2007 Reorganization
On March 8, 2007, BC Minister of Transportation Kevin Falcon announced a restructuring of TransLink. Major changes include new revenue-generating measures, a restructuring of the executive of the body, and increases in the areas under TransLink's jurisdiction.
The reorganization of TransLink proposed the following changes:
- TransLink will have the authority to generate revenue by controlling development of land near and around transit stations, including overriding municipal land-use planning.
- The old board will be replaced by a Council of Mayors from the municipalities in the area served by TransLink, a board of non-political experts appointed by the provincial government, and an Independent Commissioner of TransLink appointed by the Council of Mayors.
- The Provincial Government will set the regional transportation vision.
- The Board will guide the operation of TransLink as per the 3- and 10-year transportation plans. It will also develop the options for 3- and 10-year plans; one option will be a base option which maintains the status quo.
- The Council of Mayors will vote on which 3- and 10-year transportation plan options to adopt. Mayors will receive one vote per 20,000 people, or portion thereof, in their jurisdiction.
- The TransLink Independent Commissioner will ensure that TransLink's 3- and 10-year transportation plans are consistent with the regional transportation vision set by the Provincial Government.
- TransLink's jurisduction is initially planned to be expanded to include Mission, Abbotsford, and Squamish. In the long term, this may be further expanded to include the area along the Sea-to-Sky Highway as far north as Pemberton and east to Hope.
- TransLink will be funded using an approximate ratio of 1/3 of revenue from fuel taxes, 1/3 of revenue from property taxes, and 1/3 of revenue from other non-government sources (e.g., fares, advertising, property development).
- TransLink will hold the power to increase funding from fuel tax from 12 cents per litre (55 cents per Imp gal or 45 cents per US gal) to 15 cents per litre (68 cents per Imp gal or 57 cents per US gal).
- TransLink will increase funding by raising property taxes, parking sales taxes, and other sources of revenue (e.g., fares, property development).
- TransLink will eliminate the parking tax (different from parking sales tax) and the BC Hydro transportation levy.
- AirCare will be removed from TransLink's authority and will become the responsibility of Metro Vancouver.
- The Provincial Government will continue to contribute toward rapid transit projects, but funding will be contingent on municipalities increasing population densities around planned rapid transit stations.
Falcon had previously called the old board "dysfunctional", saying that board members were focused on the interests of their own municipalities instead of the broader interests of the region. According to Falcon, the board of directors had "no ability there to develop the skill-set to understand major, multi-billion projects." British Columbia New Democratic Party critic David Chudnovsky responded that the reorganization was "ludicrous" and that its purpose was "to get power away from our elected municipal politicians because once in a while they disagree with the aggressive privatization agenda of Mr. Falcon". Chudnovsky was also worried about the consequences of a property development slowdown.
On April 26, 2007, the provincial government introduced legislation to restructure TransLink. The proposed successor body was to be known as the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority. The legislation received Royal Assent on November 29, 2007 and came into effect on January 1, 2008, with some parts of the organization, like the Council of Mayors, beginning functions the day after the legislation was approved.
On March 19, 2008, the Vancouver Sun reported that TransLink was launching a real estate division that may produce over $1.5 billion in revenue over the ensuing ten years.
NDP critic Maurine Karagianis introduced a private member's bill dubbed the "TransLink Openness Act".
Read more about this topic: TransLink (British Columbia)