got the transportation blues

Translink halts plans to fight congestion

Most spending frozen while province review decides transit body's fate

The Vancouver Sun

Thursday, October 19, 2006

By William Boei

TransLink directors put a hold Wednesday on nearly all spending to ease future transit and traffic congestion in Greater Vancouver while they wait for the provincial government to decide the regional transportation authority's fate.

Only two projects escaped the axe:

- Directors decided to spend $147 million on 34 new SkyTrain cars to deal with serious overcrowding on the Expo Line.

- Planners will get $16 million to do detailed design work on the $970-million Evergreen light rail line to the northeast corner of Greater Vancouver, even though the project has a $400-million capital shortfall and its future is uncertain.

Directors approved an $880-million budget for 2007, including a $200-million surplus as a hedge against deficits forecast for later in the decade.

But they put a hold on all other future projects, including construction of the Evergreen Line, bus fleet expansion after 2007, a new rapid-bus service to Surrey, spending on roads other than maintenance, buying a third SeaBus, and design and construction of another rapid-transit line along Vancouver's severely crowded Broadway corridor.

The delays in expanding roads and transit are expected to add to already critical congestion problems on the region's major commuter routes, where travel times have increased by about 30 per cent in the past 10 years. The Broadway corridor, where bus routes are overcrowded, has become the most-congested transit corridor in the region.

TransLink bureaucrats warned directors they can't plan for anything beyond 2007 because Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon's governance review of TransLink has not reported back yet, and until Falcon receives that report and makes his decisions, they won't know what kind of funding to expect or even who will be in charge of the region's transportation planning in future.

TransLink starts a new three-year budget cycle in 2008, and there is no assured source of money for projects tentatively planned for those three years in the agency's ambitious 10-year outlook.

TransLink director and Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said the 10-year outlook was never practical, especially once TransLink had committed to shouldering debts from the Canada Line project.

"Now we are starting to pay the piper," Corrigan said. "Now we are recognizing that the plan was over-ambitious. Some of the priorities have hamstrung us."

But TransLink chairman and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said TransLink will be fine as long as the provincial and federal governments step up to the plate with sustainable funding.

"What we need is senior governments to come in and help us out," Brodie said.

Falcon has said he is willing to ask the federal government to help pay for the Evergreen Line, but has refused to commit the province to any other new funding for TransLink.

Directors approved a preliminary design and business plan for the Evergreen Line as well as the $16 million for detailed design. But if there's no new money by next spring, the line may stay on the drawing board.

Brodie defended the decision to spend more money on design despite the capital shortfall, saying if TransLink stops the process completely, there will never be funding from senior governments.

The possibility that the line won't be built upset Port Moody Mayor Joe Trasolini, who recalled that TransLink directors voted two years ago to build it at the same time as the Canada Line.

To the provincial and federal governments, Trasolini said: "It's our turn. If you ever want to show your faces in the northeast sector, take us seriously."

Vancouver TransLink directors were worried that new buses and more rapid transit to reduce congestion in the Broadway corridor may be melting away.

Coun. Suzanne Anton said failing to expand the system "would almost be like giving up on our mandate."

"We've made a deal with citizens," Anton said. "If you get out of your car, we'll provide you transit. So we've got 100,000 people a day at that [Broadway SkyTrain] station out of their cars, and we're not able to keep up with the transit they require. That's the big challenge for this board."

Mayor Sam Sullivan added that he has seen hundreds of people lined up to catch buses at Broadway and Commercial while full buses pass them, unable to take on more passengers.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said her city desperately needs improved bus service while Coquitlam Mayor Maxine Wilson urged the board to extend rapid transit east of the Pitt River into Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.

But TransLink chief operating officer Ian Jarvis said TransLink will have to find new money if it wants to build anything new from 2008 on.

Jarvis said existing funding sources, such as property tax, transit fares and the new parking tax "won't grow fast enough to keep up," and several directors said the public won't put up with more property tax increases.

Corrigan reminded directors that previous Social Credit and NDP provincial governments paid for 100 per cent of Greater Vancouver's rapid transit projects, such as the Expo and Millennium lines, but that funding under the provincial Liberals for the Canada and Evergreen Lines had dropped to 20 per cent.

"The province has completely abandoned a responsibility that was funded by the previous governments," he said.

TransLink also heard demands from the public and lobby groups for more and better transit service, some of them conflicting.

Marion Town, of Better Environmentally Sound Transit (BEST), wanted directors to use some of TransLink's current budget surpluses to buy more buses.

Officials of Douglas College in Coquitlam urged directors to approve the Evergreen Line in principle, including an extension to the college, which they did.

Citizens for Appropriate Evergreen Transit wanted TransLink to scrap the Evergreen light-rail plan completely and build a SkyTrain line to Coquitlam instead. TransLink staff said that would cost an extra $300 million, in addition to the existing $400-million shortfall.

Students from Vancouver Community, Capilano and Emily Carr colleges wanted TransLink to extend its successful U-Pass program to their campuses. TransLink plans some U-Pass additions next year, but major expansion would require more buses, and those were put on hold together with other post-2007 plans.

The Bus Riders Union demanded TransLink cancel the Evergreen Line and use the money to buy more buses. Directors said they admired the young activists' energy and passion, but found their ideas impractical.

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For whom the road tolls

Pt 4 in the series, Destination: Gridlock

National Post

Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006

By Lawrence Solomon

Traffic congestion costs Toronto an estimated $1.8-billion a year, and a poll of business leaders this month said fixing it should be the new city council's first priority. In the final instalment of a four-part series, Lawrence Solomon argues that toll roads are not part of the solution -- they are the entire solution.

Three years ago, with urban road tolls working brilliantly in London, Toronto mayoralty candidate David Miller mused that tolling promised to be advantageous for Toronto, too. His rivals pounced on his statement and Miller meekly recanted. Road tolls held no promise after all, he decided, if they threatened his candidacy.

How does play-it-safe Mayor Miller feel about road tolls today? ''I don't believe they're the right solution for Toronto,'' he answers, adding that he has thought long and hard about toll roads over the past three years.

Does Miller pooh-pooh the successes that London and other cities have had -- an end to gridlock, increased transit use, less pollution -- all because of tolling?

Well, then, I ask, would he consider the more sophisticated system for Toronto? ''[That's] not on my agenda,'' Miller says, ending the conversation. ''You have my position.''

It's hard to blame Miller for his caution. The last thing a politician wants, as he's seeking re-election, is a political wrong turn that could give his election rivals an opening. Although public opinion polls show Miller comfortably in the lead, his lacklustre leadership also makes him vulnerable: According to a Toronto Star/Decima poll released last month, Miller has a modest 53% approval rating, including only 17% who are ''very satisfied'' with him.

What does Jane Pitfield, Miller's chief opponent, think of roads tolls? ''I'm fundamentally opposed,'' she blurts, quickly re-blurting that she would consider letting the public decide the issue through a referendum, but (blurt #3) ''not at this time.'' Moreover, she says adamantly, Toronto should adopt the best practices from around the world, and if road tolls turned out to make sense for Toronto, she'd be all for them.

While Pitfield drives off in all directions, and Miller steers clear of controversy, Toronto's traffic worsens, harming the economy and the environment. Cities with courageous leaders, in contrast, see solutions to traffic and their civic leaders see electoral success.

No civic leader has been more courageous than ''Red'' Ken Livingstone, London's radical mayor, who ran for office in 2000 on what many considered a suicidal pledge to toll private vehicles entering downtown London. To the amazement of a press and political establishment that mocked his campaign, Londoners took his arguments to heart and voted him in. The concept then proved so successful -- within a year trips by car declined 30% while those by bicycle rose by 20%, by taxi 20%, and by public transit 23% -- that Livingstone ran for re-election four years later on a vow to extend the tolling system. Londoners re-elected him.

Stockholm and its mayor went down a more circuitous road. There, left- leaning Social Democrat Mayor Annika Billstrom ran for office in 2002 pledging to avoid road tolls, then overwhelmingly unpopular with the public. The national government, also led by Social Democrats, thought otherwise: Over her fierce opposition, it forced tolling on Stockholm in what became known as the Stockholm Trials, a seven-month test period from Jan. 1 of this year to July 31. After Stockholm residents had experienced the toll system first hand, they would deliver their verdict in a referendum on election day, Sept. 17.

As soon as the Trials began, and the benefits of tolling began to sink in, public opposition began to change. By June, a majority in the city had swung in favour of the tolling. By the end of the trials, only 40% of Stockholm residents opposed the toll and the merits of tolling had become so clear that even in Stockholm's suburbs, where the opposition to road tolling had raged most, the public became evenly split -- 46% for and 46% against. The public sentiment in favour of the trials was cemented on Aug. 1, one day after the Trials ended, when Stockholm's streets once again become congested.

Needless to say, along the way Mayor Billstrom became a fierce advocate of the tolling system, and ran for re-election as its champion.

On Sept. 17, Stockholm residents voted to make the tolls permanent. They also voted Billstrom out of office.

The change in public attitudes towards tolls follows the facts on the ground. Facing a charge of 10 to 20 kronors ($1.50 to $3) to pass an electronic toll gate during weekdays between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., some 100,000 drivers per day decided to make lifestyle changes. Traffic declined by 22%, travelling speeds for buses and cars in the inner city increased between 30% and 50%, public transit use increased by 9%, and emissions decreased by 10% to 14%. A cross-city rush-hour trip that once took two hours, compared to 30 minutes in off-peak hours, took less than 45 minutes during the Stockholm Trials. As a side benefit, traffic injuries dropped by 10%.

In Stockholm, as in London, previous attempts at alleviating traffic congestion proved futile. The latest instance occurred several months before the trials began, when the city added 200 new buses to its fleet, boosted the number of rush-hour trains and express bus routes it operated, and installed 1,800 new park-and-ride places at stations. The expenditure -- some $200-million -- would have been largely wasted had the Trials not increased demand for public services: The additional transit facilities had next to no effect on the number of cars on the streets.

Other traffic-reduction measures, such as bicycle lanes and sky-high gasoline taxes, also accomplished little. Gasoline taxes were also counter-productive in fighting gridlock because they penalized vehicles that are part of the solution -- including private automobiles that relieve congestion by operating on uncongested streets.

Once targetted tolls came into place, drivers had meaningful choices. Some shifted their commutes and shopping trips to different times of the day, when the streets were less congested and the tolls lower; others arrived before 6:30 a.m. or left after 6:30 p.m., to avoid the toll altogether. Others changed their routes to avoid areas subject to tolls, or put off trips that could just as easily wait. Some shared rides with others to also share the cost; still others switched to taxis or public transit or bicycles or walked. With the price signal directing traffic, almost everyone became savvier about where and when they would travel.

The savviness grows around the world. It is now the policy of the European Union government to electronically toll roads throughout the EU. In the U.K., where even rural roads are slated to be tolled by 2014, the next Queen's Speech to Parliament is expected to discuss road tolling. In Milan, road tolling trials begin in 2007. In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is soon expected to unveil a historic plan for modernizing the city, with tolling as a centrepiece. Around the world, more than 100 cities are studying how best to implement tolls.

Toronto, David Miller would have us believe, is a special case not suited to tolling. Trust me, he says, ''I've thought about this for three years.''

Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Urban Renaissance Institute, a division of Energy Probe Research Foundation. He is also a director of PEMA, a non-profit with patents on electronic toll road technology.

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