Nothing annoys the flying public like having to pay surcharges right before the security gate - that's why the Vancouver Airport Authority, after years of complaints from travellers, finally decided to roll its Airport Improvement Fee into the cost of airline tickets rather than having passengers line up to be shaken down. This would be an example of the kind of idiocy that unelected transportation authorities with rabid privatization agendas inflict on the public. Is it possible that the new Translink Board, created by the same Ministry of Transportation with the same lack of accountability, has learned anything from the Airport's experience when it comes to mass transit service to and from the airport?
No! Of course not! What else can British Columbians (particularly those who work at YVR who were supposed to be taking the Canada Line) expect from a public-private partnership? This is as much a partnership as the partnership between the mugger and a traveller on the way to the airport. Contrary to what the Translink apologists claim, YVR is not simply going to be another fare zone (for those of you outside of Metro Vancouver, Translink uses an insipid zone system to punish commuters who can't afford to live near downtown) - it's going to be a lot more, why else would the Translink Board meet behind closed doors to determine what the surcharge will be?
How much will the surcharge be? There's a simple formula to figure that out: take the amount of money it will take to pacify the other ground transportation interests at YVR: rental car agencies, taxi companies, and hotel shuttles. Multiply that amount by the what the incompetent contractor thugs who are building the Canada Line need to turn a profit to shareholders (as opposed to a cost-effective, publicly built and financed system that only needs to break even for taxpayers). Divide that by the handful of riders who will be able to afford the Canada Line airport service, and that's what the surcharge will be - give or take whatever legal and public relations money gets thrown around when airport commuters and the public realize that Translink is giving them another Cambie Street Stick-Up.
No comments:
Post a Comment