Dark Blue = Expo Line
Yellow = Millennium Line
Green = Evergreen Line
Light Blue = Canada Line
Purple = West Coast Express
Solid Orange = Bus Rapid Transit
Spotted Orange = B-Line buses
Gray = Long Distance Trains
Overview
One great advantage that we have to our Skytrain system is its interlined portions of the network. Currently someone from Burnaby could theoretically hop on the Skytrain from Waterfront and take it all the way to their home in Sperling Lake while the person beside them can take a train all the way to Surrey. Because of the frequency of the trains in our current system, the interlined portions actually lends itself as an efficient 'sorting' system for commuters without (arguably) overcrowding in one station; and at the same time reduce the number of transfers. I am looking to exploit that advantage as well as other advantages that are overlooked in our system.
I don't think that I got the shape right for the Millennium line, so my apologies for the rookie-mistake there
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Expo Line
The Expo line gets extended south to Langley Central. It becomes the backbone of Surrey's transportation like it became the backbone to Vancouver's network. Surrey and Langley will then work together to redesign transit routes to feed into this new spine. As it has been proven with Translink's data, most of Surrey's and Langley's commuters are commuting within Surrey. Therefore this strong spine of rapid transit is warranted; and with it all being elevated, it makes this part of the extension very inexpensive when compared to the rest of my map.
The Expo line also gets extended past Waterfront station as the Hastings underground line. It provides proper rapid transit for those living in these densely populated areas of Vancouver's downtown neighbourhoods. This extension also provides access to SFU at the base of Burnaby mountain, and also serves as a relief line for those commuting to and from downtown and Coquitlam. The terminating station at this end of the line is Burquitlam, and it is interlined so that more trains may service the old Expo line route, as that route will still remain the busiest portion of the transit network.
Notice that Granville station is missing? Don't worry, it is still there but it is renamed as Vancouver City Centre station. And this station will be a transfer point where a commuter can transfer to any Skytrain line in the network so that it is convenient for the average commuter.
Millennium Line
Now let me introduce you to the Goliath known as the Millennium line. This beast solves the 99B-Line over crowding issues, serves partially as a second alternative for people south of Fraser to get to the airport, serves as a relief line to the south, and also shows Richmond and Surrey some love at the same time! With all of these functions and purposes, the Millennium line becomes the heart of the Skytrain network.
When it hits Alma, it's all over-ground and elevated from there as it takes advantage of the less densely populated, and industrial zoned areas to cut costs from being underground.
Evergreen Line
I bet you thought you would never see this guy again? Well you thought wrong!
Rising from the grave, the Evergreen line serves the people of Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Port Coquitlam. But it doesn't stop there; it goes all the way into downtown Vancouver's west end (which needed some loving) and into the heart of North Vancouver. When it hits downtown, its all downhill and underground from there as to not disturb the densely populated neighbourhoods and Stanley Park's natural beauty.
The only transfer station within downtown Vancouver, is the Vancouver City Centre station for the Evergreen line.
Canada Line
Hopefully with longer trains, this line gets a simple extension out to Steveston which will have express buses to the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal (moved from Bridgeport).
Rapid Bus Transit
As you can see in the picture, Surrey really takes advantage of the Bus Rapid transit. I mean, why overspend on LRT when you can move people more efficiently and just as quickly with BRT? Especially if the commute from North to South (or vice versa) doesn't justify a skytrain line, you can build some extra roads and bus shelters to move people comfortably. And because Surrey has the space, it can do this expansion comfortably, and connect the people South of Fraser at an efficient pace.
B-Line
Here we see Burnaby take advantage of its location with a B-Line that links up people in a North-South corridor to four different lines of skytrain.
Vancouver
Vancouver will remain the centre for jobs and tourism in the Lower Mainland. It is best served by transit out of all of the municipalities in the Lower Mainland due to its need to bring everyone together within a timely manner.
The Vancouver City Centre station epitomizes this by making a single station a master transfer point where commuters have access to ALL skytrain lines in one place. This station, in particular, is masterfully engineered to have transfer corridors underground so that there isn't any disturbance to the pace of the city on the street level.
Vancouver ends up being extremely well connected within its municipal boundaries by the Evergreen line, which serves the west end, and by the Millennium line which serves UBC and the other southern neighbourhoods.
Burnaby
Burnaby ends up being a powerful bedroom community... in a good way!
Taking advantage of the ring layout of the original Skytrain design, Burnaby is extremely well serviced by rapid transit. So much so, that Burnaby functions much like a giant rapid transit roundabout; if you want to go to UBC or North Van, you head north; if you want to go to Main Street or Surrey, you head south, etc. This makes Burnaby a very convenient location if you want to travel anywhere in the Lower Mainland. To help exploit this advantage, there is even a B-Line bus that services a North-South Corridor which will open access to 4 different skytrain lines.
Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody)
Coquitlam is really aiming to be the crossroads of the east in the Lower Mainland. Like all cities in the Lower Mainland, the tri-cities can only piggy-back off of the niches that Vancouver has developed. Afterall you can't change the land but you can change what you specialize in.
This is why the Evergreen line branches off to Lafarge Lake and Port Coquitlam; Port Coquitlam may end up developing its shipping industry more and will need a way to keep commuters off the road. This also opens the idea of extending the Evergreen line into Pitt Meadows.
Surrey
Surrey ends up becoming a behemoth with the second most population in the Lower Mainland and with one of the most hectares of land to work with. It also hosts the second most number of jobs in the Lower Mainland. Surrey will need to connect its neghbourhoods together, which is why the Expo line extension is key to its success.
Surrey Central Station will be redesigned to be a super effective sorting system for commuters. Any UBC students or airport passengers will transfer at Surrey Central to the Millennium line. And then anyone else, who is destined for downtown, will commute on the old Expo line. The Millennium line will also serve as a relief line for the morning and evening commute.
Other than that, there really wouldn't be enough demand to justify a Skytrain extension all the way to White Rock. So instead of building LRT and having someone transfer in South Surrey and then again at Surrey Central, a BRT network is put into play serving the needs of South Surrey and White Rock efficiently.
Also because the North-South connections are weak, the BRT will extend all the way up to Coquitlam Central which will open up commuting options in these secondary job nodes.
Richmond
I imagine that Richmond will remain industrial for the most part but that it will continue to grow westward towards the water. As a strong location for foreign (read: Chinese) investment, the waterfront grows with popularity. And therefore a small extension may be required up the unique neighbourhood of Steveston. And with the Millennium extension all the way to Surrey in the east, Richmond doesn't need a lot of infrastructure to manage itself efficiently.
Birdgeport station will become a major hub, requiring extensive work to be done on the Skytrain station to be able to accommodate airport passengers from Richmond and Surrey, and homebound commuters from UBC.
Abbotsford
Although technically not a part of the municipalities of the Lower Mainland (according to Wikipedia), the development of Abbotsford's airport combined with the increased frequency in cheap local flights to BC continually make it a gateway for Canadian residents who want to visit. Therefore they need alternative transportation options and one of these options will be the West Coast Express which will also serve Abbotsford residents.
My idea isn't perfect and what I was really trying to aim for was an attempt to reduce the number of transfers between skytrain lines while exploiting the advantage of our current Skytrain lines which is their ability to connect commuters to multiple cities on a single line.
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