Tax Goes Down and Bus Fares Go Up
By Amanda Nicole on January 2, 2008 - 12:59pm
Lately I've been rethinking my job situation: I need part-time hours so that I can have time for freelancing, and I need to be able to walk to work. I'd been struggling over these two points with myself because I'd started to think that maybe I was being too picky. I live on Broadway and Granville, so really I could catch a bus going anywhere from right outside my door. But I just have SUCH a struggle with justifying that money and time spent on taking transit.
Now, with the fare hikes, it would cost my Starbucks teas for the WEEK to take a bus to and from work for 2 days. Not to mention it will now cost $15 (which could have been flowers or some other gift) to visit my grandmother in Richmond Hospital twice a week, and $10 (again, flowers or something else) to go to my parents' house in Tsawwassen on Sunday.
The 1% decrease in GST is not exactly going to be saving someone like me much money, either. Maybe if I were, say, buying a car or some other large item it would help me out, but really, that extra 1% savings is not going to clinch the deal for me when buying a pair of winter gloves. The money is going to slither out of my wallet in other ways, instead.
For a large portion of Vancouverites--students, young parents, ex-students struggling with a student loan, teenagers, those looking to retire soon--this 1% will not help to stuff bills back into our wallets, but rather feels like a consolation prize for walking through the door. So what?
At least now I don't feel so silly for deciding to not take transit to work. Not when the cost of it amounts to hours worked for free in order to get there.
"Not when the cost of it amounts to hours worked for free in order to get there."
Beyond all the hype and ballyhoo about the almighty 2010 Olympics, ask yourself how many of the visiting VIPs and athletes and their handlers, spin-doctors, and hangers-on are going to be riding that expensive rail link from Richmond and the Airport into the downtown core to catch yet more expensive transit to Whistler - in addition to that $600-million that's being poured into fixing up that "Killer Highway" from Horseshoe Bay to Function Junction.
As I said at the very start of all that talk about "Let's have the Olympics!", the vast majority of those events in the past have lost huge amounts of money - and the only for-sure winners are those crafty bastards on the International Olympics Committee - the ones who set all the rules, and walk away fat & happy, while the rest of us are saddled with debts for the next 20 or 30 years to pay for the facilities and trimmings those pirates demanded we build. What the hell's wrong with that picture anyway? Who's running this province - us, or those flimflam artists from Europe who go around conning the gullible into signing themselves into debt for the dubious honour of helping these people make a fast buck at others' expense?
If you can't afford these price increases for transit, you aren't going to be using those multi-million-dollar improvements, are you? Me neither, My Dear. I haven't ridden on city transit for at least 18 years, and that's because it doesn't go where I do when I want to get there. The last time I had to ride the bus from here in North Van to downtown to get to work, I had to be there at 6:00 a.m., and the bus didn't start running over here until 6:00, so I got to work 20 minutes late, and got hell from the boss for it. As soon as my car was fixed, I never set foot on another city bus. I travel for my own convenience, not for the enrichment of bureaucrats and bus drivers, none of whom seem to give a damn if I get where I need to go or not.
Thanks for the support, Ray. I actually went to Capilano College while living in the city, so I know all about the commute you're talking about. Luckily when I was a full-time student, I was able to get a one zone monthly pass and use it for all zones. Most students can't afford much more than that, either.
I choose transit over a car because I like to be environmentally conscious, but with these rising bus fares those who can't afford a car will also be the same people who can't afford public transit. Then what?
In my books, public transit should be a free service for the community. Goodbye excess carbon monoxide, gridlock, drunk driving and all the rest of those things we're entitled to as a community.
"In my books, public transit should be a free service for the community. Goodbye excess carbon monoxide, gridlock, drunk driving and all the rest of those things we're entitled to as a community."
Bless your heart - I fervently hope you live long enough to see it happen. I know I won't.
Haha, me too!
The Canada Line is a public-private partnership, and the private half of that will assume all cost overruns. That being said, its not cheap. I don't want to get into the Olympic spending, but I'll keep an optimistic view until the numbers come in after the games. One thing I do know is that the province received a lot of money from the Feds, which we probably wouldn't see otherwise. That's another issue entirely.
Transportation in Metro Vancouver has been steadily getting worse as no improvements have been made in either roads or transit for some time. The last bridge constructed was the Alex Fraser in 1985(?) or so. The city's reasoning has been to constrict road traffic and force people to use the "faster" transit system. That's fine, but why don't we have rapid transit to Coquitlam, UBC, and further into Surrey? Again, it hasn't been funded to keep up with the amount and location of commuters.
I find that skytrain is fantastic, but limited. Buses are pretty much crap. I feel ripped off taking the bus.
And if we wanted most people to actually use it regularly, then why wouldn't we look at building Skytrain lines from downtwon onto the North Shore? "Ridiculous!" you say...Not at all. There's no reason why they couldn't hang Skytrain tracks underneath Second Narrows and Lions Gate Bridges, and run a loop from one to the other including the downtown core. They could even extend that further, if there were sufficient users. Once upon a time, there were streetcars running up & down Lonsdale, I'm told. If they could do that away back when, then they could have rapid transit all the way from Horseshoe Bay and Lynn Valley connecting to downtown via the Lions Gate and Ironworkers Memorial (Second Narrows) Bridges. And the rest of us in between would find it a "piece of cake" to walk a few blocks to catch a main line commuter train going to downtown or wherever - including connections to the bedroom communities out in the valley and south of town. Like my former car salesman friend used to say: "For enough money, we can do anything!" - But it isn't only the money. First, we need to have the vision and the ability to make some actually useful and sensible plans for the future. That future isn't going to settle for 1975 or 1985 infrastructure, and residents aren't going to pay Mercedes prices for cattle-truck style transportation. And I don't care what those bureaucrats on the GVRD Board say. There isn't a damned one of them who ever rides on metro transit on any kind of regular basis, and you can't even drag most of them near it for a photo-op once every five years. So let's worry about you & me and the other million of us who could really use better ways of getting around. What do you say, folks?
Warren: I completely agree, SkyTrain is great in that it's fast and runs often enough but the number of stops is far too limited, and the buses leave a lot to be desired. I live at a timing point, yet they are never on time. And you're much more optimistic about the Olympics than I am.
Ray: You're absolutely right; why is it that transit seemed so much more effective 30, 50 years ago? The public transit system in urban Vancouver is just embarrassing, considering that it's rather advanced in other aspects, like city cleanup, recycling, programs like Zip Cars and such. Much dirtier, less "green" metropolitans like New York or Paris or London have a far more effective system.
WEll....at least on sundays its only 250 even if you are going to tsawwassen, soo thats a positive for the family sunday dinner.
That's true. I guess I was just caught up in the rant. Also, you can use any concession tickets you've bought before Jan. 1, so at least those are being honoured. Should've bought a stack...