Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

All that, and with 2-3x the amount of ground to cover plus roadworks. Not bad, TransLink.

What is "vehicle funding"?

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

What is "vehicle funding"?

I assume that it's revenue sources linked to vehicle ownership or use, such as parking and gas taxes.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

What is "vehicle funding"?

The funding from various taxes and fees on motorists, without which Translink would be screwed.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Streets, highways, bridges and tunnels get built and repaired by taxes from people who don't drive. Fair's fair.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Streets, highways, bridges and tunnels get built and repaired by taxes from people who don't drive. Fair's fair.

If they take buses, though, do those go airborne? Since when is Translink’s technology so advanced, yet the rest of Canada knows nothing about it?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

If they take buses, though, do those go airborne? Since when is Translink’s technology so advanced, yet the rest of Canada knows nothing about it?

TransLink could always kick the drivers off the roads and make them all busways, if that makes you feel better about it. Pedestrians don't get to use the highways or tunnels at all, yet end up funding them anyway - that's how society works.

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

TransLink could always kick the drivers off the roads and make them all busways, if that makes you feel better about it. Pedestrians don't get to use the highways or tunnels at all, yet end up funding them anyway - that's how society works.

You can walk alongside the highway if you're brave enough

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Streets, highways, bridges and tunnels get built and repaired by taxes from people who don't drive. Fair's fair.

But those people benefit not just from deliveries, services etc on said road network but hard to measure things such as the fruits of the labour who use those roads.

The fact shown in those graphs is that Translink tales a lot more from motorists than other comparable jurisdictions. Thus a move away from fossil fuels will hurt them even more.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

The fact shown in those graphs is that Translink tales a lot more from motorists than other comparable jurisdictions. Thus a move away from fossil fuels will hurt them even more.

It also shows that TransLink is the only jurisdiction responsible for Major Roads.

You're right, as EVs replace ICE vehicles, that might (finally) be the justification for introducing road pricing.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by whatnext

But those people benefit not just from deliveries, services etc on said road network but hard to measure things such as the fruits of the labour who use those roads.

Transit generates positive externalities too. A good example is the WSDOT comparing building HSR at $42 billion and widening I-5 at $108 billion. Those two projects are an either/or. If you build the train, you won't have to widen the interstate and vice-versa (at least for the foreseeable future). You can imagine a similar situation for local transit. If the Canada Line wasn't carrying all those airport passengers, how many more Ubers and taxis would need to be accommodated on Marine and Granville and Oak? Or if the Expo and Millenium lines weren't there, how much would the TCH, Lougheed, and Kingsway need to be expanded?

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Changing City

You're right, as EVs replace ICE vehicles, that might (finally) be the justification for introducing road pricing.

You're acting as if road pricing isn't already justified...

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by whatnext

But those people benefit not just from deliveries, services etc on said road network but hard to measure things such as the fruits of the labour who use those roads.

The fact shown in those graphs is that Translink tales a lot more from motorists than other comparable jurisdictions. Thus a move away from fossil fuels will hurt them even more.

See, that's your bias again: not only does a large part of the workforce not drive, but by doing so, they free up roadspace for the people who either have to or want to. Have fun getting to work with 531,000+ more drivers/day on the roads (which, as mentioned, TransLink is also responsible for).

No problemo. By that point TransLink starts losing gas tax revenue, they've have swapped to congestion or road taxes. And they're already branching into real estate as we speak.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

You're acting as if road pricing isn't already justified...

I'm not one of the politicians avoiding the introduction of road pricing...

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by whatnext

But those people benefit not just from deliveries, services etc on said road network but hard to measure things such as the fruits of the labour who use those roads.

Exactly. I am childless, yet happily pay school taxes because I believe that I benefit from living in a well educated society.

Trying to directly link up revenues and costs for societal programs is a fool's errand, IMHO. The only exception I might make is where a tax or toll is imposed using the political justification of it being directed to a specific program. And even there, I think that expecting such promises to be kept beyond the current election cycle is a bit naive. Complain and use it as an issue for activism - sure. Be surprised? Nah.

[scottN]

Since fuel tax is nominally supposed to pay for highways, I thought I would check the BC budget. It turns out that fuel taxes are about $1 billion per year, but the BC Transportation expenses budget is $2.6 billion this year. I didn't dig further to see what portion of that $2.6 billion is for the ministry of transportation and highways.

[madog222]

Translink's 2023 budget has gas tax revenue of $400M, Golden Ears toll replacement revenue of $67M and Road and Bridge expenses of $157M. That leaves $310M or 15% of their total non-road budget covered by the gas tax.

[madog222]

TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn spoke to the Mayors’ Council meeting Thursday in Burnaby, claiming system-wide ridership over the last two weeks of May reached 88 per cent of 2019 levels. Drilling down in even more detail, Quinn said weekend ridership reached 99 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Furthermore, the sheer number of unique riders has fully rebounded, said Quinn, with about 400,000 people tapping their fare cards last month.

...

TransLink data shows ridership rebound has varied across the Lower Mainland, with Surrey and Langley experiencing a 15 per cent increase since 2019 and Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows showing a six per cent uptick. TransLink said the 15 per cent increase in Surrey and Langley has outstripped its 12 per cent increase in bus service, to date.

But the region’s more densely populated cities continue to show significant drop-off from 2019, including Vancouver (24 per cent), Richmond (11 per cent) and Burnaby and New Westminster (22 per cent). The North Shore remains 16 per cent below 2019 levels.

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/transl...rs-in-2023-warns-of-overcrowding-7084650

[madog222]

Phibbs Exchange progress.

Work Underway on New Phibbs Transit Exchange by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Flickr

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by madog222

Phibbs Exchange progress.

Thanks, here's a render from a similar angle:



(from the North Shore News - "Big changes coming to North Van's Phibbs Exchange bus loop")

[fredinno]

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-mark-i-ii-old-cars-retirement

TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain told Daily Hive Urbanized the current plan is to start retiring some Mark II cars in the early 2030s, at which point the initial batch will reach three decades old.

Dunno why, they should be still useful on some of the lower-demand routes (eg. Production Way spur, possible King George or NS).
They're decently high-capacity and comfortable, unlike MKI.
They're mostly still only used coupled as 2-cars on Millennium (rather than the max 4-5 car configurations.)