Benefits

Transportation User Experience

Transportation user experience includes the travel time savings for transit users and drivers, and access to the top terminals from SFU buildings. To understand the transportation user benefits, TransLink’s team conducted a forecasting analysis.

Transit travel time savings

Route 1: 13% faster travel time than bus (48 min vs. 55 min)

Route 2: 9% faster travel time than bus (50 min vs. 55 min)

Route 3: same travel time as bus (55 min)

Reduction in daily road congestion (hours/day)

Route 1: -700 hours of congestion

Route 2: -660 hours of congestion

Route 3: -490 hours of congestion

Classrooms and other buildings within a 5-minute walk of the upper terminal

Routes 1 and 2: 80% of classrooms buildings and 30% of other buildings

Route 3: 52% of classrooms buildings and 45% of other buildings

Map of top terminal walking maps (PDF)

Findings: Route 1 has the most transit and auto travel time savings and greatest number of SFU buildings within a 5-minute walk of the upper terminal.

Sustainable Transportation

Sustainable transportation includes the long-range benefits of the gondola, including how many people would use the gondola annually (measured in boardings) and the reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by mode switch (people switching from driving to taking the gondola).

Weekday Transit Boardings

Transit boardings are driven mainly by the travel time on the route and the frequency of the service. The shorter the travel time and the more frequent the service the more boardings a route will have. Route 1 has an estimated travel time of 6 minutes, Route 2 is estimated at 10 minutes, and Route 3 is estimated at 11 minutes. In peak periods gondola cabins will be arriving about every minute.

Reduction in GHG emissions from mode switch

Route 1: 1,400 tonne reduction in GHG emissions

Route 2: 1,300 tonne reduction in GHG emissions

Route 3: 800 tonne reduction in GHG emissions

Current bus service (that the gondola would replace) emits 3,700 tonnes of GHG emissions annually. While TransLink has adopted the Low Carbon Fleet Strategy to electrify its fleet, it is only partially funded. The gondola project could accelerate achieving emissions targets. It would also avoid the costs of building the necessary electric charging infrastructure and purchase of battery buses to serve the area. Instead, those resources would be available to electrify services elsewhere on the network.

Findings: Route 1 would generate the most boardings and offset the most carbon emissions of the three proposed route options.