TransLink has offered to fund the first year of a new three-year regional transportation plan that includes the Evergreen line and phase one of the North Fraser perimeter road project.
TransLink’s offer buys the province and regional mayors more time to come up with sources of funding for the region’s ambitious transit expansion.
TransLink pitched two different plans to the mayors’ council on regional transportation on Tuesday, but is recommending an expanded plan that not only includes construction of the Evergreen line and the North Fraser perimeter road, but also significant increases in existing transit services.
The smaller plan, which makes the Evergreen and the North Fraser projects stand-alone priorities in the coming years, would require a $44.7 million annual commitment from the province and Metro Vancouver municipalities.
The expanded plan, which, in addition to construction of the Evergreen and the North Fraser projects, calls for service upgrades that would facilitate an 8% increase in transit ridership by 2015 and cost $75.8 million a year.
TransLink chair Dale Parker told BIV that TransLink can fund the first year of the plan with capital it has as a result of operational efficiencies.
The organization’s deficit is $40 million less than was predicted last year.
Parker said that TransLink is recommending the expanded plan because the regional system requires upgrades and because the public, during consultations, responded positively to the plan, despite larger funding requirements.
There have been discussions about raising property taxes to fund TransLink, but Parker noted the public has not responded well to that proposition.
Parker noted that customer satisfaction with TransLink is at an all-time high.