Minister Amarjeet Sohi announced today how Phase 1 ($3.4 B) of $120 B spending on infrastructure will be distributed.
Earlier information told us that the money would be used to accelerate engineering work for the big-ticket rapid transit items and to do much-needed maintenance on existing systems.
What is the process to allocate this money in BC ? Province already stated they fund 1/3. What projects will go ahead, when ? UBC/Broadway subway (or only 3-4 stations) ? Surrey-Langley ? More buses ? What governing body in MetroVan prioritizes this or is it now each city for itself ? Can money for this year be banked and used in 2 years, commingled with money surely being allocated in 2017 and 2018 ?
Beware the subtle incentive that this creates to maximize ridership in order to secure more funding. Maximizing ridership conflicts with maximizing coverage in order to ensure that as many people as possible have access to transit. Every transit organization has to make choices that affect this balance.
For example, you may be able to increase ridership by dropping all the low-performing bus routes in order to increase service on the high performing ones. But then you’ll be denying transit service to some people who may be relying on it.
While that may be true, I think it should also be a goal of transit agencies to maximize ridership, along with maintaining basic access for all. Maximizing transit ridership means fewer people driving cars, which is better for the environment, for congestion, for health and for safety in the city. It also likely means that a higher proportion of the population can reasonably expect to get by without a car and depend on transit, and thus make the switch, saving them money. Higher ridership also means higher fare revenue, which is always good. So while it shouldn’t be the only goal, it definitely should be a goal.
Good questions, Thomas.
My understanding is that the largest tranches won’t appear until the Liberals second term, and that is about when the construction tenders would be issued in any case. This money, as Ken reiterated, is meant to get the ball rolling on the important geotechnical, engineering and design work on the big ticket items.
The Broadway subway and Surrey light rail projects have priority locally and federally. I find it interesting that the feds prefer taking the advice of the mayors rather than the premier, who in the view of many has been extraordinarily negligent on the transit file while overly generous on discredited road building projects without any public examination of value for money or the long-term economic, transportation and environmental implications.
The last thing we need is for the feds to hand the money over to the premier. In fact, I would prefer the feds manage these projects from the start, including the initial consulting work, while encouraging the province to up its 1/3 share to 40%, which is a little closer to the tax revenue it consumes from the Metro. In fairness, the Metro should be paying an amount equivalent to the tax revenue it receives after the feds and province have finished feeding (10%). Should the premier refuse, then the feds should up its share to 57%, leaving the Metro with 10%. The federal minister seemed amenable to this idea a little earlier, but fell short of endorsing it outright, no doubt to consult with Trudeau and Morneau first.
One would assume TransLink will be handed the keys once the projects are built. In addition, ongoing operations may receive larger annual federal grants now that a government is in power that actually recognizes the fact that Canadian cities have been pulling far above their weight on the national economy while being shortchanged and handcuffed by their overlords, notably the BC Libs, who prefer to play the role of bully.
Federal government hands money to cities now, directly ? In what order ? Why not a subway along Marine Drive from N-Van to W-Van ? Who gets what share ? Whoever is fastest or the best lobbyists or the most advanced plans or the best business case ? What role, if any, plays the Mayors’ Council of Transportation in MetroVan ?
Why should cities fund only ten percent if they are the prime beneficiaries of higher property taxes, DCCs and CACs due to new projects along these lines ?
Will these $s flow to Massey bridge, too or just to subways and LRTs, as they all are transportation improvements ?
DCCs do not result in a “benefit” or “profit” for cities. They are calculated to cover the public costs of the development impact on sewers, water, etc. They are based on the principle of user pay.
CACs are a net benefit to cities, but also to the taxpayer whose taxes will not be drawn down to pay for the benefit, the developer who will profit from additional sales, and the construction workers, architects, furniture and appliance companies, etc. who will outfit the extra units. Win-win-win.
The Massey Bridge was not part of the federal Libs election campaign or policies on cities, and they won the election. Transit has been underfunded and penalized for decades —- no, generations. Roads have not.
Still waiting for a twinned highway from Kamloops to Alberta border. This part of Hwy 1 is a disgrace.
Champlain bridge to Montreal Island somehow looks awfully close to Massey Bridge project, i.e. for trucks, access to/from US and commuters. It is not even tolled. And it is federally funded. Is BC less deserving than la belle province ?
Still unclear who decides pacing of Lower Mainland transit projects: Feds ? Province ? Translink ? Mayors council on transportation ? Individual mayors ? MLAs with clout in Ottawa ? Federal Liberal ridings get preferential treatment overConservative or NDP ridings ? Provincial Liberal ridings that might swing NDP in May 2017 ?
Thomas: suggest you review the Translink website, specifically the section on governance, and the responsibilities of the Mayor’s Council.
if developers paid translink the fair value for density they are given there would be enough $$$$