The Editor,
One has to shake their head with the Metro Vancouver congestion tax referendum, as clearly the Metro mayors haven't a clue what they are talking about.
The name "Metro Vancouver congestion tax" is false advertising, as the only way to reduce road congestion and associated gridlock is by reducing road space for cars, and this is not being done.
Subways don't reduce congestion and are only built to accommodate high ridership on routes which demand long trains and large stations. Traffic flows along Broadway come nowhere close to justifying a multi-billion dollar subway and if built, will drag TransLink into a financial morass as it has done in other cities. The ill planned LRT for Surrey, is being planned as a poor man's SkyTrain and will do little in alleviating congestion.
Don't Metro mayors realize that after investing over $9 billion in "rapid transit" mode share by auto has remained at 57% for over 20 years?
The one mode with a proven record of alleviating congestion is modern LRT because it uses road space for its route, thus modern LRT reduces road space for cars while at the same time offers a convenient and attractive transit alternative. It's why LRT is built around the world and SkyTrain is not.
So, instead of the oxymoronic "Metro Vancouver congestion tax," a more accurate name would be "Let's do the same thing over again and hope for different results" tax.
Oh, excuse me, that's the definition for insanity.
Malcolm Johnston
Rail for the valley
Delta
