Has The “War On The Car” Gone To Far?

There is a growing problem concerning public and regional transportation that has become very worrisome and that is the so called "war on the car". This simple phrase has been used with great effect in Toronto, where anti-transit politicians have been elected in the Toronto metro region, whose sole goal is to dismantle Toronto's public transit system. The slogan used was to "end the war on the car" and voters agreed.

In the Vancouver Metro region, there has been great debate between TransLink and regional mayors on how to close the $400 million TransLink funding gap for the SkyTrain Evergreen Line project. The regional mayors, quite rightly, are rejecting increasing property taxes and instead advocating new sources of revenue which include auto levies and road pricing to increase transit funding and in effect, creating a war on the car to fund expensive metro projects.

In Vancouver, the Vision dominated city council has already been at war with the car, by implementing cumbersome new bike lanes and restrictive car parking measures in the city.

Now gas prices are rising, with the price of gas reaching $1.20 a litre this weekend; the car driver feels taxed out.

A transportation expert, some years ago, once told Zwei; "For road pricing to work, the region with road pricing must have an attractive alternative to the car in order for the motorist to favourably comply with the new tax, if not, there will be repercussions at the next civic elections." "And, oh by the way, buses are not seen by the motorist as a viable alternative to driving."

The war on the car is a two way street and may become the war on transit, as we have recently witnessed in Toronto. Could it be that onerous new car taxes that well paid politicians and bureaucrats so glibly propose, could spawn a HST style tax revolt against everyone connected to implementing new restrictive car taxes and rules?

Could it be that TransLink, in order to provide good public transit, must start providing economic public transit solutions which must include much less costly light rail instead of very expensive SkyTrain mini-metro and operate the buses cost effectively which means stop operating politically inspired bus servcies on routes with very little custom (South Delta has three bus routes that operate a hourly or better schedule, yet carry fewer than 20 people a day!) and are heavily subsidized.

When politicians and bureaucrats begin to think that the taxpayer is nothing more than a rube that can be constantly 'shaken down' for more taxes, then I think the seeds for war on the car have been sown and as the Bible states; "As yea sows, so shall yea reap!"