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Which element of Transportation is of most concern to you?
Infrastructure for moving goods
9% (5 votes)
Infrastructure for moving people
5% (3 votes)
Infrastructure moving goods and people
12% (7 votes)
Our growing population
4% (2 votes)
Public transit
21% (12 votes)
Zoning initiatives to increase density
9% (5 votes)
The effect transporation has on the environment
16% (9 votes)
All of the above
14% (8 votes)
More than all of the above and I would like to see specific polls (send in your ideas)
11% (6 votes)
Total votes: 57
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Thanks for you comments "Portal Watcher". There are links on our home page to some resources, but again they are IMAGINE SOUTH DELTA where you will find several multimedia presentations on < a href="http://www.smartgrowth.bc.ca/index.cfm"> SMART GROWTH.There are other references to other issues throughout this site that might be of interest to you.
I agree with you that is great to have people with a wealth of knowledge taking a couple of minutes to contribute their thoughts. The more conversation we have the better off we will all be.
Thanks Sean AND Susan for both of you contributing in this fashion. As Sean indicated though let's stay away from attacking personal integrity and drill down into facts, interpretations and assumptions. I loved Mike's questioning of Susan's interpretation of the growth projects and Prince Rupert. Nice stuff all of you.
Maybe in the end it will all resolve to significant differences in ideals and directions as to whether growth is a good thing or a bad thing. So be it - the end result will be clarity. Maybe clarity of opinion that all issues of all kinds eventually reduce down to polarized viewpoints. Robert Persig where are you?? Personally I love growth, controlled and creative growth, growth that doesn't look like Kelowna or Kingsway or Walnut Grove or Langley. Growth that looks like Nelson or others. I can get really, really excited about a new Tsawwassen, South Delta that is a model for all. Can someone point me to that list of model communities or cities that we can model. My apologies for my missing the Smartgrowth events.
I challenge Sean, Susan, Mike, et al to keep the flow coming in. Do stay nice to each other though!
I think that we have a problem in our community. It seems that any desire to keep our community "as is" is clouding our judgement to the point where poor decisions may be made on our behalf.
In the case of land development, we should be listening to people like Sean Hodgins who knows more about the issue than you or I ever will. Accordingly, I would assume that Century Group would only want to initiate any development of the Southlands if it actually benefited us in the long term. That is because you and I will not let them do anything unless it makes sense.
We should be just as thoughtful when we listen to environmental arguments opposing any development at the Port, Southlands or wherever. Any actual progress on these pressing and complex issues can only be made when we consider giving ground to opposing viewpoints
Welcome Sean! I hope you find this format interesting and you enjoy the debate on the numerous issues that are on the table in South Delta.
I just want to take a moment to respond to Susan Jones recent post regarding container shipping. I did find the document to which she refers and have a different interpretation of the info.
The percentages quoted are correct but they are based on projected increases in container throughput from 2010 to 2020 which requires the terminal infrastructure.So, the percentages for transfer of containers within the Lower Mainland (the intra-regional market) remain similar but the number of containers for the local market increase from 449,000 TEUs in 2004 to a forecast of  994,000 in 2010 and 1,378,000 TEUs in 2020.
As far as Prince Rupert goes, it was considered as a part of the third birth assessment and it should be noted that there is no market for the transit of containers there as the terminal is under construction. From what I have read the two terminals would serve different markets, and based on the forecasting, the container business will need all of the facilities proposed by the Vancouver Fraser River and Prince Rupert Ports.
That's quite a welcome! Of course you would suggest my interests are compromised. You haven't addressed the substance of my comments and instead you attack my integrity. That was shabby.
Sean Hodgins
I'm glad you are here to have your say but I would suggest that your particular interests are compromised. As a land developer you are likely interested in any development in Delta or elsehwere as you likely believe it perpetrates your perceived right as a "captain of Industry". Believe it or not, there are those of us in the community (a lot of us) that do not buy in to the notion of ever expanding growth.
Hi There. I'm new to this thing but I'm interested in the insightful comments. Door mat? Does Richmond feel that way about the airport (which is far more instrusive to its immediate nieghbours than the port will ever be)? We have developed somewhat of an island mentality in South Delta where we seem to eschew the very industry that allows Canada to enjoy the priveleged quality of life we enjoy as a G7 (G8?) nation.
We should not let industry and progress roll over us and destroy the local quality of life we enjoy in order to promote national interests. But we have to find balance between our responsibilities to allow Canada to compete on a world stage while protecting what we have. Some of the responses to the port expansion are ludicrous. Move it Prince Rupert. It's not going to happen so let's deal realistically with this our neighbour and local taxpayer, DeltaPort.
I think the main issues respecting the port, at least to the typical person on the street, is the issue of truck traffic coming from the port. The trains are an annoyance to some but I don't have to wait long if my bike ride is interrupted by a train movement at the 41B Street crossing.
The trucks are only on the road to deal with local demand for container traffic. At least that's the official version. If the container is bound outside of the lower mainland, the overwhelming majority of those containers will go on a train. Trucking is too expensive. There is no immediate solution to this transportation issue. If those same containers came into Vanterm on Burrard inlet (as many already do)then we shift the problem to other transportation corridors even less able to deal with the traffic.
It seems that, despite oil prices becoming significantly higher than they have ever been (that sounds obvious, but I mean relative to other costs, oil has gone up greater than other costs) that we more and more have developed our society and its economy around global scale industry and a greater and greater cost of shipping goods from elsewhere (mostly China it seems).
Until we change that, (and that might be a result of higher oil costs, where more locally produced goods have a cost advantage) then we will have ever more demand for port expansion. Delta will never be able to stand in the way of such national interests, even if such interests really come down to importing cheap 'crap' from China.
Sean HodginsSome FAQ updates from the Vancouver Port Authority can be read HERE
The Greater Vancouver Regional District has enough loading docks to handle goods to this area. The Gateway Program is about moving goods outside the GVRD and across Canada and the infrastructure will be very costly to taxpayers. A January, 2005 study, "Greater Vancouver Short-Sea Container Shipping Study, on page 85, stated: "it has been assumed conservatively that 36% inbound and outbound containers in Greater Vancouver require intra-regional delivery and that this ratio will increase nominally to 37% by 2010 and 38% by 2020." So, we do not need more loading docks. If B.C. wants to get involved in transferring goods across Canada to eastern Canada, US and Europe, there is the port of Prince Rupert which has infratructure.
Hey you - get off my lawn! Ah never mind, go ahead, walk through my yard!; Better yet, walk right through my living room and dirty my rug, through my garage, pass some gas too while you're go through just to freshen up the air. Oh, you're paying me how much to walk through?? Hmmm, let me think about that again.
Well that's a harsh pessimistic view of the whole gateway/port thing from an uneducated citizen's viewpoint. I wonder, like most others in this community, what is truly in it for us as we open up our neighbourhoods and houses, if you will, to non-local traffic. I'm sure there are grand projections of tax revenue, new businesses forming to support the port, and others I would guess. And, like all business plans, they are filled with many claimed assumptions. That's the reality of business. Is this revenue projection information available to the community? I'd love to see it. Are the benefits worth the costs to us as a community. If there's a ton of tax money that raises the standard of living for us (maybe pays for the building of a library and sports fields), if the traffic and pollution from the trucks turns out to be non-intrusive, if development on ALR is kept to a bare minimum, if you clean up your messes, if... Then I'm all in! I know it's going to happen so please, please, be considerate. I know, I know, that's naive. These business folks all care deeply about the people of Ladner and Tsawwassen. Do you think?
We seem to be consuming a lot. There needs to be a "loading dock" somewhere. Any idea where it should go?
The public is to pay for Gateway, first to build and maintain it and, second, to suffer the consequences to our health from air pollution, farmland loss and truck crashes while international companies laugh all the way to the bank. No one asked us if we wanted to become the loading dock for North America.
Thanks Susan and Ben. I have included an" all of the above option". I should have in the first place..just overlooked it. If you would like to see poll that would be fine as long as it makes sense to a broad readership. You can send ideas to info@town-portal.com
Yes you're probably right, Susan. There are a ton of issues there. It's almost like it needs a relative rating kind approach or different questions altogether. Your statement though "I refuse to be sucked into such nonsense." seems harsh - I don't expect the Town Portal guys to be Angus Reid guys - I think they're just trying to get the information flowing.
Why don't you suggest a Poll and a recommended set of options and see if the portal guy(s?) put it up. And thanks for the info and links - very useful and somewhat disturbing.
Cheers,
Ben
I am conerned about all of the issues on the list. You did not provide an opportunity to choose more than one. I refuse to be sucked in to such nonsense.
I am concerned because Gateway was developed by industry, not government or the public. The Gateway Program in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, including road and rail upgrades, will cost taxpayers $6.4 to $6.9 billion dollars in 2002 cost estimates. This information comes from page 75 of"Economic Impact Analysis of the Major Commercial Transportation System for The Greater Vancouver Region". This study can be found on the site of the Greater Vancouver Gaeway Council which was set up in 1994. Its stated Mandate was to "build and act on a vision for Greater Vancouver as a world transportation gateway...Its mission is to ensure that the Gateway efficiently provides the highest level of customer satisfaction for shippers, carriers and passengers." The B.C. and federal governments funded this study for the Gateway Council but did not have voting powers. The study did not include safety or the environment. Ths public was not involved at all. This is to move goods for companies that are owned offshore. In return for investing 6 to 7 billion dollars, taxpayers will receive a air pollution, a degraded environment, loss of farmland, a 56% increase in truck traffic, higher housing costs,higher density and loss of current quality of life. Real estate people love it.
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