'Stopgap' transit funding approved by Metro Vancouver mayors

It’s the last stop Mayor’s Council telling the federal government to get on board. As much as we congratulate and appreciate the province for stepping up, we we know that the absence of a very important player in all of this. The federal government on Thursday mayors across Metro Vancouver approving a new investment plan. It includes increasing service on 60 bus routes to address overcrowding, extending evening hours on 11 routes, increasing Candida line frequencies and enhancing late evening handy dirt service. But what it doesn’t include is long term funding from Ottawa. By the end of next year we hit a fiscal Cliff and the stark reality is that without additional funding we won’t have enough revenues to cover the cost of keeping the current system running, let alone funding much needed expansion. For example, right now 1/3 of all buses in Surrey Langley in Vancouver are overcrowded at peak times, Translink struggling to keep up with demand and rising costs. And with this fiscal plan approved, gears now shift to find sustainable funding from Ottawa and Victoria. Without it, Translink will be hit by a speed bump. You’ve talked about a significant reduction in service and cuts. I think we need to begin to provide greater detail of what that would look like. The province is trying to avoid whatever those service cuts may be. Just last week, Victoria came to the table with $300 million in funding, but that does not factor in population growth and investment funds beyond this year. I hope that the provincial government, whoever that provincial government is. Will be a partner in that maybe. My disappointment with the federal government is that we we were working together on making sure that Translink got through the pandemic, but we also recognized that it was important to be there for the recovery as well. We’re there for the recovery, meaning the federal government has not been making it hard to keep Translink financial books on track. Richard Susman, Global News, Vic.