Metro Vancouver university students lean toward “yes” vote in the transit referendum

    1 of 2 2 of 2

      Lower Mainland millennials arguably have more riding on the transit referendum than anybody else. But a lot of them are having trouble enrolling to vote, student representatives for UBC, SFU, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University told the Straight.

      “Registration has been a tricky battle,” said Bahareh Jokar, vice president of external affairs for UBC’s Alma Mater Society. “My biggest concern is that students are not physically going to receive their ballots.”

      Jokar noted that to register or report a change of address, Elections B.C. requires a driver’s licence—something many students don’t have—or a social insurance number, a piece of information many don’t have memorized.

      Chardaye Bueckert, Simon Fraser Student Society president, and Jessica Lar-Son, president of the Kwantlen Student Association, said their respective organizations have responded with major voter drives.

      “The biggest thing that we’re doing on Kwantlen campus is encouraging people to register,” Lar-Son told the Straight.

      All three representatives agreed on two more points. In separate interviews, they told the Straight that students seem more engaged with the transit referendum compared to last November’s mayoral elections. As well, if they had to guess which way students are voting, they’d speculate the majority are leaning toward a “yes”.

      During the first week of the vote (which began on March 16 and runs until May 29), Bing Thom Architects crunched 2011 census data to provide a picture of which Metro Vancouver residents ride public transit. They found that one in five people takes a bus or train to work and, of that group of roughly 210,000 people, 60 percent are under the age of 40.

      The UBC A Capella Club and Lu Zhang sing for the Students 4 Yes campaign.
      Follow Travis Lupick on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram.

      Comments

      11 Comments

      BurnabyBob

      Mar 25, 2015 at 10:55am

      The challenge of reaching a younger, more transient part of the population that would benefit most from a "yes" victory is just one more example of why this referendum is a bad idea.

      But then again, this referendum is designed to fail. It's a rubber stamp for a provincial government that relies disproportionately on suburban and rural voters for support, and which has no real interest in funding public transit. And the people of Vancouver are only too happy to play along, if recent polls are to be believed.

      :)

      Mar 25, 2015 at 11:04am

      I just voted no.

      I dont get why these students are voting yes. Its not like any of them will still be using transit to get to school by the time any of this gets built. The only effect they will see is PAY MORE while in school.

      Thats all aside from the fact giving more money to a government which hasnt proven to be able to manage what they already have is a huge mistake.

      Burnaby Bob

      Mar 25, 2015 at 11:58am

      To :)

      "I dont get why these students are voting yes. Its not like any of them will still be using transit to get to school by the time any of this gets built."

      You're a good case in point of why referendums are a bad idea.

      First of all, approving the mayors' plan would result in improved bus service within a short period of time, so these students likely would gain some immediate benefit from it.

      Second of all, many young people choose to do without cars while they are paying off student loans. Providing affordable transit to people will help them go car free, saving them money over the long term.

      Finally, has it ever occurred to you that maybe they aren't thinking solely about themselves, but want to do something that will benefit the community over the long term? Maybe they want future students to have it better than they do. Maybe they want things to be better for their own children and grand children. Or are those types of considerations totally foreign to your way of thinking?

      I feel badly for Vancouver that its future is at the mercy of such short-sighted, self-centered attitudes such as yours. It seems to be widespread.

      Thanks Bob

      Mar 25, 2015 at 12:23pm

      Thanks to Burnaby Bob for stating the fact that not everyone is only concerned with themselves and I've encountered many Yes voters who have put car pollution near the top of their list as reasons to support transit now, and in to the future. I have yet to hear a valid alternative from the No side and their most common excuses fall in to the following general argument:

      "I refuse to give any more money to the _______ until they are replaced with people who I personally approve of".

      Rico

      Mar 25, 2015 at 12:38pm

      Students are one of the groups that staand to gain a lot from a Yes vote. Hopefully they get out and vote.

      Students WILL pay..

      Mar 25, 2015 at 2:16pm

      ..They will if they stay around the lower mainland that is.

      "I've encountered many Yes voters who have put car pollution near the top of their list as reasons to support transit now,"

      Indeed you probably have. None of them can do math.
      Search TRANSLINK's website to find that on average a lower mainland motor vehicle emits 4 tons CO2 per annum.
      Search ICBC to find that there are 1.6 million motor vehicles on the road in the lower mainland.
      Multiply. 1.6 million x 4 = 6.4 million tons CO2 emitted if every single car and truck in the lower mainland were included in the total, not just those that transit would displace.

      A single coal plant in China, or USA or Canada or Green Germany ( still makes 60 percent of its electricity from coal and is building 12 coal fired plants as we speak), a single one of any of those will emit 10-20 million tons CO2, roughly 3 times as much as all cars in the lower mainland combined. Check my figures.

      TRANSIT improvements are designed, ( optimistally), to 'save' maybe 10 percent of today's car emissions. I mean buses do nead roadspace and do need fuel.

      So you are thinking that your billions of dollars for transit is justifiable by a mere 10 percent of 1/3 of one coal plant.

      By the way, China completes a new coal plant every 5 days.
      By the time your transit 'improvements' are on the road, China will have completed its plan of building 350 new coal plants whose emissions will dwarf, swamp, and make meanigless the so called car pollution offset of transit.
      India will build 450 coal plants.
      Europe is still building coal plants.

      Vote yes if you like riding buses, but dont think you're doing anything at all to 'save the planet' a happy delusion is your aim.

      But students...these taxes, and even more, are part of the Mayors' plan. I'm likely scheduled to exit the scene before it's all built. You're next up to have your pockets vacuumed.

      VOte NO or get ready see most things you buy go up in price. I mean once you do the math, you might want to consider getting a car once you're out of school.

      Burnaby Bob

      Mar 25, 2015 at 5:30pm

      Dear "Students Will Pay"

      How much is the CTF paying you, anyway?

      John Doe

      Mar 25, 2015 at 6:25pm

      Of course they are. They love transit but are looking for someone else to pay for it. If we make them pay the true cost of transit all funding problems disappear and they realize how expensive it is.

      Ho Hum

      Mar 26, 2015 at 12:48pm

      Most students pay no taxes, so of course they don't mind other people paying for their free ride. But then a lot of Vancouver depends on someone else to pay for their free ride, not just on transit!!

      @ Burnaby Bob

      Mar 26, 2015 at 11:42pm

      Bob. How much do you think it's paying me? Do some math. Math doesn't care whether or not Jordan Bateman can afford to pay people to put math into the Straight's comment section.

      Nor do my posts depend on whether Bateman can pay me or someone else.
      The bitter truth (for you) is that transit in Vancouver will NOT do anything to 'save the planet'. Nothing measurable, and nothing whose effects matter. That's just the simple math I posted talkin.

      I'd ask who is paying YOU Burnaby Bob, but nobody would pay for what you post, no matter which side of the plebiscite question they are on.