By Mark Wilson
Staff Reporter

It is going to take $500,000 and six months to find out if there is a consensus in the Lower Mainland to build a rapid-transit line linking downtown Vancouver with the airport and Richmond.

A newly-formed study team will look for agreement in principle but will not consider possible routes or what technology will be used. A rough estimate pegs construction costs at about $1 billion.

The Vancouver International Airport Authority is putting up half the money for the study and the federal government the balance. TransLink, the regional transportation authority, and seven other governments or agencies, are to take part.

The airport has dedicated a transit right-of-way on Sea Island. Airport authority president Larry Berg reaffirmed the airport's willingness to pay for track built on its property.

He said the proposed route runs along the north side of McConachie Way and there is plenty of room to build a station in front of the airport's main terminal.

Jane Bird, the consultant who will head the four-person study team, said the intent is to find out what priority people want to give to an airport/Richmond line. Do they want to see it built in the next 10 years? The team will talk to municipalities and government agencies and will hold open-house sessions.

Richmond Mayor Greg Halsey-Brandt said the question shouldn't be whether a line will be built, but when? He expressed bewilderment that other projects have moved ahead of it.

Airport authority chairman Graham Clarke said annual passenger numbers at the airport are projected to nearly double to 28 million by 2021 and the daily count of vehicles using Sea Island roads will increase from 200,000 to 300,000.

Raymond Chan, secretary of state (Asia-Pacific), hinted that Ottawa might help pay for a transit line, perhaps using some of the $700 million in annual gasoline taxes it collects from B.C.

Giving money to Vancouver for an airport connection seems fair considering Ottawa announced in June that it is seeking proposals from the private sector to build a $300-million rapid-rail system linking Toronto and Lester B. Pearson International Airport, in suburban Mississauga.

The link is supposed to help Toronto's bid for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.