TransLink postponing some expansion plans – Take that you bad old taxpayer!

As expected, TranLink’s brass is postponing transit projects to punish those nasty people who don’t want to be gouged by new taxes to keep TransLink’s bureaucrat’s pensions and bonuses well funded. That the Evergreen Line light-metro line (the main cause of TransLink’s financial problems) is allowed to continue, demonstrates an utter ignorance by TransLink and the provincial government of the financesAi??of public transit and transit mode. The financial burdens of SkyTrain and Canada line light-metro is a direct cause of Translink’s long predictedAi??fiscal woes.

The mayors South of the Fraser River are seen to be TransLink’s enemies, as punishment, major transit expansion south of the Fraser is all but halted, but dear me, let’s spend $171 million on faregates and not at the busiest stations, so friends of the government can reap whirlwind profits at the expense of the taxpayer.

The problems at TransLink are staggering and the CEO Ian Jarvis, seems completely out of touch with reality. There is only one course of action, fire Jarvis and eliminate TransLink and start anew.

Postscript: TransLink has announced that faregates will not be built at Metrotown and Mainstreet stations. Though it is common practice not to put faregates on lesser used stations on large metro networks, not having faregates at two of the busiest stations on the SkyTrain network is just plain daft. This shows that the faregate program was not to control revenue collection, rather it was a political program and should have been resisted by CEO Ian Jarvis. That he has just acted as a Liberal puppy makes him unfit for the job.

Part of the postponed transit projects is the Express Bus service across the Port Mann Bridge.

One doubts such a service wouldattract much ridership, especially if one would have to make two or three

tedious transfers to reach UBC, SFU, or just about any other destination.

TransLink postponing some expansion plans due to lack of funding

By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun April 17, 2012

METRO VANCOUVER – TransLink will postpone its scheduled transit expansion plans, including rapid bus across the Port Mann Bridge, and along King George Boulevard in Surrey, until it can find alternate funding sources to pay for them.

CEO Ian Jarvis said the decision was made after the mayors’ council on regional transportation announced last week that it would not increase property taxes next year for the planned transit services.

“We don’t have surety of that revenue,” Jarvis said, noting TransLink will now have to consider the impact of the decision. “The prudent thing is to place that expansion plan on hold.”

The mayors council last year passed a supplementary plan for TransLink that would see $70 million generated annually transit expansion through a two-cents-a-litre increase in the gas tax and another form of funding such as a regional carbon tax, vehicle levy or road pricing. A temporary property tax had been promised in the plan as a backup plan for 2013-14 to generate $30 million annually if the province and mayors couldn’t come up with alternative funding source.

But the mayors last week voted to scrap that plan after the provincial government nixed its revenue-source proposals.

TransLink’s decision doesn’t affect the Evergreen Line, which is covered by the gas tax increase, or bus service between White Rock and Langley because those projects have already been started. But it will delay plans for rapid bus along Highway 1 over the Port Mann, which would link Langley with the Lougheed SkyTrain Station, as well as a B-Line on King George Boulevard and plans to increase service on SeaBus by 15 minutes on evenings and weekends, Jarvis said.

Upgrades for several SkyTrain stations, including Main Street, Surrey Central and Metrotown, as well as Lonsdale Quay, to provide more capacity and to install faregates as part of TransLink’s $171-million faregate system, which will roll out next year, are also affected. Jarvis noted two stations — Metrotown and Main Street — won’t have faregates when the program starts next year because they require significant upgrades and there’s no money available, although he said this was intentional.

‘The stations, which will be upgraded when the money is available, will, however, have readers for the Compass cards, which can be used to access all transit services including buses, SkyTrain, West Coast Express and SeaBus.

The fare gates are expected to help TransLink combat rampant fare evasion on the system, which costs TransLink $7.2 million annually in lost revenue. “We will look at the financial situation before making a final decision on those stations,” Jarvis said.

Plans on designing a new Pattullo Bridge won’t be affected because it’s already included in the base plan. But Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said the move will still have a significant effect on Surrey and other communities south of the Fraser, which are expected to welcome 70 per cent of the region’s growth in the next 30 years, and renewed calls for a sustainable funding model.

North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton, chairman of the mayors’ council, agreed that until a new funding source is found “we’re in a holding pattern.”

He said the mayors’ decision to withhold the property tax was not a “statement [those services south of the Fraser] are not important or not needed … but TransLink and local governments have to live within their means.”

He noted TransLink welcomes a provincial audit and is already addressing some of the recommendations suggested by TransLink Commissioner Martin Crilly, who rejected a 12.5 per cent fare increase last week. Crilly challenged the transportation authority to cut costs by about $20 million per year, to cover the lost revenues from the proposed fare increase.

Jarvis said the transportation authority has already been aggressive in cost-cutting and there will be trade-offs in trying to balance the need for service with the funding situation. TransLink is developing new targets for efficiency, officials said, including reducing bus service in areas where the demand isn’t that high and using taxis to supplement the HandyDart system.

Jarvis added TransLink is looking at smaller buses or vans for HandyDart but maintains “we’re not prepared to compromise service to those people.”

He maintains it’s imperative the province and the mayors come up with alternate sources of funding for the future. “To simply rely on the prospect of potential cost-savings in the future is not fiscally sound,” he said.

Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom said he’s optimistic that although there are some “difficult decisions” ahead, that a solution can be found.

“There is a great deal of need for enhanced transit in Metro Vancouver. We have a world class transit system today but when you look to the future there is investments that are going to have to take place,” he said. “The issue is how do we fund those? How do we do it cooperatively with all levels of government at the table? I’m an optimist. I think we can get there.”

Lekstrom added that putting the projects on hold doesn’t mean they’re not moving forward. “What it means is, look, we have to make sure that we find our financial ability to fund the programs that we have to deliver.”

with files form Jonathan Fowlie

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