It’s like the saying goes: if at first you don’t succeed in building the stadium that students voted for and have already started paying for, try, try again.

With a unanimous vote, the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) has decided to move forward in approving a new version of the Build SFU stadium, a project which was originally cancelled seven months ago when its budget estimate was triple what they were expecting.

“On August 11, we cancelled the project for the reasons we mentioned before. The cost estimates were too much, and SFU wasn’t willing to contribute anything more than the million dollars,” said Arr Farah, vice-president (VP) university relations for the SFSS. “Athletes came and spoke about how the university had made a commitment and said that they would be able to cover the costs of the stadium and finance the project, which, to some degree, was news to us.”

With that contribution from SFU, the project — which is now more economically-friendly than the $30-plus million stadium originally tabled — had a better chance of succeeding. It took a lot of negotiating between SFU and the SFSS, but eventually the new plan was agreed upon.

“We kind of had [those conversations] throughout September and October. November and December were kind of a wash, because the university has a lot of VPs and people who need to be in the room for all these conversations, and they travel the world all the time for some reason,” said Farah. “But when we got to January, that was when the heavens were moved and things started to happen. And that was when SFU said they would be able to give us the $10 million without any sort of financing agreement, which would save us.”

Farah said he was sure students would want to know how the costs were reduced, and wanted them to understand some of the processes they went through.

“I think the biggest thing to note in that original cost estimate we got: the roof was $7 million. That’s, like, half of the cost of the new project, which is insane. There are things like the press box which are over $2 million, and these are huge extravagant items which made that cost go up so high,” he said. “It may not look as great as some people wanted, but it helps.”

Olivia Aguiar, the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), was also present in the room for the vote. She’s been present ever since a horde of student athletes stormed an SFSS meeting to voice their displeasure over the stadium being cancelled. In a word, she felt relieved at the steps taken today.

“I’m excited that since summer we’ve gotten to this point, because there were some pretty rough times in between. It’s nice to see that everything we had discussed had been taken into consideration, and that those discussions have occurred and now we’re back in a position where we’re up and running,” she said.

However, with how tumultuous everything has been, she isn’t willing to fully celebrate until she physically sees something happening.

“I think once I see the trucks on the field digging the hill and I see that ribbon being cut, I think at that moment I will realize this is actually happening,” she said, laughing.

Now it is SFU’s to approve, and that will take place at their next Board of Governors meeting which is currently scheduled for March 30. Should they approve it, a written agreement will come into place on April 3.

By: Alex Smiciklas

With the recent announcement of Uber coming to Vancouver in as early as a couple of months, new opportunities also bring a changing landscape for the future of Vancouver’s transportation.

These changes were discussed at the ninth annual UBC SCARP symposium last month, where a particularly audacious standout was a session on transit and autonomous vehicles (AV), where employees of TransLink, Uber, and the City of Vancouver came together to discuss the excitement, fear, and unknowns about AV technology in our not-so-distant future.

According to The Future of Driving, a 2016 report from TransLink, fully-automated vehicles use sensors, communications, and computing to perform all the functions of driving. These vehicles operate without a driver in all conditions. The Society of Automotive Engineers produced a sliding scale, with level 0 being no automation and level 6 being fully automated to show how AV technology has and will continue to evolve.

At the highest levels, it’s said that complete automation would reduce the number of crashes and driving-related deaths, as well as remove the variables of disability or driving age. And while it wasn’t long ago that only the science fiction of the Jetsons could imagine a world of driverless vehicles, many experts are now saying we can expect them on our streets in under five years.

Paul Krueger, planner at the City of Vancouver, is concerned with the impact that this will have for cities. In the fall, the US government released a comprehensive policy document on self-driving cars that included safety, data sharing, and privacy, as well as developed jurisdictional boundaries for streamlined use across states. Canada is hot on the trail, and the province of BC is waiting for federal administration before giving the green light to putting AV projects on the ground.

“What’s missing is that there is nothing to discourage sprawling car-oriented communities or to encourage good urban planning. Cities and other levels of government will have to step up and fill the void,” Krueger said.

Some of these things, Kreuger imagines, would include higher emphasis on pickup and drop-off zones, encouraging a shared approach to AVs, and reallocating road space to make cities more vibrant and livable. “You might see fewer or narrower travel lanes, fewer or no on street parking,” he said. “This leaves more space for civic priorities like walking, biking, and public space, and smart infrastructure so everything can operate seamlessly together.”

Of the many trends in the automotive world, car sharing is at the forefront. Vancouver is a global leader in this field, with a quarter of all adults in the city holding at least one membership to programs such as Car2Go or Evo.

James LaPointe, senior planner of mobility and innovation at TransLink, points out that while AV technology will initially be a luxury few people can afford, he believes that the market will eventually drive down the price, and will be amplified further through these car sharing programs and ride-sourcing services such as Uber and Lyft.  “Mobility is becoming a commodity, the number of different forms of services coming to market, increasingly enabled by technology, are transforming mobility as we currently understand it,” LaPointe said.

Looking to shake up the roads is Uber, the ride-source tour de force which has finally announced plans to start rolling out its service on Vancouver streets by the end of the year. While the provincial government is promising policy to create a level playing field with existing taxi services, there is concern that Uber will be at an unfair advantage, and could even see the end of Vancouver’s robust transit system.

“Ride-sharing is complementary to public transit,” said Michael van Hemmen, Uber’s public policy manager of Western Canada. With the increase in reliability and outreach to city suburbs, van Hemmen believes that Uber serves as the first and last mile in someone’s travels. “We’re filling a gap in the transportation system, because most of these trips are taking place when transit service isn’t readily available,” he said.

There is also public concern over Uber’s ability to provide accessible service to all riders. “In Vancouver, taxis play a really big role in providing accessible transit service for people who have a mobility impairment. Taxis fill the gap for a lot of people,” said Krueger. A high percentage of available taxis in Vancouver are equipped to handle mobility impairment, and the drivers have received that training. When it comes to accessibility, van Hemmen doesn’t see Uber as a problem. “We don’t look at taxis as competition; we want to replace you driving yourself.”

In the end, AV use comes down to ownership. If Uber used AV technology on UberPools, which allows you to share rides with other passengers who are going in the same direction and split the cost, there would be fewer cars on the road and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Van Hemmen points out that cars sit unused 96% of the time, which takes up a lot of valuable space. AV could be beneficial to transit, too, as buses could be enhanced to improve safety and focus more on customer service.

One of the biggest concerns about this new technology is zero-occupancy vehicles.There’s a dystopian fear that zombie car fleets will wander the city, waiting for their owners to call them back to the grocery store where it dropped them off. Kreuger hopes that cities will implement mobility pricing, to discourage urban sprawl and longer trips with low occupancy rates. Likewise, But Van Hemmen believes there will be a collaborative solution to the inefficiencies of AV technology. “There will be a basin with human drivers for a very long time still,” he said, which will allow both ride-share services and transit to see the impact before integrating the AV technology in the most efficient manner.

While there is both unbridled enthusiasm and concerned skepticism with the not-so-distant future of AV technology, there are still many questions to be answered. One thing for sure, is that the City of Vancouver will work with transit and ride-share services to integrate as seamlessly as possible. “Our role as a transportation authority is to ensure that a lot of these services don’t hinder traffic congestion or price gouging,” said LaPointe on behalf of TransLink. AV technology and ride-share companies have the opportunity to provide ground-breaking new services to fill a gap where the government cannot. All it needs is for all parties to get along.

SFU has been a fair trade campus since 2012. This year, SFU Ancillary Services and the Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN) is hoping to educate students to be involved in the fair trade movement.

In order to further engage students on the topic of fair trade, students who were sponsored by SFU and the CFTN to visit some of the fair trade farms in Costa Rica last year led a conversation to discuss the future of fair trade at SFU Harbour Centre on Monday, March 6.

As The Peak previously reported, coffee, tea, and chocolate are some of the fair trade items that can be found on campus. The Starbucks franchise is one of the partnerships with fair trade on campus which provides fair trade espresso and one fair trade filter coffee, however, Tim Hortons at SFU has yet to provide a fair trade option.

Director of ancillary services at SFU, Mark McLaughlin, expressed at the fair trade event that SFU is currently working to change that, in the hopes of Tim Hortons providing at least one fair trade item such as sugar or coffee.

Students Sarah Heim, Prodpran Wangcherdchuwong, and Joana Bettocchi, who visited Costa Rica last year, presented some of their findings and conversations they had with some of the fair trade farmers while travelling the country for six days.

Wangcherdchuwong explained that fair trade “is not charity, they’re not saying, ‘Oh, you’re so poor, let’s give you money,’ but they are actually exchanging with them on a fair and equitable basis.”

Bettocchi added that fairly traded projects all have different standards, “but the movement is adapted to respond and assess those needs to make sure that in fact everyone is being treated equally.”

Heim explained from her analysis of the fair trade system that the process is very “democratic,” where each farm is not owned by a corporate company, but rather “farmers who own their land together and decide on where they’re money should go. . . they know best how to keep their land renewable and sustainable.”

Throughout the Teck Gallery at Harbor Centre, images from the students’ trip to Costa Rica expressed some of the positive aspects of buying fair trade products. Many images showcased families who are affected by fair trade and portrayed examples of farmers giving back to their communities.

The night ended with a discussion of the ways in which SFU could improve its fair trade initiatives on campus.

“So now we’re back,” said Wangcherdchuwong. “The reality is, what is a fair trade campus? That is something that we need to ask ourselves: what we are and what we can be” at SFU.

“All of the the dining services locations offered by SFU serve fair trade coffee, tea, and one chocolate bar option, if they have chocolate in that venue,” said Torrye McKenzie, fair trade programs coordinator for the CFTN. She added that the network is currently drafting new requirements for fair trade campuses, including silver and gold statuses which would include providing fair trade fruit and sugar at the silver level. “Fair trade cotton T-shirts at the bookstore and really engaging franchises such as Tim Hortons [and] Starbucks” would be at the gold level.

McLaughlin added that “we also need to ensure that we educate and mentor” students about fair trade to further ensure that students are making conscious decisions on the food and beverages they purchase on campus.

Nationally, McKenzie added that a new fair trade ambassador program is currently being developed with the CFTN and Association of Fair Trade which would “train anybody on the ground who’s interested in getting involved with fair trade in any capacity. . . anybody at any point in their life who is interested in getting involved.”

At SFU, McKenzie explained that SFU is also looking at sending students on another fair trade origins trip to Ecuador “where students can visit co-operatives for coffee, cocoa, etc. So if you are interested in travelling and getting a more enriched experience while you travel, it is definitely something to get involved with.”

While the night reminded the audience of the importance of understanding where their food comes from as part of a global movement, it also addressed that hired labourers for those who own fair trade farms may not be paid quite as fairly and equitably as the owners themselves. Sean McHugh, founder and executive director of the CFTN stated, however, that “there are new standards in place as a result of this criticism. . . It’s very challenging, a lot of these places are very remote, it’s a work in progress.”

Despite this pitfall Heim stated, “You can’t look at fair trade through a vacuum. If you look at fair trade next to conventional agriculture and our ways of buying and consuming, fair trade is one of the better options we have.”