TransLink's Mayors' Council members head to Ottawa to discuss transit priorities
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2020 23:55:34 +0000
Members of TransLink’s Mayors’ Council headed to Ottawa on Tuesday, where they will ask for a permanent fund to be established for transit, plus hundreds of millions of dollars to finish projects such as SkyTrain to Langley and to electrify the region’s bus fleet.
If that money — particularly $685 million for the third phase of Metro Vancouver’s 10-year regional transit plan — is not in the coming federal budget, then expansion plans will be delayed and costs will escalate.
“Our message to the federal government is simple: The situation here in Metro Vancouver is urgent,” said Mayors’ Council vice-chair Jack Froese, the mayor of Langley Township. “We need to keep up the momentum on improving service and expanding our rapid transit network or risk falling behind and delaying critical projects.”
Two mayors — Froese and Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart — are on the trip, along with the council’s executive director. They will discuss three key funding areas with cabinet ministers, party leaders and members of parliament.
During the federal election, municipalities across Canada advocated for a stable source of transportation funding in the form of a permanent transportation fund that could provide about $375 million to Metro Vancouver each year.
That means TransLink would not have to ask for federal money each time it wants to undertake a new transit project.
The mayors will ask that the fund, which was part of the Liberal election platform, be introduced in legislation in 2021, with money starting to flow in 2027.
“We’re pleased that the new government has signalled that they will follow through on this commitment from their election campaign,” Froese said.
In the meantime, the mayors will ask for “transition funding” to bridge the gap and complete the third, and final, phase of the 10-year plan.
The federal government committed $2 billion toward the capital costs of projects in the $7.3-billion second phase of the plan, and $370 million toward the $2-billion first phase.
Although a final pricetag for Phase 3 has not been worked out, the council has identified $3.9 billion in capital projects that could qualify for federal funding and is asking for $685 million in the 2020-21 budget.
The biggest project in the third phase is the completion of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain line between King George Station and the City of Langley.
TransLink still has to find about $1.9 billion to finish the project, and the goal is to do it as soon as possible so the line can be built in one continuous phase. If the line is built in separate phases, the cost will increase.
At this point, only four stops, which will take the line to 166th Street in Fleetwood are funded, at a cost of $1.63 billion. The business case for the project is now being considered by the federal and provincial governments.
Other projects include adding five new RapidBus corridors, building the Burnaby Mountain gondola, connecting Newton and Guildford to Surrey’s city centre with rapid transit, and upgrading SkyTrain, SeaBus, bus and West Coast Express services.
The budget submission also outlines $225 million in funding for the 2021-22 budget and $275 million in the 2023-24 budget.
The final goal is securing $225 million to speed up the transition of TransLink’s bus fleet to battery-electric vehicles. So far, there are just four battery-electric buses on a single route as part of a 30-month pilot project.
“Over the next decade, TransLink has the opportunity to transition approximately 50 per cent of our bus fleet to clean, zero-emission electric buses, with full conversion complete by 2040,” said Stewart. “If this opportunity is missed, we will be forced to buy more traditional buses and we won’t be able to realize any significant meaningful (greenhouse gas) reductions from TransLink operations.”
Stewart said a priority for him is advocating in favour of extending the planned Broadway subway beyond Arbutus to the University of B.C. Although building the line is not included in the 10-year vision, there is money in the budget for planning.
“No other city is ready for new investments in transit like Metro Vancouver is ready,” said Stewart.
Last week, it was announced that the city, the university and the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations have partnered to push for the subway extension.
“This unique partnership is yet another example of how our community is coming together to ensure all levels of government continue to prioritize investments in our transit system,” Stewart said.
Township of Langley Mayor Jack Froese speaks at a media conference at the Broadway-City Hall SkyTrain station in Vancouver before members of the Mayors’ Council flew to Ottawa to lobby the federal government.