The Fraser River is an untapped commuting resource that could be used to ease traffic congestion in Metro Vancouver, according to a group advocating a new fleet of commuter boats.
Jeff Malmgren of the Fraser RiverBus Society estimates the boats could ferry between 10,000 and 15,000 passengers per day at stops between Maple Ridge and Richmond.
"All of our transit runs to downtown Vancouver," Malmgren said. "There's a real opportunity here to take advantage of the river, which was used for transportation and for moving people and goods for literally hundreds of years before roads came along."
Stops would likely be situated a major transit hubs, such as the Bridgeport Canada Line station and the Port Haney West Coast Express stop, and Malmgren says they would be cheap to erect and easy to relocate.
"The vessels that seem to work best are hop-on, hop-off, so anywhere where you have an existing dock can really be relatively easily transformed," he said.
Water transportation is also cheaper and more environmentally friendly, he added.
Many European cities already utilize their waterways for transport, Malmgren said, and a few North American municipalities are following suit.
New York City recently introduced a water taxi system, and Malmgren says Chicago and Washington, D.C. are pursuing similar programs.
Malmgren presented his proposal to Metro Vancouver regional planning committee late last month, but says more research is still needed.
"We haven't done a feasibility study, we're saying one should be done," he said. "Basically what we were saying was here's an idea that you probably haven't thought of yet."
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