Vancouver's NPA mayoral candidate announced on Wednesday that she would begin the process to re-establish a downtown streetcar network if elected.
Suzanne Anton laid out her plan to bring back the transit system which would connect Granville Island, the Olympic Village and Science World to Chinatown and Waterfront Station – almost all of which are already connected by the SkyTrain system.
"The downtown streetcar represents an important connection between our city's past and Vancouver's future prosperity," said Anton.
During the 2010 Olympics, Vancouver test-ran Flexity streetcars from Bombardier. The streetcars – imported from Brussels, Belgium – were a huge success with more than 500,000 passengers riding them during the 60-day trial.
At the end of the Olympics, the streetcars went back to Europe because the hefty $90-million start-up price needed to be divvied up between the province and the city, according to Mayor Gregor Robertson.
But the topic of the streetcar fell to the wayside after the Olympics, said Anton.
"On of my real disappointments with Gregor Robertson is how he squandered momentum for this project after the Olympics," said Anton.
According to Anton, the NPA is looking into a public-private partnership to alleviate the cost to taxpayers. She added that the streetcars would likely pay for themselves in a decade.
The decision to implement the streetcar system comes after receiving feedback from neighbourhood meetings held across the city, said Anton.
According to a release from the NPA, the party would establish a task force at City Hall within the first 60 days of being elected as well as presenting an "accountability accord" which would detail where the funds are coming from and how they are spent.
