Hawks in playoffs in Kelowna
Wigging out for kids with cancer
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Thursday March 7, 2013
Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
Rapid transit options tabled Surrey SkyTrain system to Langley would deliver best results: TransLink
by Jeff Nagel NEW RAPID transit studies released by
TransLink have handed more ammunition to backers of SkyTrain technology through Surrey to Langley as well as on Vancouver’s Broadway corridor toward UBC. A SkyTrain line running above Fraser Highway from Surrey City Centre to Langley,
coupled with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines running south to White Rock on King George Boulevard and east to Guildford on 104 Avenue, is the most expensive of four short-listed options at $2.22 billion, but TransLink found it delivers the most transportation benefits and by far the highest ridership. It would also be the fastest, carrying passengers from Langley to Surrey Central station in
just 22 minutes, compared to 29 or 30 minutes for the other three options. Surrey council has lobbied for a network of ground-level light rail (LRT) lines, rather than BRT or elevated SkyTrain, arguing LRT would be a better fit for the city’s neighbourhoods. TransLink previously studied a dozen different technology permutations in Surrey before winnowing them to the four frontrunners.
The option closest to the city’s preference would run light rail trains on all three corridors radiating from downtown Surrey, with BRT rapid buses running on the southern section of King George from Newton to White Rock, as light rail isn’t considered justifiable there. At $2.18 billion, that would be only slightly cheaper than the SkyTrain/BRT option, See RASODE / Page 3
BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT)
GROUND-LEVEL LIGHT RAIL & BRT
GROUND-LEVEL LIGHT RAIL
SKYTRAIN & BRT
$0.9 BILLION
$1.68 BILLION
$2.18 BILLION
$2.22 BILLION
Court delays scuttle cop charges
Police officers accused of assaulting and tasering a Surrey senior in 2010 by Sheila Reynolds A SURREY RCMP officer and a Transit Police officer accused of assaulting a hospitalized senior three years ago have had their charges stayed because the case took too long to get to trial.
RCMP Const. Mitchell Spears was facing one count of assault and one of assault with a weapon for allegedly using a Taser on a 73-year-old man in April 2010. Const. Ken Jansen, with the South Coast of B.C. Transportation Authority Police Service, was charged with one count of assault in con-
nection with the same incident. Surrey’s Robert Keith Booker was arrested at his home under the Mental Health Act for acting in a threatening way toward his landlord and carrying a knife. See VICTIM / Page 4
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