Translink continues to find millions of dollars of efficiencies in its budget, according to Bob Paddon, Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Public Affairs.
Conversation between stakeholders critical part of future TransLink strategic plan
Dear Editor,
In his column dated August 6, 2013, Mr. Bateman asks some valid questions, but he also includes some points that are worth clarifying.
As Mr. Bateman well knows, in 2012 there was a provincial audit of TransLink, as well as an efficiency review and progress report by the Transportation Commissioner. The common finding? TransLink is an efficient and well-run organization. We have $98 million a year in efficiencies in our current strategic plan, and we continue to action other recommendations of the audit and the Commissioner.
But efficiency alone won’t allow the region to meet future transportation needs. There are few who would argue that Metro Vancouver is not growing. In the next 30 years, one million more people will live here. That means more jobs and more demand on our transportation network. If we let the transportation network stagnate, we risk stagnating our economy, jobs, health and environment.
We know that $23 billion is a big figure, but it represents just a potential range of transportation investments, identified in past plans and through discussions with municipal and regional partners. Can our region afford all of it? Probably not. As Mr. Bateman rightly points out, the region also needs other investments in things like health and education. It’s up to our region to balance all the needs, decide on the priorities, and consider how to pay for it, with the knowledge that affordability is a real concern for people.
TransLink is facilitating this conversation but, as Mr. Bateman notes, it’s one that has to take place with the public and taxpayers who live in this region, elected officials, and stakeholders and policy makers. This is the conversation that will take place this fall and into 2014, as we develop – through consultation – an implementation strategy that outlines transportation investments and costs.
The reality is we can’t save our way to growth; nor can we spend our way to a better future. TransLink provides a world-class service, modeled after many other jurisdictions, and our region must continue the conversation about future transportation needs.
Bob Paddon
Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Public Affairs
TransLink
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