SFU students on board with TransLink’s proposed Burnaby Mountain gondola project

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) — Simon Fraser students are throwing their support behind the Burnaby Mountain gondola proposal — a long time contested transportation alternative.

Osob Mohamed, president of the Simon Fraser Student Society, says the gondola that would provide service between SkyTrain and Burnaby Mountain is the future for accessible and efficient transit.

“The current fleet of buses just isn’t cutting it. Our community is growing and winters are getting worse with global warming,” she says. “We need a safer and more reliable and more eco-friendly method to get to and from our classes.”

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Mohamed and the Student Society have penned an open letter to the mayor of Burnaby and city council listing reasons for their support and expressing the support the gondola route from Production way up Burnaby Mountain.

Almost 90 percent of their members regularly use transit to commute to class.

“Our students are becoming way more politically aware and engaged the last few months as they are seeing items that are really impacting their lives in particular,” Mohamed tells NEWS 1130. “Like the gondola [students are] recognize that their voices can have an impact on their quality of life and the quality of their education. So I think this is an awesome legacy for the folks who are involved.”

Last fall, some residents pointed to privacy and noise issues as broader concerns, although surveys show the vast majority of those asked approve of the concept.

The project is still in the planning phase but is up to official approval sometime this year.

 

– With files from Paul James