Stephen Rees's blog

The City of Vancouver sends me this in my email. I think my readership will be interested in it and I am pretty sure that the City will be pleased if it reaches a wider audience. Though I would dearly love to be an Arbutus Champion I am going to be in the Panama Canal then so I hope some of you will be there to take my place.

Arbutus Greenway Design Jam – We Need Arbutus Champions to Help Us Design the Future Arbutus Greenway! Are you passionate about public spaces? Do you want to make friends over a fun and inspiring weekend? Would you love to immerse yourself in all things Arbutus Greenway? Apply to become an Arbutus Champion! During the Arbutus Greenway Design Jam, Arbutus Champions will participate in a collaborative workshop to help develop draft designs for the future Arbutus Greenway. There is no experience required to be an Arbutus Champion, but applicants must be available for all four days of the Design Jam, and need to have a passion for the Arbutus Greenway and public space. Here’s the plan: Oct 20, 5pm – 9pm: Set the Stage and Introductions Oct 27, 5pm – 9pm: Deep Dive into the Arbutus Greenway Oct 28, 9am – 5pm: Deeper Dive and Start to Bring it all Together Oct 29, 9am – 5pm: Bring it all Together Applications will be accepted until September 22, so don’t wait! Come Say Hi! Arbutus Greenway staff will be out and about on the temporary path, around the city, and at community events throughout the summer. We’ll be at Pop-Ups throughout the City and this upcoming event: Ping Pong on the Greenway at West 16th (August 31, 5-8 pm) Make sure to check our website and social media for more events and Arbutus Greetings Pop-Ups. “Scene” on the Greenway Thousands of visitors are walking, cycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, and learning to cycle along the Arbutus Greenway each day! Here are posts from some of them: The Tiniest “Rider” Shenanigans!  Trevor Loves the Greenway New Colours! Use the hashtag #ArbutusGreenway for a chance to be highlighted in our newsletter! Community Corner: Thingery! According to Chris Diplock, the project founder, a Thingery is a “community owned lending library of things in a modified shipping container. The containers are self-service, so members can check things in and out at their convenience. A Thingery’s inventory is community sourced; meaning that what goes into the container depends on what neighbours donate to it and what they collectively purchase. Potential inventory types include: recreation equipment, kids toys, woodworking tools, event & entertainment equipment, household appliances and musical instruments.” This fall several Thingeries are being installed in neighbourhoods throughout the City. Learn more about The Thingery at www.thethingery.com Temporary Path Construction Update  The Arbutus Greenway is a future, north-south transportation corridor that, once completed, will connect False Creek to the Fraser River. We recently began construction of new crossings at West Broadway and West 12th Avenue. These new crossings will make the greenway much safer and easier to use in this area. They will be available for use in approximately 8 weeks. Looking forward, we will make it easier and safer to cross South West Marine Drive from the Arbutus Greenway by introducing a new crossing at this intersection. We are working on this design now, and we hope to deliver this improvement in the coming months. About the Arbutus Greenway Project The Arbutus Greenway is a future, north-south transportation corridor that, once completed, will connect False Creek to the Fraser River. We’re in the initial stages of planning and consultation. Our goal is to start constructing sections of the greenway by late 2019. To learn more about the Arbutus Greenway, visit vancouver.ca/arbutusgreenway.

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This was, of course, a major plank for the NDP election campaign. I am referring to the CBC story, but it will be all over mainstream media.

“These tolls are unfair to people who live in the Lower Mainland and to people who live in particular areas of British Columbia. If you live in Kelowna, you don’t pay tolls to cross a bridge,” Horgan said. “You shouldn’t have to pay tolls because of where you live.”

Which is true, and fair enough as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough.

The problem is based in the policies of the previous government, which held that tolls were acceptable as long as there was a free alternative. But they had also secured votes in the interior by cancelling the tolls on the Coquihalla. Because the alternative was much slower than the toll road. There is also the Vancouver precedent of the Lions’ Gate Bridge, which was built by developers and had a toll until it was taken over by the province.

But the other problem was the Public Private Partnership model used by the BC Liberals, which I have lamented here more than once. It deliberately kept the revenue risk in the public sector. Taxpayers were on the hook if traffic did not reach expectations – which was exactly the case with both the Port Mann and the Golden Ears. In the case of the Port Mann the congestion on the aging, overdue for replacement, Patullo Bridge – which the province had downloaded to the GVTA along with the Knight Street and Canoe Pass bridges. They were also long overdue for strengthening – the former due to the seismic risk, the latter to satisfy some potato distributor who thought Westham Island was a good place for a distribution centre. In the case of the Golden Ears, money that Translink was collecting that ought to have gone to improving transit service was diverted to the pockets of the private sector partners in the P3.

The reason that the forecasts were so far out of whack is also something I have covered here. When market research surveys were done people were asked if they were willing to pay tolls – having first been told that they would save time by using the new bridges. Of course respondents would say yes to a question framed that way: any other response would sound stupid. But the reality is what people do when faced with a toll is that they seem to be more than willing to put up with the delay if they can keep the money for other needs. Also, not stupid at all.

So yes tolls are unpopular but also the way the BC Liberals used tolls was exceptionally unfair. Money going to investors in the Golden Ears should have been used to retain the bus pass for the low income transit users, and to increase both HandyDART and bus service in lower density parts of the region.

The problem we now face is that picture at the top I have taken from the CBC. The truth podium will now be trotted out as soon as Horgan – or someone from Translink – dares mention road user pricing, which is not really the same thing as a bridge toll with a toll free alternative. Congestion pricing imposes a fee for using roads when so many people want to drive that no-one gets very far, very fast. The alternatives are walking,  cycling and transit – which are either free or low cost, but also much more efficient users of road space than the typical single occupant vehicle.

And it is pricing that existing road space, which is so valuable at peak periods, to achieve greater efficiency that policy is aimed at, not lining the pockets of capitalist profiteers. The fact that the funds then get used to build exclusive, separated bus and bike lanes, better sidewalks and public spaces as well as increasing transit service is a happy but very necessary outcome. Road pricing cuts down the attraction of driving but increases overall mobility by far more than the lost car trips. Less air pollution, noise, loss of lives and injuries are all bonuses!

One of the things that this story also illustrates nicely is that there is no GreenNDP coalition. The two partners have a very different approach.

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver immediately slammed the NDP government for the move.

“It’s unfortunate that the government has decided to proceed with this reckless policy,” Weaver said in a press release.

“There is no question that the affordability crisis facing so many British Columbians is a significant concern. However, this policy is high cost and low impact.”

He contended the province would get a higher return on investment for programs targeting things like education, student housing and child care.

“Moreover, making such a massive addition to our debt risks raising interest on all debt, which ultimately prevents government from being able to invest more in important social programs,” Weaver said.

In contrast, Horgan insisted the loss of toll revenue shouldn’t affect the province’s borrowing costs.

But Weaver added that tolls can help encourage drivers to find other modes of transportation, which helps to reduce congestion and pollution.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore echoed those concerns in a tweet Friday morning, asking if eliminating tolls could “shift transit users back to their cars and thus increase commute times.”

But the story then tries to point out that “road pricing is still on the table”. But I am not so sure. Maybe now that the “need” for a referendum has been removed, perhaps the knee jerk response of the electorate to catch phrases, sound bites and dog whistles will not matter as much as it did last time. But I think the appeal of “Toll Free BC” will have much more resonance than reuse of the congestion gif – even on many blogs.

And we are still paying MSP

I was reading this article by Nina Feldman in Next City. It is about a group that is restoring the abandoned station in Gary Indiana.

It reminded me of the Pennsylvania station in Baltimore, which has not so much been restored, or preserved, as simply remains much in its original condition. We had arrived from Washington DC on the MARC train and proceeded to the cruise ship terminal by taxi. I had thought I had taken more pictures – but my memory played me false.

I wish now that I had taken more time to take more pictures. But I suppose that the taxi was waiting.

I think it is also worth taking a moment more to read this bit of the Next City article

Historic preservation draws critics from both sides of the aisle. Republican lawmakers in the Midwest criticize historic districts for infringing on homeowners’ rights. Affordable housing advocates argue that historic designations further wealth inequality by preventing affordable housing from being developed in high-opportunity neighborhoods. Redevelopment of historical landmarks in areas where property values are creeping up can push neighborhoods over the tipping point — at once increasing the viability and economic activity in the area, while often also displacing low-income residents. Preservationists have responded with data that show how saving old buildings in neighborhoods has helped with diversity, affordability and opportunity.