Mayors say transit plan would save families hundreds each year

CTV Vancouver: Families promised more money Metro Vancouver mayors are promising more money in families’ pockets if the transit referendum passes. Mi Jung Lee reports.

If voters approve the regional transit plan scheduled for a referendum this month, they will be saving themselves money over the long term, according to the group advocating for a “yes” vote.

A report released Sunday concludes that the transportation and transit plan proposed by the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation would save Metro Vancouver households roughly $360 annually by 2030, and $1,100 per year by 2045.

Campaigning for a yes vote at Waterfront Station on Monday, City of North Vancouver mayor Darrell Mussatto said he hoped the report would help to convince voters of the merits of the transit plan.

“I’m hoping that people realize there’s a lot of benefit in voting yes,” Mussatto said. “It means greatly improved transit here in the lower mainland, and that’s in all our best interests -- transit users and non-transit users.”

Commissioned by the mayors’ council and produced by HDR Consulting, the report estimated household transportation costs under two scenarios: One in which the plan proposed by the mayors’ council is fully implemented, and one in which no substantial new investments are made in transportation in the region.

Most of the projected savings in the report are not based on lower household costs, but rather on time saved because of more efficient travel -- whether by car or transit.

In the 2030 estimate, for example, the difference in total household transportation costs between the “mayors’ plan” and “no investment” scenarios is just $165. The report calculates an additional $320 in savings per year in reduced travel time, where one hour is equivalent to $13.81 saved.

The total savings of $485 is then offset by the $125 estimated annual cost of the 0.5 per cent sales tax increase that is proposed to pay for the mayors’ plan. The result is the $360 estimated annual household savings cited in the report.

The same formula yields the $1,100 figure for the year 2045, with $410 projected in actual savings and $815 projected in time savings, before the $125 in sales tax is subtracted.

All of those estimates seem “overly rosy” to Richard Truscott of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

“They’re not accounting for the benefit of leaving the tax dollars in the taxpayers’ pockets in the first place,” said Truscott, who is the federation’s vice president for British Columbia and Alberta.

When the CFIB conducted a poll of its member businesses last month, it found that 80 per cent planned to vote “no” in the upcoming referendum.

They don’t trust that TransLink can spend the money it already receives wisely, Truscott said, and that makes them wary of giving the transit organization more.

“I think there are some critical issues of accountability that need to be resolved before we can move forward with spending new revenue, new dollars on the transportation system across the Metro Vancouver area,” Truscott said.

Mussatto was asked about the issue of public trust in TransLink on Monday morning. He said TransLink’s governance structure is set by the province, and that his job as a Metro Vancouver mayor is to advocate for the better public transit system the region needs.

“The mayors just say yes or no to a funding supplement,” he said. “We really wouldn’t like to be here, but here we are, and so we want to move forward with getting better public transit for everyone.”