Is Light Rail Transit right for Surrey?

If you ever use King George Blvd. you will get caught in major traffic.
Our city decided to eliminate two traffic lanes and go forward with light rail on a north-south route.

Today we went to Surrey City Hall.  On our way, we saw the prototype of the Light Rapid Transit proposed for Surrey.  We didn't stop and read the paraphernalia because I've followed this from day one.

I've ridden the light rail in Calgary and Salt Lake City.  Calgary C-Train has recorded 43 people killed along the line.  TRAX, the Salt Lake City light rail reported 84 injuries and 7 deaths between 2007 and 2010. The trains are quiet and you can't hear them coming.  People jaywalking accounts for most of the injuries.  The trains will stop at all the traffic lights and have a driver.  They say it will be faster than a bus?  Am I missing something?

They've got three security guards inside the car.  Not sure why on a Tuesday morning that's necessary.

The car is very narrow.  Much narrower than Skytrain!  There will be a driver in each car.

If you have driven down King George Blvd, it doesn't look like this!

This is what the photo should show

In 2012, TransLink and the Ministry of Transportation released the Surrey Rapid Transit Study Analysis,  which looked at 14 alternatives for building rapid transit South-of-the-Fraser. The best of these alternatives was "RRT1A", which combined a SkyTrain extension to Langley with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to White Rock, Newton and Guildford. RRT1A served all of the proposed transit corridors, met all capacity requirements, and had the most transportation benefits of any alternative.

Instead, Surrey has decided to pursue a street-level Light Rail (LRT) system - even though it was not considered the best alternative. The study actually found that building an LRT would result in a net loss to society, rather than a net benefit.  The LRT alternative did not have a positive benefit-cost ratio, and would not cost less to build than the RRT 1A alternative - instead costing more to operate in the long term.

A street-level LRT is not the system that will serve Surrey best in the future. With its total costs now topping $2.6 billion it will be the most expensive mistake in our region's history.

SkyTrain for Surrey's campaign vision is to see an Expo Line: Langley Extension on Fraser Highway and a Bus Rapid Transit system on King George Blvd & 104 Ave, instead of a street-level LRT. Passengers boarding an extended Expo Line at Langley Centre Station would reach Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver in less than 60 minutes.

Our civic election is October 20th.  This better be an election issue because many people are against the LRT the City of Surrey and Translink are going ahead with.  I voted for Mayor Linda Hepner, and my leg hurts because I've been kicking myself for about a year!