A New Westminster city councillor believes TransLink should be abolished and Metro Vancouver should take over transportation planning for the region
Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said TransLink is an unelected provincial agency that fails to meet the needs of local communities. He said it has a "strong siege" mentality, plans without having proper funding and funds projects without having a plan.
"It's a failed experiment," he said. "My feeling is it should be run by Metro Vancouver. You would have the elected officials involved."
McEvoy expressed concern that there is no discussion "from the ground up," so TransLink encounters opposition to many of its proposals. He said the agency is "divorced" from understanding how the average person will respond to its proposals - something that local politicians are more inclined to understand.
"Transportation planning should happen in a context of overall regional planning," he said.
McEvoy believes the current model in place for planning the region's transportation is "out of step" with what happens in much of the world.
"When I float the idea with people, I get a good response," he added.
McEvoy said he wouldn't be surprised to see major changes made to TransLink following next spring's provincial election, whether the NDP or Liberals are elected to government.
New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright isn't convinced that TransLink needs to be abolished but agrees some changes need to be made so it's able to operate more efficiently. He believes regional politicians need to be more directly involved in transportation decisions because they know firsthand about the transportation networks and the local impacts of those systems.
Wright said TransLink's major problem has been its inability to fund transportation and transit initiatives based on the types of funding sources available.
"The funding has to be there that allows us to do all those things," he said.
As Metro Vancouver's regional transportation authority, TransLink is responsible for regional transit, cycling and commuting options. The mayors' council on regional transportation, which contains representatives from 21 municipalities and the Tsawwassen First Nation, appoints TransLink's board of directors and commissioner, and approves plans prepared by TransLink.
"We also share responsibilities for the major road network and regional cycling with municipalities in Metro Vancouver," states TransLink's website. "We are the first North American transportation authority to be responsible for the planning, financing and managing of all public transit in addition to major regional roads and bridges."
