Liz James asks important questions
Liz James, who writes opinion pieces for the North Shore News, asks some ‘striking’ questions of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, the question is; “are they willing to answer?“
The answer is no, as the regional mayors are afraid of a referendum and the reason is simple, they are afraid of a “none of the above” answer.
Why?
Again, the answer is simple, pie in the sky transit projects; grossly under performing transit lines; and questionable planning practices would halt as the transit authority would be forced (kicking and screaming) to cut its cloth to match its income. If a “none of the above” option wins, Translink would have to say goodbye to its reason d’etre to exist, as SkyTrain is the ‘bread and butter‘ of the transit authority and its employees.
Next, a few unequivocal words for the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation: Please, unless you are willing to include a “none of the above” option, no more surveys that ask taxpayers how they would like to remit the lint in their pockets to TransLink.
We’re on a sit-down strike – period.
On strike until you commission an ethical, unbiased cost-benefit comparison of SkyTrain versus light-rail transit – and not by Bombardier or SNC-Lavalin.
On strike, until an audit reveals the latest use-and-abuse costs of the U-Pass program.
And on strike until the province shoulders its responsibility for decision-making by filling its voting seats on the TransLink Board.
Until those conditions are met, taxpayers are no longer willing to be prey to TransLink’s version of the Stockholm syndrome – prey under its spendthrift thumb despite the comforting clichAi??s about sustainability and the greater good.
.Read more: http://www.nsnews.com/technology/Take+risk+difficult+questions/8579905/story.html#ixzz2XLiUA0wU
Old interurban sparks interest in rail for the Fraser Valley | News1130
Old interurban sparks interest in rail for the Fraser Valley
Light rail transit proponents want to bring it back
Mike Lloyd June 27, 2013 8:12 am
NEWS1130 ai??i?? In Surrey, the resurrection of a section transit line from the first half of the last century is rekindling a debate over light rail service in the Fraser Valley.
Last weekend, the old interurban electric started rolling the rails again between Cloverdale and Sullivan in Surrey, a heritage project with service on weekends that aims to expand to Scott Road and possibly east into the Valley.
The original BC Electric Railway interurban trains ran from the early 1900s to the 1950s from Chilliwack to Vancouver and proponents of light rail transit say itai??i??s high time bring it back.
ai???Itai??i??s something weai??i??ve been talking about for years now,ai??? says John Vissers with Rail for the Valley. ai???Thereai??i??s no question; weai??i??re excited about it. Some of us went out to take a ride on this service and what a wonderful experience.ai???
ai???Iai??i??m optimistic. I believe our transit future will unquestionably include this sort of train system right through the Fraser Valley right out to Chilliwack. It is inevitable and weai??i??re hoping it will happen sooner rather than later. Thereai??i??s no question in my mind it needs happen and, ideally, we would be able to restoreAi?? the electric system that served the Valley 100 years ago,ai??? he tells News1130.
Vissers believes there is a lot of support for restoring light rail service south of the Fraser River.
ai???We have the West Coast Express on the north side of the river and itai??i??s doing a great job of moving commuters in and out of Metro areas, however we have no real, viable transit options south of the Fraser other than getting in our cars and driving down the freeway. This is simply not sustainable in a growing region.ai???
A 2010 strategic government review of transit in the Fraser Valley concluded light rail transit was not a viable, cost-effective option for the Fraser Valley.
A subsequent independent review commissioned by Rail for the Valley found the Ministry of Transportation report was biased and suggested there was a clear agenda dismissing light rail.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts is also in favour of expanding light rail service south of the Fraser, pushing for a Surrey LRT system rather than expanding SkyTrain.
via Old interurban sparks interest in rail for the Fraser Valley | News1130.
Zwei Told Ya So…………Despite massive investment in public transit, most Metro Vancouver residents favour commuting by car
In the 21st century, public transit is seen as a product and if the product is good, people will use it.
In Metro Vancouver, public transit is seen as an experiment of sorts, combining extremely dated transit operation, land development and social welfare into a hodge-podge local transit philosophy which, despite a now over $8 billion investment in three light-metro lines to date, has all but failed.
TransLink doesn’t have transit experts planning for transit, rather an arcane mixture of career bureaucrats and accountants, who only follow previous guidelines and diktats from the provincial government.
Sadly, those calling for even more money to be spent on doing the same failed transit practices are ignoring the old adage that; “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a sign of madness.“
And transit madness it is; the now under construction Evergreen SkyTrain light-metro line will do little to improve things and in the end, will become a very expensive financial sink-hole as is the rest of the SkyTrain and Canada Line mini-metros. Ever notice no one builds with SkyTrain before? Ever wonder why no one has copied the Canada line, building a heavy rail metro as a light-metro?
Bad planning from incompetent planners, on orders from photo-op demandingAi?? politicians, overseen by a complacent media have left us with a very expensive transit system, that has seemingly failed to attract ridership.
Zwei predicted this over 20 years ago and his prediction has come true.
Despite massive investment in public transit, most Metro Vancouver residents favour commuting in their vehicles
In the Vancouver Census Metropolitan area, 70.8 per cent of commuters rode in private vehicles in 2011 to get to work, while 19.7 per cent used public transit
METRO VANCOUVER – On a good day, Paul Sparrow can make it to work in an hour.
If heai??i??s driving, that is.
On public transit, it would take Sparrow closer to two-and-a-half hours to make the trip from his Newton home to his job in North Vancouver ai??i?? and likely longer on the way home.
ai???Obviously itai??i??s not even close to being efficient,ai??? Sparrow said. ai???I would give up my car if it was more convenient.ai???
Despite a decade of big investment in public transit, most Metro Vancouver residents are clinging to their vehicles as the top commuting choice, according to Statistics Canadaai??i??s latest National Household survey, which replaces the long-form census.
Of the estimated 1.2 million Metro Vancouver residents who commute to and from work each day, the 2011 survey suggests about 66 per cent still get behind the wheel each morning and every night, compared with 20 per cent who take transit. And many, like Sparrow, are driving alone.
The reason?
ai???It takes half the time,ai??? said Prof. Larry Frank of the University of B.C.ai??i??s School of Community and Regional Planning. ai???Right now, as it stands, we still have a ways to go to make transit travel times faster and more convenient.ai???
Indeed, even with relentless gridlock on most routes during rush hour, the survey suggests Metro Vancouver commuters in private vehicles can get to work in an average 26.4 minutes, compared with 40.9 minutes for public transit and 23.8 minutes by bicycle.
But it all depends on where a person lives. Residents of Maple Ridge and Port Coquitlam, for instance, endure the longest commutes, at about 35 minutes each way, while those on the North Shore and in Richmond and Vancouver can get to work within 24 to 26 minutes.
Ken Peacock, chief economist and vice-president of the Business Council of B.C., said he hasnai??i??t crunched the numbers but noted the car is highly convenient for two-parent working families, or those working later shifts in retail.
And as the traffic patterns continue to change, from a traditional east-west line to a spider web across the region, there arenai??i??t always the proper transit connections to get people where they want to go, such as between Maple Ridge and White Rock.
Vancouver commuters, for instance, spend on average just five minutes less on the road than those in areas like Surrey and Langley.
ai???There are people going in all directions in the Lower Mainland; itai??i??s no longer the suburbs going into the downtown core,ai??? Peacock said. ai???People are coming from downtown Vancouver into places like Burnaby and that makes it more difficult for the transit system to deal with.
ai???In a lot of instances itai??i??s still faster even if thereai??i??s congestion and gridlock.ai???
Langleyai??i??s Jeannine Bornais can attest to that.
She starts her day at the crack of dawn, winding her way from Langley to Richmond ai??i?? where she drops off her husband ai??i?? to Vancouver. She can usually get to work or back home within an hour and a half, she said, but notes something as simple as a stalled car on the highway can trap her in traffic.
ai???Thereai??i??s been a couple of times when weai??i??ve been stopped in the tunnel, which is kind of a nightmare,ai??? said Bornais, 41, who works as a creative coordinator for Bell Media. ai???In the morning itai??i??s fine, but at night itai??i??s pretty bad. Getting into Richmond, at Alderbridge and Garden City, it gets really jammed up.
ai???I love Langley, I just wish we didnai??i??t have to do the commute. Itai??i??s just that three hours a day weai??i??re spending commuting, itai??i??s a drag.ai???
Itai??i??s also hard on the wallet, she said, noting that the couple has to gas up every four days and get an oil change every six weeks instead of six months. And thereai??i??s no way they can make an early dinner with friends or catch an early movie.
Sometimes itai??i??s even hard to get in a long run or walk the dogs before dinner.
But Bornais said itai??i??s better than the alternative: her husband once considered taking a bus to Surrey SkyTrain and then to Richmond during a snowstorm but it would have taken him three hours.
ai???The closest SkyTrain station is in Surrey at King George and itai??i??s a half-hour drive in perfect traffic,ai??? she said. ai???In the morning going down Fraser Highway to the Surrey station would take forever.ai???
Sparrow, too, said itai??i??s not worth the headache, especially when he can be alone in his car rather than ai???squishedai??? into transit.
UBCai??i??s Frank maintains the Stats Can numbers arenai??i??t surprising, noting they directly correlate to the investments made in various transit modes, like roads, transit and pedestrian and bicycle connections. ai???What it shows is you get what you pay for,ai??? he said. ai???The more you provide supply, the more demand you have.ai???
Roads, for instance, often take about a third of the provinceai??i??s transportation budget, he said, compared with about 20 per cent for transit.
And while the new South Fraser Perimeter Road was touted to boost goods movement, it also increased reliance among commuters who prefer to drive.
For commuters like Surreyai??i??s Simon Cunningham, the driving time allows him to have a coffee, listen to music and make some work calls. ai???It takes me just as long to take a bus and SkyTrain as it does to drive to Metrotown,ai??? said Cunningham, a public relations officer at Metro Vancouver. ai???If it was easier and a shorter time, Iai??i??d do it for sure.ai???
TransLinkai??i??s officials say the system has gone through one of its most extensive transit and transportation expansions in the past decade, in which it added buses, SeaBuses, the Canada Line and the Golden Ears Bridge, although public affairs didnai??i??t know Wednesday how much money had been spent.
The Evergreen Line is the next major expansion.
Spokesman Derek Zabel noted that while transit ridership has increased by 84 per cent over the past decade ai??i?? with 109 million more trips in 2012 than in 2002 ai??i?? more work must be done.
Zabel said the transportation authority is in the midst of consulting the public on its long-range plan to determine where transit services need to go to meet the changing traffic patterns.
ai???Right now weai??i??re not in a position where we can expand the system, but we can go into service optimization ai??i?? to see where we can get more people on the transit system by offering better use of our resources,ai??? he said.
UBCai??i??s Frank suggests TransLink is on the right track in supporting the regional mayorsai??i?? council in pushing for road pricing measures, such as tolls on bridges and tunnels to a charge per distance travelled, to generate more money to pay for transit as well as bike and walking connections.
ai???We have to get into road pricing, not just on the bridges but the whole system,ai??? he said, ai???and to use those funds to make improvements for non-motorized infrastructure so we can have competitive alternatives to driving.ai???
COLUMN: Surrey had great transit ai??i?? 100 years ago
From the Surrey News leader.
The following link is for the Rail for the Valley/Leewood study for the return of the interurban!
COLUMN: Surrey had great transit ai??i?? 100 years ago
By Frank Bucholtz – Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: June 26, 2013
I never thought I would ever see a genuine B.C. Electric Railway interurban car in Surrey ai??i?? let alone see one in operation.
Itai??i??s been a long journey, but members of Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society (FVHRS) deserve to feel great about their efforts. They have taken a dream and made it reality, with a lot of hard work and some first-rate support from the City of Surrey, Southern Railway of B.C. and BC Hydro.
Ever since the interurban trains stopped running in Surrey in 1950, there have been some who felt a good transportation system was set aside too soon. The BCER interurban trains ran from Vancouver to Chilliwack from 1910 to 1950, three times a day each way, transporting mail, express and passengers. There was also a dedicated milk train, which had a lot to do with developing the dairy industry, a special market train and an owl train that ran late at night on weekends.
The interurbans were losing money by the late 1940s. The car were getting old and postwar boom times meant people wanted to travel with their own cars.
Municipalities agreed the service could be stopped. BCER paid a one-time payment to improve roads ai??i?? and that was that.
From 1950 to 1973, Surrey had no regular transit service other than Pacific Stage Lines, which ran a few buses each day. When the Dave Barrett NDP government was elected in 1972, it made transit service south of the Fraser a priority, but even today, service pales when compared to the service in otherAi?? parts of the Lower Mainland.
It was partially due to that frustration that Surrey council, almost 20 years ago, agreed to support efforts to restore interurban service. Former councillor Jim Wallace backed up the plan with a substantial personal donation.
An enthusiastic group of volunteers has been working since that time to try and get some of the original interurban cars here. Eventually, two were repatriated to Canada. One had been in California, and the other in Oregon.
Both needed substantial work, but car 1225 has now been completely restored and is running on weekends from the newly rebuilt Cloverdale station to Sullivan. Car 1304, which was regularly used on the Fraser Valley line, is being restored in the Cloverdale car barn.
The service, which began Saturday, is strictly to promote heritage and tourism, but nonetheless it makes the point that the rail line is still in place. Used by Southern Railway for freight, most of the Surrey portion, which runs through Newton, Kennedy and South Westminster, could potentially handle commuter trains.
The new Cloverdale station, where passengers board the interurban, is marvellous. It is an accurate replica of the original station. FVRHS volunteer Alan Aubert, an architect, ensured that it was as close to authentic as possible.
One sad note: It is too bad that longtime BCER motorman Frank Horne and former tourism minister Bill Reid werenai??i??t here to see the project come to fruition. Both died in the past year, and were enthusiastic backers of the project.
Whether there is ever a commuter service on the former BCER tracks or not, it is wonderful to see restored interurban car 1225, in its bright colours, going along the track with a happy group of passengers. It is a reminder of just how good transit service was 100 years ago in Surrey.
TransLink Whinges for More Money
TransLink’s gold-plated transit planning needs funding and the the question is, which politicians are foolish enough to let Translink squander billions more taxpayer’s dollars?
A Broadway subway costing $3 billion?
Well if the proposed subway goes to UBC, the cost would be more like $4 billion.
LRT can’t operate on Broadway?
A LRT line on Broadway is certainly feasible an probably would have more capacity than a SkyTrain subway unless the subway, unlike the Canada line which has less capacity than a streetcar, has stations designed to handle 10 or 12 car trains. As well, a Broadway LRT would coat about one tenth to build than a Skytrain subway.
So Mr. Paddon, here is something to think about; ” for the cost of a $4 billion Broadway subway to UBC, one could build a BCIT to Broadway LRT/streetcar; a new combined road/rail bridge replacing both the Patullo and Fraser river Rail bridge; the ‘full build’ RftV/Leewood Chilliwack interurban and a White rock to Surrey Central and Vancouver LRT.
Which plan would attract more ridership?
Which plan would attract the taxpayers attention?
Which plan would be a better transit investment in the region?
Alas, TransLink Executive vice president Bob Paddon is an accountant and does not have any clue modern public transit, as universities tend not to include “Urban Transit” in the accountancy curriculum.
Translink and Metro Vancouver’s transit bureaucrats are little more than bookworms in the library, hiding their ineptitude with dated precedents. They have made the planning process a giant machine where the ossified central central bureaucracy reigns amid mountains of paper and woe to the taxpayer who will be forced to pay for their extravagance.
TransLink hopes government chips in for transit expansion
The transportation authority points out there are any number of projects on the horizon
Jason Howe June 22, 2013
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130 Radio) ai??i?? As the region considers how to pay for transit expansion, TransLink says provincial and federal governments are going to have to chip in.
The transportation authority says the money is needed to handle growth.
TransLink continues to make the rounds to debate a $23 billion wish list to cover the next three decades.
Executive Vice President Bob Paddon says there are all kinds of possible projects on the horizon.
ai???Broadway corridor, the estimate there is about $3 billion. You look south of the Fraser, probably $2 billion or more. Expo Line is going to have to have a lot of work on it. We got a Pattullo bridge thatai??i??s going to be at least $1 billion if we replace it.ai???
Paddon says it all adds up.
ai???We canai??i??t support that with the amount of revenue we have today. We also recognize weai??i??re going to need senior government partners. Weai??i??re going to need provincial and federal governments to invest.ai???
While thereai??i??s talk about introducing new revenue like road pricing, Paddon says governments will also need to invest.
Be a part of history – Interurban Heritage Rail starts THIS WEEKEND
Be a part of history.
Interurban Heritage Rail starts this Sunday
The Interurban will once again carry passengers, starting this Sunday!
Full throttle for rail revival in Cloverdale – Cloverdale Reporter
By Jennifer Lang – Cloverdale Reporter
Published: June 19, 2013 3:00 PM
Updated: June 19, 2013 3:48 PM
After more than half a century and thousands of hours of volunteer effort, the dream is about to become real.
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society is set to launch weekend runs on the original Interurban passenger rail line from Cloverdale to Sullivan return starting this Sunday.
Itai??i??s the culmination of years of effort and there have been many milestones along the way……………………
Read the full article:
via Full throttle for rail revival in Cloverdale – Cloverdale Reporter.
Has TransLink Ignored SkyTrain Safety by Refusing to Install Sliding Doors at Stations?
The VAL automatic metro in Lille, France has sliding doors at stations to prevent suicides as mandated by EEC rules for automatic metro systems. This begs the question; “Has TransLink ignored this important safety feature to reduce costs for the SkyTrain and Canada line mini-metro systems?”
The sad answer is that TransLink finds it cheaper to deal with suicides than prevent them and if people find this distasteful, don’t shoot the messenger.
Light rail, which has drivers, has a far better record in preventing suicides than automatic metros like SkyTrain, especially when the operating authority refuses to include safety features with station designs.
Chilliwack Event notice – June 22 – PIPE UP Network
This was received from the Pipe Up Network. It seems like a great opportunity for supporters of Rail for the Valley. See below, and check out the link.
The PIPE UP Network is hosting an event that Rail for the Valley supporters may be interested in. Ai??The event is titled “Going Forward, Leading Change: Skills Training for More Effective Community Engagement” and takes place Saturday June 22 12:30-18:30 at the Yarrow Community Centre.
It includes a series of workshops on topics such as Consensus Decision Making, Engaging Political Representatives, Media & Messaging, Participating in Environmental Review Assessments, Online Organizing/Facebook Engagement, and Peaceful Direct Action.
See the links below.
http://pipe-up.net/home-2/events/
https://www.facebook.com/events/517200145009294/
All Roads Lead to Road Pricing
Force TransLink to efficiently and affordably operate the transit system – No.
Force the taxpayer to ante up more money through road pricing (another name for a tax) – Yes.
The following 1983 quote is from Norman Thompson; CBE, FCA, ACMA, English transit consultant and builder of the (then) world’s busiest subway on the decision to build with SkyTrain: “Vancouver is adopting a non-commercial approach………..I hope they have lots of money“, sums up TransLink’s financial ills, the problem is our mini-metro system.
What TransLink hasn’t done is reveal the true cost of the SkyTrain and Canada Line, instead have the SkyTrain lobby and their surrogates continually misinform the public through the media about the mode, its operations, and its failure to provide an alternative to the car. So successful has been the SkyTrain propaganda campaign, that it even fooled BC.”s Auditor General’s Department!
TransLink’s bureaucracy thrives off of big ticket mini-metro planning and construction and by planning for more Skytrain, means more bureaucrats must be hired and friends of the government (including the notorious SNC Lavalin) will join the SkyTrain gravy-train, all on the taxpayer’s dime or dime per kilometre is TransLink has it way.
There is an ever growing evidence that TransLink has not been honest with transit ridership figures and SkyTrain and transit ridership in general is less that advertised. Evidence of this has surfaced with the on going fare evasion debate, as fare evasion is at industry norms, while revenue collection indicated mass fare evasion. Revenue collection may also reveal that transit ridership is much lower than advertised and there is no mass fare evasion and no need for expensive turnstiles at stations, which was a reward for more friends of the government and had little to do with fare evasion.
Zwei leaves the reader with this; “Who builds with SkyTrain today?” No one, as evidenced with the Canada Line.
From the Surrey news Leader.
Road pricing logic may extend to transit too
TransLink is doubling down on the concept of road pricing, arguing it should apply not just to cars to control congestion at the busiest times but also to transit riders to make more efficient use of buses and SkyTrain as well.
A revision of TransLink’s long-range regional transportation strategy is going to public consultation over the next two months and it reinforces the idea of using time-of-use pricing tools to make the most of investments.
The Transportation 2045 plan will argue the number of vehicle trips travelled in the region must climb no higher if Metro Vancouver is to remain a livable region and not end up mired in gridlock.
Capping car travel will be hard.
The overall number of trips taken is projected to climb 50 per cent over the next three decades as a million more Metro Vancouverites arrive, all criss-crossing the region to get to 500,000 more jobs.
So planners say the proportion of trips by transit, cycling and walking must rise at a much faster rate from 27 per cent now to 50 per cent, while the share of trips by car falls.
Building more rapid transit lines is part of the strategy ai??i??Ai??TransLink estimates up to $23 billion is needed to expand the system over 30 years. The first $5 billion would merely maintain what already exists.
But another plank in the document says TransLink should “price roads and transit for fairness, efficiency and revenue.”
TransLink strategic planning vice-president Bob Paddon said road pricing has been in long-range plans for 20 years, but it’s now becoming critical to implement.
Area mayors also want to explore road pricing, where drivers might pay more to drive on major routes depending on the time of day or severity of congestion.
TransLink’s draft document says pricing can cut congestion at peak times while offering users a choice.
“Those who choose to forego a trip, bundle some trips together, travel at a less busy time, use a less busy route or travel by another mode will be rewarded with savings in time and money,” it says.
Paddon said TransLink’s new Compass card system could make it possible to emulate Washington D.C., where subway riders pay based on both the distance travelled and by the time of day.
“The farther you go, the more you pay,” Paddon said. “And if you want to go at the peak of rush hour you pay more.”
He said airlines also make passengers pay more for the last seats as a plane fills up, while offering discounts to sell seats on underused routes or at less popular times.
Drivers will respond to price signals, he suggests, pointing to the success of the #555 bus over the new Port Mann Bridge. Its initial ridership has doubled ai??i??Ai??it now averages 73 per cent full ai??i??Ai??as 1,600 passengers a day ride over the bridge without paying the new toll.
TransLink also wants cities to step up.
Better land use can gradually put more people and their destinations closer to transit routes. With more people able to ride transit, planners reckon, average trip distances can be reduced by one third.
Once the 2045 strategy is approved, TransLink is to develop a 15-year plan of new transportation investments this fall.
The plan is expected to include billions of dollars to build rapid transit lines in Surrey to Guildford, Langley and White Rock, as well as the Broadway line west to UBC.
Once it’s in place, TransLink, mayors and the province will have to draw up a proposal for how to fund the upgrades that would be put to a referendum in the fall of 2014.
The referendum was an election promise of Premier Christy Clark, who also said during the campaign that she opposes making drivers pay to use existing roads or bridges.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said TransLink’s intent to raise up to $23 billion, presumably funded in part through road pricing, is “far too ambitious” even for an aspirational plan.
“There is a point where reality has to set in for all of us,” Corrigan said. “We go out to the public with an unrealistic plan, that raises expectations as to what could be accomplished, when in fact none of that is a reasonable possibility in the near future.”
Belcarra Mayor Ralph Drew said TransLink’s time frame for decisions should be reversed ai??i??Ai??the region should first decide how much more residents can afford to pay and then decide the projects that will be built, not the other way around.
He said the other big bills coming to Metro taxpayers, such as for new sewage treatment plants, must also be weighed.
Licence plate cameras in Stockholm detect and bill drivers as they enter or leave the central city. Overhead signs show the amount currently being charged. Rates range from zero to 20 krona ($3.20) depending on the time of day.
Stockholm’s congestion fee offers lessons for Metro
Stockholm is being held up as one example where road pricing is working to control traffic and steer more drivers to public transit.
Mayors Council chair Richard Walton recently visited the Swedish city and said it offers plenty of lessons for planning towards something similar in Metro Vancouver.
Stockholm’s congestion tax charges motorists higher amounts to enter or leave the city core at peak periods, and less or nothing to travel off-peak.
The maximum they pay is the equivalent of $10 a day.
The system was introduced in 2007 and rush-hour traffic volumes promptly fell 20 to 25 per cent, while transit use rose 13 per cent on trains and 18 per cent on express buses.
The congestion tax was put to a vote of residents, but not until one year after it was already in operation.
Walton said politicians concluded it had no chance of passing until drivers saw how it worked and felt the benefits of freer flowing roads.
They agreed they’d simply scrap the $500-million investment in cameras and detectors if it failed.
The referendum was only binding in central Stockholm, where it passed by 53 per cent. All outer suburbs voted against it by margins of up to 70 per cent.
Walton said a congestion charge system wouldn’t work in Metro Vancouver because of our different geography and travel patterns, but road pricing variants will be examined.
Walton remains a strong supporter of the concept based on the Swedish experience, but is leery about winning over voters in a promised referendum.
“This is a tough, tough sell,” he said.
Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay said road pricing could relieve traffic jams in the northeast sector.
“If we can shift people’s transportation mode as a result of a tolling policy like that, you can stretch your road infrastructure another 50 per cent,” Clay said.
“Maybe instead of worrying about building more roads we should be figuring out how to more effectively use them.”
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