A Request for Help

Thank you for your support on this matter. June 10, 2005 was the final day for submission of comments. The next step will be to see if the plan is revised based on your input.

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Our Beliefs

At UBC Botanical Garden, we've many beliefs, including the following:

1) We believe in UBC's Trek 2010 Vision and Mission, and its five pillars of people, learning, research, community and internationalization.

2) In accordance with Trek 2010, we believe that one of our greatest responsibilities is to serve the local and global communities. We do this through the activities we perform and the services we provide. The botanical garden is used not only for amenity, but also for basic and applied research, for academic learning, for communicating the research and academic missions of the university to the general public, for lifelong learning, for community outreach and for engendering appreciation and stewardship of the natural world.

3) Also in accordance with Trek 2010, we believe that the services we provide should be accessible to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be defined in the broadest sense - we believe the garden should be affordable, we believe the garden should have adequate interpretation, we believe the garden should be findable through appropriate campus directional signage, we believe the garden should continue to improve its services for disabled visitors and we believe that the garden should have adequate public transportation.

4) Last in this list, and also in accordance with Trek 2010, we believe that all activities within and with respect to the garden should be pursued in an environmentally sustainable manner. We believe that we are an ideal place to demonstrate the small changes that everyone can make in the activities of their daily life which have a big impact on the environment, including waterwise gardening, composting, and using environmentally sound transportation.

One of the key elements for us to pursue our missions of research, community and education for you and the university at large is to be accessible to as many people as possible. If there are barriers to experiencing the garden or its programs and services, they need to be removed. One of those barriers is inadequate public transportation.

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Current and Proposed Transit Services for UBC Botanical Garden

Note: click on the thumbnailed images to enlarge. Satellite map courtesy of Google Maps.

In 2002, due to budget cutbacks at Translink, UBC Botanical Garden lost its bus service. Visitorship has since decreased.

The City of Vancouver and the University of British Columbia are currently undergoing a transportation planning process for the years 2005 to 2010: the Vancouver and UBC Transportation Plan (VUTP). A draft document has been created and VUTP is seeking feedback. If, like us, you believe that UBC Botanical Garden should have its bus service restored, your comments on the draft plan would be greatly appreciated.

As currently drafted, the Vancouver and UBC Transportation Plan proposes two community shuttles for the UBC campus, neither of which directly serve UBC Botanical Garden (the closest stop is 400m / a quarter mile distant). Here are the relevant pages of the draft for the community shuttles: UBC Community Shuttle Proposal (in PDF format).

It should be noted with regard to the shuttle services that the draft report does state (on page 6-38): “Summer extension to the UBC Botanical Garden (SW Marine Drive at West Mall) may be possible, especially since the future bus-only connection from Wesbrook Mall to SW Marine Drive will divert the #41 (and future 41 st B- Line) away from the garden.”

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In Response to the Proposed Transit Service for UBC Botanical Garden

For the autumn to spring months, we do not believe a 400m distance is acceptable for anyone with walking or health difficulties or families with young children, in particular because the walking route requires the pedestrians to cross a twinned highway. Also, no directional signage exists to direct visitors to the garden.

Nor do we believe seasonal service is adequate. The research, community and educational activities and opportunities at the garden occur year-round. In particular, both the academic activities (teaching and coursework, student volunteer opportunities, lecture and seminar series) and Friends of the Garden volunteer activities occur mainly in autumn to spring.

Lastly, we believe that the improvements we've made and are making in the next few years including audioguides for interpretation (funding received, will be available next spring), a new visitor centre (funding for draft plans received, ongoing fundraising occurring) and planned new garden areas (the Carolinian forest, the Garry Oak woodland and meadow and the Araucaria Grove (fundraising occurring for each)) will significantly increase year-round visitorship. Restoring full transit service after 2010 will hamper our efforts to share these new initiatives with as many people as possible in the intervening years.

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What You Can Do to Help

If you don't share our beliefs, we would still like to encourage you to study the Vancouver-UBC Transportation Plan documentation and submit your comments however you see fit.

However, if you do share our beliefs, we kindly request that you either attend one of the public meetings or add your voice to the Vancouver-UBC Transportation Plan Comments Workbook (note: comments are no longer accepted) in support of restoring year-round public transportation directly to UBC Botanical Garden. Even if you do not use public transportation, your input can help improve service to UBC Botanical Garden for those who do.

Unfortunately, adding your comments about transit service specifically to the garden in the workbook requires you to go through the entire workbook, but please don't let that discourage you - it's still a relatively quick process.

On page 3 of the Comments Workbook, entitled Bus Service: Introducing New Routes, there is a space to write additional comments. This is the place to add your comments specifically about bus service to UBC Botanical Garden. Here's an example for you to submit, but your words will be more powerful if you are able to supply your own story:

“The shuttle service C18 should have a permanent year-round stop directly serving UBC Botanical Garden. A seasonal summertime service is not enough for residents, students and visitors, particularly those with small children or health difficulties. Community, educational and research activities occur at the garden year-round and require adequate public transportation with a stop on-site.

The garden is also a showcase for sustainability in the community. However, many people still rely on using an automobile to visit the garden due to inadequate public transportation. Year-round shuttle service to the garden will help reduce automobile traffic to the campus, as required by the UBC Official Community Plan.”

If you do submit a comment, we'd like to thank you for your time and concern. We hope that our combined efforts (we'll be filling out the workbook too!) will help make UBC Botanical Garden more accessible so that we can continue to pursue our missions of research, education and community in service of as many people as possible.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:55 AM on May 28, 2005