It looks like Simon Fraser University students reached a breaking point this week when it comes transit woes on Burnaby Mountain.

At least that’s the way it sounded when I listened to Colin Fowler talk about the constant issues involving transit to and from the Burnaby campus.

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The fourth-year economics student at SFU spoke at Friday’s open meeting of the Mayors Council on transportation, which represents local communities in TransLink’s jurisdiction.

Fowler gave an excellent and succinct presentation, urging the mayors to get on with the proposed gondola project.

He outlined a series of problems he’s seen since going to school at SFU, most recently due to the snow that fell throughout the past week.

Fowler detailed how everything from vehicle accidents on the roads leading up to SFU to snow cause terrible delays for students – sometimes forcing students to either walk the rest of the way up the hill, or all the way down the mountain when the buses can’t make it up the icy roads.

But Fowler said the SFU bus routes also regularly have issues with too many riders for not enough buses.

“Hundreds were left waiting at the upper bus loop,” Fowler told the mayors in regards to a busy time at 1 p.m. this past Thursday.

Fowler is pushing for the mayors to approve the gondola project, which was included as one of the “major projects” in the Mayors’ Council’s 10-year vision update for transit and transportation, released on Sept. 21, 2017.

The Build the SFU Gondola Facebook page has a photo of students trudging up the mountain due to bus breakdowns.

According to a NOW story from 2017, there are approximately 25,000 daily bus trips to and from Burnaby Mountain, and demand is expected to grow by 60 per cent in the next 20 years, according to the Mayors’ Council’s 10-year plan. According to a 2011 business case prepared for TransLink, it would cost $120 million to build the gondola, with annual operating costs of $3 to $3.5 million (in 2011 dollars). The study found the benefits outweigh the cost, including a reduction of 7,100 tonnes in greenhouse gas emissions.

Fowler compared the gondola cost versus the proposed multi-billion-dollar rapid-transit line out to UBC – which Fowler agrees is also needed.

But Fowler said the UBC project is getting all the attention from politicians, while the gondola project languishes – despite its cost being far cheaper.

“So, quite frankly, what gives,” Fowler asked the mayors.

It’s a good question.

Fowler and a few others say one problem is too few SFU students know about the gondola project and its benefits – so they’ve started a Facebook page to raise awareness about it so more students will be part of the lobbying.

Fowler also wants SFU leadership to be more vocal about the project.

“It’s clear that SFU isn’t campaigning nearly as hard as UBC is for the subway,” he said at the meeting.

In my search of articles, I did find that SFU Andrew Petter had been vocal in summer of 2016. He’s likely doing more lobbying behind the scenes.

When Fowler looks at the gondola project, all he sees is increased capacity compared buses, less pollution and commuting time up the hill shaved in half.

“There is no reason I see to ever stop the gondola (project),” he told the mayors, adding, “It is the low-hanging fruit that would alleviate much of the commuting worries” of students.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44