Skytrain station names: ‘The next station could be Kwantlen’
September 27, 2010 by Paul Fleischanderl
Have you ever wondered why Langara College is mentioned as a Canada Line station name (Langara – 49th Ave), but Kwantlen isn’t?
At the Communication & Marketing Department of Langara there were no answers. “There was no communication between Translink and Langara. You should ask Translink.”
Ken Hardie, Translink’s director of communications, said that the process of naming the stations involved much discussion. Normally stations are named in a way to orientate people and help them to locate what is nearby. “In the case of Langara, the university is a key destination at this station and therefor mentioned,” he said.
Joanne Saunders, Kwantlen’s Director of Marketing and Communication, wasn’t working at Kwantlen at the time stations were named, but she was told that there was some discussion about the Lansdowne station being named Kwantlen.
“Langara is very lucky to get the free publicity and advertising from the skytrain name,” she said.
But — as both Hardie and Saunders said — the final decision rests with Translink and the latter perceived Kwantlen not to be close enough to warrant inclusion in the station name. “The university isn’t associated with Lansdowne as Langara is with 49th Avenue,” Hardie said.
A little comparison on Google Maps shows that from Langara station to the main entrance of the college it takes six minutes by foot. From Lansdowne to Kwantlen it is eight minutes. Also, both Langara and Kwantlen serve approximately 20,000 students.
But there is hope Hardie said. “If folks from Kwantlen want the university to be mentioned at Lansdowne station we could talk about this.”
What do Kwantlen students (and also residents of Lansdowne) think?
Voting: Should the Lansdowne station be re-named “Kwantlen – Lansdowne”?
A: Yes, definitely!
B: No, I think this is not necessary.
C: I couldn’t care less!
(Leave your answers into the comments)
What a joke. When the line was being planned, Richmond city council was in our corner for the Lansdowne station to be named Richmond-Lansdowne. We heard at one point that it was a done deal. I guarantee one of two things happened:
1. Richmond bargained away their position on that for something else, or
2. Kwantlen’s chronically inept marketing team screwed it up.
The second option is more likely. Either way, Ken Hardie is full of crap. It’s highly unlikely that Langara just got a gimme because they’re “a destination” or “more association with the location”. They probably earned it by schmoozing Translink better than Kwantlen is capable of.
I got it. Change the name of the school to ‘Lansdowne Polytechnic University’.
Steve, you’re my hero.
Maybe it would help if the KSA could get their act together and get the students the U-PASS, that might help with the schmoozing. I have been to both Kwantlen and Langara and the LSU does way more to help students than KSA does, they deserve the publicity!