Video Highlights Why Commuters Need More And Better Transit And Transportation
METRO VANCOUVER – The first in a series of videos featuring commuters’ stories to highlight the value of more and better transit and transportation is being released today and can be seen on YouTube and Facebook. The video follows fourth-year environmental science student Hafsa Salihue along her 1.5 hour bus and SkyTrain commute from Pitt Meadows to the SFU Burnaby campus.
The video is a co-production of Canadian Office and Professional Employees Local 378 (MoveUP), the B.C. division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE BC) and the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 134 (ATU 134), all of which support a Yes vote in the transit plebiscite.
“My life has to be scheduled,” Salihue says in the video. “I usually spend about two hours a day in classes and three hours in transit, getting to school and back home.”
B-Line buses will help 23 year-old Salihue get to places she needs to go more quickly. The Mayors’ Plan includes new B-Line rapid bus routes from Maple Ridge to Coquitlam on Lougheed Highway and Dewdney Trunk Road, and from Pitt Meadows to Langley on 200th Street and Golden Ears Bridge, with connection to the Maple Ridge-Coquitlam B-Line at Lougheed Highway.
The Mayors’ Plan also includes 200 new Expo and Millennium Line SkyTrain cars, which will be used to provide more service across the SkyTrain system.
“Hafsa’s story is all too common,” said MoveUP President David Black. “People who commute in to the cities from suburban communities face long and tightly-timed trips. The Mayors’ plan offers a better vision for students and workers who need to come into Vancouver and Burnaby.”
“One million new people are coming to Metro Vancouver in the next 30 years,” said CUPE BC Secretary-Treasurer Paul Faoro. “And they’re coming with cars. We need to invest in our transit and transportation system today to plan for the future of students like Hafsa.”
“The consequences of doing nothing are not acceptable,” said ATU 134 President Geoff Devlin. “A No vote means more congestion, and more smog. As Hafsa says in the video, we will reap the benefits for years to come if we make a positive decision now and vote Yes.”
Salihue’s story is the first in this video series. More commuter stories will be released in the coming days.
View the video here: https://youtu.be/CISsphFtyMI
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Media Contacts:
Sage Aaron, MoveUP
saaron@moveuptogether.ca | 604-317-6153
@COPE378
Clay Suddaby, CUPE BC
csuddaby@cupe.ca | 604-313-1138
@CupeBCNews
