Rapid transit fight
now at crucial stage

By WILLIAM TURNER, Sec., Vancouver Cttee, Communist Party

The fight for public action to bring rapdi transit to Vancouver is now enterint a
new phase. Pushed into the arena of public debate, the demand to implement the first
stage of the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s report on transportation has
received widespread support from every section of the community.

There are some exceptions to the call for public transportation. This is in the
form of opposition to any such scheme by the advocates of a freeway sytem who
sedulously promote their argument by offering it as a priority of ‘‘balanced public

transportation’’.

Leading the fight to promote
this angle as against rapid
transit and favoring a network
of freeways criss-crossing the
city and lower mainland is the
C.P.R.’s Marathon Realty. In
its customary public-be-damned
attitude this monopoly real
estate arm of the C.P.R., seeks
to push the freeway bit subsi-
dized and paid for by the public
taxpayer in order to provide at
little cost to itself a system of
fast commercial arteries
adjacent to its property holdings
throughout the city.

Its real estate empire occupies
key positions relative to the
plans now being pushed to speed
up freeway construction. Mata-
thon Realty owns 190 acres of
property on the north shore of
False Creek slated as a $250
million housing and waterfront
development with a complex of
high rise apartments housing
75% of the project’s residential
population.

These plans were announced
by Marathon with a great deal
of fanfare in April, 1969 and are
still subject to final re-zoning
and changes by the city.
However, past performances by
the city council when dealing
with the C.P.R. leaves little
room for doubt that whatever
changes do emerge will be'tailor-
made to fit into any undertaking
as part of a freeway system.

FREEWAYS NO

The speed with which the new
Georgia Viaduct was built and
completed holds the centre of
the action as being a key link and
the hub of a freeway network
traversing the city fits in with
Marathon’s plans for any east-
west freeway linking with the
downtown area and the water-
front Burrard Inlet crossing
scheme.

The latter plan of route along
the waterfront is beamed
towards servicing another
profitable parcel of Marathon’s
real estate known as Project 200
extending from Abbott Street on
the east to Howe street on the

@ david brown features

“According to this, you’re getting
better nutrition than I am!”

west. This massive complex
calls for parking facilities to
house 5,000 cars with over 30,000
people employed throughout its
hotels, stores and office
buildings who will commute
daily to and from the downtown
core. These ‘commuters
funnelled through the neck of the
bottle that makes up the down-
town peninsula will be joined in
the struggle for traffic space by
20,000 more fellow citizens resid-
ing in the high rise apartment
complex of Marathon’s False
Creek development.

The case for rapid transit was
never placed more on an emer-
gency basis than the present
situation demands in the fight
for public transportation. The
saturation point in traffic
congestion will be reached in
less than a decade unless steps to
avert this crisis are treated as a
crash program for rapid transit.

Powerful groups whose own
special interests also coincide
with those of Matathon are bent
on pushing for freeways at public
expense. They are the
Bronfman’s of Block 42 and 52,
the Four Seasons, Pacific
Center, Bayshore Inn and the
Guiness interests in West Van-
couver — all favoring freeways
to garner quick profits from
their holdings. These groupings
representing a dominant section
of real estate capital investment
in the city receive an assist in
their opposition to rapid transit
from the big construction firms,
oil interests and automobile
manufacturers.

But their plans to slide in the
freeway package piece by piece
has met with public resistance
wherever any attempt to this end
has been made in the city. These
tactics were given a sharp rebuff
at two mass meetings of
property owners living in the
Grandview-Renfrew section
who condemned any plans to
construct a freeway slicing
through this congested resi-
dential area.

By taking this action the
people succeeded in prompting
city council to shelve the
massive cost to the taxpayer of
$63.5 million for construction of
the east end phase of the
freeway.

The fact that the only alterna-
tive to freeways lies in a system
of rapid transit has moved many
civic organizations represent-
ing labor, ratepayer, com-
munity and service groups and
concerned citizens to come
together to discuss what
immediate steps can be taken to
get action on this issue. The con-
ference on public transit to be
held on October 2 at the Grand-
view Community Centre high-
lights this concern in bringing
together in a united effort many

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1971—PAGE 12

groups and individuals to join
forces in opposing freeways and
to demand action for rapid
transit.

START NOW

The cost of construction for
rapid transit must be shifted
together with the financing
required for acquiring rights-of-
way from the base of local taxa-
tion on the property owner to the
senior governments.

e Steps must be taken to
immediately start on con-
struction of the Kingsway corri-
dor as phase number one of the
Greater Vancouver Area Rapid
Transit Report of September
1968.

e To implement Greater
Vancouver’s rapid transit
system requires a Transit
Authority representing lower
mainland municipalities of the
Greater Vancouver Regional
District.

e The pressing demands for
public transportation must
immediately bring about improv-
ing bus services now being con-
tinually cut-back by B.C. Hydro.

The time element is fast
running out. Unless we redouble
our efforts for a Greater Van-
couver rapid transit system now
while there is still time Van-
couver will inherit the curse of
freeways that has throttled the
cities of Seattle, Los Angeles and
San Francisco. Now Vancouver
can emulate the action taken this
summer by the people of Toronto
who succeeded in halting the
Spadina Expressway in that
city. That lesson can firm the
bonds of unity still further in the
campaign for rapid transit now
and freeways never.

i.
Be
I

“BEAT THE TRAFFIC RUSH — The Case for Rapid Transit.’

: mittee
title of the latest booklet by Ald. Harry Rankin and the oon with
Progressive Electors (COPE). This attractive and fact-filled te e cose
its many pictures and illustrations sells for 50 cents. It outlin ke in

for rapid transit and against freeways and shows the pu ae
blocking plans now underway to impose a freeway SY> .
Lower Mainland. Front page of the booklet is shown _ ;
available at 193 E, Hastings, Vancouver 4. Phone 682-278"

rates for quantities.

blic’s $ n the

ve.

Kosygin to visit

city Oct. 22-24

Plans released in Ottawa show
that Soviet Premier Kosygin will
visit Vancouver for three days
starting Friday, Oct. 22. This will
be the first visit to Canada’s
Pacific Coast by a head of
government of the Soviet Union.

Details of the tour have not yet
been released, but it is expected
that it will include a banquet at
Hotel Vancouver where Kosygin
is to deliver a speech.

The visit of the Soviet Premier
to Canada at this time, when
Canada is faced with new

Cm RAPID TRANSIT SERVES ALONG

HEAVY TRAFFIC ROUTES S

caarteg EXPRESS BUSES ON FAST ROADS
LINK SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES
FREEWAYS RUN THROUGH
LESS DENSE PARTS OF METRO

RIATION SY

COMMUTER PARKING LOTS LET DRIVERS
TRANSFER ONTO PUBLIC TRANSIT
COMMUTER RAIL CONNECTS DOWNTOWN
WITH THE OUTER METRO AND VALLEY AREAS
LOCAL BUSES LINK NEIGHBOURHOODS
WITH FAST PUBLIC TRANSIT

PREPARED BY THE GREATER VANCOUVER REGIONAL DISTRICT

The suggested plan for public transportation prepared by the Greater
Vancouver Regional District, reproduced above, shows how a rapid
transit system would work in Greater Vancouver.

S.
me ne U:
problems arising from. be the

surtax, and the possibit ate
visit could open up £0 eration
Soviet-Canadian  c0-OP®

da
friendship between eae ihe
Soviet Union, will try 4j-50v""
occasion for 4!
demonstrations.

ont wile
The Zionist and other right ye
nationalist organization®
already announced they ionis®
demonstrations. ae :
articularly are strl fro
the eyes of the public awe otal
the UN condemnation ° ds DY
for occupying Arab 34) anti:
raising the false cry ©
Semitism in the Soviet U"

ro
The PT has received calls ies
irate radio listeners 0 tBu
the call by “‘hot-liner be govt!
on CJOR for large 4% oof ti
demonstrations at the ee se
Kosygin visit. We ge the
callers to phone oF oir com
station direct with th 340 pow?
plaints: The address "eget!
St., and the phone 15 aly

jend

The growth oft 7 Pe
relations and co-operation
ween Canada and Se j
to the benefit of bo save a