The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce is backing the Metro Vancouver mayors' $7.5-billion transportation plan and its proposal to pay for it with a regional 0.5% PST increase.
"We think we need transit for business, for the movement of goods and we need to improve the transportation system with more people moving in to this area, particularly in the next 20 or 30 years," said Michael Hind, the local chamber's executive director. "We need to invest in the future and this is the best way."
The organization is adding its name to those in the Better Transit and Transportation Coalition, which includes the Vancouver Board of Trade, Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association, David Suzuki Foundation, the BC Chamber of Commerce and more.
The Tri-Cities Chamber's policy committee and board of directors agreed on the move to join the coalition, noting that of all the funding options presented by Metro mayors, the 0.5% PST increase within Metro Vancouver was seen as the least prohibitive to business.
"Nobody likes any of the options but the bottom line is we have to pay for it somehow," Hind said. The preferred method would be road pricing, he added, but the technology for such a system will likely not be feasible for another five to 10 years.
"In the meantime this is the least costly of all the methods, and it spreads it around the best," Hind said, noting they'll be pushing for more transit to connect Burke Mountain, Port Coquitlam and other areas of the Tri-Cities to the Evergreen Line.
PoCo Mayor Greg Moore, who also chairs the Metro Vancouver board, said the chamber's backing is "excellent support" for the funding tool being proposed and that overall he's been hearing positive feedback on the referendum question on the Mayors' Transportation and Transit Plan.
"I think what we need to do in the next few months is educate people on what's actually going to be in the plan for the Tri-Cities, so people understand if they vote "Yes" for the [PST] increase what the service level increases will be," Moore said.
And while some of the big ticket projects in the mayors' plan include light rail for Surrey, a Broadway subway line in Vancouver, new B-Line express routes and more SeaBus sailings, Moore said that Tri-City residents stand to benefit significantly as well.
Currently 27% of Tri-City residents live within 400 m or walking distance to frequent bus service (defined as every 15 minutes). Under the mayors' plan, it will go up to 60% and, when employment and shopping are included, 78% will be within walking distance of a frequent bus service.
"This is key - you don't need to memorize a bus schedule, because you go to a stop and you wait an average of 7.5 minutes, so it makes it a lot easier to use the bus system," Moore said.
Another part of the plan will include reinstating funding for new capital projects in the Major Road Network, which would include PoCo's Fremont Connector linking Burke Mountain to Lougheed Highway and the Mary Hill Bypass.
Moore added that the inclusion of independent oversight and public reporting should help convince the public that "the projects we say are going to be delivered are delivered."
