Student union pushes for SkyTrain extension to UBC

For some UBC Vancouver students, it’s a trek just to get to campus.

“My commute is like two and a half hours,” said one student.

“The bus usually takes me about an hour,” said another student.

The Alma Mater Society (AMS), the official student union on campus, is ramping up pressure for the Sky Train expansion to the university to cut commute times and reduce congestion.

“The 99 is the busiest bus in the US and Canada, and the Broadway corridor is one of the busiest transit corridors in North America,” said Solomon Yi-Kieran, Vice President of external affairs at the AMS.

“I think the evidence is overwhelming that we really need to see progress on this sooner rather than later.”

He says it’s vital that the government prioritizes the Millennium Line extension after the project has remained stalled for 17 years.

“The government first announced this in 2008. I was three years old. The people who were born in the year when they announced the Sky Train extension are now writing their applications to come to UBC.”

Backing for the Sky Train has been reiterated by TransLink, which calls it a priority, and by UBC, which says it will help Metro Vancouver realize the economic benefits that other world-class cities have gained by better connecting their housing, jobs, and major universities through rapid transit.

A campaign from AMS is sparking conversation on campus with a new petition that has gained over 14,000 signatures.

“I think it would benefit everyone. It would definitely alleviate some of the stress and pain from having to wait for so long for a Bus,” said a student.

“It would be beneficial, but it’s an $8 billion project,” said another student.

In the coming weeks, the student union will be taking steps to lobby both the municipal and provincial governments.

The AMS will be holding a rally in front of the nest on Oct. 1 to push ahead with their advocacy efforts for the extension of the SkyTrain in Vancouver.