Editor:
Thank you to MLA Vicki Huntington for taking the time to share her thoughts with residents of South Delta regarding the upcoming vote on how to finance the mayors' council plan to get residents moving around the region.
I appreciate her balanced view and the (implied) invitation she's extended for voters to reflect on this very important issue. I would like to try to persuade her to explicitly state her support for a "yes" vote. Here's why:
1. The congestion improvement tax is not only about transit; revenue from this tax will fund improvements to the Major Road Network and a new Pattullo Bridge as well. Not to mention a 10-fold increase in funding for walking and cycling improvements.
The health, economic and environmental gains from making it safer, more comfortable and more convenient for everyone, including (especially) children and seniors, to walk (or cycle) in their communities cannot be understated. The mayors' council plan includes a real commitment to supporting that.
2. We're not stuck in traffic, we are traffic. A plan that makes it easier to drive less is good for everyone, regardless of how you choose to get around. We have a very well used regional transit system, but it's full. And our roads are full (well, our bottlenecks are full).
And we don't have enough safe, comfortable and convenient alternatives. The status quo is not good enough now, and it certainly won't be good enough a decade from now. A serious investment is needed to move us through the next several decades.
3. A 0.5 per cent tax applied to the same goods and services that are currently subject to the PST is the fairest way to fund a plan that provides so many benefits across so many sectors. The tax amounts to about $0.35/day for most people. That's far less than most people spend on fuel for the minivan every month. Not a hardship and not unfair.
Compare that to what congestion costs the region each year and there's no argument. And compare it to what it would mean if we had to fund this plan through property taxes; among other problems with that solution, it would mean leaving it entirely up to residents/businesses of the region and missing the opportunity for visitors to contribute. A huge missed opportunity.
4. What's good for the region is good for Delta; we don't live in a bubble, uninfluenced by the economies of Surrey, Vancouver and other cities in the region. This investment is essential to serving the economic and social needs of the region, the province and the nation (if you consider goods movement and the significant inefficiencies that result from congestion).
35,000 people a year will be moving to various parts of this region each year, for the next 25 to 30 years - that's one million more people! You think we're congested now? How are we going to deal with this if we don't get our act together and fund the significant transportation infrastructure improvements that are needed to move people and goods?
5. Whether a Delta resident works outside of Delta or not, nearly everyone accesses businesses, services and entertainment throughout the region. This plan will manage congestion and make it easier for everyone to get around, regardless of why they're traveling and how they choose to get around.
6. This vote is not about TransLink senior management salaries or TransLink's current governance structure. A "yes" outcome will show that the mayors of the region can work together to come up with a comprehensive, intelligent, plan; they can figure out how to fund it in a fair and efficient way; and they can get our region moving.
If anything, voting "yes" sends a much stronger signal that the current TransLink governance structure is broken. It's not TransLink that came up with this plan, it's the mayors' council. Voting "no" will not fix TransLink and it will not teach them a lesson.
7. And that leads me to my final point: there is no Plan B. Voting "no" will put us right back where we were, with a dysfunctional and ineffective governance model and no plan for financing essential transportation improvements. Depressing.
Lisa Leblanc
