A Congestion Relief Fund is the best way to keep Canada’s big cities moving

Metro Vancouver consistently ranks as one of the best regions in the world for quality of life. But anyone who tries to get around the region knows that it is still suffering from a bad case of congestion. Our residents experience this congestion every day. It’s the overcrowding on our transit system. It’s the bottlenecks on our roads that delay people and commerce. The good news is there is a cure for congestion. Metro Vancouver mayors have been working hard to plan and deliver new transportation infrastructure, in partnership with the governments of Canada and British Columbia. The region’s public transportation agency, TransLink, is mid-way through delivering a smart, affordable, and effective plan—the 10-Year Vision—to expand transit and improve cycling and walking facilities, roads, and bridges throughout Metro Vancouver. With demand for public transit growing at a record pace, and another one million people arriving in Metro Vancouver over the next two decades, the pressures on our transportation network will only increase. Even though progress has been made, we have to keep investing or risk falling behind. We need the federal government to stay on board by making a long-term commitment to the transportation infrastructure our region desperately needs. As the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, we are joining municipalities nationwide through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in calling for a permanent, predictable, direct federal funding mechanism—a Congestion Relief Fund, as we are calling it—for modern public transit across the country. Canada lags our competitors in the OECD in making sustained transit investments as part of a national strategy that recognizes the predominant role urban areas play in national priorities like economic growth, immigrant settlement, affordable housing, goods movement and export, and climate change action. It is time we start catching up to countries like Germany, New Zealand, Japan, France, and the United States where the federal government provides long-term, predictable sources for capital funding. The benefits of investing in public transit are clear, and recent public opinion surveys within Metro Vancouver show the majority of all commuters—whether they drive, take transit, cycle, or walk—agree that we need further expansion of our transit system. Our communities have seen the benefits of game-changing investments from successive federal governments that have helped make it possible to build rapid transit projects like the Canada Line and Evergreen Line. These have provided better access to affordable housing options and given people a reason to leave their cars at home. Now, with the 10-Year Vision underway, TransLink is making historic increases to bus, SeaBus, and SkyTrain service across the region. The public has responded to these new services, with ridership growing more than 17 per cent since the beginning of 2016—more than anywhere else in North America. But this new ridership is swamping even our most optimistic projections. Completing the 10-Year Vision is the next critical step that will help us to keep up with this demand. The Congestion Relief Fund, as proposed by FCM, would guarantee Metro Vancouver the transportation funding needed for our most urgent congestion-fighting transit and road investments. Under the model proposed by FCM, the fund would be delivered on the basis of ridership, and provide an estimated $375-million annually to TransLink, starting in 2028. It would help us plan and build new infrastructure when needed, thereby lowering costs, reducing service gaps, and avoiding missed opportunities to keep our economy moving, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect our enviable quality of life for the almost 2.5 million people who call Metro Vancouver home. Residents and stakeholders from the business, health, and environment sectors support this approach. According to a recent survey by Mustel Group, twice as many residents would prefer the establishment of a permanent transit fund compared to the current approach. As mayors, we agree with our residents and important regional stakeholders, and so in anticipation of the upcoming federal election, we will be working hard to secure a commitment from all parties to create a Congestion Relief Fund. We’ll be engaging election candidates and voters to talk about the importance of Metro Vancouver working directly with Ottawa to ensure we can take a sustainable, long-term approach to building the transportation infrastructure our region and country desperately needs. If we don’t act now to cure congestion, we risk vibrant economic urban centres like Metro Vancouver losing out from an economic, environmental, and health perspective, and falling behind internationally as great places to live and do business. Jonathan Cote is mayor of New Westminster, B.C., and chair of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation. The Hill Times