What gall. Kevin Falcon, a major cause of TransLink’s funding situation, is concerned about the referendum delay (The Leader, Nov. 13).
One of the daft promises from the Clark election campaign, along with the mythical “prosperity fund,” was a transit referendum. But nobody can figure out the question, so I will give it a try.
The best method is to use the referendum to give the “smart ones” an acceptable direction and let them figure out the details. So my proposed transit ballot would look like this:
Should TransLink have anything to do with public transit – yes or no?
If you check “no,” close your ballot and deposit it in the ballot box. If you check “yes,” continue:
Preferred funding options, check as many as you wish, yes or no. Should we stick it to:
1). Drivers who try to use their cars less?
2). Transit users?
3). Homeowners?
4). People who drive the farthest each year?
5). Business owners?
6). Parking lot owners?
Other funding possibilities, yes or no:
a). Should we put “Falcon’s Folly” (Golden Ears Bridge) back onto the provincial books, relieving TransLink of the $5 million per month in payments?
b). Should we charge all costs of the Evergreen Line directly to the people responsible, the developers and property owners who caused all that urban sprawl up the mountains of Coquitlam?
c). Should a future Broadway subway line be put under the lane between Broadway and 10th Avenue instead of the huge cost of ripping up Broadway?
d). Can you think of another set of undiscovered taxpayers that do not already have several government tax siphons stuck into their bodies? If so, write it here: _________________
Some notes – “no” on item one precludes per-vehicle levies. “Yes” on item four allows more tolls and increases in fuel taxes and/or per annual kilometre charges and congestion fees.
Robert McCroskey, Surrey
