Dear Editor:
Is anybody else out there questioning mobility pricing? Does anyone else feel it robs our civil rights and our ability to travel freely whenever and wherever we want to go? Last time I checked I thought I lived in that kind of country. We should all have the right to move throughout our days without the government involved and then charging us for our choices and mode of transportation.
I personally, as many people I know, am not able to take transit. I work with seniors and get them around in my car so transit does not work for us and essentially now you will be fining people on fixed incomes just to get to their doctor’s appointments. I have a dog so transportation discriminates against them and I prefer to be able to spend one or two hours on my weekend errands rather than the whole day it would take me on the bus which would then include a five-block walk home carrying 60 pounds of groceries up a hill and ending up in physio for the next week.
It used to be that one worked hard to own a car and house, those were goals of a successful life and yes my car allows me freedom, it is a good use of my time and I can travel to and work in places that transit will not take me. I can work more hours in a day using my car than transit. I am wondering if that’s the reason kids now are so prone to depression as there is nothing for them to look forward to or strive for – what were once considered goals of a successful life, cars, homes are ridiculously beyond their means.
District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton’s comments in his Mayor’s Message paid advertisement Feb. 7, said that they are doing it for behaviour change purposes and that if by charging 100 per cent of the drivers, they could get 10 per cent to change their behaviour, they would consider the program a success.
Why is my government forcing me to change my behaviour and choices and by punishing me with fines to do so? This is purely Orwellian, in my books.
In the Feb. 2 news story Mayors Talk Condos, Commutes, Congestion, Walton stated that we should all just get used to it as it’s coming whether we like it or not. I personally am getting very offended that our elected officials are dictating and bullying us into things that invade our finances, privacy and freedom. And don’t get me started on the pipeline ...
I took the first mobility pricing “independent commission” online survey to find it hugely biased. There was nowhere to give your feedback; you are forced into answering questions with answers that are not your opinion and that make the project look good. In looking further into the mobility survey, I found it is being funded by the Metro Vancouver Mayor’s Commission and TransLink. Independent? Say no more!
I looked at the maps introduced on their website recently showing the areas where mobility pricing would be used and instead of just being in the busiest areas, Downtown core, etc., these maps include the entire Lower Mainland. I don’t think we should be fined because our government is over-populating the city. I also understand this is the beginning of years of “studies.” I say just save our money and stop right now.
I encourage everyone to get very vocal on this; a second survey is running through March 14 at itstimemv.ca.
Mobility pricing not only invades our pocketbooks, it eradicates our right to freedom of choice and ability to move freely without being tracked, monitored and fined for our choices of daily living in what is considered a free country. I think this issue deserves a formal voting process so it protects our rights and includes the honest opinion of all the people it affects.
Heather Fowler
North Vancouver
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