September-October 2022 - 16

executive team concur that honest
communication and open-door
policies contribute to this positive
work environment.
" We have the best damn employees
in the world and it's pretty
easy to be a world class organization
when you have such an amazing
workforce, " Donaghy said.
New Infrastructure
Welcomes Added
Service, Planned
Expansion
C-TRAN is working on more
projects consecutively now than
it has in totality over the life of
the agency, Donaghy explains,
requiring cross-departmental
collaboration and frequent communication.
One of the biggest
projects currently underway is
the construction of a second bus
rapid transit (BRT) line, The Vine
on Mill Plain. Despite the current
business climate, construction is
moving rapidly and the project
hasn't experienced any schedule
issues. It was one of the projects
that didn't stop during the pandemic,
so it is still on track to open
in the third quarter of 2023.
" We've seen strong community
support for the project since we
first began planning and outreach
on the corridor back in 2018, and
that continues today. I believe
that's in large part due to the
success of our first BRT corridor
[The Vine] on Fourth Plain Boulevard, "
said C-TRAN Chief Capital
Projects and Planning Officer
Scott Patterson. " Since 2017, the
year The Vine began operating,
Vancouver's Fourth Plain corridor
has seen roughly 2,000 housing
units added within a half-mile of
the route and roughly $250 million
in development value. We're
hoping to build on that success
with Mill Plain. "
In addition to the second BRT
line, C-TRAN began early planning
and outreach this year for The
Vine on Highway 99, the third BRT
corridor. In the future, the agency
intends to extend its first BRT line
to travel farther east on Vancouver's
Fourth Plain Boulevard.
" The growth that we're seeing
on those BRT lines forces us to
address our campus and right
fit it for even more growth, " said
C-TRAN Deputy CEO Monica
Tellez-Fowler.
C-TRAN is addressing this
growth by redeveloping its campus
while also making overdue
changes to a facility it had outgrown
years ago. For example,
16 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
C-TRAN BROKE
ground Sept.
28, 2021, on its
second BRT
corridor, The
Vine on Mill
Plain.
" We want
people to be very
unapologetically
themselves. "
C-TRAN CEO
Shawn Donaghy
C-TRAN is preparing to break
ground on a maintenance facility
expansion and a new operations
building to expand its campus and
prepare for fleet electrification or
other alternative fuels. In 2019,
C-TRAN's administrative staff
moved into a new administration
building that had been purchased
as part of its overall facilities plan.
Some operations and additional
staff moved to the new admin
building in subsequent years, and
in 2022, the old administration
and operations modular buildings
at the main campus were
demolished.
" [The projects] are moving at
pace that can some days be challenging,
but I think going back
to what we do for employees, we
have that open door policy, and we
have that open communication, "
Tellez-Fowler said.
Sustainability Integral
to Decision Making
As C-TRAN makes progress on its
new facilities and bus infrastructure,
sustainability is top of mind
when making decisions.
" It's really about finding contractors
that are willing to be
invested the same way that we
are in wanting to solve climate
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September-October 2022

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