Dermod Travis: Vancouver is pricey—and it's about to get a whole lot pricier
A billion here, a billion there, it adds up. That's the problem with shopping lists.
They start out with milk and bread and then everyone else in the family adds something on and suddenly that trip to the local supermarket is a full-fledged shopping frenzy.
The municipalities that make up Metro Vancouver are facing the same predicament as they try to choose between the bare necessities, luxuries, and how to pay for it all.
But who's actually keeping an eye on the tab?
By spacing out announcements about future spending plans, local councils, TransLink, Metro Vancouver, and the provincial government may be hoping no one is paying attention, since the overall sticker price will be a shock.
So how much will local ratepayers actually be on the hook for after all these various entities get their priorities scanned at the till?
First, each of Metro Vancouver's 24 communities has its own needs. While it's difficult to guess what the future spending plans of any municipality might be five years from now, it is possible to look back and reach some conclusions about past fiscal prudence and what that might mean for ratepayers in the future.
One case: according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, between 2000 and 2011, population growth in Vancouver was 15 percent, but inflation-adjusted spending increased by 50 percent.
Residents of White Rock can peek a bit into the future too. In June, White Rock announced plans to purchase the municipality's water system from the City of Edmonton-owned Epcor, even though the system isn't for sale and no one is saying what it might cost if Epcor was willing to part with it.
All of this was decided by White Rock council behind closed doors. The report that council based its decision on during their in-camera meeting also remains confidential.
Read: the people who might end up having to pay for the acquisition don't even know the business plan on which the decision to pry open their wallets was made.
Then there's TransLink. The regional transportation authority has its hands out for $23 billion over the next 30 years, which is divided between $5 billion for keeping the existing system operational and another $18 billion for priorities the authority has identified including rapid transit in Surrey and Vancouver, a new Pattullo Bridge, and upgrades to the Expo SkyTrain line.
Meanwhile Metro Vancouver has announced that local residents can expect utility fee hikes of 23 percent over the next five years to pay for a number of regional infrastructure projects.
They include the $800 million Seymour-Capilano filtration project, Coquitlam’s $100 million ultraviolet disinfection facility, a pair of underground tunnels to transport filtered water to Surrey, and a second garbage incinerator whose price tag will likely be well north of half a billion dollars.
Then there's the provincial government. Last March, the B.C. government released its five preferred options for replacing the George Massey Tunnel.
Keep in mind that the last time the B.C. government got involved in regional infrastructure the tab came in at $3.4 billion to replace the Port Mann bridge and drivers ended up with a $3 per crossing toll. Commuters will also remember how well that investment stood up to the first sign of inclement weather.
So expect a price tag that ends in billion for any of the options to address the Massey Tunnel's future. Chances are there will be a toll as well.
Even this spending can't be considered exhaustive. There's still the cost of building and operating new schools, numerous infrastructure projects that are underway, and the unforeseen. Ask Calgary about the unforeseen.
While some of these projects may be sold to the public as “self-supported”, that's just political-speak for “you're still picking up the tab.” Whether it's through tolls or tipping fees, they're just euphemisms for picking your pocket.
Local governments are also counting on the public to have become numb to numbers that end in billion. So consider that TransLink's proposed spending amounts to $9,200 for every man, woman and child in the Lower Mainland today.
With what's on the table right now, proposed infrastructure spending in Metro Vancouver will likely hit $30 billion. It's a sum that needs to be seen in the context of the fact that Vancouver is already the most expensive Canadian city in which to live.
Comments
12 Comments
HellSlayerAndy
Aug 6, 2013 at 1:46pm
Oh enough of this 'public input should be a little more than just a revenue stream'
They're going to let us drink beer on restaurant patios after 11 pm!!!
What more did you want!!?!!
Alex T
Aug 6, 2013 at 1:49pm
A few things which seem really dishonest: first, reporting Translink spending out 30 years looks like a bold-faced attempt to inflate the numbers, especially when there's no context given. It's especially bad to conclude that they're spending "$9,200 for every man, woman and child" - even using his numbers, this works out to about $300/year. Suddenly this doesn't seem such a big price tag to ensure that people can get to their jobs. It would also be nice to know how this compares to the amount of money which is slated for, say, standard road projects which have cost 10-20x more (using recent BC budget numbers).
Second is this nonsensical conclusion that tolls are in any way equivalent to "picking your picket". Tolls are paid by the users and are voluntary. Other bridge-building schemes which are toll-free are paid for through taxes. He might have raised the issue that even with tolls, the province can still be on the hook for huge fees, so things that seem cheap now may turn out to be very pricey (look at some of the bridge & tunnel projects in Australia. The number of vehicles was up to 90% lower than predicted, leading to billions of dollars in costs.)
I would like to know instead how Travis imagines we are to accommodate a growing population without these sorts of expenses. Cars? We'd have gridlock in no time. Most cities have realized this already and we should be learning from them. London had some of the worst traffic jams in Europe but with investments in transit and cycling, combined with road use fees, they transformed their city. Translink is trying to be smart, and Dermod Travis only shows up to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Michael Puttonen
Aug 6, 2013 at 3:24pm
Yeah, let's defend Translink.
Then we can rehabilitate the reptutations of Mike Duffy and Pat Brazeau. And three cheers for Gordie Campbell.
Uh... Yeah, let's defend Translink.
They responded to the truck lobby, after all. Now we have $3billion Port Mann crossing to replace the old, $25million on (a scant 50 years old).
The result? Truck traffic over the Patullo Bridge has increased five-fold as the trucking lobby does everything it can to dodge the tolls they brought to the rest of us.
Just one, $3billion example of their work. Yeah, let's defend Translink.
Chris
Aug 6, 2013 at 3:25pm
Sure makes Vancouver's bike lane projects seem cheap by comparison.
Stephen Rees
Aug 6, 2013 at 9:16pm
Michael Puttonen seems to be unaware that the Highway #1 widening project - which included the new Port Mann Bridge - was a project of the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (or whatever name they have for it now). Translink was not responsible for that one at all. Now if he really wants to beat them up for something, he should try reading up on the Golden Ears Bridge.
Michael Puttonen
Aug 7, 2013 at 6:40am
@ Stephen Rees
Hey, thanks for the correctlion. I'm so g.d. annoyed at the extra truck traffic on the Patulllo...you've done me a service...at least I'll be bitching to right bureaucrat now.
Save Vancouver
Aug 7, 2013 at 8:09am
@Chris, not really when you weigh dollars spent versus the small numbers of bikes actually using them.
OMG
Aug 7, 2013 at 10:52am
That does not include the Hydro Bill hikes coming just to pay for the Off Balance sheet Debt in the Billions for the Private Public Partnership...
...Above Market Rate Guaranteed Power Contracts to Private Corporations by the Gordo & Crusty Lying Liberals.
AKA Corporate Welfare...
Add to that the various Mayors who want to charge Road 'Fees' aka more Road Tax for Corporate & Government Welfare like in Bankrupt California.
This will add to your Grocery Bill as most Food is transported by Trucks on Roads and Going to and From Work.
User Fees are in most cases not optional or just user pays since most of us don't have the option to not go to work or run our business, therefore we would be forced to pay for Tolls etc.
Translink is a Black hole monstrosity with little accountability until waste like the $171+ Million Fare Gates and other waste stops no more Cash should be given to them.
Walker
Aug 7, 2013 at 12:35pm
If tolls are a form of theft, then what are fares for transit?
Rich Oil Baron
Aug 7, 2013 at 6:00pm
Perhaps the author of this article could relocate to Calgary to whine about public services. Here he can enjoy overcrowded city buses often letting them pass because they are full. He can do the same thing with the C-Train at rush hour. Of course that's if the train isn't delayed for some reason or the other (too often to count).
And the author can travel on decaying highways with uneven pavement with a generous helping of potholes. When winter comes around, don't expect a snow plow anytime soon; just hope for a chinook.
And electricity? Well most, if not all is coal fired & costs twice as much as everywhere else. Pretty neat trick isn't it given Alberta has one of the largest coal reserves in the entire world.
C'mon down there Mr Author and spend some time in a place where infrastructure is a dirty word. You won't last a year.