Minister Know Nothing

Posted by on Wednesday, October 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment 

Ministers of Transportation in BC recently have been generally “know-nothings”, as they know very little about transit, public transit, and transportation in general. To keep their highly paid position, they do exactly what the premier tells them to do.

Premier Clark announced a new bridge to replace the Massey tunnel and Minister of Transportation, Todd Stone’s job is to see it done, without asking or answering any questions.

So can Minister Stone answer these questions.

  1. Will the new bridge be tolled and if so, by how much?
  2. It seems the Canada Line is now at capacity and is too expensive to extend South of the Fraser, then would it not be expedient to convert the Canada Line EMU’s to LRT and build with much cheaper LRT instead?
  3. With a 10 lane bridge comes a lot more traffic, but with the bridges from Lulu Island , going North at capacity most of the day, will a new bridge be built across the North Arm servicing Vancouver and/or Burnaby?
  4. It has been claimed that the Massey Tunnel has a mere 10 years left in its lifespan, is there an independent assessment from an independent engineer to back up the claim?
  5. On the radio the minister claimed that you can’t have rapid transit without a bridge, then is the new bridge designed to handle the Canada Line, SkyTrain and/or a mainline railway?
  6. On the subject of rapid transit, does the minister understand that modern light rail has more capacity than SkyTrain and a whole lot more capacity than the Canada Line?
  7. Will residents of South Delta be exempt from the tolls as most medical infrastructure, especially for cancer patients or the elderly, are centralized in Vancouver and tolling the new bridge will bring a finical hardship on those living on minimum wage or pensions who must visit medial centres on a regular basis; in some cases several times a week?

Of course, if the Minister of Transportation knows nothing, he doesn’t have to answer.

Stone dismisses concerns of Metro mayors about Massey tunnel replacement

Vancouver, BC, Canada / (CKNW AM) AM980

Transportation Minister Todd Stone doesnai??i??t have a lot of time for Metro Vancouver mayors who are challenging a plan to replace the aging and congested George Massey tunnel with a billion-dollar bridge.

He says thereai??i??s been plenty of consultation.

ai???Weai??i??ve received letters of input from a good number of the municipalities including Delta and Richmond and Metro Vancouver itself. So I think itai??i??s a big self-serving at this point for any of the Metro mayors to suggest that there hasnai??i??t been any consultation or that the replacement of this asset is is any way a surprise.ai???

Metro Vancouver mayors have passed a motion calling for more justification from the Province on the plan to go ahead with building a new bridge.

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie insists the Premierai??i??s announcement last month surprised almost everyone.

ai???Iai??i??ve never heard anybody say that they were consulted before that time other than possibly Mayor (Lois) Jackson from Delta.ai???

Brodie says concerns raised during preliminary discussions before Mayai??i??s election havenai??i??t been addressed yet, such as the impact on surrounding farmland.

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