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tion to the communiti Y.

REUBEN DONGALEN JR photo
Passengers and students line up at the 49 bus stop. Overcrowded buses often pass by commuters, sometimes several lineups in a row.

TransLink will not be running an express line, citing lack of funds

66

It’s always
late, it’s
always
packed
and the
route is too
inconve-
nient

MARLON TEREZ

COMMUTER

By REUBEN DONGALEN JR

lack of funding means that tran-
sit users’ frustration with insuf-
ficient service on the 49 bus
oute won’t be addressed any-

time soon, according to TransLink.
Langara students and local resi-
dents have expressed frustration with
the route, which travels from Me-
trotown Skytrain Station through Dun-
bar to UBC along 49th Avenue and
back, after they claim it’s consistently
late, full and otherwise scarce in ser-
vice. According to TransLink, it’s the
second busiest bus route in Vancouver,
after the 99 B-Line, and for students, it’s
a primary means for transportation for
a substantial number of students to the

college.

“At one point, I missed about three
busses because of the people riding it,

and how packed it was,” said Dean De
Guzman, a Langara Kinesiology stu-
dent.

“T was waiting for more than 30 min-
utes.”

Marlon Terez, a resident and regu-
lar on the 49 bus, said he’s faced ongo-
ing problems with the lack of alternate
routes and buses, especially when
transiting from Oakridge Station to
Metrotown Station, where he works.

“Tt’s stupid. It’s always late, it’s al-
ways packed and the route that it takes
is too inconvenient,” he said.

“There are points when I can’t
even get on.”

He suggested a new route for the
49, where it would stop at main stops
akin to the 99 B-Line.

Translink’s Media Relations Advi-
sor, Chris Bryan, admitted Translink
lacks the necessary budget to expand

service along the 49 route.

“Unfortunately, with no new fund-
ing, we don’t have capacity to expand
the transit system or provide increased
service,” he stated via email.

“We have to manage our resources
wisely and put existing service and re-
sources where they are needed most so
we can maximize revenue and de-
crease costs per passenger.”

He added that TransLink attempts
to accommodate boosts in service de-
mands during peak hours — usually be-
tween 8-9 a.m. and 3-5 p.m. - by increas-
ing service hours during those times,
and decreasing them during other
parts of the day.

“Total service hours across the
region remain the same, and the same
number of employees and bus opera-
tors are needed to deliver the service,”
he stated.

nursery safe for now

Sunset Park's + Gl

Work yard and nursery
have 70 years of history in
the neighbourhood

By JORDAN MACDONALD

house and service yard may gain

curb appeal as part of a new mas-
ter plan for the park and its community
centre.

According to the plan, the nursery
and yard are ‘integral’ for citywide ur-
ban forestry and are also home to a his-
toric park house.

Landscape improvements along 51st
Avenue, including renovations to the
front gardens and fencing of the heri-
tage building. The goal is to increase
street presence, said Daria Wojnarski,

&

S™ Park’s historic tree nursery,

re a f eh ‘

BOARD OF PARKS

a, RECREATION a

JORDAN MACDONALD photo
The 1931 home is hidden by trees.

communications coordinator at the
Vancouver Park Board via email.

The Vancouver Park Board has
owned the nursery since 1929. Plans for
the service yard, one of the oldest in
the city, will be decided through a sepa-
rate process led by the city’s real estate

and facilities department. According to
the revised master plan, the service
yard is due for renewal.

The revised plan, approved in De-
cember, proposes $3-million in funding
for the park and centre. The project is
part of the city’s overall 2017-18 capital
plan and outlines proposals for im-
provements and upgrades to park sites
and facilities across the city. Other
park upgrades under consideration in-
clude a new skate park, swimming pool
and running track. Only about $700,000
of the total cost has been raised by the
board to date.

Park Board chair Sarah Kirby-Yung
put forward a motion to explore op-
tions for designation of the historic
buildings and the nursery site last No-
vember, but the motion was defeated.

— With files from Rosemary Newton

HISTORY

facts

ME oThe nursery and its
10,000 trees were
purchased by the
Park Board in 1929
for $5,000

HM During the Great
Depression, Park
Board gardeners
worked for free and
gave out vegetable
seeds to locals

HM The park house was
originally manned
overnight due to
nursery power
outages

Source: Vancouver Psrk Board

Youth
flee high-
cost city

Students pushed out by
high price of Vancouver
housing, low salaries

By NATALIE DUNSMUIR

s living costs in Vancouver con-
Ai: to rise, young people are be-

ing forced to leave the city due to
low wages and high rents, according to
experts and residents.

Vancouver’s housing market is one
of the most in the world and compares
now to Hong Kong and London.

A 2015 report by Vancity credit union
shows that between 2001-14, average
wages increased 32.6 per cent, while
housing prices in Vancouver jumped
211 per cent.

If the trend continues, the report
states, young people will be forced to
leave Vancouver and find work else-
where.

“There’s no question that people of-
ten think: ‘Vancouver’s expensive, I
don’t want to live here,” said Thomas
Davidoff, an associate professor at UBC
Sauder School of Business. “Every day,
there’s someone who doesn’t move in
and does move out because of the pric-
es.”

He added that Vancouver's high liv-
ing costs are either going to make busi-
nesses raise their wages, hire fewer
workers, or leave the city entirely.

“T think Vancou-
ver could become a
fairly unattractive
place to hire la-
bour,” he said. But |
the city won’t be-
come a total ghost *
town, he said, be- Ya
cause it still has
the advantage of
an attractive cli-
mate and culture.

Still, the living
costs are making it
tough for businesses to find employees
who can afford to live in the area.

Carly Redford, director of ‘thirst
quenching’ at Dogwood Brewing, said
paying workers a decent rate is a prob-
lem.

“Tt is hard to live in this city and es-
pecially for small businesses getting
started,” she said. “You can’t offer pre-
mium wages right away. You need to
save expenses as much as possible.”

First-year Langara commerce and
business studies student Heidi Wang
has no plans to leave Vancouver.

While she’s worried about being able
to buy a house in the future, she’s de-
termined to stay.

“T heard that most of my generation
are moving out,” she said “but for me,
Vancouver is my home. It’s my family.”

THOMAS DAVIDOFF
UBC professor
and economist