SURREY (NEWS1130) - Surrey's mayor wants to get corporations to pay for naming rights to
SkyTrain stations.
Dianne Watts says it's a better solution than raising taxes. "It could be Telus, it could be Rogers Arena for Stadium, so 'Rogers Arena-Stadium Station.' So, different things like that and looking at revenue generating."
In the US, Philadelphia sold a station's naming rights to AT&T for $600,000 while New York City inked a deal with Barclay's for $200,000. Boston received no offers for corporate branding of its stations. Las Vegas also has sponsored stations for its monorail.
Toronto has struck a deal with Pattison Outdoor Advertising to do something similar in this country. Subway stations there could be renamed in the coming months.
Watts says the Lower Mainland has to come up with new revenue streams because Surrey is so under-served, people are giving up on taking the bus.
She also says she wants to make one thing clear: "Metro Vancouver mayors approved a two cent per litre gas tax increase and the money will not be used solely to pay for the Evergreen Line."
Watts claims the $40 million generated annually will be used to fund "a comprehensive, integrated, financially sustainable transportation network that will benefit virtually every single person living in Metro Vancouver."
She says Surrey is developing a plan to create Light Rail Transit (LRT) to connect their town centres with the existing transit infrastructure and reduce the number of vehicles. "But, for the past ten years, the Evergreen Line has been designated as the next priority for the region. So let’s be clear: Surrey and the other communities in the region can’t move forward with their transit projects until the Evergreen Line is built."
She also wants to see businesses help cover the cost for service to areas that have yet to be developed.