Vancouver's Next Streetcar Network 

It's so refreshing to watch videos that don't use stock footage. I really respect the extra effort that needs to be put in for you to film your own footage.

I really think this project would revolutionize mobility in Vancouver, I can't describe how badly I want this to be built.

Also, crazy that transit needs to prove "cost recovery" to be viable, but nobody demands the same thing of roads

Phenomenal video! The foresight of Vancouver planners to keep the ROW for streetcars will save billions, both on purchasing land and potential tunneling or raised tracks (as done for skytrain), while also minimizing disruptions to the traffic network. Many other North American cities could take lessons from this!

I was a motorman on the Downtown Historic Railway and drove the Olympic Line Streetcar. Wonderful memories from both. I was disappointed that both ended.

I support desperately needed skytrain projects over streetcars (such as in Surrey), but ideally we could get both.

Great detailed look - didn't realise that Vancouver had such an involved history with streetcars (at least planning them)! Love the footage too :)

The biggest advantage of streetcars over busses, imo, is the increased number of doors and multi door boarding and exiting. No more getting stuck at the back of the bus because there's a door at the back of the bus.

Hell yeah! Kudos to the Vancouver planners who've apparently been working towards this for decades! 😲

As always, a very well made video. Informative and the drone footage adds to it considerably.

Phenomenal video! The local footage you gathered really brings this all to life. Thank you so much.

Streetcars are amazing. I think they fill a really important gap between busses and trains.

I’ve driven under that Laurel street land bridge a million times but never knew what it was, wow!

Dude this is AMAZING! I can't imagine the effort you go through to make these informative videos and I love seeing local content like yours

those airborne shots are so good at pulling parts of the city together and showing how close everything really is

If it gets build, it will be cool. Glad you did this video, main news channels fail at this type of reporting.

Fantastic video! Something I've always found interesting about the proposed alignment is that right where the boulevard along W 1st ends, a conveniently wide greenway opens between 1st and Science World, skipping the congestion of the intersection at Quebec St. It seems designed for the streetcar but in those maps it isn't included, strange. I'm still holding out hope that this project, alongside the Arbutus LRT, ends up being built someday!

Extremely underrated youtube channel

What an amazing video! I hope this happens one day. Amazing research and quality video as usual Stainer

Wow I was just saying how Vancouver would benefit from a street car. Having a diversity of transportation would really enrich the urban area

Thank you for creating such a detailed analysis of streetcar options in Vancouver. I live in South Surrey and would love to see a decent streetcar network here. I agree that a Skytrain down King George would be ideal. Currently, you have to own a car to live in Surrey and that isn’t sustainable. Thanks for creating such informative videos.

Vancouver actually played it smart by reserving and slowly extending the retiveway for an unbuild street car

Yes! Finally, catching up in the people transportation area. It is already proven to be efficient, effective, and, when properly scheduled, profitable and well used.

Great video, love the footage! I've lived in Vancouver for 13 years and never understood what that station by Granville Island was for. Would love to hear about future updates on this project.

I live in this area and I had no idea that this was one of the plans. This is so cool, I really hope they end up doing this. I'd seen some tentative ideas of maps going through downtown and the idea for the skytrain that goes around to the North Shore. Idk, the more transit and (PROPER) bike lanes we have, the better tbh.

I love how casually the pp was put in 5:20 (it would’ve been funnier if it was exactly 1 minute earlier)

Somewhat forgotten, although it received press coverage at the time, was the 1971 proposal for a streetcar on Nelson St. If you can get your hands on "Immediate Improvements to Public Transportation in Greater Vancouver", prepared for the GVRD, there are details in there. The idea was to convert Nelson into a grassy linear park with the streetcar serving the centre of the West End. The idea was based on New Orleans which never totally eliminated streetcars; their tracks are largely embedded in grass (as are several other cities' worldwide.) Between Burrard and Granville it would run in the street, then run along the not-yet-built Granville Mall to the waterfront. The city nixed the idea on several grounds - their vision of Granville Mall was one of less transit, more pedestrians, they weren't keen on closing Nelson Street although at the time the pavement was so badly degraded you could hardly drive down it, and it was just too novel to consider (as the urban streetcar revival in North America was still a couple of decades away). I was part of the fairly small project team that prepared the GVRD report and was sorry to see it not implemented. However, many of the other ideas that were totally novel at the time did get implemented, including what became SeaBus, the great expansion of the bus network into many areas not previously served, the development of transit exchanges as an activity centre and not just a bus loop (think: Metrotown, Bridgeport, Lonsdale Quay) and the retention and expansion of the trolleybus network, still Canada's largest electric bus system.

as someone from brussels, seeing the trams I take everyday in a video about Vancouver was a trip haha, such a good video !

Yooooo just found your channel. These videos are sick. Keep up the great work

Beautiful video, and on a topic I didn't know was relevant to the region. Thanks for sharing, makes me excited for the future.

great video! really hope it gets built one day. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until the end of the current Vancouver administration who has shown very little interest in non-car transportation and proactive investment.

A streetcar in Vancouver would be gorgeous!

Great content! I’ve been wondering what’s happened on the idea of a streetcar, and now I know it’s budget issues. Thank you.

The three bureaucratic levels of government will study this for 100 yrs and study after study after study will all say build it ............but I will take 150 yrs to do so........ Megacity Shanghai metro: At just over 30 years old, Shanghai's Mass Rapid Transit network is one of the world's fastest growing. It now has 408 stations and by 2025 will have 620 miles of track, serving more than 10 million passengers per day. Vancouver has got the land, we have the technology but it takes City Council forever to build it.............. JUST DO IT!!!

You really need a 5-module streetcar (like in Toronto) to really gain any significant advantage over an articulated trolley bus. A 3-module vehicle (like most streetcars in North America) barely has more capacity. That’s not to say there aren’t other advantages to a streetcar, but the main one is the ability to have longer vehicles while safely navigating the sharp corners of city streets. And you can’t easily upgrade to longer vehicles later. The station platforms and maintenance facility need to be built to accommodate longer trains.

Great video, I would love to see this come to fruition ASAP. Hopefully Richmond can do likewise on their former inter-urban right-of-way all the way to Steveston.

Somehow this is the first time I’m ever hearing of this Olympic line

Very glad to have you cover our region!

They should propose a 1 cent sales tax increase. Los Angeles increased the sales tax to fund the construction of the light rail and subway lines. It's been continually expanded since 1990. There are 9 Metro rail projects proposed to be completed within the next 12 years. When that happens the system will grow from 109 miles to around 180 miles making it the 2nd largest in the USA behind NYC. A streetcar loop has been proposed for DTLA, but it hasn't gotten anywhere in the last 10 years. It's not an LA Metro transit project so it doesn't get any of the sales tax funding. Hopefully, it still happens. It would be a great way to increase the interconnections between tge subway and light rail, and also serve to help solve the first and last mile issues for tourist and residents of DTLA.

I hope the lower main land transit keeps improving and grows

awesome video! i hope the city is funding this channel for the quality of public info this is providing 😅

Less busses is better because this is a coastal city with a lot of bridges over waterways that are natural bottlenecks . I remember when there was a 4 month buss strike and the first thing I noticed was there was no congestion at the bridges. Busses by their very nature, stopping every block, congests traffic as it is.

The crazy thing is, there used to be streetcars that ran all the way out to Aldergrove and the then provincial crown corporation transit service by BC HYDRO closed it all down. Southwest Corner of Hastings and Carall is the downtown centre for the streetcars. Columbia and 8th in New Westminster ( the Salvation Army Store ) is the centre for the routing to the suburban areas. So plans to bring a streetcar service to the lower mainland will have to fight the previous rejection of such a service.

While they are at it, bring back the Vancouver to Chilliwack interurban railway.

We had street cars all over when I was a young child. They were great and well run. Having a dedicated lane is right. Need it for metro areas too. The rails are there and I would use it.🎉🎉🎉🎉

Would be interesting to see you do a video about expansion in south Langley, Brookswood area. There are developments there and Fernridge that have started, like on 32nd and will be developing more soon. In 20 years that whole area will be unrecognizable.

Please make a video on the proposed Gold and Purple Alignment replacing the R5 rapid bus.

Great video! I live very close to the Olympic Village skytrain station and I've always been curious why they shut the streetcar down that was in use during the 2010 Olympics. I'm not sure if you're only focusing on transportation infrastructure, but your investigative eye may provide some insight into why certain COV projects are stalled: for example, the expansion and upgrading of track & field facilities at Strathcona Park. Or, the Parkour park under the north-end of the Cambie Bridge (Cooper Park).

Looking back im glad i wasnt the only one to think that streetcars could fill in the missing middle in capactity, number of stps, speed, etc. Great minds think alike eh

Do the Marpole to New West plan next!

I'm sure these will be an improvement but I'm not sure it would provide better value for money than more regional projects. These areas of Vancouver are already well served by existing Skytrain and bus routes. So it seems like it will improve travel times but not really get anyone using a car to switch to public transit. This isn't a question of "is it worth the money", it's "is it better to spend money here than (e.g.) a new skytrain route".

I would also say - it’s good for orientation ! Have you ever tried to follow a bus line ? Follow a tram - follow the rails…

Fantastic video!

This is amazing content. Can I buy you a coffee? Thanks so much for putting these detailed videos together

Really informative and well thought out video. Thanks :)

Thanks very much for this video. I live in South False Creek and I'm very interested to see how the area is developed. I believe the first site to be developed in South False Creek will be the parking lot at Olympic Village Station, which is obviously low hanging fruit. There are great opportunities for improving walking connections into Moberly Rd and Leg and Boot Square. The road network is designed to prevent rat-running and to calm traffic, which I love, but the old rail line and the Cambie bridge create barriers to accessibility. I'd like to see a non-vehicular, accessible path across the rail line from the bottom of Ash street to connect to Commodore Rd.

Great video man!! Would love more videos on potential future transit projects stuck in the planning phase in and around the lower mainland 🫡 would also be super curious what your thoughts on the upcoming TransLink BRT system are...

Wide median is perfect for an elevated skytrain line

What an incredible video! Amazing work! Instant sub here

Superb content. Thank you!

Thanks for this video! We should do all of this. Also, its totally okay to take even more space away from cars. One other advantage of street cars is changing people's perception of road use. For example, in Portland, cars on the street car lines know they are on the street car lines, and seem uncomfortable with this... or at least respect it. They tend to prefer other routes, and drive more conscientiously while on these streets, which opens the doors to bikes using these roads safely. Streetcars are much more predictable than busses too. As a pedestrian or cyclist, you know from outside exactly where they will be and and much more effectively gauge their acceleration and velocity than you can with busses so just in general, they are safer to be around. There is nothing but space downtown IMO. There is a crazy amount of car throughput, especially with the route through Stanley park. There are also opportunities for streetcars running from downtown eastward ( I believe Francis previously had a streetcar even although it is probably not the best choice anymore).

This is fascinating and so exciting.

Love your videos man! This was great!

new stainer video, I used to pray for times like this

I quite seriously believe if Vancouver was serious about an Arbutus streetcar, they would never have ripped up the tract that was there.

I know it woulda been a buncha work, but a little (animated) map overlay/PIP to go along with your verbal description woulda been really helpful. Nice work on these videos, though!

How is there not already a street car between West End and Waterfront? It's crazy.

Instead of skytrain to UBS they could build tram route on 16th or 25th Ave. But less kickbacks from it.

Nice video! Did you film those drone shots? Are we allowed to fly over those areas?

Great.. keep all transit running 24/7.... would solve the housing shortage.

Very cool! But with UCW now at Vancouver House, I wonder if it'd make more sense to just continue along Pacific maybe down into the English Bay area (similar-ish to the 23)? The boulevard/median strip does get narrower past Drake and there's no median past Hornby, so perhaps that's the problem, but I'm also having a hard time visualizing how turning up Drake and terminating at Granville would work given the buildings that are there right now. Would something need to come down?

No doubt we will be hearing from NIMBYs

Funny how 100 years ago there was an electric railcar heading all the way to Sumas

Once Gastown is properly pedestrianized, this streetcar could certainly help replace the transportation needs to the businesses.

BUILD IT BUILD IT!

I keep forgetting Bombardier makes trains too lol

I would LOVE a cardero stop on a streetcar, there’s sooo many busses going along there that end up half empty before going over the bridge because people are going from city centre downtown to Stanley park on the busses that go over the bridge after

We have no problem building super expensive skytrains (not a bad thing) I don’t know why this isn’t already going. The infrastructure is literally already there. Tracks and all. It would be the cheapest and easiest transit option to get going

I feel like a street car is a half measure, especially along the Arbutus Greenway portion. Have there been considerations for how this would pencil in as a skytrain instead?

Vancouver is already running electric busses. A street car system is just conspicious consumption. Just like those really expensive bicycles with carbon prints larger than an entire village in South America.

It would be way cheaper to implement a network of small self-driving cars on dedicated roads. You could even equip them with rail wheels so that they can ride on light tracks that charge them when traveling long distances. This is like traveling back to a time that makes no sense.

Great work on this

Can we just start building now? Enough waiting around.

Great video. Just found your channel. Subscribed! 👆

Electric trolley busses can do the job of the proposed streetcars. The cost savings (capital and running costs) can probably employ all the needed bus operators for eternity. Surrey and other burbs needs better rapid transit more than Vancouver needs yet another mega transit project.

You made a very good video.

Ding-Ding!

Traffic in central Surrey is getting so freaking bad. The early Rush hour basically blends into the late Rush hour, it's like a whole Rush afternoon. And I can't imagine what it's going to be like in a few years with all the immigration set to take place. I think the street car idea would be great for King George maybe 152nd as well. I don't see the SkyTrain alleviating the problem entirely. The traffic even spills into some residential streets. Waiting for advanced greens in Guildford, you almost always have to wait 2 or 3 light cycles, and the left turn lanes almost always overfills blocking the middle lane. My aunt and uncles on 144th, during rush hour sometimes it takes 20 minutes to get it out of their driveway. Like I don't know what we're going to do, it's already getting absolutely crazy. Yet without immigration, we face population decline and economic disaster. Welp... It will all work itself out I'm sure hehe. Great video btw.

I lived in Toronto for many years and I'd grown to HATE the concept of streetcar. One car breaks and the entirely line is crippled. I had countless bad experience of streetcar no-show and having to find alternative routes in frigid winter. Track maintenance is expensive and the grinding noise of the track just adds to the noise pollution of urbanization. The right track design is important or they will just create more congestion because they end up impeding general traffic flow creating a vicious cycle of traffic jam. They look amazing I give you that. We don't even have basic bus service now. I live next to Science World and can't even find a reasonable bus route to Grandville Island - #84 barely runs on weekend and still long walk to get there. We are blessed to have hydro power and we just need better bus connections with electric/trolley busses. That can be done much cheaply and quickly. Another example of over thinking and in the end nothing gets done. Like the viaduct - we've been talking and study after study for over 10 years - we still don't know if it's coming down. Keep it simple - use what we already have, just improve the service. I do love your video though. Kudos to the wealth of information and great clips.

Imagine if we still had all of the old BCER right of ways. And had never torn up the tracks. I'm too young, but my dad would tell me of going from downtown all the way to Chilliwack on streetcars. Ever wonder why Cambie is so wide? How about King Ed blvd? Never mind the original owners of the Arbutus corridor.

OK, here is my question. Why does Vancouver need to ask or depend upon the rest of the region to fund its transit? Why couldn't Vanvouver make an assessment for its own jurisdiction to fund streetcar implementation? Take a penny sales tax, for example, to fund Vancouver specific transit initiatives without it having to go through Translink? Im thinking, Translink fund regional priorities and/or large projects (SkyTrain) while municipalities can ADD their own smaller projects with their own ad valorem funding (temp sales tax, fees, or PPP). Vancouver streetcar network should have been built 20+ years ago, and I think there are more areas that could benefit from Streetcar besides the 3 lines that are being championed including a UBC specific route (I know not the city of Vancouver but still - it's needed and dense there). I see Streetcar Trams being the missing link in Vancouver metro transit, as was mentioned.

The Davie Street incline is not passable by buses on a snowy day; how can a streetcar handle that?

I ❤ Vancouver

Amazing video! Incredible footage, what you're doing is truly unique. Do you know if there were/are any plans to expand the Canada line through the rest of Richmond? Capacity expansions? Surely it's something that was discussed amongst Translink at some point

Arbutus? Where the creme de la creme live?

The trouble with getting this line built is a great example of why we need more funding for transit. So many lost benefits due to lack of funds!

Literally if the infrastructure is there, why not just build it?

Great and informative video, do you know if the streetcar line at the Senakw apartments will run immediately after the apartments are built, or is it just being built for the hopes of a streetcar line in the future?

This is the opposite of what Utytae lee showed in his video and the bus numbers that populate that route along the proposed tram.

Whyyyy this is the same area served by the skytrain!