About the Project

TransLink is advancing the planning and project development of a Burnaby Mountain Gondola. A 3S gondola would provide a fast, frequent, and reliable service between the SkyTrain and Burnaby Mountain for the 25,000 daily trips made by SFU students, staff, faculty, and residents of UniverCity. Gondolas are safe, smart and cost-effective and they provide commuters with an environmentally friendly mode of transit that runs on electricity helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Throughout 2020, TransLink and its partners conducted a planning program with the objective of narrowing the three proposed gondola routes to a single, preferred route. The planning program included work on the conceptual design of the routes and two rounds of public engagement.

The technical work helped us evaluate the three proposed routes, and update key information, such as ridership, cost, and benefits. The first round of engagement asked the public what criteria was most important to them when assessing the three routes (e.g. environmental impacts, neighbourhood impacts, etc.). The second round of engagement shared the results of the route analysis based on that criteria and asked survey participants to indicate their level of support for each of the three routes.

The result of the technical work and engagement feedback led to a single, preferred route: Route 1 — the straight route from Production Way–University Station to SFU’s Burnaby campus. Route 1 offers the greatest benefits, lowest costs, and lowest impacts. The details of the route selection and engagement summaries can be found in the Route Selection Report.

The Route Selection Report will be shared with Burnaby City Council and the Mayors’ Council, so they can provide direction on next steps.

Proposed Burnaby Mountain Gondola Route

Provided by: Translink