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.
