From left: Mayoral candidate Dan Ruimy; Council candidate Jenny Tan; Council candidate Sunny Schiller; Council candidate Onyeka Dozie; Council candidate Korleen Carreras.

Today, A Better Maple Ridge announced commuter improvements will be a key priority for the team if elected in the 2022 municipal elections. Led by mayoral candidate and former Member of Parliament Dan Ruimy, A Better Maple Ridge includes council candidates Sunny Schiller, Jenny Tan, Korleen Carreras and Onyeka Dozie.  

According to A Better Maple Ridge, two key areas of concern are reducing traffic delays along key arterials such as Lougheed Highway and keeping people safe, including vulnerable pedestrians such as children walking to school. 

During  a  meeting with TransLink, Ruimy advocated for increased public transit services for Maple Ridge, including the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) program proposed by TransLink between Langley and downtown Maple Ridge. “We’ve heard loud and clear from residents that we are in desperate need of more public transit, especially with high gas prices,” said Ruimy. “A Better Maple Ridge is ready to work with TransLink to achieve significant investment for public transit in Maple Ridge and make sure that our residents can access the public transit we need.”

“Spending time in traffic delays every day is not only frustrating, but also reduces our quality of life,” said Tan, economist and Council candidate. “Studies show that reducing commute times increases our health and our sense of connection to our community. Investing in complete communities and public transit is the type of sound fiscal decision-making we need for a Better Maple Ridge.” 

“We want to continue to develop Maple Ridge’s new Strategic Transportation Plan with a strong focus on ensuring the safety of our youth. Our students, and their families, should feel safe while traveling to and from school either by foot or bike.” explained Korleen Carreras. “There are steps the City can take to help make commuting safer for our students and we want to make sure those options are explored and the safest choices are implemented.”

Council candidate Onyeka Dozie spoke further on the team’s stance on traffic safety. “A big part of community safety is traffic safety. We’ve heard of so many examples of traffic safety issues in residential neighbourhoods that have gone unaddressed. If elected, our team wants to create a more robust citizen engagement system that allows our citizens to voice their concerns and be assured that their concerns have been heard and are being addressed. No one should feel that they live in an area where their safety is being compromised and everyone should feel like their concerns are being heard.”

“Our city has identified areas of concern for traffic incidents.” added Sunny Schiller. “We want to work hand in hand with ICBC, the engineering department and the RCMP to understand exactly why these are sites of reoccurring accidents and implementing measures to mitigate future accidents.”

Highlights for A Better Maple Ridge’s mandate for new recreation facilities include:

• Advocating to Translink for Maple Ridge to be included as a pilot city for the 2050 Bus Rapid Transit program and expansion and funding of bus service.
• Continue to develop Maple Ridge’s Strategic Transportation Plan with a focus on safe commuting for school aged children
• Work closely with ICBC, RCMP and the engineering department to address known traffic safety hot spots of recurring concern 
• Take steps to address traffic congestion issues by exploring options for adding arterial routes, implementing traffic calming measures, and working with the provincial government to alleviate traffic flow on Lougheed Highway.
• Making land-use decisions that allow residents to have complete communities with services closer to home, reducing our need to drive long distances for daily needs.
• Supporting smart development that includes safe active transportation routes, to support the growing use of bikes, and electric mobility devices.

The election is Saturday October 15, 2022. More information on A Better Maple Ridge can be found at ABetterMapleRidge.ca

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