Metro Vancouver mayors call for new fees, taxes to fund transit
Well they areAi??back at it, the regional mayors (I should say well paid regional mayors) are asking for more of our money to fund SkyTrain. Yes, that what it boils down to, more money to fund SkyTrain.
Our regional mayors tend to think they are transit experts, but with the exception of Burnaby’s Derrek Corrigan (who was once CEO of BC Transit) and Surrey’s Dianne Watts (who actually did read a book on the subject) are expert at throwing good money after bad at TransLink, ever hoping that things will improve.
The big problem with TransLink is SkyTrain and the Canada Line and the huge annual subsidies needed to keep them in operation, subsidies that takes money away from the rest of the transit system.
If regional mayors were honestAi??with their constituents andAi??with themselves, they would demand a complete reorganization of TransLink and a complete rethink on how and why we provide public transit. Sadly, I just do not see any moral fortitude with this lot, as they seem to beAi??hell bent inAi??selling the taxpayer out, when it suits them and for many their political masters in Victoria.
Like a spoiled child, it is time to say no to TransLink.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for new fees, taxes to fund transit
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun February 5, 2013
Metro Vancouver mayors have come up with a list of five new funding sourcesAi?? to pay for transit expansion, ranging from a resurrected vehicle registrationAi?? fee to a regional sales tax for transit.
The recommendations ai??i?? which also include a regional carbon tax, land-valueAi?? capture around SkyTrain stations, and road pricing ai??i?? were outlined in a letterAi?? to B.C. Transportation Minister Mary Polak this week.
ai???There is a consensus on the mayorsai??i?? council that economic and politicalAi?? limits have been reached on the rates of existing taxes and fares, so little orAi?? no more funding can be squeezed from established sources,ai??? the letterAi?? states.
The mayorsai??i?? council suggests an annual vehicle registration fee, based onAi?? vehicle emissions or engine size, could reap $50 million.
At the same time, a regional sales tax of 0.5 per cent, collected withinAi?? Metro Vancouver, could yield about $250 million annually, while a $5-per-tonneAi?? regional carbon tax could potentially generate $90 million a year for theAi?? region.
The technical analysis also suggests land capture ai??i?? leveraging the value ofAi?? lands around SkyTrain station development ai??i?? would generate about $30 millionAi?? annually.
As far as road pricing, which is a longer-term measure, the mayorsai??i?? councilAi?? argues it ai???has the greatest potential to achieve our shared vision for theAi?? region.ai??? The letter notes this involves direct pay-by-use charges for roads,Ai?? similar to how riders pay for the transit system.
Mayorsai??i?? council chairman Richard Walton said the group is looking for aAi?? commitment from the province that it would be willing to consider one or all ofAi?? the funding sources and work together on a public consultation process.
They are also asking for the province to enact further legislation for theAi?? vehicle registration fee. Although it has been rejected by the province threeAi?? times, Walton said it is the regionai??i??s best bet for a short-term funding source,Ai?? while other options, such as road pricing, are developed.
Polak said Tuesday that while the mayors have shown ai???good progress,ai??? theyAi?? need to do more to give the public an understanding of why the funding is neededAi?? and where it will be spent. They should start, she said, by coming to aAi?? consensus on the specific regional priorities slated for the near future.
This could include whether the proposed Surrey light rail system, or rapidAi?? transit for the Broadway corridor, is built first, she said, with a ballparkAi?? cost to determine what funding source would work best to cover the cost.
ai???The public gets very frustrated with the idea that they are asked toAi?? continuously pay more tax and more fees without feeling they are gettingAi?? anything more from it,ai??? Polak said. ai???Itai??i??s about building that support … youAi?? have to help them understand what theyai??i??re getting for that increase.ai???
The province has said any funding sources must be affordable for families,Ai?? have regional sourcing, avoid potential negative effects on the economy, andAi?? help TransLink share in the local benefits arising from transit investment.
Walton said the ball is now in the ministerai??i??s court. ai???There is an electionAi?? on, and obviously weai??i??re trying to get some sense if the government is willing toAi?? move on any one of these areas. If the response is no, the public wants to knowAi?? that.ai???
Probably, some mayors in Metro Vancouver don’t realize how close TransLink is to being sued for fraud. TransLink was formed by the NDP to create jobs under the pretence that money spent on transit in operation on a frequent schedule every few minutes to feed the SkyTrains was going to attract drivers to solve our congestion problems. It hasn’t and won’t. It just increases transit costs and results in a bunch of empty or nearly empty buses making life hell for anyone living on a bus route.
Few BMW or other drivers are going to give up their comfortable and safe (air conditioned) ride for the privilege of waiting in the rain or cold to be crammed into a smelly bus or train which lets belligerent or annoying people on board – even if they haven’t showered for months and stink like the garbage dump. Transit by TransLink does not reduce carbon emissions and does not reduce vehicle traffic according to credible research:
http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/public/workingPapers/tecipa-370.pdf
http://daily.sightline.org/2011/12/14/study-more-roads-more-traffic/
For TransLink to try to tax residents in Metro Vancouver to pay for SkyTrain bleeding transit is obscene, therefore. What basis is there for transit if it does not reduce traffic volumes? Look at Toronto; did zillions of dollars on transit do any good? Nope. Toronto has the worst commuting times in Canada after doing exactly what TransLink is attempting to emulate here:
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/08/25/kelly-mcparland-public-transit-stinks-statscan-confirms/
In essence, many if not all of the key jobs at TransLink have gone to shady individuals using transit to profit. Swindlers at TransLink are being paid ridiculous salaries to facilitate the misappropriation of money from taxpayers. To date, they have obtained money from taxpayers to build expensive fare gates and SkyTrain transit, for instance, at inflated costs for the tricksters associated with TransLink to make money or to keep the money sucking SkyTrain network solvent – to keep the greedy and worthless bamboozlers at TransLink in the money and employed.
Certain mayors in Metro Vancouver better think hard about what they are doing. The whole putrid house of cards at TransLink is going to crumble and their political careers are going to crumble with TransLink. Get ready for a class action lawsuit to blow the whole stinking TransLink scam wide open. Go ahead – Peter Fassbender, Geoff Meggs and Gordon Price – political stooges of TransLink – incite a call for a class action lawsuit from drivers.