higher fuel and other driving costs and bridge tolls, are also proposed. It also
includes transit supply measures, including new rapid transit lines, bus priority measures and
express buses. Transport 2021 also proposes using the “choke points” of the bridges and tunnels
across the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet to limit access to geographical sub-areas within Greater
Vancouver by single-occupant vehicles. The plan projected that the proportion of commuters using
transit to travel downtown would increase from 37 to 48 percent from 1991 to 2021.

The 1995 Livable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP), which was formulated jointly with Transport
2021, guides decision-making for the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). The LRSP
supports complete communities focused around town centres, a better balance in the distribution
of jobs and housing and more effective transportation services. It envisages a compact
metropolitan region in which a larger share of population is accommodated in the municipalities
on the Burrard Peninsula and northern areas of Delta and Surrey. The plan calls for greater
transportation choice as a way of minimizing congestion and dependence on private automobiles.
The GVRD is commencing a review of the LRSP in 2002.

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2.2 The Downtown Vision

Downtown Vancouver is the region’s pre-eminent economic generator, as well as its international
face to the Pacific Rim. It is the principal locale for Greater Vancouver’s head office, business
services and tourist functions. Downtown Vancouver is also the region’s most prominent
entertainment centre, the locale of the region’s largest sports venues and the region’s largest
retail hub. Downtown Vancouver is also a special place with unique character areas, livable
residential neighbourhoods, heritage resources, a unique skyline and active public spaces.

The key to maintaining an alive downtown is that it is both a place of commerce and of residence.
The integration of residential neighbourhoods with the commercial core assures the presence of
people on downtown streets outside of normal business hours. Residential neighbourhoods also
complement the commercial objectives for downtown by providing a reservoir of workers and
shoppers and entertainment venue visitors.

The objective of this Downtown Transportation Plan is to support and facilitate these important
downtown functions. The vision for Vancouver is to be the most liveable city in the world. One of
the most important aspects of a liveable city is its transportation system, especially in its
downtown.

The Downtown Commercial Core in a Larger Central Area

While the most prominent component, downtown is one of three related nodes in a central area or
‘metropolitan core’ providing a wide range of employment and commercial services. Figure 2-A
shows the three nodes. The three nodes function as an integrated metropolitan core accounting
for more than one in five regional workers. A vision of the Downtown Transportation Plan is to
reinforce the integrated nature of the metropolitan core, improving the economic functioning of
the entire complex.

Downtown Transportation Vision

For downtown Vancouver, the transportation vision is to be the most accessible place in the
region. Achieving this vision will contribute to a thriving and prosperous business community and
create a downtown where people want to work, live and play. For all trip purposes by all modes,
the experience of travelling around the downtown will be pleasant. Motorists will not be unduly
delayed by congestion, transit users would be provided with a reliable and efficient transit
system, pedestrians and cyclists of all ages and abilities will find downtown inviting and barrier-
free. Downtown is a place where the transportation network offer choices that are extensive and
exciting, such that getting to and around downtown is an attraction in itself.

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Downtown Transportation Plan The Transportation Challenge

Figure 2-A
Vancouver’s Metropolitan Core

Business/Commercial
Areas

Triangle West -
Coal Harbour Central
Waterfront

West End Central Oppenheimer

Business Victory Square -
District Downtown
Eastside
Strathcona

False Creek
North - City Gate
Downtown
South
Yaletown -
Roundhouse False
Creek
Flats
Southeast
False Creek

Broadway Corridor

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2.3 Sustainability and Transportation

Achieving sustainability is key to the health and economy of the city and region. Sustainable
transportation will help Vancouver meet the needs of its present community without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Recognising that
transportation and land-use are fundamental components to achieving a sustainable city, the
Downtown Transportation Plan seeks to address problems of pollution, noise, congestion, safety,
energy consumption, and costs that are incurred in moving people and goods throughout the
downtown. The challenge is how to increase access to goods, services, activities and destinations
while reducing energy use, noise, pollution, congestion and, at the same time, increasing safety,
security and liveability.

Vancouver has made significant progress toward sustainability and has been consistently rated as a
leading city in terms of liveability. City Council has adopted plans that place high priority on
creating a downtown where people have access to affordable transportation to move them
between home, work, and places of leisure.

The Downtown Transportation Plan will make progress towards achieving sustainability by
providing recommendations that:
• Help promote more efficient systems for moving goods and people;
• Encourage more sustainable transportation modes such as walking, transit, and cycling;
• Reduce vehicle kilometres travelled by providing jobs, entertainment venues and commercial
and retails services in close proximity to where people live;
• Encourage alternative approaches to car travel including carpools, vanpools and car sharing
networks;
• Increase safety by reducing the potential for conflicts between modes;
• Enhance access to information that increases the efficiency of goods and people movement
through ITS; and
• Reduce average commuting times for downtown trips.
In short, the movement towards becoming a sustainable city requires policies and plans to provide
guidance and incentives for people to modify their behaviour and pattern of travel. The Downtown
Transportation Plan provides the mechanism for that change to happen.

“Sustainability is a direction rather than a destination. A sustainable city is one that

protects and enhances the immediate and long-term well being of a city and its
citizens, while providing the highest quality of life possible. Sustainability requires
integrated decision-making that takes into account economic, ecological and social
impacts as a whole”. (From Creating a Sustainable City, Report to City Council, April
1,2002)

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