More info needed to justify vehicle levy to fund transit
Posted January 21, 2013 4:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC’s transportation minister is looking for more clarity from Metro Vancouver mayors and their different options to fund transit.
Mary Polak wants the public to have a better understanding of what the priorities are before anything like a vehicle levy is brought in.
Local mayors have been in discussion trying to come up with a plan to pay for transit projects. The levy has been strong among the ideas.
Mary Polak says more clarity is needed around costs. “Right now we hear, of course, much discussion about one mayor wants one particular priority, another wants another”, says Mary Polak.
She says they need to be able to put some parameters around the plans. “It’s not good enough to say to the public, give us another way to collect money from you when it has not been clear what is the money going to go for and what is the size of the bill that they’ll be paying.”
She says they also need to do some more work with the public to gain support for new types of funding and clearly show what the priorities are
The final plan ultimately needs provincial approval.
