City has Third World transit
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Updated: November 04, 2009 4:24 PM
Your lead article entitled “Getting Valley rail on track” in Thursday’s paper implies that a regular train service through the Valley is something “local rail enthusiasts” would like to see.
Well, its appeal of course, is much wider than this.
The City of Abbotsford suffers extraordinary deprivation on account of its poor transit connections with other communities in the Valley.
Greyhound has recently reduced its already limited number of buses going to Vancouver.
BC Transit’s route 21 offers a miserable service to TransLink’s route 502 bus at Aldergrove while the latter adds insult to injury by wandering aimlessly through the countryside before lumbering into Langley at approximately hourly intervals. It is amazing to me that the West Coast Express simply never makes it as far as Abbotsford but rather terminates 10 kilometres short in Mission.
The reason why it doesn’t turn right at the Mission bridge and run down to Abbotsford can only be seen as a cynical slight at the people of Abbotsford.
The fact is when it comes to our transit connections with the outside world, we are a Third World community.
It might come as a surprise to some readers, but in many cities the size of Abbotsford, transit is actually a preferred alternative to driving.
It’s not just rail enthusiasts who want good transit – we all do and if we don’t then it’s our own fault we have a lousy system!
Andrew Ward
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