UBC might be willing to pay for a rapid transit line out to its Vancouver campus, the university’s board of governors decided Thursday.
The governors agreed to look at “a contribution towards the regional share of a rapid transit extension” that would go out all the way to UBC.
UBC has long wanted a rapid transit line to its campus and is now willing to help fund it as long as there is no money taken from education funding.
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However, TransLink said that while it was “encouraged” by UBC’s announcement, any rapid transit to the campus is “likely” but remains far in the future.
“There are no approved plans to start construction on rapid transit beyond Arbutus,” the transit agency said in a statement.
“Planning, design and construction of this extension have not been funded.”
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Phase three of the Mayors’ Council 10-year-vision includes preliminary planning, but not construction, of a UBC extension.
A 2013 business case found that the Broadway corridor to UBC is expected to see its population increase by 150,000 over the next 30 years.
The corridor is the busiest bus route in North America, with 100,000 daily passengers, and according to the business case, 2,000 people are left at bus stops by the 99 B-Line every day.
