People in Vancouver should realize that driving an automobile on the roads is a privilege. Stop complaining, and start getting familiar with the transit system. Take a look at all the expensive metropolitan areas in Europe, Asia, or even America, you will notice that not everyone could afford to drive. And what do they rely on for transportation? The public transport (subways, trains, buses, etc). Vancouver is no exception.

I suggest you give transit outside Vancouver and Richmond a shot.

In some areas of the GVRD, driving isn't optional.

Sure if you live like 5 to 10mins from a skytrain station it will be ok to work. However, if you aren't near a skytrain station good luck waiting for the bus to come by every 30+mins if you miss one. You will also have to wait longer if it is not during rush hour. Also, bus/skytrain service ends at like what 12:30am in weekends? Good luck with such a relible system. A drive to metortorwn from my house is like 10mins while if I were to take the bus it becomes 40mins.

The issue with our transit system is that only if you live near a skytrain station it will actually make life easier, otherwiese using transit is such a pain.

If transit wants ppl to use it more they should first make the existing bus routes better, provide more buses per route, increase hourse in which it operates and get rib off the whole zone systems.

I think he was talking about Kevin Falcon...

It's definitely a privilege to use the road but I don't like the way they use taxes for a transit system I don't use. I don't want to use a system where's is all about taxing drivers who....

1.Pay for a car and pay taxes on that car.
2.Pay insurance and taxes on those premiums.
3. Go through the test fees from L to class 5 and the time and effort from 16 years old to 20 years plus the instructor I needed in order to pass ICBC exams.
4. Maintenance on our cars every couple of months and taxes from that maintenance.
5. $140-500 deductibles when we're hit by morons.
6. We pay taxes like PST, GST, and "CARBON TAX" on gasoline.
7. Tuners mod their cars providing shops with income.

... Stimulate the economy.

Stupid Transit!

The public should open up an organization that implements new taxes and fees for government officials.

Tired of these idiots taking the money I work so hard for. Wasting billions on things that no nothing but provide a more cushy job and retirements for this over payed idiots.

Put up more toll cameras, watch what happens.....going to cost a lot to keep replacing all those busted cameras that keep showing up.

How is it that using roads is a privilege? Your taxes have gone to pay for all of the roads you drive on.....this is not a privilege to use what you pay for, neither is using any other service that your tax dollars go towards.

Using things like the Golden Ears bridge which did not, directly, get payed for using your tax dollars is another topic all together. Despite the fact that the money that went to building that bridge did come from taxes that you pay for in gas as well as use of the transit system.

This government it a joke, bottom line, if you want more of my money then you better work a hell of a lot harder for it.

I meant Kevin Falcon! The Finance Minister.. I will edit my post

does white rock even have bus service :heckno:


interesting page to look up bc public salaries from 2010 - http://www.vancouversun.com/business.../advanced.html

Basically it's a privilage to drive a car because all of the taxes that the government generate from it.

But it seems to me that it's a right to use cheap ass transit.

That's why most of the people I know use a car to get around and people who use the bus bum rides from people for have cars with the bus isn't around.

"A confidential TransLink report says charging tolls on many more roads in Metro Vancouver could raise the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to make our transit system work."

Fuck that shit. Thats what they said when they jacked up bus fare prices. I don't see any less complaining about our transit system which obviously means it STILL isnt working

They should hike up fares for people who are not students, Install gates for getting on to the platform, and getting rid of the transit officers with issue tickets to fare invaders.

I people actually paid the fares we wouldn't need transit officers in the first place.

White Rock has bus service in most areas.

Much of Langley has no bus service and in the areas there is it's very limited, yet residents pay GVRD taxes.

I'm a devout environmentalist, I love public transit, but the further east you travel the more useless it becomes. If my life was in Vancouver, I wouldn't own a car and would transit everywhere. I wish driving were a privilege, because believe me, there are other things I would rather spend hundreds of dollars a month on.

The more money you give the government, the more they spend on useless shit, thus requiring more money.

Reference: Europe.

What is a "betch plox"? :confused:

holy shit.. my blood is boiling... my work doesnt even involve driving everywhere, but i can imagine... I drive at about 20,000KM a year... even @ 6.7cents /km thats just absurd, i would be paying $1340 a year... or about an extra $111 a month.... I dont know... but FUCK am i furious...

people have to realize when you shift starts @ 7am, no transit is gonna help you get there on time in the morning....

ie. my mom has no option but to drive, she works @ Richmond and we live in Vancouver, if she was to take transit to work that is like 3 transfers, 2-zone pass, and plus the bus don't work early enough for her to make it to work on time....

honestly... this is fucked...

I guess the money to buy more overpriced pieces of shit art that brings no cultural value except uglifying the city has to come from somewhere...

Someone needs to put a hit out on that guy... Scum bag
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another problem @ having low pay is it increases risks to corruption






One has to realize though that regardless of who's leading the city proposals such as these will always arise and be discussed even ones that would seem far more egregious and so we shouldnt pay them much heed at this stage as most of them aren't even given much attention by the politicians; wait until one of these many reports gets proposed by the city to the public to give it any care or concern

All of you people who are focusing on politicians' salaries are not seeing the larger picture. Most of my friends who are intelligent, honest, and well-spoken are already making 60-80K a year. Why would we go into politics if salaries were the same at the expense of our reputations and personal lives?

I'm caught on the fence regarding increased taxes and user fees for transit projects. I'm one of those lucky people who uses public transit on a daily basis as I live within walking distance of a Skytrain station and I work downtown. Public transit for me is awesome. I, in principle, support an increase in taxes to fund expansions because they will benefit me in the long run as long as I continue to live where I live.

On the other hand, I am a car enthusiast and I like to drive my car on off-days. I want to be able to drive anywhere, any time, and drive my car as hard as I feel like it. Paying more in gas taxes sucks. So does paying money to cross bridges. When I'm behind the wheel, I'm king of the road. If someone/something is trying to take that away from me or make it much harder for me to be that king of the road, I get upset and angry.

What was the point of this? Well, I think people tend to view public transit and car use as a zero-sum game. I think most of us need to think about the issue more strategically. As a transit user and a car enthusiast, I recognize that there are no easy solutions.

I smell a revolt

Typical. Always trying to model Europe, or whatever. Europe is fucking tiny. And their public transportation system is light years ahead of Vancouvers. And the road tolls in London, for example, are recent. They were done to ease congestion, not to fund transit.

I would *totally* take transit. BUT IT SUCKS.

About 80% of the net revenue is used towards TFL (for buses, etc), a small part went towards roads, etc.

Yes, the main purpose of it was to ease congestion - but when you bring up the cost of driving, you must also increase the quality of the transit - which they did by adding more buses, etc.


I think people are overeacting about taxes. I, of course, don't want to pay more taxes - but I understand they are a necessary evil. What if I never got sick, should I be angry that I have to pay my monthly MSP's, plus have the gov't spend a large chunk of taxes (that I pay into) towards health care?

What if I never drove, why should my taxes go towards improving public roads?

What if I never went to school here, and never have children... why should my taxes go towards our education system that I do not personally benefit from?


The list goes on and on. I don't want to pay taxes as much as the next guy - but Transit (like a lot of public services) will always need to have funding from taxes. There are few transit systems in the world that are completely self funding (such as Toronto, but they have a much higher Pop Density than us).

vancouver is just getting to expensive to live....:rukidding:

Read UN agenda 21, the goal is to tax everyone out of cars and have people on mass transit pushing the "green" agenda.
I mean we already pay by the KM.... with gas prices as high as they are that alone should go towards maintaining the roads. If people want translink or alternate transportation they should pay for it not the drivers that already pay the gas taxes. Of course that would be in a logical world where you dont have false "green" agenda pushers.