It being Motordom Day at Price Tags, what better time to plug Matt Taylor’s entrance into the blogosphere:
With the transit referendum coming up next spring I decided to start blogging. My hope is that some of my content will provide ammunition to help win the debate and secure funding. That is not all my blog will look at but it will be a large component particularly leading up to the referendum.
I am setting up my blog here. I also set up a twitter account: @1Matt_Taylor
.
.
You may remember Matt’s contribution with this video – a must-look way of visualizing the impact of auto-growth in the region in the absent of a successful plan funded by the passage of the referendum:
.
.
Soon, another powerful image by Matt to illustrate the impact of rapid transit in the region.
I’m in favour of more funding for alternate forms of transportation but not in favour of a subway to UBC. How can I vote yes on funding but no to a subway?
How about a subway from Clark Drive area all the way along Broadway to around Arbutus or Alma? With stops all along the way, so that people can get off and on and get to where they are going.
A subway is long overdue and essential in Vancouver. The proposed Broadway subway will end at Arbutus, still in the midst of an active, highly commercial area. Alma is too far West for a subway station as it is entirely residential (mostly single family homes) immediately West of Alma Street and mixed (mostly residential and some commercial) between Arbutus and Alma.
I vote NO on more buses. I also vote NO on SkyTrain or LRTs as they look ugly, are noisy and destroy real estate values nearby.
The ONLY sensible solution in a dense region are MORE SUBWAYS: to UBC below Broadway, below 4th to Jericho land, below 41st, below Granville, subway loop through downtown below Robson, Denman and Davie, to N-Van, to W-Van. This is fast, green, useful, property value enhancing and nice on the surface as the Robson, Denman, S-Granville, Davie or 4th Ave can be pedestrian zones with real street life and vibrant culture, not these highways with skinny dangerous sidewalks.
Only further out, where land is cheaper and more plentiful, say Surrey or Langley or Delta is a surface LRT an option.
We honestly believe people who drive a car today will prefer wobbly, slower and more crowded buses to their own vehicle ?
CanadaLine extension from Richmond to Tsawwassen and White Rock with parking lots along the way and new high rises.
Unfortunately we won’t get to pick and chose what we want in the referendum. It will be one question. That said there still is time to lobby to try and get the best question. One thing is clear, it will be a political compromise. When it is time, look at the question and say to yourself is it better than the do nothing option (almost certainly). For me the only must haves are the Broadway extension (at least to Arbutus and definitely an extension of the Millenium line), something for Surrey (I think Skytrain is the best option, but I know LRT will also work here) and enough money for ensuring the rest of the system (buses etc) have enough resources to keep up with increasing ridership. Everything else will be negotiable…even if bridges like the Patullo are added in (although I would have trouble with the Massey tunnel).
Unfortunately the public servants salaries and excessive benefits and pensions are not on the ballot, and that is one reason why current taxes are so high and why this referendum might fail. Only if taxes are lowered, by lowering staff’s salaries & cushy benefits (incl. TransLink employees), other taxes can raised to pay for more service is the right balanced achieved .. but that is not on the ballot unfortunately.
Thomas, you are being quite ridiculous. I am sure that all the executive salaries at TransLink and all the pensions for a year add up to about one day of interest payments on the debt incurred for the skytrain system.