Mayors need to have a common transportation vision: Stone
Posted January 23, 2014 12:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As local mayors take a united stand in their opposition to a transit funding referendum, BC’s transportation minister says they also need to get behind a common vision.
Todd Stone says he hasn’t seen any agreement from them so far on a number of transit issues. “They need to unite on details of what’s actually in and what’s out of this vision so that a total cost can be established. The mayors need to unite on how they’d like the region to pay for any expansion.”
He says the provincial government is preparing to introduce legislation sometime this spring that will pave the way for a region-wide question.
“It’s very much up to the Mayors Council to come together and to determine what exactly their common priorities are. What is the vision for the region that they believe should be on the table for the people of the Lower Mainland to consider.”
Stone intends to hold a referendum during this November’s civic elections, saying it’s about bringing taxpayers into the discussion.
NDP critic George Heyman says if this fails, it’s on the minister.
“Todd Stone, I think, is now desperate. He’s going to be responsible for setting back the development of needed transit in the Metro Vancouver region for years, possibly up to a decade.”
Heyman argues the economy will suffer from continued congestion on the roads.
