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June 13, 2009 00:50 +0000 | Activism Environment Politics Transit Translink 2

I thought that I might post a brief note on this whole Be Part of the Plan business from Translink.

For those of you not living in Vancouver, Translink is the Lower Mainland transit authority. Created just before the demise of the NDP over a decade ago as a way to offload the responsibility of transit from the province, Translink is an unelected body charged with support of all methods of transportation from Vancouver out to just past Langley. They handle SkyTrain, the road system, the West Coast Express, the Seabus and even the cycling infrastructure and they're notorious for tending to do so with very little input from the public.

So you can imagine what a remarkable thing it is to see posters and ads all over the place for this be part of the plan program they're pushing. They're trying to give everyone the impression that they're interested in public input regarding their responsibilities and to do just that, they've built a website, a blog, a Twitter account and set up a number of "consultations" with the public over the next few weeks.

It all sounds really great: public engagement on one of the most important civil issues in this generation is a pretty big deal, but unfortunately there's nothing engaging about the whole process. Instead, all of this, the website, the Twitter, the "consultations", are all targeted at one purpose: they want more money and they want you to agree with them on their plans for transit going toward 2040.

Every element of this outreach has the same message:

You have three choices: more service, the same service, abysmal service
You should pick the first one
You should give them more money so they can do the first one.

Of course it's all framed like they're giving you all this really detailed information about the process of making hard choices about transit, but that's also bookended with statements like "we have a vision" on the one side and the usual "end of the world" rhetoric you hear if you don't make the "right" choice. What kills me though, and what should bother the hell out of everyone "involved" in this circus is that they entire process is framed with their own goals in mind. In other words, they've already made the decision and they're telling us that we have only one option for better transportation in this city and it's their plan. If you don't like it, that's it -- transit is doomed.

It's all quite dishonest and manipulative really. We know Translink's track record: over a decade of service with the transit adoption rate holding steady at an embarrassing 13%. They want more funding for their plans which we now know are just plain ineffective and we're being told that there is no alternative but to accept their position or give up. It's maddening.

I'd suggest that you attend one of these events and give them a piece of your mind (as I did) but I don't like encouraging people to partake in an exercise of futility. I would instead suggest that we come up with Better Ideas for transit in the Lower Mainland and work to pressure our elected officials to reject the Translink plan in favour of something more effective because this kind of manipulative behaviour should never be permitted to fly.

Comments

Susan
13 Jun 2009, 1 a.m. |

They're giving people a "choice" so they feel empowered instead of manipulated. It's a marketing tactic. I believe it's this TED talk that brought that up. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html

Transit in Canada seems to be pretty sad, in general. What has to happen to make it better, I wonder?

Jhenifer @ TransLink
18 Jun 2009, 8:16 p.m. |

Hey Daniel,

My name is Jhenifer, and I edit the Buzzer and Buzzer blog for TransLink. I saw your post and just wanted to offer some info that might perhaps be of use.

There's a couple of documents on the TransLink site that talk about our contributions to the region over the past 10 years.

This chart here shows increases in bus fleet size, ridership, the size of our rail network, service hours and more.

This backgrounder shows what our specific work has been in each area of our region.

And this resource guide for the media explains TransLink's history, structure, funding mechanisms, efficiencies, and more. (It's a really useful read if you're just looking to understand our work and organization.)

Also, you're right that our current mode share for transit is something like 13%. But an important thing to note from the chart is that our ridership has increased about 34% over the past 10 years, outpacing the ~12% population growth during that period. So more riders are in fact using our system today.

(Btw, if you're using Firefox on a Mac, those files might download funny -- just add a .pdf on the end of the filename and they'll open just fine.)

With regard to your points on consultation, I sent your comments over to our public consultation department to see what they thought. They've told me a few things:

With the BePartofthePlan consultation, you are right that we have provided three scenarios that are points on a spectrum, and yes, we are asking for direction at implementing one of these or a slight variation.
In this consultation, we will be listening to input on what we have asked for in this process: specifically, where should we be focusing efforts e.g. level within each of the five categories, what is the appetite for increased spending on existing revenues and where would we look for increased funding.
People may not always agree with our outcomes but we do listen, capture all ideas/comments in the way forward, and provide your feedback as advice to our decision-makers.
Because the issues are large and complex, the methods we have selected to engage this discussion are intended to provide information that is reasonably understandable within a short period of time.

Generally, the planning process required by law is complex and deadlines are tight. Every year, we're required to come up with a 10-Year plan, and every five years, we're required to come up with a 30-year strategy to guide the 10-Year plans. This entails regular discussion with municipalities and stakeholders, public consultations, plus the actual drafting of the plans to be presented to our Board by August 1 of each year. (The Mayors' Council and Regional Transportation Commissioner examine the plans shortly afterward.)

Also, when the Plan is submitted, while it's somewhat detailed for the near-term (one to three years), it will still be at a high level for the remainder of the years. That?s because TransLink commits to full planning processes for its projects, plans and policies, and these processes haven't taken place yet for the specifics of the longer-term decisions. In these processes we consult widely within affected communities and conduct extensive technical analysis to identify the full range of options and make informed choices.

Examples of the deeper consultations we do include our Area Transit Plans (five year plans for transportation in each area of our region----those are deployed as part of our longer range plans), the Access Transit plan, Regional Cycling Strategy, and more.

For example, the Access Transit accessibiility plan took two years to consult on and draft through workshops, face-to-face meetings, and website interaction. You can check out the "Get Involved" section of our website for more information on all of these consultations.

Hope this might help a bit.

Jhenifer