Mayors table $ 7.5- billion transportation plan

Province rejects Metro proposal to use carbon tax

Metro Vancouver mayors want the province to give them a share of the B. C. carbon tax to help fund a $ 7.5- billion transportation investment plan that includes a new four- lane Pattullo Bridge, more buses and rapid transit projects in Surrey and Vancouver.

The plan, unveiled by the mayors Thursday, suggests the provincial government reallocate $ 250 million it collects in existing carbon taxes from Metro residents and businesses to TransLink or, barring that, to increase the carbon tax in Metro Vancouver to fund transit projects in the next five years before moving to some form of mobility pricing, such as tolling every bridge or charging drivers per distance travelled, in the longterm. Mayors argue the plan is desperately needed to handle another million people — and potential three million more automobile trips per day — in the region by 2041.

“Imagine the impact on congestion if we fail to meet those new demands,” said North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton, head of the mayors’ council on regional transportation. “Doing nothing to prepare for this growth is simply not an option.”

B. C.’ s Transportation Minister Todd Stone congratulated the mayors on coming up with a comprehensive vision Thursday, but said there was no chance the province would reallocate the carbon tax funding to TransLink for Metro transportation. It would, however, be willing to discuss the idea of creating a new regional carbon tax to help fund the mayors’ proposed $ 7.5- billion transit investment plan.

Mayors have scrambled in the past 12 weeks to come up with the 10- year investment plan, which is part of an overall 30- year vision, ahead of a June 30 deadline imposed by the provincial government ahead of a public referendum on transportation funding.

The plan, which must be approved by the provincial government, also relies on using existing property taxes, capped at three per cent and collected by TransLink, as well as new transit revenue, tolls on the new Pattullo Bridge when it’s built and cost- sharing by the provincial and federal governments on mega projects such as light rail in Surrey, a subway in Vancouver and the new Pattullo Bridge. The three projects total about $ 5 billion altogether.

Stone said the province would not use existing provincial revenues to fund new Metro transportation projects. “We have said consistently that the referendum will be triggered on any new sources of funding. The existing carbon tax is not a new source of funding.

“I’m not going to be the minister that tells the people of the Lower Mainland that we’re going to jack up your income taxes so the mayors can use the carbon tax to fund transportation.”

Walton said it makes sense to use the carbon tax to fund transit because it aligns with Metro’s goal of ensuring 50 per cent of all travel by transit, bike or foot by 2041 .

Mayors say if the plan is approved, it would reduce traffic congestion by 10 per cent and allow drivers and transit users to save 20 to 30 minutes per day on some of the most congested corridors. It would also bring walking, cycling and transit mode share from 25 per cent today to 36 per cent by 2045, representing more than one million new trips.

Stone said the province would have to analyze the report before meeting with mayors again in the coming weeks, both on the issue of the carbon tax and the mayors’ plan to have the provincial and federal governments each pay a third of major capital projects.

While the province has said it would be willing to participate in funding major capital projects, as long as they fit in with the province’s agenda and have a good business plan, there has been no confirmation from the federal government.

Among the priorities are an underground subway line in Vancouver, running from the Commercial- Broadway SkyTrain station to Arbutus, at $ 1.98 billion, with buses from there to the University of B. C., and $ 2 billion in light rail lines in Surrey along King George Boulevard and 104 Avenue and along Fraser Highway to Langley. The plan also calls for a new four- lane $ 980 million Pattullo Bridge, which can be expanded to six lanes later on.

Also included in the plan are 11 new B- line buses, improved West Coast Express, 50 per cent more SeaBus service, 400 new buses, increased HandyDart, upgrades to the Expo Line, Canada Line and Millennium Line and investments in cycling and walking paths.

According to the mayors, the plan would boost TransLink’s annual budget from $ 1.4 billion to $ 2.2 billion. By 2025, an estimated $ 390 million in funding would be needed each year.

Former premier Mike Harcourt described the new plan as an “extraordinary accomplishment” for Metro Vancouver.

“It’s really exciting because it’s going to have people spending a third less on gridlock and congestion, have them spending more time with their families. It’s going to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, it’s going to result in a higher quality of life and it’s going to transform the way people live,” he said.

While Harcourt believes it’s too early to speculate on the outcome of a possible referendum on a new tax, he believes the funding proposal is realistic and the public will line up behind the transit plan.

“As long as they see that it’s actually going to happen and that we’re already paying $ 2 billion a year to deal with congestion and gridlock, I think people are prepared to invest in mobility,” he said.

Gordon Price, director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University, said he believes a referendum on a new carbon tax could be successful if three things happen: voters believe they’re getting value for their money; the alternative is seen to be worse (“if people think that by not supporting the referendum it’s retaining the status quo”); and the premier and all levels of the political class support it.

If the referendum weren’t successful, Price believes, “we get a second- rate transportation system and probably a third- rate region.”

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, the lone mayor to oppose the plan, argued Metro should have gone with a more realistic plan that would have been more palatable to the public. He maintains he had “grave doubts” that the province would reallocate the carbon tax for Metro transportation, and said the rapid- transit projects should have been postponed until TransLink had funding in place, noting the province would eventually fund them.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said there would be chaos without transit funding. Robertson said he hopes the province realizes the urgency the region is facing and kick in some cash.

Stone suggested the mayors post their proposed plan on the TransLink website to have residents weigh in ahead of the public referendum. No date has yet been set for the referendum, which has been opposed by regional mayors.