TransLink’s Compass Card Boondoggle Revisited
Posted by zweisystem on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 · 1 Comment
Well, here we go again, new numbers from TransLink clearly shows that the much touted Compass Card is $23 million over budget and Cubit Industries will be paid $12 million annually to operated the system – more money than was thought lost through fare evasion!
So, let’s look at more TransLink expenditures.
*TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis earns $400,000/yr and just got a $12,000 bonus.
*141 TransLink Executives make over six figures.
*TransLink spends $120,000/yr on gourmet coffee for itai??i??s Executives.
*The Compass Card system is $23million over-budget.
*TransLink will generate over $6million annually from riders paying double under the new Compass Card.
Yes, just what Zwei thought, the real problem with Translink is that it has become a trough for management to suck off the taxpayer’s teat and what do those 141 TransLink executives do to deserve being paid over 100,000 a year?
Transparency is another word not in TransLink’s lexicon.
Compass Card upgrade costing extra $23 million: TransLink
CTV British Columbia
Published Thursday, October 10, 2013 9:33PM PDT
Rolling out the new Compass Card fare system is costing TransLink $23 million more than expected, the transportation authority confirmed Thursday.
Officials are blaming inflation and other factors for the overrun, which has pushed the projectai??i??s price tag up from $171 million to $194 million.
ai???More than half of that increase is bringing it to current day dollars,ai??? said TransLinkai??i??s Mike Madill. ai???Thereai??i??s also system changes, thereai??i??s interest during construction, thereai??i??s internal labour charges, [and] thereai??i??s a tax impact.ai???
TransLink also revealed for the first time that it will be paying the Cubic Corporation $12 million annually to operate the Compass system.
Thatai??i??s $2 million more than TransLInk estimates it loses annually on fare evasion, a problem Compass Cards were supposed to fix.
Madill told CTV News the system is still worthwhile, noting that itai??i??s expected to help the transportation authority save money in other ways down the road.
ai???The biggest savings from this program is actually due to the changes that weai??i??ll make to the system to put buses where we need to put them to match demand,ai??? he said.
Every time a rider uses a Compass Card to tap on or off transit, TransLink will collect more information about usage that it can use to make its entire operation more efficient.
But the bus driversai??i?? union claims TransLink receives some of that information already, and questions the decision to allocate so much funding to the project.
ai???Why would you spend this kind of money on a system when you need more buses on the road?ai??? union vice-president Gavin Davies said.
Davies said the system may eventually save money, but only by allowing TransLink to reduce staff, a speculation the agency denies.
With a report from CTV British Columbiaai??i??s Jon Woodward
So if one forgets to tap out when they get off a bus will they get billed for two or three zones?
Take the 210 for example, what if someone rides it down to the Lynn Valley mall, forgets to tap out and since bus goes on into Vancouver will they be charged for two zones instead of one? I am sure there are other examples too.
I am sure at first there will be many forgetting to ‘tap out’….