In the first weeks of November, the political attention of the province has shifted away from municipal politics.
Provincial representatives are worried about the outcome of the referendum on electoral reform while the federal Liberals are celebrating the third anniversary of their comeback victory as well as the 12-month countdown for the next country-wide ballot.
Over the past few years, housing has consistently topped the charts as the most important issue facing Metro Vancouver. Transportation — in all of its forms — was usually ranked in second place, unless you happen to live in Surrey, where public safety has always been a paramount concern.
But just what to do in order to deal with transportation is still a matter of debate.
It may seem like ages ago but it was just in the summer of 2015 when most voters in Metro Vancouver rejected the idea of an additional tax to pay for improvements to transit and transportation. Three years later, whether you drive, take public transit, bike or walk, you are still without the infrastructure and safety features that appeared within grasp.
Late last month, Research Co. asked Metro Vancouverites about specific ways in which transit projects could be funded in the region over the next few years. The answers outline a population that is reticent about anything that entails paying more, and decidedly wary of specific concepts. Not one out of six different ideas to come up with funds to pay for transit managed to get the support of half of residents.
The most popular one was tolling bridges, a practice abandoned by the NDP provincial government. Bringing tolls back is supported by 44% of Metro residents and opposed by 53%. Drivers are not that convinced, with 39% voicing support for this idea. But those who commute to school or work by public transit are in favour (52%).
Other jurisdictions around the world have implemented a levy based on the distance travelled by a vehicle in the past year. This idea resonates with 37% of residents but a majority (55%) disagree. Once again, public transit users were more likely to endorse this concept (43%) than those who drive their own vehicles (31%).
Only a third of Metro Vancouverites (33%) would consent to increasing transit fares to fund transit projects. The level of support is even lower for three other ideas: increasing fuel taxes (30%), increasing property taxes (29%) and tolling roads (26%).
So very few residents are currently willing to pay more to use the roads that already exist. Bringing back tolls would be complicated as the public has now grown accustomed to toll-free driving, and it would not be politically astute for the provincial government to abandon a key campaign promise.
An increase in property taxes to pay for transit projects is extremely popular for people who rent (47% support it). As expected, support for this idea plummets among residents who own their homes (16%).
At this point, there seems to be no silver bullet to make sure that some additional funds are available so transit projects can be delivered quickly and effectively. No option is popular for residents, and rookie mayors and councillors will have to deal with different challenges.
We can expect a few ribbons to be cut in the next few months. The Vancouver extension of SkyTrain to Arbutus and all the way to UBC is popular. The long-awaited light rail transit in Surrey was also backed by a majority of residents before last month’s municipal elections but incoming Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum has expressed a preference for SkyTrain.
In any case, asking Metro Vancouverites about how to have better transit infrastructure appears to only lead to people wanting someone else to cover costs.
Faced with so many warring factions, it will take a lot of political will to achieve something that resembles unity.
Mario Canseco is the president of Research Co.
