Dear Editor:
Re: Nice Things, Dec. 7 editorial viewpoint.
If you oppose the West Vancouver B-Line, please consider the following:
1) What percentage of traffic along Marine Drive is comprised of single occupant vehicles? In other words, how many people are moving per hour compared to how many TransLink can move per hour with the B-Line?
2) What percentage of the workforce actually lives in West Vancouver? My guess is it’s probably pretty low, maybe less than 25 per cent, which means about 75 per cent commute.
According to Vancity, a living wage in Metro Vancouver is calculated to be $20.91 per hour. Assuming the business owners who oppose the B-Line all pay their employees at least the minimum living wage, and 75 per cent of their employees have to commute, do they also include the commute time?
Based on the 2016 census, the average (one-way) commute time in Metro Vancouver is 43.6 minutes, or approximately 1½ hours total per day. At $20.91 per hour that’s $31.36 a day, $156.82 a week, or $7,841.25 a year.
If you’re a responsible employer and you’re not paying a living wage, and/or you’re not paying the commute time of your employees, then at least consider supporting more efficient transit.
If you’re still opposed to the B-Line, consider that fewer cars means less congestion and lower carbon emissions. As experts meet in Poland at COP 24 and scientists around the globe are sending out increasingly urgent messages that we must reduce our carbon emissions.
Now the loss of a single lane of primarily single occupant (73.2 per cent according to 2016 census) vehicles seems reasonable.
We all need to do our share – take transit, ride-share, buy locally, be kind to the environment.
Bob Lorriman
West Vancouver
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