BC Transit runs off the rails
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STREET LEVEL
by Ted Townsend
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Columns
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Tourism Minister Ian Waddell deserves a gold medal for blowing smoke.
Waddell dangled the proverbial golden carrot for us commuters again this week - promising SkyTrain service for Richmond.
The catch, of course, is that a new link from downtown Vancouver to the airport would be built if Vancouver is successful in its bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Well rah, rah, rah. Go team go.
Excuse me, Mr. Minister but we've heard this before. Politicians have been promising SkyTrain to Richmond for longer than I care to remember.
In fact, Waddell's promise reminded me of a night 12 years ago. Bill Vander Zalm had emerged from the garden to capture the Social Credit leadership and become the new premier. In the subsequent election campaign, it was a given the new premier would be elected the next MLA for Richmond. But when it came time to be anointed at his local nomination meeting, the ever eager-to-please Vander Zalm couldn't resist sucking up to his new constituents. "We must get SkyTrain out to the airport," the Zalm promised to an adoring crowd.
Of course, he wouldn't commit to a time line and within 24 hours the premier was being contradicted by his own transit minister, the ever-loyal spear carrier Rita Johnston. By the end of the campaign, a local SkyTrain link was no closer than it had ever been.
That cycle has shown a remarkable ability for repeating itself over and over again - usually about every four years. In the lead up to provincial elections, some politician's musings will seemingly bring SkyTrain lurching closer to Lulu Island. But once the votes are counted, Richmond's SkyTrain ends up on the backburner, with a completion date sometime in the next millennium, or possibly the one after that.
It's notable that in the latest round of election posturing, Glen Clark's truth-challenged government can't even bring itself to make a bald-faced promise to Richmond voters about SkyTrain. Instead, they'll only go so far as to tie Richmond's star to a longshot Olympic bid. That should tell you just how serious they are about delivering on that promise.
But the real issue isn't fleeting half-baked promises of local SkyTrain service. What's criminal is that, in the absence of rapid transit service, Richmond also gets the short straw when it comes to bus service.
Transit officials always cite low ridership figures when relegating Richmond to the back of the bus when it comes to transit improvements. But it's a catch-22 situation. Transit ridership is low because the service is abysmal. Off-peak buses come with the same frequency as Vancouver Canucks wins. Despite years of pleas from city council, east-west transit service in Richmond is virtually non-existent. Ditto, direct service to other communities besides Vancouver.
Why don't more people in Richmond take the bus? Why would they?
Oh wait, B.C. Transit has promised us RapidBus, which they promise will make bus travel between Richmond and downtown Vancouver faster, more efficient and more comfortable. Well, at least that's something. True, as Coun. Bill McNulty pointed out in Wednesday's Review, the RapidBus plan seems to have rather limited benefit given its large pricetag. Still, it will be an attractive option for the many commuters sick and tired of idling their lives away in bridge line-ups.
Of course, the real problem is that transit officials have been talking about RapidBus service for a year or so, but the infrastructure needed to provide the service appears to be no closer to becoming a reality. But don't worry, there's an election coming.
Sound familiar?
