Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion II

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Fewer riders is fewer riders no matter how you try and spin the reason behind it.

And I note you didn't even attempt to address their yawning budget shortfall.

What's the BC highways budget shortfall again?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

What's the BC highways budget shortfall again?

Well according to Google's handy AI, BC collects $1 billion annually from gas taxes while Budget 2025 allocates just $142 million to road infrastructure. Plus even buses get to leach off roads.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Well according to Google's handy AI, BC collects $1 billion annually from gas taxes while Budget 2025 allocates just $142 million to road infrastructure. Plus even buses get to leach off roads.

Google's Intelligence is much like yours. The BC budget for transportation shows all Public transportation expenditure at $373m, (which includes BC Transit and TransLink) and $705m on Highway Operations. Try using the roads with the millions of riders driving cars instead of taking transit!

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Well according to Google's handy AI

This explains a lot.

If you actually read the BC budget you'd know that Budget 2025 allocates half a billion dollars to the Fraser Valley Highway 1 expansion in 2025 alone. Another half a billion for highway and side road rehabilitation. A quarter billion to the Massey Tunnel replacement which isn't even shovels in the ground. Another half billion dollars a year is still going to repair the highways flooded out in 2021.

Oh and those fuel taxes? Let me educate you on this legacy tax called the carbon tax.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

This explains a lot.

If you actually read the BC budget you'd know that Budget 2025 allocates half a billion dollars to the Fraser Valley Highway 1 expansion in 2025 alone. Another half a billion for highway and side road rehabilitation. A quarter billion to the Massey Tunnel replacement which isn't even shovels in the ground. Another half billion dollars a year is still going to repair the highways flooded out in 2021.

Oh and those fuel taxes? Let me educate you on this legacy tax called the carbon tax.

Yawn. None of which changes the fact that in the article Translink was basically boasting "our ridership's down but not as much as the other guys". And they can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. I wouldn't have thought you'd be celebrating being dependent on the taxpayer teat for survival.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Yawn. None of which changes the fact that in the article Translink was basically boasting "our ridership's down but not as much as the other guys". And they can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. I wouldn't have thought you'd be celebrating being dependent on the taxpayer teat for survival.

Are you some sort of anarchist now? Infrastructure is not expected to return 8% YoY profits. Highways can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. Hospitals can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. Police forces can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. Heaven forbid.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Well according to Google's handy AI, BC collects $1 billion annually from gas taxes while Budget 2025 allocates just $142 million to road infrastructure. Plus even buses get to leach off roads.

Dunning-Kruger in full effect.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Google's Intelligence is much like yours. The BC budget for transportation shows all Public transportation expenditure at $373m, (which includes BC Transit and TransLink) and $705m on Highway Operations. Try using the roads with the millions of riders driving cars instead of taking transit!

Not sure where that $1 billion in income stems from either (maybe the CTF?); last year's budget breakdown had fuel taxes as 1% of revenue, or ~$800 million at best, split across both transit and highways... so the gas tax does not cover operating expenses.

Remember folks, never take a clanker at its word. Always get a second opinion.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Are you some sort of anarchist now? Infrastructure is not expected to return 8% YoY profits. Highways can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. Hospitals can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. Police forces can't survive without massive infusions of taxpayer money. Heaven forbid.

And as a BC taxpayer (who I thought was more fiscally responsible) you're hunky dory with just shovelling more pork out the door? At some point this all comes home to roost. Being in government means making tough choices not just continually handing out cash.

From a $5.7 billion surplus to an $11.6 billion deficit: How did B.C.'s finances go astray?
Premier David Eby had billions in the coffers when he took office but large-scale spending and lowered revenues have cratered finances
Author of the article: By Alec Lazenby
Published Sep 16, 2025

In just under three years, B.C.’s NDP government has gone from projecting billions in surpluses to logging a record deficit. So how did the province’s finances flip in just a few years time?

When Premier David Eby took over in 2022, B.C. was on track to post a $5.7 billion surplus for the 2022-23 fiscal year. He had a choice: Spend the money on one-time programs or use it to pay off some of the province’s debt...

....Deficits matter because of the impact they have on provincial borrowing costs, say economists.

Since Eby took office, the provincial debt has gone from $89 billion to a projected $155 billion and several downgrades have increased the province’s borrowing costs, projected to reach $5.1 billion this year. This reduces the amount of money the province has available to spend on services...

https://vancouversun.com/news/from-surplus-deficit-how-did-bc-finances-go-astray

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by whatnext

And as a BC taxpayer (who I thought was more fiscally responsible) you're hunky dory with just shovelling more pork out the door? At some point this all comes home to roost. Being in government means making tough choices not just continually handing out cash.

From a $5.7 billion surplus to an $11.6 billion deficit: How did B.C.'s finances go astray?
Premier David Eby had billions in the coffers when he took office but large-scale spending and lowered revenues have cratered finances
Author of the article: By Alec Lazenby
Published Sep 16, 2025

In just under three years, B.C.’s NDP government has gone from projecting billions in surpluses to logging a record deficit. So how did the province’s finances flip in just a few years time?

When Premier David Eby took over in 2022, B.C. was on track to post a $5.7 billion surplus for the 2022-23 fiscal year. He had a choice: Spend the money on one-time programs or use it to pay off some of the province’s debt...

....Deficits matter because of the impact they have on provincial borrowing costs, say economists.

Since Eby took office, the provincial debt has gone from $89 billion to a projected $155 billion and several downgrades have increased the province’s borrowing costs, projected to reach $5.1 billion this year. This reduces the amount of money the province has available to spend on services...

https://vancouversun.com/news/from-surplus-deficit-how-did-bc-finances-go-astray

"The swelling figures were largely attributed to the end of the carbon tax program, a cooling housing market resulting in a drop in property transfer taxes, lower-than-expected prices in commodities like natural gas and lumber and overall economic uncertainty." - CBC

"We're going to cut the waste out of the health authorities, we're already doing it, reducing the size of the public service, addressing administrative waste within the public service without affecting those frontline services that everyone depends on, and we're going to grow our economy," Eby said.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by whatnext

And as a BC taxpayer (who I thought was more fiscally responsible) you're hunky dory with just shovelling more pork out the door? At some point this all comes home to roost. Being in government means making tough choices not just continually handing out cash.

Keynes 101: the answer to government debt is more government spending. Austerity usually backfires.

Plus, if you spent the better part of two decades complaining about the BC Liberals defunding the entire province, you don't really get to complain about the NDP suddenly funding it again.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by whatnext

And as a BC taxpayer (who I thought was more fiscally responsible) you're hunky dory with just shovelling more pork out the door? At some point this all comes home to roost. Being in government means making tough choices not just continually handing out cash.

It's certainly worth questioning what the money is being spent on. But the mere fact that money is being spent does not mean it's being wasted. The government is responsible for providing many services that do not pay for themselves, indeed it's why those services have to be provided by the government instead of private corporations.

So rather than just complaining that money is going out the door, you need to provide some sort of argument for why that money is not being spent prudently before you can expect anyone else to jump on your bandwagon.

And of course that brings us to the crux of the matter: your spending priorities WILL differ from those of other people and groups, and it's probably presumptuous of you to claim that your priorities are the "one true way". This is exactly why we have elections.

[RedArbutus]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

And of course that brings us to the crux of the matter: your spending priorities WILL differ from those of other people and groups, and it's probably presumptuous of you to claim that your priorities are the "one true way". This is exactly why we have elections.

This is how the right wing gets to a place where corporate lobbying is cast as "the free market working efficiently" while public input from the meanest non-profit is labelled "the government pandering to special interest groups".

Those special interest groups are never interested in the things we are interested in! Funny how that works

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by RedArbutus

This is how the right wing gets to a place where corporate lobbying is cast as "the free market working efficiently" while public input from the meanest non-profit is labelled "the government pandering to special interest groups".

Nothing is as powerful as an informed electorate. Sure would be nice to have one...

[cganuelas1995]

What's a better app to plan a commute besides google maps?

[s211]

Originally Posted by cganuelas1995

What's a better app to plan a commute besides google maps?

Citymapper. Hands down.

https://citymapper.com

[twoNeurons]

Speaking of maps, I noticed that Apple Maps has the Rapid Buses as actual lines in Vancouver, while Google Maps tends not to...

I know that Apple Maps is typically a better interface for transit anyhow (where it has support) but it's nice to see the Rapid buses join the B-line as a fixed line on the map.

And now for something completely unrelated. Is there a good reason we've had NO action on making Compass cards digital? Toronto has done it, SF has done it. Is there a technical reason Vancouver's Compass card can't be added into wallets like Apple Wallet?

[cganuelas1995]

It would be nice for google maps to at least show FTN

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

And now for something completely unrelated. Is there a good reason we've had NO action on making Compass cards digital? Toronto has done it, SF has done it. Is there a technical reason Vancouver's Compass card can't be added into wallets like Apple Wallet?

Yes, the existing system from Cubic can't handle them. In 2022 they said this:

"A challenge to doing this currently is that we need to upgrade our systems to make virtual Compass Cards compatible with Apple Wallets and Google Pay," TransLink said in an emailed statement to CTV News Vancouver.

"We are still working out the details, but we hope to upgrade our system and introduce virtual Compass Cards to Apple Wallets and Google Pay in the coming years."

[cganuelas1995]

I would love an automated canned announcement on the SkyTrain telling people to make room for passengers to exit the train. So many times I get off the train and people just crowd the doors