OREANDA-NEWS. September 05, 2016. Public transit infrastructure connects people to their communities and allows them to be active participants, both socially and economically. Current gridlock costs Canada's economy billions of dollars in lost productivity each year and is damaging to the environment. Smart investments in public transit are vitally important to building the Canada of the 21st century.

Joe Peschisolido, Member of Parliament for Steveston–Richmond East, the Hon. Peter Fassbender, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and Minister Responsible for TransLink, Al Richmond, UBCM president, TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond, and Councillor Harold Steves, Acting Mayor of Richmond celebrated the opening of TransLink'new Hamilton Transit Centre in Richmond today.

Transit centres are the hubs of transit systems, keeping buses on the roads to get Canadians where they need to go. The new facility will perform three functions: dispatch, fuel and wash service, and maintenance for buses servicing the Richmond, New Westminster, Burnaby and Vancouver areas. Operations begin at the new facility on Sept. 5, 2016.

The Hamilton Transit Centre is certified to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver ratings, making it Coast Mountain Bus Company'most energy efficient facility. Energy conservation measures include radiant floor heating to accommodate Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, the use of recycled pine beetle wood, LED lighting and a heat reflective roof. These features reduce the environmental footprint of the facility and the overall impact to the surrounding community.

The construction of the project also provided a number of benefits to the Hamilton community and the City of Richmond including: a park area, dike improvements, neighborhood trail development, and contributions to a daycare in the area.

The Hamilton Transit Centre cost approximately \\$136 million to build, of which \\$85 million was provided by the Government of Canada through the federal Gas Tax Fund. TransLink provided the remaining \\$51 million.

Quick Facts

  • The Government of Canada provides \\$265,941,000 in annual funding for municipal infrastructure in British Columbia through the federal Gas Tax Fund.
  • The Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) administers the Gas Tax Fund in BC, in collaboration with the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.
  • The Hamilton Transit Centre has capacity for 300 forty-foot buses, including up to 80 community shuttle buses and 150 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuelled buses.
  • TransLink has a current fleet of 1,346 forty-foot and sixty-foot buses, 195 community shuttle buses and 309 HandyDART vehicles in revenue service. 95 of these buses are CNG buses, with 51 new replacement buses arriving over the coming months. 

Quotes

"The Government of Canada recognizes how important affordable and efficient transit infrastructure is to supporting the middle class and allowing Canadians to get to work on time and back home at the end of a long day. This vital public transportation improvement project will make Richmond a stronger, more inclusive and sustainable city. It is thanks to projects like the one we're celebrating today that Canadian communities will remain among the best places in the world to live, work and raise a family."

Joe Peschisolido,
Member of Parliament for Steveston-Richmond East, on behalf of the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Minister for Infrastructure and Communities

"The Government of British Columbia is committed to investing in transit improvements that meet the transportation needs of a growing region and our climate targets all while providing critical support to enhance housing supply and affordability. Today'opening of the Hamilton Transit Centre is an important step in the modernization of TransLink'infrastructure and represents a key step in meeting all our objectives."

Peter Fassbender,
Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and Minister Responsible for TransLink

"Not only is the new Hamilton Transit Centre our most energy-efficient bus operations facility, but it also increases our overall regional capacity for bus maintenance, servicing and storage. The new Hamilton Transit Centre is a significant transit investment for our region, and will help us leverage future federal and provincial transit funding to grow and improve service for our customers while also delivering on our commitment to create a sustainable transportation system for the region."

Kevin Desmond,
CEO, TransLink

"Richmond is a strong supporter of public transit and this is reflected in our Official Community Plan, which seeks to move the percentage of trips by transit from about eight per cent today to 22 per cent by 2041. The new Hamilton Transit Centre will help support the growth of public transit service in Richmond and the region."

Councillor Harold Steves,
Acting Mayor of Richmond

"A robust transit system is critical for sustaining the liveability of the Greater Vancouver region. TransLink'new Hamilton Transit Centre provides an invaluable resource for the coordination and maintenance of service across the system. This facility is the latest of many substantive capital investments in public transit endorsed by Metro Vancouver through the Federal Gas Tax Fund."

Al Richmond,
UBCM President