Added costs for the Canada Line – Has The Taxpayer Assumed Risk?

It seems that TransLink’s costs are rising but what peaked Zweisysytem’s interest is that there has been a cost escalation of the Canada Line contract – what cost escalation? Isn’t the Canada Line supposed to be a P-3 project and that SNC Lavalin and not the taxpayerAi??assumed risk?

Now we know all the hype and hoopla in the mainstream media was all about, not only trying toAi??make the Canada Line a Legacy LineAi??for soon to be ex-Premier, Gordon Campbell, but hiding the fact that the Canada line is costing TransLink (the taxpayer) more. TransLink doesn’t give a figure for the cost escalation of the Canada Line, but hey, the Canada line is a Liberal project and all Liberal projects are given scant scrutiny by the media.

In BC, transit projects are given a free ride by the mainstream media, unless of course, it happens to be a fast ferry, built under the NDP’s watch, which the MSM drag out of Davey Jones Locker ad nauseam.


From the Surrey Leader

TransLink expects its transit costs will rise $55 million this year even though it plans no net increase in how much service it provides. Higher anticipated fuel costs and cost escalation of the Canada Line contract are among the reasons the transit budget will rise to $871.2 million in 2011. TransLink is planning for no increase in union or management wages, but has provided for a two per cent increase for general inflation. TransLink is assuming overall transit ridership will grow 6.1 per cent this year, which would continue the major bump in usage since the 2010 Olympics. TransLink’s 15-cent-a-litre gas and diesel tax is expected to generate $324 million this year. The authority will collect $279 million in property taxes this year. TransLink property tax rates rise an automatic two per cent each year for inflation without the need for approval of the region’s mayors council. The biggest single source of money will remain transit fares, estimated at $421 million for 2011.

For the full news item…..

http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/117075083.html

Comments

3 Responses to “Added costs for the Canada Line – Has The Taxpayer Assumed Risk?”
  1. Evil Eye says:

    Ha, ha, ha – so the truth comes out and the Canada Line’s costs are hidden. How much did this white elephant cost us – $2.5 billion – $3 billion?

    Bill Boring claims that hundreds of thousands of people are using it and Granville street is a ghost town due to the lack of traffic.

    More BS come from the Vancouver Sun and it is high time we have an independent audit of this turkey.

  2. Melfort says:

    The cost of operating the Canada Line will increase as of August 2011, as announced on June 3 last year. At that point, peak service will operate with 16 trains rather than 14 and headways will be reduced by 35 seconds. This will increase capacity by 12%.

    TransLink’s funding commitment to the line’s operating costs will increase accordingly.

  3. zweisystem says:

    Just a note, despite claims by TransLink that the Canada Line EMU’s have a capacity of 200 persons, the most I have seen published for the vehicle is 163 persons, with all seats filled and 4 standing persons per square metre. TransLink always used 6 persons per square metre, when stating vehicle capacity, which is not obtainable in Vancouver, to give the Expo and Millennium Lines artificially high ridership numbers, as ridership is partly determined by counting customers on a train at specific load points. The person counting passengers reports a full car and TransLink will state the number of passengers based on 6 standing persons per metre squared. The Canada Line is supposed to have infrared passenger counters, but are the ridership figures released for the Canada line data from those counters or Translink’s spin department?