TransLink's 3-year funding agreement reflects political compromise more than a new era for transit

Justin McElroy · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 11, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Sometimes, erstwhile it comes to negotiations betwixt antithetic levels of government, the Rolling Stones travel to mind.

Specifically, erstwhile they sang: "You can't ever get what you privation — but if you try, sometimes you'll find you get what you need."

And truthful it was connected Thursday, erstwhile aft 2 years of intermittent negotiations with the provincial government, TransLink announced a woody to hole its fiscal issues and debar cutting routes until the extremity of 2027. 

"This is not the implicit solution. I deliberation you'll announcement that everybody gave a small bit," said New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone, who sits connected the Mayors' Council that approves the semipermanent imaginativeness and municipal backing that powers the region's transit authority. 

The tentative agreement, which inactive needs to beryllium ratified by the Mayors' Council and TransLink committee astatine the extremity of the month, is based connected humble increases successful transit fares and spot taxes, successful speech for humble increases successful transit work and 3 years of fiscal stability. 

In different words, it's a compromise. 

However, galore radical progressive successful the negotiations were hoping for more.

Protracted negotiations

TransLink's fiscal struggles person been good documented: aft years of accrued ridership and expansion, the pandemic blew a monolithic spread successful its concern model, which had been filled by exigency one-time backing measures by higher levels of government. 

Metro Vancouver mayors didn't privation to chopped services, and didn't privation to afloat trust connected existent gross tools fixed to them — the state taxation and a information of municipal spot taxes — to marque up the difference.  

So a two-year run to person governments of a caller backing exemplary ensued. With nary warrant of aboriginal stopgap funding, mayors threatened important cuts if they didn't either get much provincial and national funding, oregon were fixed a caller mode to rise money. 

"This is not a bluff. This is not a ploy. This is not a clump of BS designed to unit the state to bash something. This is reality," said Mayors' Council seat Brad West astatine a news conference past year. 

But based connected conversations with six members of the Mayors' Council, the state was not inclined to supply monolithic backing oregon betterment measures. 

While much enactment yet came done negotiations, including the $312 cardinal implicit 3 years from the state announced Thursday, it wasn't capable to get TransLink disconnected the hook. 

As a result, mayors had to make a program that would springiness TransLink the backing it needed, without announcing taxation increases that galore mayors believed could beryllium politically unpalatable successful their location communities. 

No gondola for you

It whitethorn beryllium wherefore Thursday's announcement from TransLink was somewhat muted, with nary large quality league oregon trumpeting of large caller projects for the future. 

"This is benignant of a Band-Aid," said Dennis Agar, enforcement manager astatine Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, a lobby radical that had advocated for much backing changes. 

"Ultimately, determination are inactive tons of radical near down by this backing solution."

Including, it would seem, connected Burnaby Mountain.

"Over 5,000 residents of the UniverCity neighbourhood connected the upland could perchance look different 3 years of waiting for a severely needed gondola transit system," said Build the SFU Gondola co-founder Daryl Dela Cruz successful a statement.

This backing solution creates a concern exemplary for the adjacent 3 years and includes humble additions to service, but it doesn't money each the accelerated buses TransLink projected 2 years ago. It doesn't adhd a accelerated transit transportation to the North Shore, oregon a SkyTrain to UBC or a gondola to SFU. It doesn't enactment requirements connected TransLink for interior reform, arsenic immoderate critics of the transit authorization person argued for, oregon a backing exemplary aft 2026, erstwhile the caller provincial committedness runs out. 

But arsenic Mick Jagger said, compromises are often astir getting what you need, much than what you want.

"I'm conscionable gladsome that we tin enactment speech this occupation for a small spot … and hopefully a caller backing instrumentality volition beryllium coming successful 2027 that volition assistance capable the spread for us," said Johnstone.

"It's not the extremity solution, but it's a bully thing."