Transit Kevin Gillies News Reporter NORTH Shore transit hopes and wishes haven’t been addressed in pro- posed capital spending — yet. A report submitted to Transiink, the regieaat district's transportation authority, suggests $85.5 million in’ capital spending for, among. uther things, more than 200 Lower Mainland buses as well as 120 new and/or replacement bike racks for buses — some in Wesi Vancouver. But North Vancouver City: Mayor Jack Loucks said the North Shere needs smalter buses for outlying areas, more lower-step buses and an expansion of the North Vancouver bus depot. “We're concerned about our depot and we want to see something done about that,” he said, adding, “As soon as possible we want something done about that.” Loucks, the only North Shore mayor current- ly sitting on the ‘Translink board, acknowledged thar it will likely take some time before North Shore concerns are addressed. Translink is responsible for overseeing the No funding included for N. Shore priorities pertain system and legally took control tren the province April 1. “We'd dike to see a merging of the Neeth Vancouver and West Vancouver transit westems,” Loucks said, suggesting it would improve overall North Shore transit coverage. ‘TransLink spokesman Trace Acres said the GVTA dircetory are “being asked to approve the capital expenditure this vear but the buses won't actually be delivered, some of them, unti} 2001.7 In his report Translink chief executive direc tor Ken Dobell suggests spending $85.5 million on 10 capital projects immediately to address safety and regulatory issues and to prevent dete- oration of current assets. Suggested projects include: $15.3 million to expand the fect by 36 buses in 2000; @ $23 million to replace 57 buses in 2001, B $33.2 million to expand the fleet by 79 buses in 200); . 8 $3.7 million to replace 28 cayy-aceess vans and seven mini-buses, customized for physically chal- lenged people; S69 miltoa to buy three West Coast Express train cars, replacing three that are currently leased and must be returned; BSI.2 million for a spare West Coast: Express locamotive, @ $200,000 tor 1999". portion of a regional bievele program aimed ar promoting bike use. Part of the program includes the installation of bike racks on buses out of West) Vancouver, Oakndge and Port Coquitlam Transit Centre as well as signage and lighting improvements: at advertiser-funded bike rack and storage Jocker areas for the SeaBus and Sky Train; 8S1.5 million for transit centre improvements in Burnaby and Port Coquitlam, Si million to prepare detailed Project briefs for subsequent TransLink capital projects. The West Coast Express cars and locomotive, the bievele program, the transit centre improve- ments and the project briels are scheduled for J999; rhe remainder are set for the nwo follow: ing years. Lead time for delivery of the new buses is 18 to 24 months and is therefore included in this vear’s bindget Dobell said the new buses would beneiit the sestem as a whole and nat specitic municipalities. “There would be 2 nuntber of ways in which the North Shore would benefit,” he said Monday. “IT assume there are buses for West Vancouver, T believe, in there. Part of our plan for this current session is the continuous bus route in the North Shore.” The route would sce a morning bus leave Dundarave and travel through to Lions Gate Hospital before winding up in Lynn Valley. TransLink has 29 capital projects on its prior- ity list costing a toral of $180.8 million but only the most urgent are contained in the Dobell report to be voted on by board directors tonight. Dobell said funding for this year’s projects is already in place but furure funding could come trom increased gas taxes and such driving disin- centives as parking, automobile and gasoline taxes. ~There’s a long-term expansion of something like 1,000 to something like 1,600 buses,” Dobe) said. “If you don’t do the transit expansion as planned you probably end up with an excess need for another 25 lanes or so of car traffic.” welfare of the Lower Matnland’s public trans- French TV bumps local market news Rogers Cable makes way for TVA Bob Mackin News Reporter NORTH Shore cable TV subscribers can say ai revoir to stock market information Friday and bonjour to TVA on Saturday. 7A is a French-language TV nenwork originating from Quebec. The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission, the federal: broadcast: regulator, decreed fast October that cable and satellite companies must carry TVA by May 1. Rogers Cable, the North Shore's cable monopoly, is placing TVA on channel 71. That spot is currently occupied by an alpha-numeric stock market quote service by day and “voice- print” audio service by night. Rogers Cable acting general manager Vera Piccini said the cable industry didn’t oppose the principle of TVA’s coast-to- coast expansion. But it opposed nationwide imposition of the signal on basic cable. She said rate hikes for the new service are prohibited, even though it will cost Rogers upwards of $1 million a year in copy- right tees to TVA, No Canadian broadcast service, French or English, can be displaced by TVA. “We're raced with cither dropping an alpha-numeric service See Cable pane 10 i Slip sliding away MORGAN, 2, holds onto dad David Crone while on West Coast Amusements’ Super Slide Saturday at Capilano Mail. Five-year-cid Jasmine is in hot pursiit. Emergency obstetric surgery at risk From pane 1 ing time will be available a week. . Besides the possible collapse of the neurosurgery service, the lack of operating time for neurosurgeons is aftecting other LGH surgenes. Dr. Emily Hover, head of LGH obstetrics, said that obstetric care needs more operating room time and operating room nurses. Hoyer is concerned about operating room availabil- ity for emergency caesarean sections when urgent neu- rosurgeries are put on the emergency operating room slate. Hover said that potentially all the operating rooms could be filled with lengthy surgeries when there was a necd to do a caesarean section within 30 minutes. “Fortunately we haven't run into a situation yer,” said Hoyer. “The problem with obstetrics is one minute everything is looking great, the next minute you need to get a baby out.” She said it wasn’t uncommon to do one or two emergency caesarean sections a day. Hoyer has worked at the LGH for eight years. She said the obstetrics operating room concerns started in December. Doctors talked about potentially having to close the labour and delivery ser- vice. Meanwhile, there were 4,000 people waiting for operations at LGH last month. The average wait was 171 days. Termansen said a waiting list for elective surgery berween 600 and 800 was reasonable with a maximum waiting period of 60 days. “Many semi-urgent cases don’t get done in a timely man- ner,” said Termansen. ; DR. Doug McTaggart Hunt said LGH doesn't have an MRI diagnostic scan machine which is unusual for a hospital performing neurosurgeries. LGH patients, some “very ill,” are sent to Vancouver Hospital or St. Paul’s for emergency MRI scans. Hunt said LGH receives neurosurgery referrals from throughout the province and is considered a “traunia reeciving” hospital. “We need to keep the system at readiness,” said Hunt. He gave an example of 'an injured Whistler hang-glider who couki not be accepted at LGH and was sent to Vancouver Hospital. “There was an accident on the causeway, the kid did not get there and he suffered fur- ther serious brain injury,” said Hunt. Hunt said that if the LGH full-time neurosurgery ser- vice was in: place at the time about four years ago, the hang-glider could have been treated quickly. Hunt said using a helicopter to transfer patients from LGH to big, Vancouver hospitals is no longer an option. He said that heli- copters are now not allowed to land at Vancouver hospitals. Meanwhile the Health Ministry, thus far, has not replied to the request for extra neurosurgery operating time. The ministry is overdue with its overall budget allocations for all the health regions which are usually announced at the beginning of April. Family doctor Doug McTaggart said his patients express disbe- lief and outrage when told about lengthy waits for operations. McTaggart gave an example of a 40-year-old employed father of three with a “bad dise in his back.” The bed-ridden patient was told he must wait four to six months tor surgery. “On one hand we can say, sorry, we are getting babies out and Boarder injured on seymour A 19-year-old snow- boarder from Kamloops suffered a serious head injury at Mount Seymour last Thursday afternoon. A dozen) members of North Shore Rescue respond- ed with a helicopter, ready to transport the man to safety. “He had 30 feet of airtime and hit his head on a tree,” said NSR ieam Ieader Tim Jones. “This was in) the uncontrolled area. “Upon arrival the rescue team was poised to go into the site, however Mount Seymour elected to bring the person out on a snowmobile.” Christopher Jon Duffey was treated =o by B.C. Ambulance Service para- medics at Mount Seymour and rushed to Lions Gare Hospital where he subse- quently Jost consciousness and suffered a seizure, Jones said. Dufficy was recovering in LGH to press time ‘Tuesday. He was listed in stable condi- tion. NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge —Bob Mackin NEWS photos Terry Petars DR. Paul Termansen (left) and neurosurgeon Dr. Brian Hunt (right) express operating room concerns. we are doing cancer surgeries, but that doesn’t mean much to him and his family,” said McTaggart. The North Shore Health Region had a budget of $180 million last year. Region CEO Bruce Harber said a “bare bones” budget of $185.4 million is asked for this year. Harber said if the extra Neurosurgery time is funded, 100 more operations could be done a year. He said a MRI machine costs about $2 million. “We are scraping bone already,” said Termansen. “We don’t have that kind of money that we could find it and no one else would suffer.” He said health programs would have to be cut if money for the extra neurosurgery time came from the health region’s budget.