Technical Tours
The local Conference hosts British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the City of Vancouver and TransLink are excited to showcase some of Vancouver’s latest transportation infrastructure projects & facilities to conference delegates.
Schedule: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 8:30-10:30 and Wednesday, Sept. 25, 8:30-10:30
Capacity: 15
Mode of Transportation: Cycling
Description: Join us on a tour of the Beach Avenue protected bike lane, riding through downtown Vancouver’s all ages and abilities cycling infrastructure along the way! Beach Avenue runs along the west end waterfront, providing access to many of Vancouver’s most popular recreational, shopping and tourist destinations. In April 2020, the City of Vancouver quickly reallocated two motor vehicle lanes to provide more space for walking and cycling. Since installation it has become the busiest cycling route in Vancouver.
Requirements: Bicycles and helmets will be provided.
Schedule: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 13:45-16:45
Capacity: 15
Mode of Transportation: Community shuttle and walking
Description: The Rain City Strategy identifies blue-green systems as networks of park-like streets that manage water and land. These systems are inspired by nature and aim to replicate natural functions while providing ecosystem services. They protect the urban landscape and water cycle’s ecological, hydrological, and social values, and provide resilient measures to address climate change, flood management, increase connectivity, and enhance access to nature. This tour will discuss the city-wide planning of blue-green infrastructure and showcase the design and construction of several green rainwater infrastructure projects that feature public spaces and cycle tracks, and make space for people, water, and nature in the city.
Schedule: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 13:45-16:15
Capacity: 30
Mode of Transportation: Bus and walking
Description: The Broadway Subway Project is a 5.7 km extension of the Millennium Line, from VCC-Clark Station to a new terminus station at Broadway and Arbutus. It will provide fast, frequent and convenient SkyTrain service to B.C.’s second largest jobs centre, world-class health services, an emerging innovation and research hub, and growing residential communities. Join us to learn more about the Project, our twin tunnels, and the complex construction of six new underground stations.
Requirements:
All participants are required to wear personal protective gear. Participants must bring their own steel-toe boots (ankle high), wear long sleeves and pants. Hard hats, vests, gloves, and safety glasses will be provided. Short sleeves, shorts, skirts, or dresses are not allowed. Bags should be kept to a minimum and back packs are preferred if a bag is necessary.
All tour participants should be in good physical health as climbing multiple scaffolding is involved, ranging from approximately 75-200 steps each.
The tour is outside, so check the weather and dress for rain if it is in the forecast.
Schedule: Sunday, Sept. 22, 13:00-16:00 and Monday, Sept. 23, 13:45-16:45
Capacity: 15
Mode of Transportation: Cycling
Description: This tour will provide a broad overview of Vancouver’s downtown cycling network, including key public space projects along the way. It will showcase evolving design approaches and considerations, covering routes including Richards, Dunsmuir, Hornby, Smithe/Haro, Beach Avenue, and parts of the Seawall. Public space highlights will include Rainbow Park (Richards Street), 800 Robson Square, Bute-Robson Plaza, and more.
Requirements: Bicycles and helmets will be provided.
Schedule: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 13:30-15:00
Capacity: 20
Mode of Transportation: SeaBus and walking
Description: Join us for a tour of Esplanade Avenue in North Vancouver to look at the design and trade-off considerations behind redesigning an important people and goods movement corridor through a dense residential and commercial neighbourhood. The Esplanade Complete Street project, completed in 2023, aimed to improve safety and experience for all modes through road space reallocation. The design highlights include new protected bike lanes with protected intersections, reconfigured bus stops to reduce the risk of conflict between pedestrians and cyclists, and new streetscaping and stormwater management infrastructure to make the street more attractive and vibrant. See how this project is supporting the City of North Vancouver’s vision to create healthy streets that work for everyone.
Schedule: Monday, Sept. 23, 13:45-15:45
Capacity: 15
Mode of Transportation: Walking
Description: Embark on a journey to reimagine the streets and public spaces of Gastown. The City of Vancouver is investing to make Gastown a more vibrant, safe, and people-friendly destination for everyone. The City will temporarily transform Water Street into a pedestrian zone in July and August 2024. This pilot project is the first initiative to come out of the Gastown Public Spaces Plan.
During this walk, we’ll discuss lessons learned from the pilot project and explore various ways to pedestrianize Water Street in the future while enhancing the surrounding street network. We’ll consider various modes including walking, rolling, cycling, transit, and vehicle connections to and through Gastown as well as the diversity of transportation and mobility needs of tourists, local businesses, commuters, and residents. Along the way there will be stops at public spaces to reflect on how to support different communities in using and enjoying public spaces, including urban Indigenous communities and low-income residents in the Downtown Eastside.
Schedule: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 13:45-16:15
Capacity: 25
Mode of Transportation: Bus and walking
Description: The University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Vancouver Campus is a major regional hub that sees around 80,000 transit trips a day. On this tour, you will visit and experience the UBC Transit Exchange and the surrounding University Boulevard Precinct. Learn how UBC and its partners worked to re-imagine this focal point of the campus to deliver an integrated program of transit infrastructure accommodating over 1,000 transit buses each day, student housing, and other campus amenities, while optimizing space, providing a consistent user experience, and connecting to other modes like bikeshare, carshare, and ride-hailing. Hear about the ongoing work to ready UBC Vancouver for future rapid transit and steps being taken to become a true “transit-oriented campus”.
Schedule: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 8:30-10:30
Capacity: 100
Mode of Transportation: Boat
Description: The Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest and busiest port, handles $1 in $3 of Canada’s trade in goods beyond North America. The jurisdiction is made up of approximately 350km of shoreline bordering 16 different municipalities and one treaty First Nation and intersects the traditional territories of several other First Nations. Join us for a harbour tour of the Port of Vancouver where you’ll get an up-close look at port operations in the Burrard Inlet, including seeing four out of its five cargo sectors: cruise, container, bulk and breakbulk. You will learn some interesting facts about living in a port city and enjoy sweeping views of both the North Shore Mountains and the cityscape!
Schedule: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 8:30-11:30
Capacity: 20
Mode of Transportation: SkyTrain and walking
Description: Metro Vancouver’s SkyTrain is one of the largest fully automated driverless rapid transit systems in the world. Participants will receive an overview of the SkyTrain system, including visits to the SkyTrain Control Centre and Vehicle Maintenance Shop. At the control centre, see how 2000 cameras provide real-time information on conditions and the transportation network to help ensure its operation. At the maintenance shop, learn how the trains are stored and maintained to meet future needs.
Requirements: Participants may bring their own PPE (safety shoes, eyewear and vests, all of which are required on the shop floors) or it will be provided on-site. High-heels and open-toe shoes are not permitted; shoes worn must accommodate safety shoe coverings.
Schedule: Monday, Sept. 23, 13:45-16:45 and Tuesday, Sept. 24, 8:30-11:30
Capacity: 25
Mode of Transportation: SkyTrain and walking
Description: The Surrey Traffic Management Centre (TMC) tour will provide an overview of the City’s transportation hub for innovation. The TMC integrates advanced technology, real-time data analytics and interventions, and strategic insights to optimize traffic flow, and enhance safety. The tour will start with a brief introduction to Surrey’s transportation landscape and the significance of the TMC, then follow with a more technical discussion of the framework behind the TMC (including 600 cameras and 2500 other IoT-enabled equipment across the city), and the analytical tools that derive actionable insights and inform decision-making processes. The tour will wrap up by exploring emerging trends, innovations, and potential pathways for enhancing the efficacy and resilience of Surrey’s traffic management infrastructure.
Schedule: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 8:30-10:30 and Wednesday, Sept. 25, 9:00-11:00
Capacity: 30
Mode of Transportation: Bus and walking
Description: False Creek is crossed by three bridges (Burrard, Granville and Cambie) that support vital transportation connections to/from Downtown Vancouver. The City’s priorities are to shift to an environmentally sustainable transportation system, to improve seismic resiliency, and to rehabilitate these structures. Each bridge is unique in terms of age, condition, structural design and architectural character. This tour will highlight the Granville Connector and North Loops Reconfiguration Project (considered an excellent example of “city re-building”), discuss the City’s integrated capital project delivery strategy, and provide numerous “lessons learned”.
Requirements: Participants are asked to bring their own high-visibility vest, although this is not mandatory.
Schedule: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 13:30-15:30
Capacity: 60
Mode of Transportation: Bus and walking
Description: This tour will highlight progress made in the eight months since the Sen̓áḵw project being developed by Nch’ḵay̓ West—a partnership between Nch’ḵay̓ Development Corporation (the economic development arm of the Squamish Nation) and Westbank—broke ground. The Sen̓áḵw development will consist of 11 towers on 10.4 acres of land, which is the Squamish Nation’s Sen̓áḵw reserve, located at the head of False Creek in the heart of Vancouver. The completed mixed-use development will create 6,000 rental homes and the project includes a zero-emission district heating and cooling system, making Sen̓áḵw the largest carbon-neutral rental development in Canada.
The Squamish Nation entered into a Sen̓áḵw Services Agreement with the City of Vancouver in May of 2022, which outlines transit upgrades included with the development. One of the major upgrades is the Burrard Bridge Transit Hub, which will increase capacity of transit options at Sen̓áḵw and the surrounding neighborhoods, presenting the possibility of improving transverse connectivity through the revitalization of the streetcar line, upgrading aqua bus and ferry services, and enhancing cycling options. This vision for a more comprehensive, sustainable, and integrated multi-modal transportation network provides opportunities to bolster economic and cultural growth in the region.
Schedule: Monday, Sept. 23, 13:45-16:15
Capacity: 15
Mode of Transportation: Bus and walking
Description: Explore how public transit and public space can work together in Vancouver’s trendiest neighbourhoods to support an ever-growing city. Every year, bus operating costs in Metro Vancouver rise by over $2 million due to increasing traffic congestion. Many of the most-delayed corridors include retail areas, where parking, deliveries, and pedestrian activity all compete for limited street space. But speeding buses up doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. This tour showcases a collection of bus priority measures in Vancouver that delivered improvements to the public realm. It features iterations of quick-build and interim infrastructure and how they are being upgraded to a permanent standard.
