January 28, 2022

The SFSS and SFU have been actively advocating for over a decade for transportation solutions that benefit students and better connect our three main campuses. This news out of Burnaby City Council is a massive win for the #GiveStudentsALift Burnaby Mountain Gondola campaign. Additionally, Burnaby City council’s endorsement of the Route 1 speaks volumes to the preferred route option for a majority of students.

We continue to believe that this project is an ideal solution to the concerns of students and community members who rely on public transit daily. Matthew Provost, SFSS VP External and Community Affairs shared, “The Simon Fraser Student Society is excited to hear the news of the Burnaby Mountain Gondola Transit (BMGT) project being endorsed. After a decade of advocacy from the student body we are able to celebrate and look forward to the positive impacts this will have for students, the SFU Community, and Burnaby as a whole.” 

Approximately 73% of students at SFU depend on public transit, and the proposed gondola routes would serve over half of these students who use the #145 bus route to travel to Burnaby Mountain. According to the 2019 SFSS Advocacy Survey results, 94.4% of the SFSS membership surveyed identified reliable TransLink services as very important or important. 

On January 21st, 2022, the Simon Fraser Student Society held a virtual town hall alongside Simon Fraser University and the Graduate Student’s Society to discuss the importance of the BMGT project within the SFU community. You can watch a recording of the Town Hall here.

Providing sustainable transportation options such as walking, cycling, transit and carpooling have become key in mitigating greenhouse gas emission and providing Burnaby residents a better quality of life. Changes in weather conditions such as snow and heavy fog can also halt services thereby disrupting classes, exams, and research on campus; making students anxious when on campus as these weather conditions occur; and ultimately having a negative effect on students and others living in the UniverCity community.

Not only do we want to thank all present and past advocates to the #GiveAStudentALift campaign, but every SFU community member who has advocated for the gondola project. A special thank you to previous leaders of this campaign, including former SFSS Presidents Gabriel Liosis, Osob Mohamed, Giovanni HoSang, former VP University Relations Shina Kaur, and Student Leaders Colin Fowler, Chardaye Bueckert, and Daryl Dela Cruz. Finally, thank you to all SFSS members who have worked towards this achievement.

We continue to call on Translink to keep the needs of Burnaby residents at the forefront of this project, establish a process that centers community safety, and ensure preemptive and proper consultation with the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) Nations.