rasp: - TransLink reps and public face ~~ off over proposed vehicle levy Annette Martin Contributing Writer - HOT topics and heated opinions were served “up ata TransLink open - house on Thursday night. Billed as a. forum’ tor -esploring © funding options, ythe sparsely attended meeting wat. District of | North ~ Vancouver municipal hall pro- voked vigorous debate among interested parties. © “This. whole thing is a "$300,000: joke.” said Sue ‘Cook, a North Vancouver res- dent, i indicating the displays nd ‘TransLink seal i in atten- dance. « ‘Transit ‘Morth | Shore -Committee: bur feels the spe-_ cial “transportation needs of “the North Shore haven’t been “taken: into “consideration ” by Translink’s’. strategic » trans- portation ‘plan. She cited the inadequate . size of the. bus depats: ‘date | the | longer, articulated buses. "Implementation ‘planning’ “manager Glen: Leicester indi- ated that: TransLink has no fans” for improving © bus depots in the district, nor for building: park-and-ride facili- 1t’s- expensive to build a king lot especially at'a cost.” par “of $1 million an acre,” he said. ‘He“also’ pointed: out that. the: North Shore-is not 3 growth rea‘ like other. regions of the ‘Lower Mainland, where high-- ty housing tends fo ° impressed ‘with the extent MF future ®: Tansportation. ' more than.a “few. ‘We .nced © rapid < transit class transportation to the furthest: are: need incentives. We won get copl out’ of. their cars’ by raistrig, transit fares.” Crist believes the onl 31;° of North : Van,‘ was firied $200 after he pleaded guilty to breaching’ probation’on Aug. 5 59, 01 as fined $600 after he vleaded : impaired driving, leaded: guilty to r inchided offence of: riving without, due: care and: tion. : The “Cook was a member of the ‘transportation . hat can’t -accommo- | ~ pollution.” North’: Vancouver : : Of the: district, / ‘original ‘charge : to reduce the number of pui- vate cars on city streets is to subsidize public transit: with money from federal taxes on gasoline, even: if that: means further increases in gas prices. He pointed out that the cost of a monthly. transit: pass. in Calgary is $48 compared to $100 in the Lower Mainland. TransLink’s communica- tion ‘and _ media relations - manager, Ken Hardie, retut- ed that, argument, saying, “Calgary has lower costs and wages, and fares in the Lower Mainland. only cover 50% of the cost of transit.” Translink © is” asking the public for? opinions © on funding .. options : for. a strategic plan, to be imple- . mented. between now “and - 2005. One uption would be a flat levy paid for each registered vehicle: $75 fora - private vehicle and an average of $190 for com- mercial vehicles. Roman . Skotnicki, works in Vancouver and uses his’ car daily, is vehemently “opposed to: any levy. He believes the car is the only “democratic and efficiem mode of transportation, and he isn’t s concerned about gridlock. or Neither. is he. TransLink use, impressed ©: by encouraging. . bicycle : - claiming, “One bicycle on 2 . bridge, into Vancouver : can ¢ hold-up? 20 or ‘30 cars in a: _ Slow line, How does that help’ pollution?” “Bus driver Barry Demeyer : as’ a more, radical. idea ° for "raising | money, — stopping : fare“evasion. According to his.°. figures, there ‘are: approxi- ‘mately 2,560° drivers’ in © the Lower ‘Mainlarid : and- every day-cach driver: gives ‘at least ne passenger ree Tide... VSWelre: enforcers. £ We're only allowed to inform : the. public: of the’ fares: and- every day. at least one person get ts: On the. bus” without: the: $500. and had his, driver’ licence Suspended. ior. four months after he’ pleaded’ not guilty to’ impaired driving, but. instead : Pleaded, guilty ‘to’ the rtatt who. n debated proper fare. That's nearly $5,006 a day in lost fares” he said. Rather than ask. *Whar have vou done for us lately?” Hardie would like North Vancouver residents to look at the whole concept of an inte- grated transportation net- work. “For example, we have a new B-line bus, (limited stops) from Waterfreat Station to UBC. The service isn’t operated in the North Vancouver district but stu- dents who live on the North Shore will use it,” he said. “Hardie . is) enthusiastic about a strategic. plan . that includes new SkyTrain routes, more buses, community shut- tle buses, van pooling, tele- working, bridges and even “smart” roads that: sense an _express bus approaching ‘and hold a green light open. But the bottom line for the North Shore. is that transit won't be much different from present | clevels of service. “The current number: of “buses assigned to the North: : Shore is 133. That number “will jump to 159 in 2003 to cover, a projected ridership increase of 12% (from 10 mi lion to LL.2 million). No further SeaBus routes, for instance’ to Ambleside and ‘Maplewood, ©: are « being “planned for the furure. But ‘Leicester said that the service - = runs ‘very efficiently . most of ithe time. Each vessel can carry. 400 passengers and - people have terminal only 102 times out of Al :700 sailings. “An addition-’ lesser. or. included offence of: driving without. consideration. . The: original : chargé . stemmed from a July 31,1999. incident a in North Vancouver City. Since 1976 urpb. gar OFF Potro Canada 10W3C" worth maréherg! TONAL-DISEGUI VALID BCAA CAR ‘Lonsdale &. Asth, N. Vancouver 985-1950 PE ORTHOPEDIC NATTRESS SALE ingle shown S269 E. 1st Kan favs een left behind at the al new vessel would cost $18 million and that’s an expense we can't justify,” he added. Instead, TransLink plans to remove 33 seats from the two vessels, ata coral cost of $400,000, to provide room for 92 standees and increase the number of passengers per sailing to 492. But that) may not be enough. One anonymously- written comment posted on a board at the meeting asked that SeaBus run later than the current, 12:30 am. to 1 aim. to accommodate shift workers Riding transit in the rain LAST night I found myself at the mercy of public transit when my borrowed car was hijacked by its rightful owner. Leaving the TransLink mecting, | used the power of positive think- ing and a bus appeared almost immediately. That driver took pity on my sandal-clad feet (it was sunny when | left home) and dropped me at a shelter by a Lonsdale bus stop. During the cold, wet, 20-minute wait. fer the second bus Amagic only works once per journey) I devised fiendish torture scenes for peo- © ple who abandon their feiends in the wilds of rainy North Vancouver. Thankfully, there were no waits for SeaBus and SkyTrain but when I checked the New Westminster schedule, no buses Were heading, up the hill for at least 17. minutes. Be That was it! I got a cab and barely flinched ac the $5 tab. Total j journey ume: 100 minutes. Total cost: $6.75 —- Annette Martin — who otherwise have to use their cars after work. Ironically, out of 160 tran- sit users randomly polled by an independent firm every week, those most satisfied with the transit system were ’ North Shore residents. Sue Cook wasn’t surprised. “That's because we get better service. Drivers will stop and wait if they sce you running for their bus.” : We specialize in custom. designed jewelry. ~ 2435 Marine Dive -- West Vancouver (BACK LANE) ~~ QWild 4 ny ‘Our lowest prices : os of the season Loe le | NOW THRU 10/31/60 : Buy all your seed sow at the lowest prices of the seas and we'll store it for you FREE - using our Sced Storage Prograra.~. ‘And we'll have your next supply ; ready fo for you to pick up when :. Surday, October 1, 2000 ~ North Shore Mows - 5 . 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