By Nelson Bennett
If fixing Greater Vancouver’s gridlock problems is your top concern in the provincial election, the region’s mayors have come up with a platform guide to help voters decide which parties have the best pledges for dealing with congestion.
The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation recently launched a campaign called #CureCongestion, in which it asked all three main parties for their stances and commitments on the mayors’ 10-year vision plan.
Priorities in that 10-year plan include building the Surrey Light Rail Transit system and Broadway Subway, and replacing the Pattullo Bridge.
It does not include making a priority of replacing of the George Massey Tunnel with a bridge — the key Liberal Party transportation plank.
After reviewing the three parties’ platforms and responses to a #CureCongestion questionnaire, the Mayors' Council have published a scorecard on how the three parties line up on transit issues.
Only the NDP scores five out of five.
TOLL CONCERN
On the other hand, the Mayors’ Council is concerned with the NDP’s plan to eliminate tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges, as well as the Liberal Party’s pledge to cap tolls at $500 per year.
“The Mayors’ Council has expressed concern that neither policy would help affordability of transportation over the long term, nor improve our region’s quality of life,” the council states in a press release. “In fact, the proposals are an acknowledgment that the current tolling system is broken and in need of a rethink.”'On the central question of capital funding, all three parties have committed to matching the federal government’s $2.2 billion in funding for transit infrastructure projects.
All three parties have also committed to funding an expansion of the HandyDART services.
On three other key policies, only the NDP get full marks on the #CureCongestion scorecard.
On the $360 million needed for general upgrades to the SkyTrain system, neither the Green Party nor Liberals make specific commitments. Only the NDP commit to providing 40% funding for all of the 10-year vision’s priorities.
BRIDGE FUNDING
On replacing the Pattullo Bridge, the Liberals commit to one-third funding to replace the bridge, “subject to a strong business case.”
The NDP unreservedly commits to funding its replacement. The Green Party makes no specific commitment to the Pattullo Bridge’s replacement, but generally commits to the mayors overall 10-year plan.
To help cover TransLink’s share of the capital costs of the mayors’ 10-year plan, the Mayors’ Council wants to implement a new development cost charge on new development to pay for public transit investments.
The Liberal Party has stated that it would support no new local taxes, levies or road pricing without putting the question to a referendum.
The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation is part of TransLink, and includes locally elected representatives of 21 municipalities within the TransLink region, as well as the Tsawwassen First Nation.
Only the Tsawwassen First Nation and the mayor of Delta have come out in support of the Liberals’ $3.5 billion George Massey Tunnel replacement pledge. The other mayors within the Mayors Council generally do not support that project.
