Winter 1999

YVR Rapid Transit Link Study... Canada's airports are only as good as they are accessible. That's why Transport Canada is undertaking a $25,000 study, in co-operation with the Vancouver International Airport Authority, the provincial and local governments, and the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, to determine the requirements for a rapid transit link between downtown Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport. Similar studies were recently completed in Montreal and Toronto.

YVR's Passenger Traffic Hits New High... In 1998, Vancouver International Airport handled 15.5 million passengers. That's a five per cent growth in passenger traffic over 1997 when the airport handled 14. 8 million passengers. The air cargo picture wasn't quite as rosy - air cargo dropped by two per cent from 260,000 metric tonnes in 1997 to 255,400 tonnes in 1998. Since 1992, airport passenger traffic has increased 56 per cent from 9.9 million passengers and air cargo has increased 77 per cent from 144,000 tonnes.

What About that Millennium Bug? Transport Minister David Collenette and his senior officials held a successful government-industry forum on Year 2000 issues during the Fall with major transportation associations and stakeholders. Transport Canada has created a Year 2000 Project Office to support transportation businesses in their Year 2000 activities. For more information contact: Kevin Kavanaugh, Regional Director Multi-modal Projects, (604) 666-9824.

Congratulations Port Vancouver... Transport Minister David Collenette announced the establishment, effective March 1, 1999, of the first Canada Port Authorities (CPAs) at the ports of Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax, under the new Canada Marine Act.

Pretty Good Considering... Despite the lingering Asian Flu, Port Vancouver handled 72 million tonnes of cargo in 1998, down only 2 per cent from last year's record-breaking 73.5 million tonnes... Records were set in 1998 for container traffic - with 840,098 TEUs handled, representing an increase of 16 per cent over last year. Since 1995 Vancouver's container volumes have grown by a cumulative total of 70 per cent, making Vancouver the fastest growing container port on the West Coast of North America.

Fraser Port Contributes... A recent economic impact study of Fraser Port reports the port handled $9.2 billion worth of goods, contributed $1.4 billion to the country's GDP and sustained over 24,000 jobs in 1997. Since 1993, the value of cargo shipped through Fraser Port has increased by 40 per cent.

Asian Flu hits Prince Rupert... Prince Rupert Port suffered its lowest shipping levels in 14 years in 1998. The Port handled 9 million tonnes of cargo in 1998, compared with 13 million tonnes in 1997. Grain shipments were down 41 per cent, coal was down 23 per cent and lumber shipments were down 30 per cent compared with 1997.

Port State Control Ship Inspection Program Detains for Safety... In 1998, 1,190 foreign vessels were inspected by Transport Canada surveyors at Canadian ports and 144 of those ships were detained because they were in poor condition. Inspectors in Vancouver detained 50 per cent or 72 of those substandard ships. Across Canada, that's an increase of 22 per cent over 1997 when 118 foreign vessels were detained. Before being allowed to leave port, the vessels must rectify their deficiencies. For more information contact: Bill Nash, Regional Director Marine Safety, (604) 666-5470.

Airports Transferring... In February, an agreement was signed to transfer Terrace Airport to the Terrace-Kitimat Airport Society. The hand-over date for the airport is March 31, 1999. Since 1995, Transport Canada has transferred 20 B.C. airports to local communities through the National Airports Policy. For more information contact: Mike Langan, Regional Director Programs, (604) 666-2387.

Improving Airport Safety... During the Winter, Transport Minister David Collenette announced $200,000 in federal funding for safety improvement projects at Prince Rupert and Campbell River airports. At Prince Rupert the $164,900 is for a new runway sweeper and at Campbell River the $27,125 funding is for replacing security gates. The projects are part of Transport Canada's Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) and both airports are owned and operated locally. For more information contact: Jenny Low, Community Airports Officer, (604) 666-5417.

Tourists Ride the Rails... B.C. Rail's tourist trains carried a record 89,000 passengers last summer. The Pacific Starlight Dinner Train attracted 29,300 diners, 6000 more than 1997, the Royal Hudson carried over 51,000 people between North Vancouver and Squamish, and the Whistler Explorer carried 8,600 adventurers... Amtrak's Cascades service between Vancouver and Seattle (formerly the Mount Baker International) carried 97,000 passengers in 1998, a 14 per cent jump in two years.

Working on APEC... Transport Canada is the co-chair of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Task Force on sharing best practices for an efficient, integrated intermodal transportation system in the Asia Pacific Region. For more information contact: Kevin Kavanaugh, Regional Director Multi-modal Projects, (604) 666-9824.

Surfing the TC Web... If you want to know more about Transport Canada's Pacific Region check out our web page at http://www.tc.gc.ca/PacificRegion.

Transport Trends is published by Transport Canada's Pacific Region to keep our clients and stakeholders up-to-date on transportation activities and trends in B.C. Questions or suggestions please phone (604) 666-1675, fax (604) 666-7255, e-mail nelsoro@tc.gc.ca.

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