Posted by zweisystem on August 29, 2013 · Leave a Comment
The letter in the Surrey Leader says it all…………..
Sales tax wonai??i??t resolve transit ills
Published: August 28, 2013
The notion that a $0.5-per-cent sales tax increase will solve TransLinkai??i??s financial ills is naive in the extreme; spending more money on unsustainable transit projects will only exacerbate TransLinkai??i??s money woes.
TransLink faces many problems, including that upper management are career bureaucrats without any knowledge about public transit, and decisions are made that are financially ill-advised, such as a $4-billion SkyTrain subway under Broadway in Vancouver.
TransLink did have a bona fide transit expert CEO, Tom Prendergast, but he lasted barely a year and left, in part blaming the pro-SkyTrain culture at TransLink for his departure.
The driverless SkyTrain was first thought to bring cheaper transit to the region.
Instead it now burdens the taxpayer with a 40- to 60-per-cent operating penalty over much cheaper LRT, but TransLink blunders on planning more metro and even when forced to plan for LRT, as in Surrey, it designs LRT as a poor manai??i??s SkyTrain, both hugely expansive and unworkable.
Despite over $9 billion invested in SkyTrain, there is no evidence that it has reduced congestion or gridlock, and new studies are showing that TransLinkai??i??s current SkyTrain planning is actually increasing congestion and pollution.
TransLink doesnai??i??t need any more financing; rather, TransLinkai??i??s management must be forced to plan for affordable transit by using much cheaper but more efficient light rail instead of the expensive and obsolete SkyTrain.
TransLink must plan for transit that the customer wants and will use.
The terms user-friendly and affordable are just not in the current TransLinkai??i??s managementai??i??s lexicon, where itai??i??s believed the taxpayer has deep pockets to fund costly and ill-advised decisions.
Malcolm Johnston
Delta
http://www.surreyleader.com/opinion/letters/221559061.html
Posted by zweisystem on August 28, 2013 · 1 Comment
A re-post from 2009.
Tom Prendergast, who was briefly CEO at TransLink, left (or was forced out) after just over a year at the post because of the Skytrain lobby. The SkyTrain Lobby still holds great sway with transit planning in Metro Vancouver, which is very bad news for the taxpayer.
Too bad that the powers that be did not listen, for the real reason for TransLink’s continued financial embarrassments is the proprietary SkyTrain light-metro and its bastard child, the Canada line.
Prendergastai??i??s parting words on Rail for the Valley
Posted by John Buker on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Ai??
A couple weeks ago, it was announced that Translink CEO Tom Prendergast was quitting his position, and accepting a job as president of New York Cityai??i??s Transit Authority. He had only joined Translink in July 2008, and now he has left! I am guessing he didnai??i??t like what he saw.
Prendergast was as positive a force as could be expected in such an organization as Translink, run under the tightest of control of Premier Gordon Campbell.
Hereai??i??s an illuminating excerpt, his parting words on the possibilities of light rail for the valley (Surrey Leader, Nov. 24):
Kwantlen Student Association rep Nathan Griffiths said improved transit is needed to serve campuses in Cloverdale and Langley and asked about the potential to extend passenger light rail to the Fraser Valley.
ai???Thereai??i??s really no impediment,ai??? Prendergast responded. ai???Itai??i??s overcoming the cultural embracement of SkyTrain that has existed to date.ai???
He said TransLink is seeking to cut through the pro-SkyTrain ai???cultural biasai??? as it embarks on a careful examination of rapid transit technologies for line extensions west along Broadway and south of the Fraser.
Prendergast predicted the first light rail line that comes to the Lower Mainland will lead to much greater appreciation of its potential.
Itai??i??s interesting to think about this ai???cultural biasai??? towards Skytrain. Who actually has this bias? It isnai??i??t residents or even politicians in the Fraser Valley: Not a single municipal candidate in Surrey the last election supported Skytrain expansion over light rail. Not a single candidate. Not one!
No, itai??i??s the old-guard politicians of Vancouver, who were around for the previous Skytrain expansions and have the most personal stake in continuing to expand the Skytrain money hole. Itai??i??s Mike Harcourt, itai??i??s Gordon Campbell, and others involved in Vancouverai??i??s transportation decisions of the last 25 years.
To anyone who wonders why the problems with Skytrain often take centre stage on this blog, Prendergast answers the question.
To get light rail for the valley, we absolutely must cut through the pro-SkyTrain ai???cultural biasai??? that exists, not among the populace of the Fraser Valley, but among Vancouverai??i??s political elite, who all-too-often take it upon themselves to make all the decisions for the rest of us.
Posted by zweisystem on August 27, 2013 · 14 Comments
In an obvious headline grabbing event, a near dormant transit group, proposes a 0.5% sales tax to fund TransLink.
Big mistake.
The problem with transit in the Vancouver Metro region is TransLink itself and its firm belief that the more money one spends on transit the better it is. It is a recipe for financial disaster.
I am sorry, if one wants better transit, one must get rid of TransLink and start anew.
The $4.5 billion SkyTrain subway under Broadway is both ill planned and grossly expensive for what it will do and is only being planned for as a tool for mega high rise developments along its route. The hugely expensive Broadway SkyTrain subway is meant to move developer’s money, not people.
Interesting note: Modern LRT has made SkyTrain obsolete almost 20 years ago, no one builds with it anymore.
Question: Why build the obsolete SkyTrain in a subway?
For $4.5 billion we could build a BCIT to UBC/Stanley Park LRT; a new road/rail bridge replacing both the aging Patullo Bridge and the downright decrepit Fraser River Rail Bridge; the full build Leewood/Rail for the Valley Vancouver/Richmond to Chilliwack TramTrain; and over 40 km. of tramway in Surrey!
The $144 million gondola for SFU is nothing more than a joke, pushed by non other than TransLink Chair and Simon Fraser University professor, Nancy Olewiler. I can spell, c o n fAi?? l i c tAi?? o f Ai?? i n t e r e s t. Obviously she can’t.
Memo to the TransLink Chair: “Insist that buses going to SFU have chains on in snowy weather, it is a much cheaper solution than a $144 million gondola“.
For the cost of three rather poorly planned LRT lines in Surrey, with an estimated cost of $2.1 billion, we could build the full build, Vancouver/Richmond to Chilliwack Leewood/Rail for the Valley TramTrain, plus at least 40 km. of light rail in Surrey, which is more than enough to build a light rail line to South Surrey and Whiterock, with direct service to Vancouver via the Leewood/RftV tramtrain.
What On-Trax is advocating is not better transit, but the same old bad TransLink planning that has paupered the transit authority. Expensive to implement, and largely unworkable, it will forever make the south Fraser taxpayer’s ‘milch-cows‘ for the city of Vancouver, paying for politically prestigious and hugely expensive subways.
What needs to happen is the South Fraser cities and municipalities to secede from TransLink and form a new transit authority to deal with South Fraser Transit issues. The proposed transit referendum will be a failure if there is not an opt out choice because to bring real improvement to South Fraser transit, we need a transit authority that puts the South Fraser transit customer first and with TransLink, that will never happen.
Advocates push 0.5 per cent TransLink sales tax
By Jeff Nagel – Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: August 26, 2013
Two South of Fraser transit advocates are pushing for a long wish list of transit expansion projects in Metro Vancouver and they want a new 0.5 per cent regional sales tax to pay for it all.
Surrey’s Paul Hillsdon and Nathan Pachal of the group South Fraser On Trax say the package of upgrades they’ve designed offers something for every part of the region.
Most of the $6.5 billion in capital spending they propose would go to a $2.9-billion SkyTrain extension down Broadway to UBC and for $2.1 billion to build new light-rail lines in Surrey to Guildford, Langley City and Newton, with a B-Line express bus route south to White Rock.
They also want TransLink to build a previously proposed but shelved $144-million transit gondola to SFU atop Burnaby Mountain.
And they propose several additional B-Lines that would extend quasi-rapid transit bus service to Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge on Hwy 7; down the 200 Street spine of Langley; along Marine Drive connecting West Vancouver and North Vancouver; as well as on Hastings Street and 41st Avenue in Vancouver and Burnaby. Existing buses over the Port Mann Bridge on Highway 1 and on Highway 99 from Surrey to Richmond would also be upgraded to B-Lines.
They say a half-point hike in the provincial sales tax levied only in Metro would raise $250 million a year ai??i??Ai??enough to cover the operating costs of the new lines as well as one third of the capital cost, on the assumption Victoria and Ottawa pay the other two thirds.
“We’ve spent 10 years squabbling about what kind of tool can be used to fund the service,” Pachal said, adding the sales tax wouldn’t rile motorists as much as other TransLink sources like tolls or a vehicle levy.
“This is fair and equitable.”
He said a higher regional PST would grow with the economy and pull in money from visitors and tourists, while providing exemptions for basics like groceries to help shield lower-income residents.
B.C. residents have paid higher sales taxes not long ago.
Over the past decade, the federal GST has been cut by two per cent and the provincial PST was trimmed by 0.5 per cent.
“We feel there is wiggle room,” Pachal said.
Metro Vancouver mayors also suggested a small regional sales tax early this year.
But mayors’ council chair Richard Walton said he envisioned something smaller ai??i?? perhaps 0.1 or 0.2 per cent coming from that source ai??i??Ai??as part of a mix of other transit funding tools.
Walton said there’s no doubt sales tax could generate a lot of revenue, but affordability would be a concern.
He said the advocates’ claim a 0.5 per cent regional tax works out to just 35 cents per day per resident still adds up to an extra $42 per month for a family of four.
“It’s not a trivial or insignificant amount,” Walton said. “We’re not advocating that outright at all. We’re advocating an approach that is going to look at a number of different funding sources.”
Walton said a solution must fund not just transit expansion but other transportation projects, like the replacement of aging bridges and tunnels.
The report by Pachal and Hillsdon, dubbed Leap Ahead, is the first major volley of return fire from transit supporters who are dismayed public debate has centred on complaints of waste at TransLink and opposition to any tax hikes.
The document, at leapaheadyvr.com, claims the the number of rapid transit stations in the region would be doubled from 65 to 138 and all the new lines could be operational by 2020, providing a viable transit alternative for motorists who may by then face tolls on a replaced Pattullo Bridge or Massey Tunnel.
It predicts major economic, social and environmental benefits would spring from the transit investment.
It remains unclear what question will be put to voters in a promised referendum, but Walton said he meets Transportation Minister Todd Stone again Sept. 3 to discuss that issue as well as governance reforms for TransLink.
Mayors in the spring opposed going to referendum.
“We’re going forward with an open mind, in a spirit of cooperation,” he said.
But Walton said the “huge questions” outstanding are who will pay for the referendum and who will champion the ‘Yes’ side.
He said the HST referendum had millions in government money and the finance minister behind the pro side but still failed.
“We’re being asked to do something that isn’t in the legislation, without resources and with no time.”
TransLink must also decide by year end what projects would get built if a referendum on new funding sources passes.
Posted by zweisystem on August 22, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Mr. Brussac knows transit. He has lived and traveled in Europe and is well acquainted with transit operation and fare collection and his letters are always worth a read, as one learns something from them.
Comparison to Europeai??i??s system childish
Published: August 20, 2013
The Editor,
One of TransLinkai??i??s talking heads justified the cancellation of free transfers between buses and SkyTrain by pointing out that London and Paris transit systems donai??i??t have them either.
Is he aware that the network of buses and subways in both places are such a dense grid that it is possible to travel all over town with one system only?
He also brags that the Compass card will give us a 14% discount over cash fares.
But the discount is a lot more than 14% in London and Parisai??i?? fares list is simpler than that of the London system, though still extensive.
Tickets with a magnetic strip are used for a single trip on both the Metro and the RER (express suburban train) within Paris itself, and also for buses and tramways.
This ticket doesnai??i??t allow transfers from bus to metro or from tram to metro but allows transfers to other modes within Paris.
Most commuters buy a pass loaded in a transit smart card called Navigo, which is cheaper if bought for the year (paid monthly).
At any rate comparing Metro Vancouverai??i??s transit system to these two giant systems is childish. Both carry over a billion passengers a year on the metro/tube ai??i?? and then there are the buses, trams, commuter trains and more.
We should instead look at towns with a smaller population than Metro Vancouver that do allow free transfer between their various transit modes. Their validators have both a sensor for a transit smart card and a slot for tickets with a magnetic strip.
In addition, transit systems in many European towns are the responsibility of the mayor and councillors, who get an earful whenever something goes wrong and, therefore, have an incentive to make transit a practical, if not always pleasant, experience.
How approachable are TransLink Board members? Do they even use transit regularly?
And why is it that Metro Vancouverai??i??s small transit system needs a $400,000-per-year board chair when the London transit system is only one of the many responsibilities of the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, whose current salary is A?143,911 per year (around $230,000)?
J-L Brussac, Coquitlam
Posted by zweisystem on August 22, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Really, one is almost speechless, watching TransLink imploding under one bad decision after another.
Message to BC Minister of Transportation, Todd Stone; “Quit your hiding in Kamloops and put a stop to TransLink’s ongoing nonsense.” It is time for regime change.
TransLink spending $100K on office space in Surrey
TransLink says itai??i??s having trouble finding a subtenant
Anita Bathe August 21, 2013
URREY (NEWS1130) ai??i?? TransLink is spending more than $100,000 a month on office space locked into a six-year lease in Surrey while it looks for a subtenant.
It comes after it decided to consolidate all of its offices into one building in New Westminster. Jiana Ling with TransLink says theyai??i??re having trouble finding subtenants for a building near Gateway in Surrey. ai???It is the market right now. We are actively looking for a subtenant but the market in Surrey is a high vacancy rate.ai???
The decision has Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan angry. He thinks it will be paying the costly rent for awhile. ai???I havenai??i??t seen a lot of businesses locating into that area in the past year, so I think they are going to find difficulty in getting a tenant.ai???
He questions whether offices should have been consolidated with long-term lease obligations looming.
Corrigan also wanted public consultation and says TransLink did this quietly.
http://www.news1130.com/2013/08/21/translink-spending-100k-on-office-space-in-surrey/
Posted by zweisystem on August 21, 2013 · Leave a Comment
The concept of Tram Train is a vehicle that operates as a tram on the tramway and a train on heavy rail, offering a seamless journey to the passenger into the heart of city centres and relieving capacity from mainline stations while taking the passengers where they want to go. The first Tram Train was in Karlsruhe, Germany, in the early 1990s and has spread successfully to several other European cities ai??i?? but not yet to the UK. Writes Dr Robert Carroll, Major Projects Manager Stagecoach Supertram
The Tyne and Wear extension to Sunderland tackled many of the challenges that arise with the interworking of light and heavy rail but has resulted in operational limitations that reduce track capacity and limit future development of the route.
Pilot project
To demonstrate that the benefits of Tram Train can be realised in the UK without the limitations imposed at Sunderland, the
Tram Train pilot project was set up by the Department for Transport (DfT) with Network Rail, Northern Rail, Stagecoach Supertram and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) as partners.
In June 2013, Transport Minister Norman Baker gave the final approval for the contracts between project partners. In 2016, the project will deliver the operation of Tram Trains three times an hour from Cathedral tram stop, in the centre of Sheffield, to a new stop at Parkgate retail park in Rotherham. The vehicle will operate on the tramway to Meadowhall South then utilize a new connection on to Network Rail calling at Rotherham Central station. Stagecoach Supertram will operate the new service on behalf of SYPTE as part of its current concession that runs until 2024.
The challenge set by the DfT is to introduce the pilot service while learning as much as possible about the application of Tram Train on the national rail network, allowing the operation of light rail vehicles to be spread to other locations in the UK. Where necessary this includes challenging current practices and standards after a risk-based analysis to allow safe operation.
The trams (or trains)
To operate the service, seven new vehicles are being procured by SYPTE from Vossloh EspanI?a of Valencia, Spain. That factoryai??i??s previous products for the UK include the class 67s (when the works were part of Alstom) and the class 68s for DRS which are currently being built.
The Tram Train vehicles are part of the Citylink family and are similar to those currently being supplied to Karlsruhe. However, those for Sheffield-Rotherham will be a dual voltage version (750V DC and 25kV AC) to allow for continued operation once future electrification of the Midland Mainline north of Sheffield has been approved and implemented. Three vehicles will be used to operate the Tram Train service every 20 minutes, three vehicles will be used to provide additional capacity on the tramway, and the seventh vehicle will be a maintenance spare. Maintenance will initially be carried out by Vossloh using the current tram maintenance depot at Nunnery which will be modified to accommodate them.
The three-section Citylink vehicles are 37.2 metres long, 2.65 metres wide and are low floor at the doors ai??i?? providing level access ai??i?? with raised seating areas above the four conventional bogies. They are able to accommodate 88 seated and 150 standing passengers with wheel chair spaces provided between the doors. The vehicles will be compliant with Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (RVAR) 2010 and will be fitted with saloon air conditioning and an integrated passenger counting system.
![IMG_5959 [online]](http://www.therailengineer.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_5959-online-940x390.jpg)
The tramway in Sheffield presents some challenges not normally encountered on railways including 25-metre radius horizontal curves, 165-metre vertical curves (sag) and gradients of up to 10%. The vehicles are to be equipped for both tramway and railway operations requiring duplication of certain systems such as communication and safety equipment and will include GSM-R, TPWS/ AWS and OTMR as well as tram radio and routing equipment. For safe tramway operation under line of sight rules, magnetic track brakes are fitted to all bogies providing deceleration rates of over 2.2m/s2. Delivery of the first vehicle is expected in mid 2015.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure changes required to accommodate the new service are being led by Network Rail on the national rail network and by SYPTE and Stagecoach Supertram on the tramway. The tramway infrastructure at the Meadowhall South Junction will be installed by Network Rail.
The design for the infrastructure is at the end of GRIP 4, Single Option Development, and will progress to GRIP 5, Detailed Design, later in the year. Carrilion has been awarded early contractor involvement but the actual GRIP 5 contractor is still to be confirmed.
The junction between the two systems is being designed and constructed by Network Rail with support from the other partners.
This will have a double-lead junction from the tramway into an island platform that will be used by Tram Trains only, and then onto a bidirectional line over the river Don that connects with the existing single track line (Engineers Line Reference WME) on the Rotherham side of the M1 Tinsley Viaduct.
The signalling at the interface will be designed to ensure that the changeover between the two systems is safe and requires minimal interaction for the driver and signaller. Network Rail will also be building a turn back siding with a tram stop at Parkgate and low level platform extensions to Rotherham Central station.
The line will be electrified throughout at 750V DC. An assessment of whether some or all of the route should be electrified at 25kV AC in anticipation of Midland Mainline electrification north of Sheffield, which is not yet a committed scheme, revealed that this was not cost effective due to the different systems required. The design is being implemented taking into account the future requirements and delivering synergies where possible.
Although the gauge of both Network Rail and Stagecoach Supertram tracks are 1,435mm, there are key differences which require a wheel profile to be designed that allows safe through running while minimizing the degradation of both wheel and rail on both networks. The initial work by Huddersfield University has demonstrated that the tyre profile of the current Supertram vehicle would present a derailment risk on Network Railai??i??s switch blades, therefore a deeper wheel flange is required that reduces this risk.
As the Supertram system is now 20 years old and the rails have been maintained in accordance with the tram wheel profile, certain locations require rail replacement to accommodate the Tram Train service. However SYPTE and Stagecoach Supertram are just commencing a programme of rail replacement to replace 22km of embedded track over the next five years that includes all areas where the Tram Train will operate. VolkerRail is carrying out phase 1 of the replacement work in 2013. The remainder of phase 1 and rail supply in 2014 is still to be tendered by SYPTE. Phase 2 will start in 2017/18.
The rail profile chosen for replacement is 55G2 which has a wider and deeper groove than the originally installed 35G-TF ensuring future compatibility for the Tram Train.
Following the start of service in 2016, a pilot period will run where the performance of the Tram Train on both Network Rail and the Supertram networks will be monitored. This will be holistic and ensure that data is captured to allow others to learn from the operation. This data will include such things as operational performance, public and staff feedback, maintenance costs, wheel and rail wear. More important will be capturing and sharing lessons learnt from the project as it is set up, ensuring that the wider industry benefits from this experience and learning.
To allow other Tram Train promoters to maximize the benefits of the project, a website will be set up to disseminate what the partners learn from the project.
The Rail Engineer
http://www.therailengineer.com/2013/08/15/next-stop-rotherham-sheffields-new-tram-trains/
Posted by zweisystem on August 19, 2013 · 1 Comment
From the South Delta Leader.
EDITORIAL: Compass Card blunder will cost TransLink
With TransLink set to role out the new Compass Card fare system next year, comes word this week that after investing more than $170 million in new faregates, TransLink buses will no longer be getting the new fareboxes, in order to save $25 million.
The Compass Cards offer many benefits. Users can load money on their card and buy the equivalent of a monthly pass or get a similar discount to the FareSaver prepaid ticket booklets by buying ahead.
TransLink expects passengers will flock to adopt the reloadable Compass Card because of the convenience it will offer ai??i??Ai??ending the need to go to a store to buy a monthly pass ai??i??Ai??as well as other advantages like transfer of the balance if the card is lost or stolen.
However, those who opt to not buy one of the preloaded Compass Cards and instead choose to pay for their bus ride with mere cash will have to pay double should they want to transfer to a SkyTrain.
This is a policy that will unfairly target poorer riders, as well as the casual transit user. It certainly in no way encourages transit use, which should TransLinkai??i??s No. 1 priority.
TransLink estimates only about 6,000 riders will be affected by the decision to not upgrade the bus fareboxes, and the $25 million it would cost is not worth it.
However, given the cost of the Compass Card program to date and TransLinkai??i??s insistence at pushing forward with this ill-thought plan, itai??i??s puzzling that they are suddenly concerned with how they spend taxpayer dollars.
TransLink estimates that fare evasion costs the local transit authority $7 million annually. If thatai??i??s the case, it will take TransLink close to 25 years just to break even on the Compass Card program, given the $170 million it has spent.
By that time, many of the faregates will obviously need to be repaired or replaced outright, so breaking even is unlikely.
TransLink has flushed $170 million down the toilet for this project. Thatai??i??s a lot of money that could have better been spent adding buses and rolling stock, and improving service for transit users.
With gas prices at record highs thanks in part to TransLinkai??i??s gas tax, residents here in Delta are understandably frustrated with the transit authority.
Is it any wonder why so many Lower Mainland residents want to do away with TransLink?
-South Delta Leader
http://www.southdeltaleader.com/opinion/219957371.html
And a letter from long time transit advocate, Malcolm Johnston.
Published: August 17, 2013 8:00 AM
It is astounding, that in an age where public transit is deemed successful on its affordability and ease of use, TransLink and its management once again prove the Peter Principle, with one of its most incompetent decisions yet, that bus transfers will not work on SkyTrain and Canada Line trains and one must purchase another fare. In short, casual users of the transit system will be double billed if the journey has to continue on SkyTrain.
It is beyond belief!
If the Minister in charge of TransLink does not fire top management at TransLink for this sheer incompetence, the Premier needs to fire the Minister in charge for allowing such incompetence to continue. And while top TransLink management should be terminated immediately, the equally incompetent Board of Amateurs, that oversees TransLink should be fired as well for allowing the transfer fiasco to happen in the first place.
The Peter Principle is a proposition that states that the members of an organization where promotion is based on achievement, success, and merit will eventually be promoted beyond their level of ability.
It seems everyone who works at TransLink is promoted far beyond their abilities.
Malcolm Johnston
Delta
http://www.southdeltaleader.com/opinion/letters/219956301.html
Posted by zweisystem on August 15, 2013 · Leave a Comment
One has to laugh and cry at the same time. Right on the heels of the discovery that when the Compass Card regime comes into being not allowing bus transfers on the SkyTrain and Canada Line light-metro systems, TransLink’s top bureaucrats are getting pay hikes. This, at the time when TransLink is crying poverty and demanding new taxes to pay for more extravagances.
TransLink salaries growing, despite cash-strapped systemCanadian Taxpayers Federation outraged
Anita Bathe August 15, 2013
BURNABY (NEWS1130) ai??i?? The number of people making six figures at TransLink has gone up, despite the fact that the corporation is strapped for cash.
According to its 2012 salary disclosure report, the four top executives at TransLink were all given raises last year.
Here are the numbers from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation:
CEO Ian Jarvis went from $382,954 in 2011 to $394,730 in 2012. Add in pension contributions and benefits, and that totaled $438,700.
COO Doug Kelsey went from $329,936 to $336,729. With pension and benefits, that totalled $377,054
CFO Cathy McLay went from $285,481 to $294,877. With pension and benefits, that totalled $330,753.
Executive VP Bob Paddon went from $244,699 to $273,889. With pension and benefits, that totalled $307,857.
The number of staff members making $100,000 or more went up by 14.6 per cent.
ai???These executives should be leading by example,ai??? says Jordan Bateman with the CTF. ai???Instead of looking for efficiencies from bus drivers and squeezing down breaks and making schedules very difficult to maintain, they should be starting by cutting their own pay. Thatai??i??s a lot of money to be spending whenAi?? youai??i??re crying cash poor like TransLink is.ai???
Bateman says TransLink claims it canai??i??t operate on $1.3-billion a year in taxes, fares and tolls, and heai??i??s outraged.
He argues the total bill for staff making less than $75,000 a year stayed consistent at $15.4 million last year, but the cost for staff making more than $75,000 jumped 18 per cent, from $33.5 million to $39.5 million.
Right now, Metro Vancouver mayors and the province are at a stand-still in trying to find a way to come up with funding to pay for the system moving forward.
A referendum is being held on the issue sometime next year.
http://www.news1130.com/2013/08/15/translink-salaries-growing-despite-cash-strapped-system/comment-page-1/#comments
Despite the the smoothing talking TransLink executives on the radio, trying to flim-flam their way out of the growing fare card/wage debacle, the public is now showing signs that it has had enough. What is sad, is that the likes of Paddon, Kelsey, and Jarvis just can’t even comprehend the degree of public disdain there is for TransLink and its bureaucrats and even if the Premier doesn’t want to do it, it maybe politically expedient for her to “clean house”, lest another GST public revolt is in the offing.
It was a mistake to put career bureaucrats, mostly accountants, in charge of TransLink, instead of bona fide transit experts and when TransLink did snare a real transit expert, Tom Prendergast’s in 2009, he soon fled back to the USA when he saw how dysfunctional TransLink was!
The Premier must act fast to rectify the situation, as TransLink is now a complete laughing stock and when the public start laughing at crown corporations, they start laughing at the politicians who run them. And when the public start laughing out loud at politicians, their time in power shrinks considerably.
Posted by zweisystem on August 14, 2013 · 7 Comments
……………………..don’t be surprised at the results.
The new Compass fare card/fare gate regime, imposed on TransLink by the BC Liberal government, now means that bus transfers will no longer be accepted on SkyTrain!
Where did I learn about this utterly incompetent decision? From the throw away commuter newspaper 24 Hours!
Where is the mainstream media on this piece of nonsense, hiding from the truth, as usual.
The regional transit system is so designed to force all suburban transit (bus) customers on to the SkyTrain and Canada Line light-metro system, to complete their journey into town. If this absolutely idiotic decision doesn’t force the wholesale removal of the TransLink Board and senior management, then one must understand that this decision must have come from the premier’s office in Victoria, which of course is the real management behind TransLink!
Stupid is as stupid does and this inept decision should provide great impetuous for the South of the Fraser cities and municipalities to leave TransLink’s sphere of incompetence and form a new South Fraser Transit Authority.
Ai??
One thinks that the Three Stooges could operate Translink better!
TRANSIT
SkyTrain won’t take bus transfers with new Compass Card system
By Michael Mui, 24 Hours Vancouver
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Lower Mainland bus drivers are ai???shaking their headsai??? at why TransLink decided bus transfer tickets for cash fares would no longer be accepted for other transit services when the Compass Card rolls out this fall.
TransLink spokesman Derek Zabel said that at $25 million, it was too expensive to upgrade all bus fare boxes so they would dish out Compass-compatible tickets.
If a passenger carries a bus-transfer pass to the SkyTrain, they will be told to get a Compass single-trip pass from a machine. There will be no trade-ins, nor will there be a discount for cash-only bus fares, Zabel said.
ai???If the customer comes on the bus with cash, and they get that ticket, that would no longer work on the rail side,ai??? Zabel said Tuesday, adding bus tickets in the new system will only be viable for bus-to-bus transfers.
He said there will be a transitional period in which both options will be accepted while TransLink teaches the public about its new system. During this time, retailers such as 7-11 will carry all available types of fare, including monthly and pre-loadable Compass Cards.
ai???Itai??i??s estimated only 6,000 customers (pay cash and transfer) a day, which represents a small percentage of our daily rides,ai??? Zabel said.
But Gavin Davies, vice-president of the union representing TransLink bus drivers, is worried his members will take the brunt of customer complaints when frustrated passengers find out theyai??i??d need to pay twice if they wish to use bus with cash then transfer to SkyTrain.
ai???Theyai??i??re going to take their frustration out on the (bus) operator,ai??? Davies said.
ai???You either go all the way or no way, theyai??i??re not two separate things. We have one system in place and it should be compatible.ai???
Zabel said TransLink expects most customers to use the Compass Card instead, as monthly and pre-loadable options offer a discount of up to 14% as a further incentive to buy. He said the transport authority would make sure its staff fully understand the system and can answer any questions.
ai???I donai??i??t know if weai??i??ve figured out a date when weai??i??ll stop selling regular fare media we currently have,ai??? Zabel said.
ai???Weai??i??re not going to close the date until weai??i??re confident people understand how to use the system.ai???
Posted by zweisystem on August 14, 2013 · 1 Comment
This recent piece in the Surrey Leader make for unpleasant times at the ‘House of TransLink‘.
TransLink is broken and all the provincial politicians and all the civic politicians can’t put TransLink back together again.
OPINION: Who’s behind the wheel at TransLink
By Contributed – Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: August 07, 2013
Who is running the show at TransLink?
Itai??i??s certainly not taxpayers or transit riders. Both have suffered as the smorgasbord of TransLink taxes and fares rise over and over again, only to watch helplessly as their hard-earned dollars are blown on Transit Police, $40,000 TVs, blundering sound wall installations, and other waste.
B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone ai??i?? safely ensconced in Kamloops, the home of the cheapest gasoline in the province and 300 kilometres away from TransLinkai??i??s taxation tentacles ai??i?? is rightly sticking to the premierai??i??s campaign promise of a TransLink tax hike referendum.
Several mayors are unhappy with TransLink ai??i?? Deltaai??i??s Lois Jackson, a former Metro Vancouver chair, said last year that the agency is spending like ai???a drunken sailor.ai??? This year, Jackson said she supports the B.C. Liberalsai??i?? referendum plan because ai???people need to have a say in how this damn thing is being run.ai???
Burnabyai??i??s Derek Corrigan, a key swing vote between any Vancouver-Surrey divide at Metro, ripped TransLinkai??i??s expansion plans, noting that, ai???The idea that the property taxpayer is a bottomless pit of money is over. The reality is that weai??i??re seeing, in every one of our communities, blow back from the public.ai???
West Vancouver mayor Mike Smith is ready to throw TransLink under the bus once and for all. Even his neighbour, North Vancouver mayor Richard Walton, the TransLink mayorsai??i?? council chairman, is sounding exasperated by the agency these days. Take the issue of lifetime passes, for example: ai???Quite frankly, the public transportation doesnai??i??t need to subsidize people with free passes,ai??? he said.
It took years of public criticism, but the mayorsai??i?? council is finally reviewing the Transit Police ai??i?? an expensive, ineffective fare check regime TransLink continues to push on to taxpayers.
TransLinkai??i??s appointed board of directors donai??i??t seem terribly enthused with the agencyai??i??s direction either. They have been virtually invisible in recent months, except for a fascinating opinion piece by chair Nancy Olewiler in the March edition of Policy Options magazine.
ai???A society of slow growth may be the tipping point for transportation,ai??? wrote Olewiler, whose argument applies to roads, bridges and massive transit projects. ai???Slower growth may change the assumptions that go into our projections for new transportation capacity. That possibility is something for planners to think about before they take long-term decisions to pump billions of dollars into infrastructure spending, at the expense of investments in health or education, which we will need to improve our quality of life.ai???
Olewilerai??i??s piece is stunning because it is the first time a TransLink official has admitted that taking taxes for TransLink means less for priorities such as health, education, emergency services, water, sewer, or others. Taxpayers cannot afford everything.
With such little support from taxpayers, riders, mayors, the minister and the board chair, TransLinkai??i??s push for a $23-billion tax-and-spend binge is coming from its senior executive team. They are trying to push for higher taxes. Itai??i??s becoming clear they believe the referendum campaign has already started, and the bureaucrats will spend as much of their time and your money as they can to get the result they want.
This flies in the face of the usual role of government employees, which is to let the politicians ai??i?? the people accountable to the taxpayers ai??i?? make the policy decisions. Good staff members make recommendations to their boards or elected officials, and then carry out their direction.
But at TransLink, the inmates are now running the asylum. With the board and mayors tied up in knots, it will be up to the taxpayers to take the keys away from the transportation authorityai??i??s senior executives.
Jordan Bateman is British Columbia director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
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