Alli Hayes: A historical argument for why Metro Vancouver needs transit expansion

From Expo ’86 to today’s transportation plebiscite

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      As I type in my apartment, I can hear the constant echoing of the SkyTrain on North Grandview Highway and Commercial Drive, one of Vancouver’s major public transit arteries whose neighbourhood is ironically famous for being hip and quaint. SkyTrain originally wasn’t designed to have a transit hub on these cross streets; it was an innovative project to display at the Vancouver Expo ’86 that would run through Concord Pacific property along False Creek and would be a means to transport the fair’s guests around the downtown area. Back then, no one would have thought that the theme of the 1986 world’s fair—transportation—would now be causing so much debate at municipal and provincial governments over the past couple of months. This has me reflecting on what Metro Vancouver was trying to be 30 years ago, and what our reality is today in how we move.

      It started with an idea from “Amazing” Grace McCarthy, a Social Credit cabinet minister at the time. She went to lunch with Canadian diplomat Patrick Reid and talked about Vancouver having a world exposition. The proposal proved to be a very smart move for McCarthy and Reid, who should get credit for the building of the city’s convention centre. What they envisioned in a world’s fair helped catalyze Vancouver’s urban roots, which continue to be essential in our region’s public transit plans.

      Money never seems to be the topic of good conversation when it comes to public transit. An example that I can’t shake from my head has to do with Mike Bartlett, an American expert who was originally hired on to manage the expo due to his experience with high-volume entertainment and amusement parks. This was just a one-time event, but it brought much needed and 22 million people’s worth of cultural support to our home. It put us on the map to show the world that we have what it takes to be a full-functioning, exciting, metropolitan city (our landscape isn’t too hard on the eyes either). Although the fair was a huge success, he ended up taking the Vancouver’s modest $78 million budget and turned it into a $1.5 billion lifestyle change. It stimulated the economy and brought the international community together. More importantly, the spending of this money contributed to the urban stepping stone needed for our city and to the realization that Vancouver could actually do urban.

      There have been many issues with TransLink over the years (such as fare increases, the public abusing the “honour system”, and technical malfunctions) and it doesn’t seem fair to people to wrap it all under a three-month ultimatum. I’ve had discussions with various generations and financial brackets who said that they don’t want to willingly contribute their taxes to a mismanaged company that has had many a decade to sort their problems out. True or not, I am trying to be politically knowledgeable about the present situation. If we don’t vote for this already much needed structural plan, I fear that many families and individuals will not get the opportunities to meet their lifestyle potentials. We’ll be forever stuck in the ’80s, and if the government tries to develop this project regardless of the plebiscite outcome, it won’t be with the proper transparency.

      We’re at a faster pace with more at stake, and we all need to make the choice now to vote for cleaner means of transportation, more options, and less polluting congestion. In the future, I wish to see interconnected communities that can flow harmoniously; we shouldn’t have to dread the journey. Adding this minimal sales tax to our lives will benefit all existing generations and the future generations that you plan on having. We are all trying to go somewhere, so we might as well try to put it in synch and do it together.

      Comments

      3 Comments

      Seriously?!?

      May 13, 2015 at 9:29am

      WTF are "lifestyle potentials?" The author must be a marketing done to believe that little gem has meaning, kind of a "social justice" for the guilt ridden upwardly mobile folks who believe they have a "lifestyle" rather than a life. The arguments for giving Translink more money flip between proclaiming "our transit system is one of "the best" and anyone who has issues with Translink is an idiot" or admitting "yes Translink has wasted money and been mismanaged but all public bureaucracies are similarly poorly run." When Translink dumped two more executive "experts" with long histories at the company The Straight rushed to question why they were dismissed rather than investigating their roles in the Compass debacle and other translink projects.

      The press is back on from the well-funded and unusually broadly based "Yes" coalition. The combination of propaganda streams is wonderful, including their little agit-prop teams at Canada Line stations there to answer questions about the vote with all answers pointing out the importance of voting "Yes." We have been promised transit chaos, gridlock, economic doom and towers all over the city full of people with no way to get around. I am not buying it. Translink and the Mayors created this mess and their threats are hollow. Vote "No" and let Translink sink or swim.

      Allihayes

      May 13, 2015 at 11:45am

      The world is your stage my friend, you create your lifestyle. There are more innovative ways about moving around that are way more beneficial to everyone. The proposal is for people that have goals and are trying get where they want to be, unlike yourself.

      400 ppm

      May 13, 2015 at 7:41pm

      Mr Hayes:

      Your newspeak gives me a doubleplus bellyfeel. Thank You!!