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Translink defends against Delta mayor's criticism
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
Shane Woodford | Email news tips to shane.woodford@corusent.com
1/26/2013

Translink officials admit it’s hard to deliver transit south of the Fraser River, but they disagree with the Mayor of Delta’s claims that her community is poorly served. 

Bob Paddon with Translink says service in north Delta is on par with elsewhere, but he admits south Delta is a different story.

"The cost of somebody getting on the bus in south Delta is about $2.72. The average cost is about $1.37 across the region. South Delta is our most expensive area of service. Much of what we have out there isn't being used that extensively, although we do have a couple routes that are doing pretty well."

Paddon says the big challenge is bridging a funding shortfall with transit needs in areas with dense population.

He says Translink is adding more service hours on south of the Fraser, as well as the Port Mann rapid bus.


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  1. BOBF_5970 posted on 01/26/2013 01:52 PM
    why?....why run the evergreen line to the coquitlam center that will service approx 175,000 people and continually ignore a population in exess of 500,000 people in the south fraser region ? the evergreen area can access the barnet hwy , lougheed hwy and hwy #1 as well as train service to exit the region.
    1. commonsense posted on 01/28/2013 04:30 PM
      @BOBF_5970 Because we have people making promises they cannot keep, like translink.

      The Evergreen line is a waste. How many town centres does Coquitlam have? 2?

      Surrey, Delta and Langley have many more. Now, of course, I am talking 3 cities compared to 1, but the Evergreen line will not solve commuting issues in Coquitlam.
  2. speakup posted on 01/26/2013 02:16 PM
    TranSTINKdisagrees with Mayor????
    BUT......
    Cost to take tranist in Delta is almost DOUBLE?
    He confirms MOST expensive area to service!
    Not used? most llikey becuase the service is HORRIBLE and UNUSEABLE
    Funding SHORTFALL????
    Maybe a creative and smart people SHORTFALL!

    How can tranSTINK be allowed to say less service for areas with less people - that would mean ONLY Vancouver and other SUCH UGLY cities would ever get good service! Is this the common denominator for giving good service? more population better service? Or in the case of Delta and other such lovely communities - NO SERVICE! But please keep sending us your MONEY HONEY!!

    Port Mann rapid bus???? SO WHAT
    This services ONLy those people that can
    a) get to the rapid bus area
    b) find a bus to takwe them there (ggod luck and wake up EARLY)
    c) FIND and PAY for parking and hope your car is still there after work
    d) Get on the rapid bus - hopefully there is a seat
    e) Go over bridge

    that works great for WHO?
    I sure would like to see the numbers
    Did they really do any research before they made this such a big deal?
    It would be nice to see transit INSIDE cities -
    to take kids to schools/jobs/safe enetertainment
    for employees to get to work - without 3 transferas and long wet waits!

    some time you have to take a plan OFF PAPER
    to really see if it looks as good as the paper it was written on
    in this case of PMann RAPID TRANSIT - it sounds like another WASTE!
    1. NewsA posted on 01/27/2013 03:05 AM
      @speakup I am pretty sure everybody would agree that Translink services are pretty bad.

      However, less service for areas with less people, this applies to anywhere in the world my friend.

      I live in South Richmond, buses run every 20-30 minutes, its a pretty long wait when comparing to downtown bus routes and Skytrain.

      Do I want more buses on my route? Yes, but I understand that Broadway Corridor should have higher priority than my area.

      You can't expect to have lots of buses going to South Delta, where population is significantly lower and the area is much larger due to farm lands and bigger lots.

      Again, I am not trying to say Translink is giving out good services.
  3. StephenG_3 posted on 01/26/2013 05:12 PM
    Translink has zero defence! Their hot air is just a sign they have failed. Translink needs to be abolished!
  4. rclr posted on 01/26/2013 06:24 PM
    "The cost of somebody getting on the bus in south Delta is about $2.72. The average cost is about $1.37 across the region. " So if Coast Mountain is charging a minimum of $2.75/ride and more than $5.00 for people in Delta to get across 3 zones, why are they constantly returning to taxpayers for additional money?
  5. rossj_9294 posted on 01/26/2013 11:13 PM
    Many years ago I read that some Translink managers were getting their cars paid for. It was in the neighborhood of $600 to $800 per month per manager. This is on top of their salaries. Is this still happening? At the salary levels they receive for the mess they have created, why can't they pay for their own cars?

    I also don't care if the cars are for business reasons. If they expect the regular taxpayers to use transit to go to work, appointments, etc. then why can't they also use transit for their work needs? In some cities in Europe the managers of the public transit systems must use public transit to go to work meetings, etc. and they must use the buses and trains for a certain percentage of days to go to and from work.

    It's time for the managers of Translink to walk the walk and just not do the talk. Until then they are just blowing hot air and people are not falling for it anymore, especially when it seems every time you hear from them it's because they have their paws out for more of our ever dwindling supply of money.
  6. bctaxpayer posted on 01/27/2013 06:33 AM
    Translink stinks,plain and simple.A useless group of overpaid people at the trough for easy $$$$$$. They serve NO constructive purpose.
  7. FrankM_7944 posted on 01/29/2013 09:12 AM
    Kudos to Delta Mayor Lois Jackson for speaking up on the Translink mess!

    We are paying and paying and paying with little to no service south of the Fraser.

    Were is WATTS, she is too busy worrying about protecting her neighbours in South Surrey. (sorry to break it to South Surrey residents, but they really live in Surrey, just plaine Surrey, they are not separate areas!)

    WATTS let them rip up every other part of Surrey and we live with suite residents not paying a penny for Translink or other services.

    All of you think WATTS is great, drive through any part of Surrey and have a look at all the development, with NO transit services.
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