Province made mistake putting transit tax to vote: expert
Posted July 5, 2015 2:43 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Members of the ‘yes’ side may still be trying to figure out why their side couldn’t win your support in the transportation plebiscite.
An expert blames the government for even putting the idea to a public vote.
Lawrence Frank with UBC’s School of Regional Planning understands the government is busy, but adds this is why we have elected politicians; so they can just make a decision.
He says the vote may have possibly been used to gauge public input, but that backfired. “Typically the public’s reaction to taxation is to vote ‘no’ unless you can convince them that it is something that is really in everyone’s best interest and that takes time”
Frank believes asking drivers to help pay for a service they rarely use was a misconception. “I think that people get that but what they weren’t thinking about when they voted was ‘hey you know I drive around, I don’t want the money to go to transit I’s rather it goes to roads.’ The most effective thing as a driver you can do to make roads more passable is to build transit.”
He wonders why we don’t vote on every big transportation idea like replacing the Massey Tunnel or building a new Pattullo.
The ‘No’ side had 62 per cent of the vote.
