The Future of Transportation

Waking up to my first Vancouver morning, it was beautiful to see the surrounding from our 13th floor lodging. It seemed as though we were on top of the world. Anyways, we went on an amazing transit and planning tour from two great staff from Vancouver’s Translink, Michelle and Nat. They brought us from station to station talking about the development of the neighborhoods and transit. What really stood out to me was the greatness which is their Skytrain system.

Even though the Skytrain was only built to be a showcase for the 1986 World’s Fair, it had became an integrated part of Vancouver’s infrastructure and transit system, reaching a farther distance than our own BART system. Even though it reaches a longer distance, it actually has a higher rate of arrival with an average of about a 90 second wait. This is one of the things I admire about Vancouver transit system; it is so quick and reliable unlike our MUNI system who makes you wait the longest single second in the world.

Vancouver’s transit system reliability should be a role model for all cities of all sizes. It shows the future of a city based on transit instead of cars, where transit is as reliable as a car. You can get to your destination without the worries being late because of a bus running late. This is the future of transportation.


-David Trang