Posts by samadmin

By Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun
The City of Vancouver will spend $8 million for a 60-day demonstration of a streetcar service to connect Granville Island and the Canada Line rapid transit station at Cambie Street during the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics.
Mayor Sam Sullivan unveiled plans for what is being dubbed the Olympic Line, with International Olympic Committee approval, Tuesday with hopes that the test will lead to establishment of the long-sought permanent streetcar network that would loop around to serve all of downtown to Stanley Park.

Becomes first major Canadian city to allow the zero-emission vehicles on city streets
By Frances Bula
Globe and Mail
Vancouver is about to become the first major Canadian city that allows manufactured electric cars on its streets.
That has local electric-car enthusiasts predicting that the city’s aggressive leadership will produce a rush to buy electric cars and spur manufacturers to push harder on developing and producing new models.
“Absolutely this is going to result in people buying and driving these cars here,” says Don Chandler, president of the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association. “Vancouver has been very active on this issue and the grassroots swell of interest here is amazing.”
B.C. is already home to three manufacturers or importers of what are technically called “neighbourhood zero-emission vehicles.” Between that and the interest from buyers and affiliated industries, the province is a small hub of electric-car activism.

Release from the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association

Mayor Sullivan and representatives of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) provided an update on the expansion of the Downtown Ambassador Program – now running 24/7.

The Downtown Ambassadors are funded primarily by the 8,000 businesses and property owners in the 90-blocks of the DVBIA’s area through a levy. They are trained in all aspects of interacting with the public and serve as proactive “eyes and ears” on our streets for businesses, residents and tourists.

Love him or hate him, he left a huge impression
Half-way up the mountain trail to the Great Wall of China, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan knew his engines were running low.
I’m not talking about the batteries in his electric wheelchair. I’m talking about the guys he hired to push him up to the iconic Chinese landmark.
“They were huffing and puffing,” Sullivan, just back from the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, told me yesterday.