‘No’ vote would lead to transit system failure, says city transportation director

The consequences of voters rejecting a $7.5-billion TransLink package to improve transportation would be catastrophic to both Metro Vancouver and Vancouver’s economy, the city’s director of transportation told city council Tuesday.

From massive congestion and gridlock to ultimately a “failure” of transit and road systems, a No vote would do tremendous damage, said Jerry Dobrovolny. As a result, the city is pulling out all the stops to encourage a positive result in the March 16 to May 29 mail-in ballot, he said.

“We know there is tremendous desire and growth coming to the region, and we know it can’t be accommodated in our existing transportation network.

“So without a significant investment, it will result in overcrowding on transit, tremendous congestion on the road network, and in fact failure of those systems,” Dobrovolny said.

“We would not be able to continue to grow as successfully as the region and city has over the past decades.”

Dobrovolny said the city will employ considerable resources, including its sophisticated social media team, toward promoting a Yes vote in this spring’s transportation referendum.

The referendum plan, which will also draw on the city’s 3-1-1 information system, won’t need a special budget.

All of the campaign will be covered off internally, Dobrovolny said, through staffing reassignments and use of existing departmental budgets.

It was already a foregone conclusion that the city, whose mayor Gregor Robertson is the head of the TransLink mayors’ council, would campaign for a positive result in the referendum.

On Monday, eight mayors, including Robertson, formally kicked off the mayors’ council Yes campaign at Waterfront SkyTrain station.

City councillors weren’t required to vote on Dobrovolny’s report, but that didn’t stop them from commenting. Several questioned how effective the city’s campaign might be.

Others weighed in about the importance of getting a positive vote.

Coun. Heather Deal openly criticized what she called “the blatant misinformation” being sent out by the No side.

Dobrovolny acknowledged that the No campaign has a simple and effective message, which would seriously damage the region’s growth if successful.