Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Letter To The Editor - Jan 22, 2008 - From Mary Hartman - RE: Transit Too Late For Fraser Valley Lost Generation(s)?

From: Mary & Gus Hartman
The Editor,

The unveiling of the Transit mega-plan will, no doubt horrify those living in the South Fraser Valley, where the services & routes would have ultimately extended east to both Abbotsford & Chilliwack, & now will do so possibly, by 2020 - how about Hope ? The promise includes in total, for all areas,(it is presumed), 600 more buses, which will sadden many when the amount of pollution spews forth into the armosphere & may have been avoided with rail & trolley services. Why should the oldies worry about it anyway, we'll all be underground by then !

What has not been taken into consideration, is the less than far sighted appreciation of the movement of population & businesses, to the South Fraser Valley, as a result of the increasing house & suite prices in & around Vancouver, driving families further & further away. The disturbing, distressing & breaking point of the Transit Plan, is the lack of a rapid rail service to the South Fraser Valley & no hope of ever having something in the near future, even though the taxes collected in & for B.C. are for all the people of British Columbia & not just for Vancouver, the surrounding suburbs & Victoria, which seems to be the opinion of the Premier, as he splashes our money around his domain.

We, in the Fraser Valley are British Columbians & do pay our taxes ! So, how about a decent share of it ! The billions of dollars being spent for 17 days of Olympic Glory. in & around Vancouver & associated areas, won't help the people of the Valley either, what are they getting out of those tax dollars !

It would be interesting to have a sensible estimate of the cost of establishing a rapid rail transit service up the middle of Highway one, from Surrey to join the main line at Cattermole, where the Highway converges without a middle section available & then through Chilliwack to Hope on the established line, with appropriate exchanges etc. As most mayors have already stated, most traffic from the Valley does not go over the Port Mann bridge.

The future arrangements as outlined by the Translink plan for the lack of services to the Fraser Valley allow a Brass Monkey's share of the $14 billion dream. Who are we ? The lost generation ! The many oldies in the Valley who have worked hard all their lives to help make Canada what it is today should be appreciated & have their lives made more enjoyable. The younger generation living in the area & have to travel long distances to earn a living should also be considered, seriously.

Mary Hartman
Chilliwack
January 22 / 2008.
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