Main article: Media in Vancouver
Vancouver is a film and television production centre. Nicknamed Hollywood North, a distinction it shares with Toronto,[193][194][195] the city has been used as a film making location for nearly a century, beginning with the Edison Manufacturing Company.[196] In 2008 more than 260 productions were filmed in Vancouver.[non-primary source needed] In 2011 Vancouver slipped to fourth place overall at 1.19 billion, although the region still leads Canada in foreign production.[197][198]
A wide mix of local, national, and international newspapers are distributed in the city. The two major English-language daily newspapers are The Vancouver Sun and The Province. Also, there are two national newspapers distributed in the city, including The Globe and Mail, which began publication of a "national edition" in B.C. in 1983 and recently expanded to include a three-page B.C. news section, and the National Post which centres on national news. Other local newspapers include 24H (a local free daily), the Vancouver franchise of the national free daily Metro, the twice-a-week Vancouver Courier, and the independent newspaper The Georgia Straight. Three Chinese language daily newspapers, Ming Pao, Sing Tao and World Journal cater to the city's large Cantonese and Mandarin speaking population. A number of other local and international papers serve other multicultural groups in the Lower Mainland.
Some of the local television stations include CBC, Citytv, CTV and Global BC. OMNI British Columbia produces daily newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and Korean, and weekly newscasts in Tagalog, as well as programs aimed at other cultural groups. Fairchild Group also has two television stations: Fairchild TV and Talentvision, serving Cantonese and Mandarin speaking audiences respectively.
Radio stations with news departments include CBC Radio One, CKNW and News 1130. The Franco-Columbian community is served by Radio-Canada outlets CBUFT channel 26 (Télévision de Radio-Canada), CBUF-FM 97.7 (Première Chaîne) and CBUX-FM 90.9 (Espace musique). The multilingual South Asian community is served by Spice Radio on 1200 AM established in 2014.[199]
Media dominance is a frequently discussed issue in Vancouver as newspapers The Vancouver Sun, The Province, the Vancouver Courier and other local newspapers such as theSurrey Now, the Burnaby Now and the Richmond News, are all owned by Postmedia Network.[200] The concentration of media ownership has spurred alternatives, making Vancouver a center for independent online media including The Tyee, the Vancouver Observer, and NowPublic.,[201] as well as hyperlocal online media, like Vancouver Is Awesome,[202] which provide coverage of community events and local arts and culture.
Transportation[edit]
Main article: Transportation in Vancouver
See also: List of roads in Vancouver
Vancouver's streetcar system began on 28 June 1890, and ran from the (first) Granville Street Bridge to Westminster Avenue (now Main Street and Kingsway). Less than a year later, the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company began operating Canada's first interurban line between the two cities (extended to Chilliwack in 1910). Another line (1902), the Vancouver and Lulu Island Railway, was leased by the Canadian Pacific Railway to the British Columbia Electric Railway in 1905 and ran from the Granville Street Bridge to Steveston via Kerrisdale, which encouraged residential neighbourhoods outside the central core to develop.[203] From 1897 theBritish Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) became the company that operated the urban andinterurban rail system, until 1958, when its last vestiges were dismantled in favour of "trackless"trolley and gasoline/diesel buses;[204] in that same year the BCER became the core of the newly created, publicly owned BC Hydro.[citation needed] Vancouver currently has the second-largest trolleybus fleet in North America, after San Francisco.[205]
Successive city councils in the 1970s and 1980s prohibited the construction of freeways as part of a long term plan.[206] As a result, the only major freeway within city limits is Highway 1, which passes through the north-eastern corner of the city. While the number of cars in Vancouver proper has been steadily rising with population growth, the rate of car ownership and the average distance driven by daily commuters have fallen since the early 1990s.[207][208] Vancouver is the only major Canadian city with these trends. Despite the fact that the journey time per vehicle has increased by one-third and growing traffic mass, there are 7% fewer cars making trips into the downtown core.[207] In 2012, Vancouver had the worst traffic congestion in Canada and the second highest in North America, behind Los Angeles.[209] As of 2013, Vancouver now has the worst traffic congestion in North America.[210] Residents have been more inclined to live in areas closer to their interests, or use more energy-efficient means of travel, such as mass transit and cycling. This is, in part, the result of a push by city planners for a solution to traffic problems and pro-environment campaigns. Transportation demand management policies have imposed restrictions on drivers making it more difficult and expensive to commute while introducing more benefits for non-drivers.[207]
TransLink is responsible for roads and public transportation within Metro Vancouver (in succession to B.C. Transit, which had taken over the transit functions of B.C. Hydro). It provides a bus service, including the B-Line rapid bus service, a foot passenger and bicycle ferry service (known as SeaBus), an automated rapid transit service called SkyTrain, and West Coast Express commuter rail. Vancouver's SkyTrain system is currently running on three lines, the Millennium Line, the Expo Line and the Canada Line.[211]
Changes are being made to the regional transportation network as part of Translink's 10-Year Transportation Plan. The recently completed Canada Line, opened on 17 August 2009, connects Vancouver International Airport and the neighbouring city of Richmond with the existing SkyTrain system. The Evergreen Extension which opened on December 2 links the cities of Coquitlam and Port Moody with the SkyTrain system.[212] There are also plans to extend the SkyTrain Millennium Line west to UBC as a subway under Broadway and capacity upgrades and an extension to the Expo Line. Several road projects will be completed within the next few years, including a replacement for the Port Mann Bridge, as part of the Provincial Government's Gateway Program.[211]
Other modes of transport add to the diversity of options available in Vancouver. Inter-city passenger rail service is operated from Pacific Central Station by Via Rail to points east,Amtrak Cascades to Seattle and Portland, and Rocky Mountaineer rail tour routes. Small passenger ferries operating in False Creek provide commuter service to Granville Island, Downtown Vancouver and Kitsilano. Vancouver has a citywide network of bicycle lanes and routes, which supports an active population of cyclists year-round. Cycling has become Vancouver's fastest-growing mode of transportation.[213] The bicycle-sharing system Mobi was introduced to the city in June 2016.[214]
Vancouver is served by Vancouver International Airport (YVR), located on Sea Island in the city of Richmond, immediately south of Vancouver. Vancouver's airport is Canada's second-busiest airport,[215] and the second-largest gateway on the west coast of North America for international passengers.[216] HeliJet and float plane companies operate scheduled air service from Vancouver harbour and YVR south terminal. The city is also served by two BC Ferry terminals. One is to the northwest at Horseshoe Bay (in West Vancouver), and the other is to the south, at Tsawwassen (in Delta).[217]
