Today’s Metro Vancouver is very dependent on public transit and has one of the most transit-friendly city planning in the world. The Translink system consists of buses, regional rail, rapid transit, and cross-harbour ferry, covering most of the population in Lower Mainland. In particular, the SkyTrain system is heavily used to travel around major neighbourhoods and has the longest automated system in the world. More than 20% of the citizens commute by taking public transportation, according to a 2016 survey conducted by Translink, the transport agency in Metro Vancouver.
The idea of Vancouverism also shapes the modern transport planning. Due to lacking multi-lane highways across Vancouver and the availability of public transit, driving in Metro Vancouver is not encouraged and not necessary. Households mostly live in city centres and neighbouring areas, thoroughfares and streets are highly connected and reachable on foot, buses, and bikes. As a result, commuters choose public transit rather than driving around the region. However, recent reports from Translink Ridership have shown that the SkyTrain system is under-utilized. Canada Line is only running 36% of the designed maximum capacity, which is not a satisfactory figure from a cost benefit perspective. Even an opinion article public on DailyHive pointed out that the Canada Line is like a toy train, in which station platforms are extremely small, leading to a relatively lower capacity of passengers per hour per direction than other SkyTrain lines. Subsequently, the current transit network mainly runs horizontally and vertically, which is based on the urban grid plan of the region. Many places are not covered by the inconvenient SkyTrain system. Instead, feeder buses serve the link between stations and residential areas across Metro Vancouver, which again reduce the ease of travelling and increase the waiting and travelling time in general.
The latest construction of the SkyTrain was back in 2016, which the Evergreen extension connects Coquitlam to the rest of Metro Vancouver. To cater the growing population in the region, we must address the basic needs for residents to move around in low cost and convenience. Therefore, with reference to the Transport 2050 published by Translink, this project seeks the potential of building new SkyTrain station to serve the thriving region of Metro Vancouver.