Public Transit As A New Taxing Authority
I’ve always had a thing against public transit – not the idea of it – but it’s not for me personally.
I rode the bus to work for a few months before I got settled in Vancouver, and was introduced to the pleasure of meeting all types of crack addicts, loud students along with an occasional good conversation. Only once did I try the SkyTrain, and it was like a walk through East Hastings.
Once my car arrived I was never happier.
But now Translink wants to tax us off the road. Force us on to the buses.
They are looking to raise $300 million through the re-introduction of a vehicle tax. They also want to increase taxes on fuel, property and pay parking lots, and is considering an increase in passenger fares for transit riders.
TransLink says it needs the money to finance an aggressive expansion that includes more buses, new rapid transit lines and road upgrades.
They are counting on people’s short memory, although their timing couldn’t be worse… dropping the bomb during an election.
When the agency was created by the provincial government in the late 90s, they planned on bringing in a car tax. It was scrapped as a result of a huge public outcry. Then NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh backed away from the tax.
What’s really at work is that TransLink wants to become a new taxing authority. Through this body, the provincial government gets a strong hand in taxing Vancouver residents directly. They also get to decide what roads we get to fix or upgrade.
They are also deciding that we shouldn’t be able to own cars – at least not without paying dearly for them. They have used the “Global Warming” cause to drive this agenda. Big cars are bad cars, car owners are evil… is the underlying message.
It’s just what we need – another source to grab money from us. We already are paying taxes on pretty much everything we buy. Disposal fees, enviro-tax, carbon tax, entertainment tax, etc…
It’s time to take transit away from the provincial government, give it to the cities where it belongs, and then let the people decide what level of service we want to pay for. The Provincial Government could transfer the money they are currently paying for this social service to the cities.
Not that I trust Vancouver city hall to manage it any better… at least it would be accountable to the people, and would better reflect current reality.
Or, force TransLink to operate within their budget. We’ll all survive with a few less buses. Lord know we’ll soon have less people riding them to work.
March 14th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Welcome to the club. We’ve had a $30/year mass transit surcharge on our provincial auto insurance scheme for years in Quebec.
March 14th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Surely this can be financed out of General Revenue. Cut some useless programs if you have to. We pay enough in taxes.
I’m not sure that giving this back to the cities is a wise plan though. The whole idea is to be able to get from one side of the GVRD to the other. If Burnaby decides it’s money is better spent planting roses alongside the main streets, how do you get transit from Vancouver to New West?
I’ve used transit for many years – I would rather walk than ride the bus, I could get there in about the same time.
Last time I was in Vancouver, I must have spent $200 on parking, and another $200 on taxi’s to avoid paying for parking. Please don’t tax the parking lots!!!
March 14th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
[...] Public Transit As A New Taxing Authority [...]
March 14th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
[...] Vancouver residents are savvy to what this move would actually represent: What’s really at work is that TransLink wants to become a new taxing authority. Through this body, the provincial government gets a strong hand in taxing Vancouver residents directly. They also get to decide what roads we get to fix or upgrade. [...]
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I cannot believe that translink can announce that THEY want our money AGAIN,,without even an ounce of gradittude for what we have given them to date.They seem to think we have a magic money tree in all our backyards. If anybody has a magic tree,,it would be in the Liberals pockets,since they have drained most of us dry and couldnt care less about the little man. Translink and Cambell make a perfect team! You crooks need to stop taking food out of our families mouths,,,or u will see that our next meal will be eaten on a free ride at the back of your bus!!