A re-post. First posted on Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Memo from Zweisystem: This post is from 2021, yet we still see TransLink beating the drum for more and more money, as politicians, both regional, provincial and federal are afraid to say no more money and live within your means.
All financial numbers will be updated to 2025 valuesand I will add comments where necessary.
Well, the first surprise was that this news item came via the Alaska Highway News of all places.
This tells me TransLink is spinning the story to everyone it can to give the good news to!
The big problem that there is no money to fund these grand schemes and the post Covid economy may not support the level of taxation that politicians have deluded themselves that they can shake from taxpayer’s pockets.
Metro Vancouver’s rapid transit system needs to quadruple by 2050 with 300 kilometres of new routes including SkyTrain, subway, light rail, or bus rapid transit, says a TransLink report released today.
So someone please tell me, how much will that cost?
The Expo line extension to Langley is topping $250 million/km (Update – the 2025 cost is now $437.5 million/km) and the Broadway subway will surpass the current $500 million/km (Update – the 2025 cost is now $615 million/km) to build. The city of Vancouver claims a 12 km streetcar will cost over $1 billion, so where is the money coming from?
It also becomes evident why Kevin Quinn was hired to be TransLink’s CEO. Kevin holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University. Translation, he is an over paid spin doctor with expertise manipulating facts and truths to be fed to the public.
I sent an email to he Baltimore MTA inquiring about Mr. Quinn and what I got back was less than reassuring.
You are about to get a new CEO of TransLink in the person of Kevin Quinn. this is a good news/bad news situation. Good news is we are rid of him, bad news you are getting him.
Mr Quinn may be the nicest yes man you will ever meet. he is very personable and friendly but have yet to actually see him in 6yrs have an opinion of his own and if he has any use for light rail he has kept it well hidden.
Hopefully you will have better luck than Baltimore, ridership is off (before pandemic) 2% year over year since he took over.
TransLink has serious financial problems; TransLink has not sourced the extra $1 billion dollars to complete the Expo Line expansion to Langley ( Update – this cost is now estimated to be between $3 to $4 billion!). TransLink does not have the funds to cover cost overruns on the Broadway subway. Covid has cut deep into ridership and ridership revenue. So what does a university trained spin doctor do, smother us with dreams of transit here, there and everywhere, while lurking in financial shadows deflecting the truth.
TransLink also has ridership problems, as transit use has been slowly dropping pre Covid as the following table records. The ridership numbers are increasing at a slower rate when compared to rising population numbers.
Let us not forget that transit ridership in Baltimore decreased 2% a year every year, during Mr. Quinn’s tenure there!
Pre Covid, Mode share for transit was declining.
(Zwei replies: I have checked with independent sources and the trend is still continuing, mode share for transit is still in decline, with ridership increases coming from population growth.)
What TransLink is doing is opening the first shot for the 2022 civic campaign giving current politicians platforms to win their reelections. TransLink has no money, revenue is dropping, there is a $1 billion and growing shortfall of money to complete the Expo Line expansion, costs are sure to increase for the Broadway subway, so the big transit lie is offered and………When you repeat a transit lie often enough, the people tend to believe it!
Memo from Zwei: TransLink’s ills persist, with Mayor’s Council on Transit and the Eby NDP government oblivious to the chill winds of Trump’s tariff war. The planning for Bus Rapid Transit, which is not really real BRT, rather a tarted up B-99 Express bus service on select routes is now a fools game, as the BRT is so designed to feed SkyTrain stations, but demographic and land use changes has drastically changed peoples commuting and travel use.
Falling tax revenue has brought back the hoary issue of “Congestion Charging” or metered road use, will certainly mean politcal suicide for politcans, simply because the current transit system is not equipped to deal with today’s transit issues.
The failure of TransLink to offer a transit system to meet the needs of today’s transit customers, instead they only offer an extremely dated 1950’s bus system and an equally dated and expensive 1970’s light-metro system that has not attracted the motorist from the car.
The failure of TransLink, the Mayor’s Council on Transit and the provincial government to provide a user-friendly transit system will scar Metro Vancouver for decades.
300 kilometres of new SkyTrain, subway, light rail, or bus rapid transit routes needed, study finds.
By: Jeremy Hainsworth
TransLink’s draft Transport 2050 strategy has 100 recommendations to improve transportation over the next three decades.translink
Metro Vancouver’s rapid transit system needs to quadruple by 2050 with 300 kilometres of new routes including SkyTrain, subway, light rail, or bus rapid transit, says a TransLink report released today.The draft Transport 2050 strategy lays out a vision for the region’s future with 100 recommendations to improve transportation over the next three decades.
“Transport 2050 will transform the way we move and live, and it’s imperative that the region’s transportation future is guided by the people who call it home,” TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn said.
And, with growth projections showing a huge influx into the region by 2050, transit expansion will be needed.
“Metro Vancouver grew from 2.38 million people in 2011 to 2.59 million people in 2016. Regional Planning’s modelling shows that this growth trend will continue. The region is anticipated to reach about 3.8 million people by 2050,” said an April Metro Vancouver Regional District report.
Other key TransLink recommendations include completing an 850-kilometre traffic-separated major bikeway network to connect communities with greener, healthier transportation options and promoting electric and shared vehicles such as bikes, scooters, and cars.
The report was released as TransLink opens its third and final round of public engagement on Transport 2050 before the strategy becomes final. TransLink wants to gauge public support the overall strategy, and is seeking suggestions for improvement.
“Based on the input, we will update the strategy before sending to the TransLink Board and Mayors’ Council for final approval in early 2022,” TransLink said in a news release.
“Transport 2050 will have wide-reaching benefits on our lifestyles in Metro Vancouver,” said Mayors’ Council chair and New Westminster mayor Jonathan Coté. “Our ability to move around has massive impacts on our quality of life, climate change, and our potential to grow as a region.”
B.C.’s Minister of State for Infrastructure Bowinn Ma said Victoria is committed to reliable, affordable, low-carbon travel options.
“This includes investing in public transit, expanding active transportation networks and facilities for people who walk, bike, and roll, and supporting the development of complete communities that allow people to live close to where they work, study, and play,” Ma said. “Transport 2050 will provide an important roadmap to guide us toward those objectives.”
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman said Lower Mainland residents expect affordable transportation options supporting climate change action.
“By aligning priorities – such as increasing the region’s use of transit and active transportation – TransLink and the province will create a bigger, better, cleaner transportation system that will serve generations to come,” Heyman said.
The final phase of engagement begins was to start Oct. 12 and run until Oct. 29. Members of the public are invited to learn more, complete a survey, or register for an online open house by visiting transport2050.ca.
