INSIDE: OT goal helps Bruins snap winless streak on home ice Pg. 15 T U E S D A Y
January 11, 2011
3 N E W S ,
Rail folks find study biased in favour of rapid bus
SPORTS,
WEATHER
&
E N T E R T A I N M E N T chilliwacktimes.com
5.3%
FUNDRAISING ALL BOTTLED UP
Massive decline in jobless numbers
BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
T
he provincial government’s shelving of light rail from Chilliwack to Surrey in the longawaited Fraser Valley Transit Study (FVTS) is “biased,” “misleading,” and full of “flaws and errors,” according to the Rail for the Valley advocacy group. Proponents of the inter-urban rail line from Chilliwack to Surrey released an in-depth analysis of the FVTS on Monday. The FVTS was a long-awaited study by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to plan transit for the Fraser Valley for the next 25. The FVTS, which was released in December, found that commuter rail services from Chilliwack to Surrey would cost too EB IRST much to implement First reported on and operate and chilliwacktimes.com would not have the ridership needed. Instead, the province has proposed an express bus services between Chilliwack and Abbotsford. But John Buker, spokesperson for Rail for the Valley, said the FVTS puts projected boardings per day for daily interurban services between Chilliwack and Abbotsford at a maximum of 250 passengers. However, for equivalent express bus services 800 boardings is projected. “By digging a little under the surface, one discovers shockingly that the report is actually assuming a regional bus service would attract more than triple the number of passengers of an equivalent light rail service,” Buker said.
W
BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
C
F
See RAIL, Page 5
Local company soars with NASA
Tyler Olsen/TIMES
Marcus Dewhurst of the 1st Fairfield Scouts sorts through a table-full of bottles Saturday afternoon at Gwynne Vaughn Park. The scouts collected hundreds of cans and bottles, which last year raised more than $1,000.
hilliwack’s jobless rate hit its lowest mark since before the global economic recession hit at the start of 2008. At 5.3 per cent, the local number of unemployed has been on a steady decline since the peak of 11.1 per cent seven months ago, according to Labour Force Survey numbers released on Friday. Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce president Jason Lum said the relevance of the jobless rate is hard to quantify, but there does seem to be some upbeat feelings in the local economy. “In general, we may have a little bit of cautious optimism and people may be starting to hire,” he told the Times. “With Ritchie Brothers, Stream ramping up hiring, those jobs are huge. Eagle Landing has contributed to a pretty big increase.” As far as the retail sector goes, Lum heard some anecdotally positive things from downtown Chilliwack retailers about the Christmas season. “I talked to some of the smaller retailers and they said it was pretty busy,” he said. The unemployment rate numbers illustrate that more people in Chilliwack are looking for work and finding See JOBLESS, Page 7
Plumbing Service Department WWW.OCONNORGROUP.COM 06198229
8645 Young Street, Chilliwack 604-792-5151 www.jadamandsons.com
FREE 143 PT pre-owned inspection and one year membership!
only at
604-792-2754 DL#5952
02124924
Price 60¢