Driving in Vancouver
or more accurately, sitting in a traffic jam in Vancouver
We were in Vancouver last week visiting our daughter. It was lovely. We brought my Mum, her dog Ajay, and Alice Pancakes.
We took the slow route along Highway 3 so we could visit some friends. Mum and Mrs. Pancakes visited more than their fair share of wineries. Calgary to Vancouver can be done in 10 hours if you stick to the Trans-Canada and Coquihalla, only stopping for fuel and pee breaks. Our route took four days; Sunday night in Castlegar, Monday and Tuesday in Rock Creek (about an hour outside of Osoyoos), and into Vancouver on Wednesday.
The traffic jam to get into the lower mainland began at Abbotsford, as usual. It’s 45 kilometres between Abbotsford and the Port Mann bridge. That should take less than half an hour. It took us 1.5 hours. After the bridge, things “lightened up” a bit. We got in the HOV lane and put the hammer down until we crossed the Second Narrows and turned off at Mountain Highway to get to our AirBnB.
The house we stayed in - more accurately the huge, walk-out basement - was worth $3,000,000. The house next door was worth $5,000,000. Despite that, the cost of the AirBnB was cheaper than getting two hotel rooms for a week. It was absolutely gorgeous, and the owners were happy to welcome our dogs.
The view from the backyard was amazing. We could see all the way to Metrotown in Burnaby. Beside the main yard was a hidden garden with a Koi pond and a re-wilded section full of wildflowers. It was like something out of a fairytale. It is by far the nicest AirBnB we’ve ever stayed at.
We had a great time with our daughter and her partner. They have a cool little place on the Victoria Diversion. The dogs went for a swim in the ocean at Spanish Banks, and we went for our traditional fish ‘n chips meal at Pajo’s on the Steveston docks.
Now for the bad news; doing all these things meant driving in Vancouver. It’s every bit as bad as LA. We were in constant traffic jams and parking misery the whole time. From the north end of the Lion’s Gate, through Stanley Park, into the West End, out to Spanish Banks, around UBC on Marine Drive, over the Arthur Laing bridge in Richmond, and in Steveston. I don’t like cussin’ around my mum, but she heard some language that day.
I had some people try to tell me it’s just as bad in Calgary, but it isn’t. Someone else told me Montreal is pretty bad, but I’ve never driven there so I don’t know. Manhattan looks awful, but again, I’ve never been there. However, I’ve driven the 405 in LA, and I’ve driven through Santa Monica and Venice, and Vancouver is indistinguishable, traffic-wise. It’s fucking gross.
The reason is that Vancouver has no room to grow out, creating new routes, so it must grow up on the existing roadways. This means adding population density where there really isn’t the road infrastructure to support it. The lower mainland has a robust and reliable transit system, but of course people would rather drive. That results in constipated routes EVERYWHERE.
In Calgary, we have the opposite issue. Urban sprawl. We’re on the prairies with nothing but open space for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. So we grow out. There are still problem areas for traffic, but they don’t compare to Vancouver. Even downtown at rush hour is better than Kitsilano at any time on any day.
Which leads me to this question: can you close a city? Can you say “Sorry, we’re out of room.”? Of course not. That would lead to a whole different problem. If there’s a waiting list to get in, home prices and rent will soar. Then you have an unaffordable city — I would argue Vancouver already is — that has the same traffic problems. I’d hate to be an Amazon delivery driver in that the lower mainland.
That many idling cars is bad for the environment. The amount of pollution would be incredible if not for the fact that the prevailing winds blow it all out into the Fraser Valley. Langley and Maple Ridge must have thick “air”.
That being said, there are tons of EVs there. Vancouver is full of Teslas, most of which have a bumper sticker that says “We bought this before we knew Elon was crazy”. Finding your car in the grocery store parking lot would be a challenge. Teslas seem to only be available in four colours and two body shapes if you don’t include the ridiculous Cyber Truck.
I have no idea how to solve the problem. I just wanted to bitch about it. I hate driving at the best of times. Vancouver stresses me out because it’s the worst of times.
But god damn it’s a beautiful city. That’s the root problem. It’s a visual feast which makes people want to move there and create traffic jams.
