Better Columbia
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Urbanism, transit and British Columbia news and opinions. https://bettercolumbia.ca Support us at Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bettercolumbia
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Building bike lanes at the same time as roadwork was supposed to save money, expand the network and reduce opposition. The reality is more complicated, argues Ruofan 🚎
Should sewers dictate where bike lanes go? - Better Columbia
Bike lanes tied to road resurfacing opportunities aren’t delivering on their promise.
bettercolumbia.ca
Why hasn't transit kept up with growth? @bettertransityyj.ca Chair Sam Holland argues that the Province has never taken transit as seriously as highways. When deficits need fixing, transit is first on the chopping block.
Why hasn't transit kept up with growth? - Better Columbia
Sam Holland is the Chair of Better Transit YYJ In 1978, British Columbia had a robust public intercity bus network, two publicly owned intercity rail operators, robust and rapidly growing urban transi...
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Who should pay for the costs of densifying? Should growth pay for growth? Taxes on new infill homes are counterproductive in a housing crisis, writes @jacksandor.bsky.social #yyj #bcpoli #vanpoli #bc
Who should pay for growth?
Municipalities charge developers money per home they build through DCC’s, and use that money to build critical infrastructure. Sounds smart, right?
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Is housing demand fake? Absolutely not, writes Will Dawson #bcpoli #housing #yyj #vanpoli
Housing Demand Isn't Fake - Better Columbia
Why do people assume that demand for expensive apartments is fraudulent? If you follow housing news in Canada at all, you’re surely familiar with two competing ideas for what’s to blame for the housin...
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Buried deep inside the 2026 austerity budget, the City of Vancouver has seemingly dropped plans to remove part of the Beach Avenue bike lane, writes Ruofan Wang.
Vancouver quietly shelves Beach Ave bike lane removal - Better Columbia
Buried deep inside the 2026 austerity budget, the City of Vancouver has seemingly dropped plans to remove part of the Beach Avenue bike lane.
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Without fanfare, the BC Ministry of Transportation released a report that makes a strong case for a Westshore to Victoria rail line, writes Sam Holland
New Study Makes Strong Case for Getting Westshore Rail on Track - Better Columbia
The province quietly updated the 2011 Westshore Rapid Transit Study. They determined that we need transit investment, now more than ever.
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Speeding up buses along Kingsway will have an outsized benefit for the network—but Vancouver and TransLink can do better than two minutes of time savings per trip, argues Ben Chang
The Kingsway transit priority proposals are good, but we can do better - Better Columbia
TransLink and the City of Vancouver are proposing transit priority measures and bus stop balancing along Kingsway, focusing on Route 19. And it’s a great place to start! The 19 is the 9th most used bus route in the entire region1, while also being the 4th slowest1, which means improvements that are made here will […]
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Our public hearings can often get quite heated. Let's talk more about how the density debate is about values, says writer Sam Holland bettercolumbia.ca/2025/09/26/t...
The Density Debate is about Values - Better Columbia
We bring up a lot of facts and statements when discussing density, but rarely do we sit down and discuss differing values. It's time to do that.
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Curbspace is a finite resource. Should business communities like the Burnaby Heights BIA go all in and rely on something that cannot grow?, asks Michael Hall
Betting on Parking is Risky Business
Curbspace is finite. Are we sure we're using this extremely valuable resource to its fullest extent?
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The province must do more to end BC Transit's emerging pattern of long-lasting labour disruptions that shut down entire transit systems, writes James Ward, creator of transit mapping app BC Tracker.
Missed your bus? Come back in 6 months - Better Columbia
What responsibility does BC Transit (and therefore the province) have in creating or permitting the mess created by repeated shutdowns?
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Across the province, ‘cyclists dismount’ signs have metastasized as engineers rush to absolve themselves of liability for the sub-standard cycling facilities they design, writes Ruofan Wang. bettercolumbia.ca/20...
Dear engineers: stop making cyclists dismount - Better Columbia
In far too many places across the province, engineers continue to rely on the same old ineffective tricks to paper over their own inadequate designs.
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Why are protesters asking to "Save the Bus"? Better Columbia contributor Sam Holland looks at the TransLink fiscal cliff and what local activists and electeds have to say. bettercolumbia.ca/2025/04/03/w...
Why are protestors asking to "Save the Bus?" - Better Columbia
Government is silent on covering the $580 million required to stop service cuts. Protesters are asking electeds to save bus service across metro Vancouver.
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Victoria's OCP draft is coming to council this Thursday, and it isn't anywhere near as bold as residents asked for. Will council push back? bettercolumbia.ca/2025/03/04/v...
Victoria Residents Asked to Go Big on Housing and Transit; Staff Went Small. - Better Columbia
Victoria's OCP draft is out, and while it goes far, it doesn't deal with a whole host of issues in getting housing built.
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Vancouver's Gastown pedestrian pilot was a big hit in 2024. Will it be coming back, or will opponents finally succeed in killing the car-free street? Council decides its fate this Tuesday. bettercolumbia.ca/20...
Council Asked to Decide the Fate of the Gastown Pedestrian Pilot This Week - Better Columbia
The City of Vancouver ran a very successful pedestrianization pilot in 2024. Will it be revamped, or could it be killed entirely?
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Vancouver proposed a protected bike lane on King Ed that keeps on-street parking and doesn't remove car lanes. That didn't stop local opposition, and now it's dead. bettercolumbia.ca/20...
Cowed by local opposition, Vancouver turns down King Edward bike lane - Better Columbia
A protected bike lane on King Edward Ave in Dunbar was cancelled at the last minute after local opponents complained.
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Does fare-free transit make sense for BC? This question is more complex than you might think. Bigger transit systems like Victoria or Vancouver have very different pressures than BC's smaller towns. www.bettercolumbia.ca/2025/02/14/f...
Does free transit make sense for BC? - Better Columbia
Fare free transit can make sense in smaller transit systems, but such a policy deserves a closer look when talking about BC's cities.
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How did SFU end up on top of Burnaby Mountain? The surprising answer involves a new highway, an abandoned graveyard and a land swap that transformed Vancouver’s waterfront. bettercolumbia.ca/20...
How did SFU end up on top of Burnaby Mountain? - Better Columbia
Burnaby Mountain is a little slice of nature in the city. But how did Simon Fraser University end up on its peak?
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"Sorry for making your commute 30 seconds longer” — On November 18th, Burnaby City Council voted to scale back a plan for bus lanes on Hastings Street, sending the plan to a second round of public engagement. bettercolumbia.ca/20...
Burnaby Council sends Hastings bus lanes to public engagement purgatory
On November 18th, Burnaby City Council voted to send the proposal for bus lanes on Hastings Street back to a second round of public engagement, scaling back the original plan.
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Our first article! During rush hour, transit riders make up more than half of the traffic on McKenzie, but currently get none of the road space. Saanich is trying to change that, in the face of opposition. 🚌✨ www.bettercolumbia.c...