It was a big game of chicken – and the mayors flinched. After a decade of resisting, the municipalities will start funding a sorely needed expansion of our transit system, in part, with higher property taxes.
We’re glad we’re getting these improvements but at its base, this is still a fundamentally broken system. North Shore residents will be paying disproportionately more given the benefits they receive. Why the province insists on this when there are other more equitable methods on the table is beyond us.
While mayors may not like it, they’re the ones on the front lines of urban planning and transportation for frustrated constituents. And the province was holding all the cards.
The fact is, we need to have more people opting to use the transit system. It was never realistic to think every trip we make across town is going to be accommodated by our road network if we all insist on driving single-occupancy vehicles.
One-third of our greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector and a recent Vancouver Coastal Health study found too many North Shore residents commute by car only, which is a growing threat to our public health.
But you can’t achieve higher transit ridership with unreasonable wait times or crowded buses.
This is the first major expansion of the transit system since before the 2010 Olympics and it’s only part of the need. There is probably already a fight brewing over funding Phase 2 of the mayors’ plan.
Let’s hope in the next game of chicken, we don’t wind up with more egg on our faces.
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