16

Knowlton Knows
TransLink’s doing it again

Knowlton Thomas B.C. public transportation provider takes the wrong approach... again.

hey say that history always
[= itself. For the most

part, it’s an easy adage to
agree with. However, one could
reasonably expect that some
elements of history would be left
unrepeated— you know, the really,
really stupid ones. Things like
business models that trigger public
outcry and unnecessary debts, for
example. Yet this is precisely the
sort of thing TransLink is involving
itself in, time and time again.

Statistics.

A report on fare
evasion prepared by
PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2008
estimated TransLink loses about
$6.4 million a year to fare evasion,
which is being generous— they
likely lose a lot more, especially
now. The report also suggested,
perhaps more accurately, that only
about one per cent of fare evaders
are caught. And this is on top of
TransLink’s strange avoidance of

The implementing
latest bad rt of
oe “In 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers oe

move by effective

2 estimated TransLink loses about $6.4 :
TransLink 7... security

million a year to fare evasion, which is

came at being generous—they likely lose a lot ™°*S""°*:
the start of 99 a6 y “s They dance
this year, er eres cee around the
when they notion of

announced their 2010 10-Year
Plan. The common thought

from transit users is that public
transit fare costs are right where
they should be —not too high

and not too low. But TransLink
sees it differently. Their plan,

as confirmed by a Report by

the Regional Transportation
Commissioner, will “raise fares
between 3 to 3.5% per year...
[in] 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019.”
And although the Commissioner
was actually “reluctant” to accept
the fare increases, and officially
only accepted the first fare hike
(this April), TransLink has never
had trouble in gaining approval to
make poor decisions; there isn’t a
sliver of a doubt amongst analysts
that these hikes will come.

But it’s not simply the fact
that TransLink continues to raise
fares at faster rates than inflation
(they just hiked prices in 2008,
and the 2010 increase far outpaces
the economy of the past year,
which saw contractions). That,
alone, is not a salient problem.
They are seeking greater profits
to work toward removing their
debt—that makes sense, right? Of
course it does. That being said,
TransLink chooses to ignore, or at
least neglect, some very important

installing turnstiles or tightening
security like it’s rotten ice. They
continue to employ security staff,
few of who make any effort to
catch evaders. And they do hardly
anything to enforce the few tickets
that they do hand out. As of 2008,
only about 10 per cent of fare-
evasion tickets are ever paid. Even
now-mayor Gregor Robertson
didn’t pay his ticket for over two
years, only paying up in the end
because he achieved political
success and the issue was taken up
by transportation minister Kevin
Falcon.

The problem extends further.
TransLink employs an oversized
group of executive board members.
Not only do these members seem
incapable of simple analysis and
logical decisions, they are also
grossly overpaid by any company’s
standards. This, while TransLink
cries over “insufficient funds.”
Check your damn wallets, fellas.

I will admit that, while
TransLink is an overall failure and
running a relatively corrupt system,
not every aspect of the situation
is bad. After all, until they get
their act together, I can continue
enjoying my free rides on the
SkyTrain.