PST hike of 0.5% proposed for Metro Vancouver transit referendum

[iEatClams]

Originally Posted by meme405

That's bullshit. Kevin Falcon's recommendation (made in his report to the rest of the ministry of transportation in 2006) was only related to the Expo and Millennium lines, and then still under construction Canada Line. In fact his recommendation was to develop the system first on the Canada Line for which the original proposal by SNC lavalin had actually included the base systems in place for a fare gate type structure. Then they would carry that system to the rest of the skytrain stations.

It was translinks idea to try and implement the entire thing across busses, ferries and skytrain when the government said they will be the ones paying for it.

So sure if you want to say that the government forced that one go for it, but the truth of the matter is the government told translink to do something reasonable, and said they would even pay for it, and translink managed to make a fucking mess of things as usual.

For anyone who is at all still following the issue, busses are the reason the cards work like a piece of shit. There is no way logistically to make this particular method of monitoring reliable based on the current zone structure.

I am LIVID about the zone structure system that we have here. It's total incompetence and stupid at best. Just this zone structure system alone tells me why Translink is poorly run.

I still cant believe that someone going from patterson to joyce (1 station) has to pay for 2 zones, but going from waterfront to joyce station pays 1 zone.

GET RID OF THIS STUPID ZONE SYSTEM ALREADY!!

[Klobbersaurus]

Gordon Clark: Yes-vote war chest is another reason to vote No in TransLink tax plebiscite

using our tax dollars to try to push this yes vote which will probably not pass

[minoru_tanaka]

Originally Posted by Klobbersaurus

Gordon Clark: Yes-vote war chest is another reason to vote No in TransLink tax plebiscite

using our tax dollars to try to push this yes vote which will probably not pass

We'll need a new tax to cover this cost

[melloman]

Now I provide you with...

90% of Translinks ideas

[Tone Loc]

Originally Posted by iEatClams

I am LIVID about the zone structure system that we have here. It's total incompetence and stupid at best. Just this zone structure system alone tells me why Translink is poorly run.

I agree. The zone system seems to me as completely arbitrary and should be changed. They should charge people per station travelled, i.e., $0.25 per station. They already have the Compass card already, it makes sense for people to just tap when they get on and off and only charge them for their distance covered.

Also, the fact that it took Translink so long to implement faregates is absolutely ridiculous. How hard is it to hook up a magnetic stripe reader to a turnstile? I am no civic engineer but I am sure it does not cost $100 million to install faregates at SkyTrain stations if it was done using the existing system instead of introducing Compass which is still not underway.

[pastarocket]

Finally, the Mayors' Council is giving some specific information on the type of road improvments project that would happen IF there is a yes vote for the transit referendum:

Mayors' Council unveils road improvement projects, if transit tax is approved | News1130

LANGLEY (NEWS1130) – We’re finally getting some specifics on what road improvement projects will be built if you tick the ‘yes’ box in the upcoming transportation tax vote.

It will mean more than just extra buses and trains, according to the Mayors’ Council. Their plan includes $750 million for road expansion and maintenance over the next decade.

The areas south of the Fraser, in particular, will see the benefits of this, says City of Langley Mayor Ted Schaffer.

That includes spending $50 million to expand 64th Avenue in Surrey to four lanes. “It’s going to be improved, which is great for everybody. You’ve got the flow of traffic going east to west and the decrease in congestion on that corridor.”

“Traffic is flowing through communities — flowing through Surrey, flowing through Langley Township and Langley City itself, so it benefits all parties involved,” adds Schaffer.

The road connects Langley, Surrey and Delta from Highway 10 and Glover Road to Highway 91. It goes from four lanes down to two lanes in several areas throughout Surrey, which sometimes causes traffic jams at busy junctions. Roughly, 28,000 vehicles use 64th Avenue daily, and this volume is projected to increase by 20 per cent over the next decade.

“Drivers need to know our plan benefits them directly too. The Mayors’ Plan will fix the bottlenecks in the Surrey sections by widening the 64th Avenue to four lanes, improving sidewalks, and making it safer to cycle,” explains Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner.

The Mayors’ Council claims more than just 64th Avenue will be addressed should the spring vote go through. It also says it will ensure 200th Street, 216th Street, Fraser Highway and several other roadways see improvements

[Bonka]

News1130 saying new committee to be formed and headed by Jim Pattison if they win. PR machine pulling in all the stops ie: Canucks/Linden.

BREAKING: Billionaire businessman to oversee congestion tax revenue
Metro Vancouver mayors have announced a public accountability committee to oversee any tax revenue generated if the 'Yes' side wins the upcoming transportation plebiscite. They've named Jim Pattison as head of the committee.

[meme405]

Am I the only other person sick of paying for Surrey's ever expanding need for infrastructure? Same goes for the valley to a degree.

I'm on the north shore, and before anyone gets into the rich thing or w/e just fuck off. I work hard to live here, and I'm sick and tired of being sucked dry to pay for new skytrains and roads for surrey.

Call me when lions gate has more than 3 lanes, or when lonsdale is repaved, or the junctions along marine are finally synchronized and make some level of sense.

The only fucking project we have seen is this stupid Low road expansion, and the only reason that happened is because Neptune Cargill footed most of the bill.

Other than that, I as a road user am supposed to be impressed by the fact that they extended the cantilevers on the 2nd narrows for more bicyclists? Fuck that.

Tax the fucking people in surrey living for 1/4 of my housing cost if they want better roads.

EDIT: Go read what the Mayor of West Van said about the extra taxes to fund translink. That township was so fed up they just started their own bus service. For the record most of North Van's bus system is just as shitty rural places. Night buses are non-existant, and bus service on sundays borders on appalling.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...ndum-1.2933243

[6o4__boi]

Goddamn, its like watching an ugly, rich kid trying to get laid...they'll try just about everything.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by meme405

Am I the only other person sick of paying for Surrey's ever expanding need for infrastructure? Same goes for the valley to a degree.

On this note, you do realize that Surrey has the fastest population growth among all of Metro Vancouver, right? As a matter of fact, they are on pace to outsize Vancouver as the most populous municipality in a couple of years. With the huge landmass Surrey has, it is no surprise that Surrey has a continual need for infrastructure development to support its population growth in size / spread and density.

[meme405]

Originally Posted by Traum

On this note, you do realize that Surrey has the fastest population growth among all of Metro Vancouver, right? As a matter of fact, they are on pace to outsize Vancouver as the most populous municipality in a couple of years. With the huge landmass Surrey has, it is no surprise that Surrey has a continual need for infrastructure development to support its population growth in size / spread and density.

I understand why the growth is there, I've got nothing against Surrey. I am just tired of continually pooling my money to help build Surrey.

The reason you can buy a huge house in Surrey for like 1/4 the price of the Burnaby or Vancouver is because of a lack of infrastructure. Those people chose to make that tradeoff, they would rather have to drive an extra 30 minutes to get to transit so that they can live in a 6000 sqft house with 3 acres. So why the fuck should I, someone who chose to live in a more expensive neighbourhood so that I can more readily access transit, have to continually pay to build them skytrain stations so that in the next decade their property soars in value compared to mine?

People in surrey continue to just spread further and further east and south, meanwhile those in landlocked areas such as vancouver, north van, burnaby, west van, continue to fund their infrastructure improvements just so that they can continue to live in mansions that cost only 300k. Meanwhile we all either pay quadruple the price, or live in a fucking shack.

[Phozy]

I wonder how much they pay those guys standing at train stops asking for a signature for their petition

[Traum]

I get where you are coming from. I suppose it is no different than how the federal government has inter-provincial transfer funds, and the have-not provinces are subsidized by the richer provinces.

It isn't something we can avoid as long as Metro Vancouver continues to have the same number of municipalities as it does now, and it is no different than how other municipalities have been subsidizing Vancouver all these years.

Originally Posted by meme405

I understand why the growth is there, I've got nothing against Surrey. I am just tired of continually pooling my money to help build Surrey.

The reason you can buy a huge house in Surrey for like 1/4 the price of the Burnaby or Vancouver is because of a lack of infrastructure. Those people chose to make that tradeoff, they would rather have to drive an extra 30 minutes to get to transit so that they can live in a 6000 sqft house with 3 acres. So why the fuck should I, someone who chose to live in a more expensive neighbourhood so that I can more readily access transit, have to continually pay to build them skytrain stations so that in the next decade their property soars in value compared to mine?

People in surrey continue to just spread further and further east and south, meanwhile those in landlocked areas such as vancouver, north van, burnaby, west van, continue to fund their infrastructure improvements just so that they can continue to live in mansions that cost only 300k. Meanwhile we all either pay quadruple the price, or live in a fucking shack.

[68style]

I feel the same way in general as meme does... Canada is very much a country that caters to the lowest common denominator. Constantly. We're only as fast as our slowest people here...

If you want the type of life being described, you have to go to the USA to get something much closer to it.

As for Pattison working for free on this, fuck that noise, he's not doing this from the bottom of his tiny black coal heart, I'm sure no Pattison related company is going to benefit from future work on these projects right? Give me a break... transparent as the fraser river.

[Spoon]

Pretty sure you'll find a Save-on-Foods right next to every skytrain station if Pattison's onboard.

[tiger_handheld]

Originally Posted by Bonka

News1130 saying new committee to be formed and headed by Jim Pattison if they win. PR machine pulling in all the stops ie: Canucks/Linden.

So they hire a guy who got rich by selling cars to oversee public transportation?

Isn't that like letting the the fox watch the hen house?

#WTF

[sdubfid]

I would buy a fleet of school buses and modify them to have side exit door. Short, medium and long buses depending on route. All a modular design using an inline 6cyl cummins engine. No fancy hids. All parts would interchange between each bus and mechanics would only need to be trained once. Keep parts in stock for 1 engine type only.

but nooo cant even figure out a fare gate, when I went to the circus as a kid even they can figure out a fare gate

[SoNaRWaVe]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

So they hire a guy who got rich by selling cars to oversee public transportation?

Isn't that like letting the the fox watch the hen house?

#WTF

i could be wrong about this, but i think they are playing on jim pattison's past.

he had nothing, and he worked from nothing to what he is now. they are probably playing on the fact that he knows how to handle the money to make the company work properly. but this is just my guess.

@meme: we don't get to choose and pick where our tax dollars go to work. this pst would affect everyone. meaning that surrey tax payers money would probably go building into the future broadway corridor. it goes both ways.

[Manic!]

Just legalize weed and use the tax money they get from that. The government already makes tones of money off the provincial tobacco tax.

[CRS]

Originally Posted by Manic!

Just legalize weed and use the tax money they get from that. The government already makes tones of money off the provincial tobacco tax.

Shockingly, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

[nah]

pattison is 86, he could go any day...who oversees the money then??

[pastarocket]

Originally Posted by nah

pattison is 86, he could go any day...who oversees the money then??

Not only is Jimmy P. old enough to be our grandfather, the dude is out of touch with the reality of transit users.


Do people seriously think Pattison can relate to a person who takes a bus, SkyTrain, West Coast Express, etc?

He's a BILLIONAIRE! What the fuck does he know about taking transit?


There's the potential for conflict of interest with Pattison overseeing the spending. How so? Well, you notice that Translink is encouraging retail development near Skytrain stations like Broadway and Commercial.

If the Broadway Skytrain line is built, do you think that helps boost Pattison's profitability on his businesses if he says "Hey, I can build a Save On Foods near one of the stations on the Broadway line".

Think about it. Although he is not getting paid for this overseeing position, I think that there is the potential for conflict of interest because Jimmy P. can make more money out of expanded transit development.

[murd0c]

Originally Posted by Manic!

Just legalize weed and use the tax money they get from that. The government already makes tones of money off the provincial tobacco tax.

I agree with this 100%

[Tapioca]

I find it very ironic that people are calling Patterson's appointment stupid when this is exactly the type of thing Translink should be doing to save money. In this thread, we have people calling for the selling of naming rights to stations to big companies and we also have people calling on Translink to become more like a private company.

So what if Patterson gets a fast-track on land development near a station? It's better than paying some fat cat executive a salary, after all. No one works for free.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by sdubfid

I would buy a fleet of school buses and modify them to have side exit door. Short, medium and long buses depending on route. All a modular design using an inline 6cyl cummins engine. No fancy hids. All parts would interchange between each bus and mechanics would only need to be trained once. Keep parts in stock for 1 engine type only.

but nooo cant even figure out a fare gate, when I went to the circus as a kid even they can figure out a fare gate

If only it were so easy. I would imagine that accessibility issues, ease of ingress/egress, and safety have a lot to do with it. Of course, we could speculate that transit procurement is rife with kickbacks.