Bus to Move Snow Removal

Thanks, everyone. That completes motion four on the agenda. The next motion is motion five, bus to move, prioritizing transit trouble spots for snow and ice removal. It is moved and introduced by Councillor Maloney. Before we begin this agenda item, if anyone believes they have a conflict of interest, now is the time to declare it. Does anyone have a conflict of interest to disclose?

Abbott, Alberni, Alexander, Alma, Arbutus, Arlington Beach, Beattie, Bidwell, Blenheim. These are the first 10 of 113 arterial roads that are designated as first snow clearance priority by the city. In addition to these 113 arterials, most of which are actually minor streets on the downtown peninsula, priority routes include around 28 residential streets in Sunrise, 18 residential streets in Point Grey and a long list of other major roads, emergency access routes, bridges and viaducts, school routes and key pedestrian pathways. All of these are, on their own, important transportation pathways for our city, but they can't all be first priority. As the old adage goes, when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. That's why this motion asks staff to report back with proposed revisions to the city's snow and ice treatment policy to reflect the fact that on snowy days, every transit rider wants their bus to move and that the importance of getting the most people moving as soon as possible should be reflected in our policy. In the interim, it also asks staff to take interim steps to work with TransLink to step up snow clearance on bus routes and do whatever is possible with the existing resources to solve known pain points. We can and must avoid another transit snowmageddon. Too many students, families and essential workers depend on transit to allow it to fail in ice and snow. When we say something is a first priority, let's mean it. Let's be smart and deliberate when assigning snow clearance priorities and take action to move the modes that move the most people and are the most vulnerable to disruption.

All right, thank you. Do we have a seconder? Seconded by Councillor Orr. We will now hear from the rightist speaker for this motion. Public speakers should state whether they are in support or in opposition of the recommendations, and they may only speak once. I will also ask speakers if they are residents of Vancouver, if it is not noted on the speakers' list. Public speakers speaking in person can use the new podium on the left side of the chamber. Please adjust the podium to a comfortable height for speaking into the microphone by using the control on the bottom right-hand corner. Our first registered speaker is Nathan Davidovich.

Thanks, Nathan.

We can hear you.

Okay, thank you. Speaker number four is Amin Chandi.

All right, thank you. Speaker number five is Dennis Agar.

Thank you. All right, so this is the end of our speaker's list, and thank you, everyone, for speaking to the Standing Committee on City Finance and Services. Committee members, is there any discussion? I saw Councillor Kirby on.

Yeah, thanks, Chair. I wonder if I could ask a point of information through you to the City Manager.

Sure.

Yeah, and I just want to sort of confirm and clarify with respects to what our current practices and so nice Protocol and responses, and I know that you know right on the city website it identifies major roads and bus routes I know this motion talking specifically about problem bus routes But can you speak to what's currently in our snow nice treatment protocol? And if we engage with Coast Mountain bus around clearing when we have major snow incidents I

Okay, thanks for that. I just want to follow up and provide a couple of comments because transit is critical for people getting around, and particularly in snow incidents, and you don't want people to be cut off. I just want to acknowledge that there's a dimension to this conversation that has not been covered. It's not just about clearing. It's actually about the equipment and the tires that TransLink uses, and that has, even if the city of Vancouver has cleared... And even if we have more snow falling, we know that with trolley buses and with the type of equipment, that's actually what contributes a lot of time to getting stuck. There was an interesting article in November just last year that identified that to address that specific problem, 70% of TransLink 1600 buses are going to be equipped with winter tires this season. In order to strengthen the resiliency of the bus fleet for winter weather, it says it's going to equip up to 1,100 buses with winter grade tires, which is pretty significant, doubling the amount that they were able to do in 2024. And that means that over 70% of the fleet will be equipped with those. These are Michelin D grip tires. They provide deeper tread patterns for improved traction in snow, ice, and rain. There's a number of other mechanisms that they are taking so that the fleet performs better in snowy and also rainy winter weather. That's things like new dual-drive articulated buses that perform better in the snow. And the other winter protocols include things like, as I said, they're already coordinating, and I quote here, with municipality on the snow clearing of priority bus routes. spreading anti-icing solutions on overhead trolley wires, and using brass cutters on some of the trolley buses to prevent ice buildup on the wires. So, I mean, I could go on, but there's a lot of other initiatives that contribute to buses getting stuck besides the city's snow protocol, which already has that. Council went through a pretty substantive in the last few years ago review of the policy, and this was identified as an issue, and that's why... as were pedestrians, which were not previously accommodated, and the fact that sometimes pedestrians couldn't even get to the stops because we hadn't cleared some of the priority areas, and that's why we really anchored pedestrians in the updated snow protocol as well. So I think... It's a very valid concern. I think that there's a lot of work that is already being done here. And so from that perspective, totally agree with the goal. I'm confident that we don't have a gap in this area and that the problem is not just the cities for clearing. It's also translates in terms of how it runs the fleet, when it runs trolleybuses, what it runs, what kind of tires it has, and all these steps are being taken. So in my view, it's redundant. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Kerby. Councillor Maloney.

Hi, thank you. I appreciate, I just want to say thank you to Movement Transit Advocates very much for their help and support in bringing this issue to my attention and developing this motion and for their very important reminders about our slow progress implementing bus lanes.

There are essential workers who rely on cars or bicycles are unlikely to have snow tyres in our region. and they should have a reliable alternative to using their vehicle in potentially unsafe conditions. I'm on the council liaison for the Older Persons and Elders Advisory Committee and the Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee, and I've talked with my own elderly neighbours about how much they rely on transit during snow events and how snow clearing policy can contribute to isolation and inaccessibility during snow and ice events. Municipal snow clearing policy has clear winners and losers. The groups in our city who are more likely to rely on transit are people who can't drive and can't afford to drive. Groups more likely to use the bus are seniors and disabled folks, lower income, younger, female or new to Vancouver. I don't agree that this is redundant and I think that's... that we've got nothing to lose considering the city manager has brought to our attention ongoing discussions with the Coastal Mountain Bus Company that this is a very low resource initiative that we could take to ensure that buses don't lose traction during snow events. And I guess we've seen in the past the major issues that can come about and I guess we'll see it again, during the next snow event, whether our systems are doing the job and whether voting no to this motion was the right thing to do. I guess time will tell.

Thank you. Councillor Warr. Yeah, thanks. I think this motion recognises something that transit riders experience, that not all first priority routes are equal. and that when a bus gets stuck on a known trouble spot, that the ripple effects are citywide, and the people who pay the price are often essential workers, and those with the fewest alternatives. I remember just last year in school, I was learning about a study out of Sweden that talked about snow removal and its implications on equity, and the researchers discovered there was a significant sort of compromise with equity in that a lot of women and single mothers, you know, who take their kids to school and who, you know, go to groceries and they use sort of side streets that are often plowed and they actually... switch to prioritize these other routes first. And I always find that was very fascinating. But I think this is a practical evidence-based improvement to our snow and ice policy. And I think this is about fairness, efficiency, and making sure our public systems work for the people who need them most. So I will support.

All right, so seeing no one else on the queue, I'm going to call the vote. So clerk, please take us to the voting screen. And counsel, please register your vote on this motion.