Folks in opposition to the proposed new bus line #33 along 16th Ave to UBC have a new website. According to save16th.com, the new bus route will mean “considerable noise and window rattling”, and that commuters to UBC have a number of other choices including the #99 (down Broadway) and the #25 (down 25th Ave) as well as “several other routes from areas farther north and south.”
This is yet another example of West Side “not in my neighborhood” anti-transit rhetoric. While window-rattling is certainly a nuisance, it doesn’t compare on the aggravation scale to being late for work or classes because you can’t get on the bus. Existing routes to UBC are often full to capacity before they reach the West Side. On the morning commute, the #25 heading west is full up by Knight Street. Similarly, the #43 – the next route to the South – is full by Victoria.
With over 43,579 students plus 12,648 faculty and staff at UBC, another cross-town bus route improving transit access for cross-town commuters should be welcomed.
Resources:
So where in http://www.save16th.com/ does it say that Dunbar residents are involved in the website or opposition??
Save 16th is neither a Dunbar website nor a Dunbar initiative. Dunbar already has a bus that travels along most of Dunbar’s 16th Avenue, the #25 bus. So how can Dunbar residents complain about a “new service” when a comparable route has been there for years!
The TRUTH: a Shaughnessy Residents Association asked if we would relay message opposed to the 16th Avenue Bus Service through the DRA’s Neighbours list serve. We did. You may not believe it but every response afterwards supported the new route.
Please amend your Blog so it’s accurate.
My bad. You are correct and I have amended the post. I should have done more research before attributing the site to Dunbar residents, rather than opting for a catchy blog headline! It’s our intention to provide accurate news and informed commentary.
Thank you for letting us know the outcome of the message posted to the DRA Neighbours list serv.
The Save 16th nutters (my crazy neighbours who don’t want me to have a nice bus ride to work in the morning – argh!) are having a public meeting this Wednesday, June 25.
Please come out and tell the “Translink and City of Vancouver representatives” that we are actually pretty stoked about a new bus route.
Wednesday, June 25th, 7:00pm
Canadian Memorial Church, 1825 West 16th Avenue (16th and Burrard)
The new buses are quiet and don’t rattle windows, unlike the older “whistling wagons.’ Ignore the navel-gazing NIMBYs. The less SOVs we have on the road, the better. Still, rush hour bus service on the existing routes could be much more efficient. For one, I think inside-lane HOV lanes make more sense. There should also be bus conductors or loading attendants to make sure people don’t glom around doorways, get to the back of the bus, take their packs off, don’t take up more than one seat, don’t bring food & drink onboard, etc.
I live on West 16th and am dismayed that some of my neighbours are trying to keep the neighbourhood a bus-free zone. According to them, West 16th is a kind of bucolic oasis that’s about to be destroyed by the advent of buses. But in fact it’s already a major thoroughfare for car traffic. I’m not prepared to join with those who object to buses while blithely accepting an ever increasing volume of cars.
At the same time, I’m angry with Translink for reneging on their promise to restore trolleys to Cambie. I’d like to see the trolley service restored on Cambie and maybe extended to the proposed route along West 16th.