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Greg Gardner says Squamish Commuter alternative on the way

Solutions include working with private carriers like Greyhound

Two members of the Squamish Sikh community made presentations at the Sept. 6 District of Squamish meeting, imploring council to continue funding for the Squamish Commuter service that is ending on Sept. 30 after almost five years in operation.

"This has been running since 2005, after a tragic car accident killed seven, five from the Sikh community," Avtar Gidda of the Squamish Sikh Society reminded council. "One of the cars was carrying night shift workers coming home from Whistler.

"We understand that the (commuter bus) service was popular until fares rapidly increased without looking at the impact or consulting with users, from $5 to $8, which is 60 per cent."

Mohammad Asfar, another Sikh leader, said council should look at the $200,000 price tag as a small cost - half of one per cent of the District of Squamish budget and one-tenth of one per cent of Whistler's budget - to keep commuters safe. As well, he suggested that it was important for the local economy to get workers to Whistler and back safely.

"What I'd like to indicate to you is we ought to look at this in terms of what our community has been experiencing the last few years with the drastic impacts of closing of industries - pulp mills, saw mills and other plants, the BCR (B.C. Rail) regional centre. It has really transformed the nature of our community.

"This economy needs to be mobilized."

Whistler was the first to cut its 25 per cent share, roughly $200,000 in light of the recent budget shortfall. Unable to make up for Whistler's share, Squamish also cut its funding, another 25 per cent. BC Transit funds the other 50 per cent, but only in terms of matching funds with the municipalities.

Mayor Gardner said he appreciated the delegation's concerns, but said the commuter wasn't economically feasible. "The number our staff put on the subsidy per rider was $1,500 per year, with a similar size subsidy from the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and twice that from the province, so about a $6,000 subsidy for each rider of government money, tax money," he said.

The district did look at costs, and the potential was that the total subsidy could go up to $8,000 per rider per year, based on the average number of riders per bus.

But while governments can't afford that, Gardner said they were expecting a report from BC Transit with alternatives in the next few weeks.

One of those alternatives would be working with Greyhound to improve the schedule.

"Greyhound runs eight buses to Whistler every day without any government subsidies," said Gardner. "They do this with things like freight revenues, and the challenge for commuters is they don't run at prime times. So they're one of our potential partners we'll be talking with to see if they can reorganize schedules."

Some of the alternatives being recommended in the short-term include the Jack Bell Ride-Share Program, vanpool programs, BC Transit's www.ride-share.com website, and websites like www.pickuppal.com, www.erideshare.com and www.skwez.com.

Council pledges to work closely with GranFondo organizers in 2012

After receiving several letters from community members outraged by the highway closure this Saturday for the RBC GranFondo Whistler ride, Squamish council pledged to do more wnext year to keep access open for locals.

Some suggestions that have come forward for next year include routing cyclists down Loggers Lane and under the Centennial Way underpass, rejoining the highway further north - a solution that keeps the highway open and allows most neighbourhoods to cross the highway - with the exception of Valleycliffe and residents living off of Loggers Lane. Another solution would be to keep riders on the highway and allow vehicle traffic to use Loggers Lane and the underpass to cross the highway, although it also doesn't solve all of the access issues.

"Here we are on Tuesday and the event is Saturday, and none of this (discussion) is in position to solve anything for this year," said Councillor Rob Kirkham. "Now we're talking about it and bringing ideas forward for next year, but I'm really disappointed that we were not in a position to have this discussion well in advance in the planning process, and have these discussions and this input."

Council directed staff to complete a report on the impacts of the GranFondo within four weeks of the ride, which would be used to inform discussions over the next year in advance of the 2012 GranFondo.

Another suggestion was that the organizers might need to consider limiting the number of riders. From first year to second year the field grew from 4,500 to 7,000 riders, and organizers have said in the past they think they can grow the event to 12,000 riders.

Councillor Doug Race said it was important to get the feedback quickly.

"We should perhaps tell organizers that (the number of riders) may be the issue, and we need to tell them sooner or later if that's the case. They upped the field from 4,500 to 7,000 and sold out with in a few weeks of the event - and it's difficult to backtrack on that. (We) need to make sure the number (of riders) is appropriate because that affects the length of the closure."

 

Bids coming in low in economic downturn

Squamish Council was scratching their heads on Tuesday night after a bid for a water main upgrade on Mamquam Road came in at half of what was projected by district engineers - $48,048 versus an estimated cost of $94,000. Some councillors wondered if the product would be done properly for that money, or whether there would be cost overruns.

Brian Barnett, the general manager of engineering and parks for the District of Squamish, said it had more to do with the lull in construction.

"I think the market is hungry for work right now," he said. "The price from engineers could be based on last year or Olympic years where the cost of projects went up 10, 20 per cent per year and there was lots of work. Contractors are not getting the work these days, and they're just interested in keeping people employed and machines moving, which means great prices for us.

"That's our understanding of the market right now... all of our prices have come in lower than expected this year."