4TheRcrd Mag.

Mass transit makes sense. We are living in an alienating society where people are much more inclined to stay in their own world, hence the ridiculous amount of cars we pay to accommodate every day of our lives. Can you imagine how much more beautiful a Vancouver without cars would be? Vancouver was originally based on a system of railcars for public transportation. These streetcars of Vancouver developed the community areas we still reference today (ie: Kitsilano, Marpole, and Mount Pleasant.) As cars became more mainstream, car companies decided that it would be in their best interest to buy out the streetcar lines and streetcars. With the decline of urban mass transit, the car was needed for transportation. Car companies then began their golden age as gas guzzling, oversized lawnmowers were the best way to get around. This led to the destruction of massive amounts of Vancouver’s, now sparse, green areas to accommodate the automobile. If you look carefully, you can still find strips of streetcar lanes around the Greater Vancouver Area. There is a very controversial north-south corridor in the Kerrisdale area. There is currently a debate whether or not to turn the corridor into yet another road. The corridor was on the table during the Canada line discussions as a possible light rail site. Currently, to the best of my knowledge the site still sits as a memory of streetcars gone by. In closing, get out of your car, go to the park and take a look around. If we continue our dependancy on cars, our children will not have the pleasure of doing so.

RAF