Jack Adelaar said that he walks into the TransLink boardroom as a politician but the moment he sits down, he becomes a tax collector for TransLink. As Bowen Island's mayor, he is a member of the Mayors' Council that voted against a TransLink tax hike that would have taken effect next year to raise $30 million a year for transit expansion.
"The mayors decided in April that we aren't going for the $30 million expansion," Adelaar said. "But this doesn't change the fact that Bowen Island is going to send $562,000 as part of our taxes to TransLink. We talked to TransLink about increasing our service and they came back with the idea of expanding the bus route to Hood Point without any [local] consultation. I wonder how many people would use this and who dreams this up." Adelaar not only questions the value of this particular route expansion but also TransLink's service level for Bowen taxpayers.
"This proposal is symptomatic for how TransLink thinks about Bowen, I see little regard for the needs of local [transit users]," Adelaar said. "I can understand the overriding thought of having someone on Bowen Island helping to pay for the Skytrain extension that will go to Port Moody but, at the same time, it is an expense that is difficult to justify. In terms of percentage, we pay quite a bit for what we get."
Adelaar says that looking at the bigger picture is also important. "It is easy to criticize TransLink but Vancouver's transportation system is good," Adelaar said. "I use it every day when I'm in the city." But, at the same time, he advocates for better services for Bowen residents. He thinks that increasing the number of express buses from Horseshoe Bay to downtown Vancouver and coordinating the timetable with ferry departures to Snug Cove would be helpful. He also wants to keep an open mind aimed at finding creative solutions for on-island transit like a free travel zone or an on-call system.
"There are two important issues [about TransLink] that should be at the top of our mind," Adelaar says. "One is the finances and the other is governance." He clarified that the province has given the TransLink board the power to increase the taxes by up to three per cent every year. The mayors have no say in this and has, in the past, suggested alternative funding sources other than property taxes such as a vehicle levy or road pricing that have been rejected by the provincial government.
