Bus Fare Hike

[-ff-]

^
Another side note - the only reason that the night busses came back was because of a long and hard fought campaign by the group that is sponsoring the fare strike, the Bus Rider's Union.

[BongMan]

get me 24 hour Skytrain service and I will be more sympathetic

[Custard]

if i had 24 hour skytrain, i would stop driving drunk.

[Canar]

Originally Posted by -ff-

DON'T PAY FOR TRANSIT RACISM!

The fare increase is an attack on the right to mobility of all bus riders. It is also a racist and sexist policy which will disproportionately impact women, communities of colour and Aboriginal people who are more likely to be transit-dependent because of low-income and lack of access to a car. The fare hike, like privatization, cuts and user fees in other necessary public services, exacerbates and reinforces the oppression and exploitation of immigrants, refugees, people of colour, and Aboriginal people.

What utter bullshit. Things cost money. There's no discrimination except against people without money. This policy does not discriminate against any race, gender, or anything. It applies equally to all. That's what equality means: noone gets special treatment. Or has the left redefined equal to make minorities more equal than everyone else now?

[wum]

***** please

[zarlon]

95 dolla a month for 2zone bus pass. ouch!

i guess this means killing some other habits to cut costs other ways.

or.. finding a better paying job! booyeah.

[-ff-]

Originally Posted by Canar

What utter bullshit. Things cost money. There's no discrimination except against people without money.

Well that should be enough right there. You dont see a problem with discrimination?

That said (if you'd bothered to read what I'd posted) it hasn't occured to you that the majority of impoverished people tend to be people of colour, immigrants, and first nations? Policies that affect the poor disproportionately affect these people - hence, systemic racism. Try getting your head out of that little box you keep it in and thinking through the implications for a second.

[TheCooker]

Originally Posted by -ff-

Has Translink's bullshit fare hike got you pissed off?

If so, read on:

** Please Forward Widely ***

Join the Bus Riders Union

FARE STRIKE

Friday, January 14, 2005

In response to TransLinks January 1st fare hike the Bus Riders Union is organizing a FARE STRIKE for January 14th , 2005. On this day, BRU organizers as well as allies and activists will be riding the buses throughout the region encouraging bus riders to not pay fares. This will be an opportunity for thousands of bus riders to take direct action against TransLink's policies of privatization, bus cuts, high fares and corporate mega projects. Please get involved in this mass direct action against neo-liberalism and for public services that meet the needs of our communities.

DON'T PAY FOR BUS CUTS!

Every TransLink fare increase comes with big promises about improved service. However, as we've seen in the past, TransLink prioritizes mega-projects profitable to big business and regional developers and starves the bus system that most transit-dependent people rely on. TransLink's policies of bus cuts, cancelled bus purchases, and pro-corporate priorities must be challenged if we are to achieve a transit system that is public, environmentally sound and accessible to all.

DON'T PAY FOR PRIVATIZATION!

With the fare increase TransLink will be taking over $13 million a year out of the pockets of bus riders to pay for the privatization of our transit system in the form of the RAV line. This 'Private-Public-Partnership' guarantees a big profit to the private corporations who will build and operate the project while taking control over the transit system out of the hands of the public.

DON'T PAY FOR TRANSIT RACISM!

The fare increase is an attack on the right to mobility of all bus riders. It is also a racist and sexist policy which will disproportionately impact women, communities of colour and Aboriginal people who are more likely to be transit-dependent because of low-income and lack of access to a car. The fare hike, like privatization, cuts and user fees in other necessary public services, exacerbates and reinforces the oppression and exploitation of immigrants, refugees, people of colour, and Aboriginal people.

<--this is all BULLSHIT...like these frickin people can't afford it....damn I pay taxes for people on welfare...they're already getting a free ride!


Ok first off, everyone whois is bitching about the fare increase...was probably PRO Winter games in 2010 and cheered when it was announced!
So we need a new rapid transit for it, you wanted the games, your going to have to pay a little for it....25cents...that's nothing...who they hell cares about a quarter?
You already have super cheap, and extensive transit...if you want to pay for the real price for a ride to work...take a taxi...or give the bus operator a $10 bill! Thats real...$2.25 what the hell is that, not even enough for a coffee at Starbucks, and you all probably go out for coffee.


Transit is not being cut by the way...with the introduction of Community Shuttle, and the arrival of 200+ new trolleys in 2006....I think it's fair to say Transit is expanding, not cutting back!

As for the people without jobs and can't afford the quarter, get a peice of paper, make a resume, and GET A JOB YOU BUM!!!

[SEAN!]

calls of racism are unwarrented..and besides why do you care you have a upass.

its still cheaper then owning a car or taking a cab

[zarlon]

if i buy 12 packs less of cigarettes per month, i can then afford my bus pass for ALMOST FREE! well. yeah. absolve cost, whatever.

[TheCooker]

I'm getting a raise soon

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by -ff-

^

Increasing bus fares is basically taxing the poor. Who rides the busses? Students, seniors, single families, the under-employed. Add that to the fact that Translink has its priorities totally fucked, and is cutting back a lot of bus routes, even though thousands of people are totally depentent on them. Why should impoverished bus riders have to pay for a sky train to the airport that they will never ride?

A progressive transit program would increase gas taxes, put in road/ bridge tolls, or divert downtown parking revenues to fund the system, encouraging people to get out of their cars and get into busses and trains.

This is also the third fare-hike in five years as well.

translink has an imperative to increase transit use, like you said the people who currently take the bus have no choice but to pay the fair, however if translink wants to increase ridership use their only option is "mega-projects" like RAV. Thinks like skytrain and subways are the only transit options that are gonna get commuters out of cars. personally i hate buses, they are way too slow and inconveniant. Taking transit from my home to UBC in rush hour is more then double the time it takes me to drive there, and its mostly because of the busses, if they had skytrain right to ubc it would be a thirty minute ride and id take it everyday, the only reason i take once and awhile transit now is because i have a upass and i quit my job. As for skytrain i fuckin love it, in fact if they had more skytrain lines i probably wouldnt even use a car. The general consensus of most commuters is similar to mine, why do you think they pay so much extra to own and drive a car when they actually can take the buss? The reality is that if they increased bus capacity and reduced fares along the same route where rav is going they would not get the increased ridership necessary to be an appropriate return on their investment in economic and social terms. I know you recognize who these mega projects are targeting, tourists, people here for business conferences and commuters who otherwise wouldnt take tranist(buses). Are you politically opposed to increasing transit use and reducing traffic congestion and the associated environmental and economic costs? if not i dont see why you would argue against such a increase whihc is to be used for capital investment into the transit system, and more importantly into building a transit system infrastructure which will actually result in increased ridership, because your not going to increase ridership by lowering fares or increasing bus routes since the economic argument for choosing transit is already there and to increase ridership to groups outside of those who choose transit because they really dont have a choice(you admit this yourself) your going to have to make commuting via transit alot faster, alot more conveniant, more pleasant and more glamourous as taking the bus has a stigma attached to it which subways and mass transit dont.


also if you think about it, vancouver is supposed to be a world class city, well every world class city ive been to has a mass transit connection to the airport, as well as a well developed mass transit/subway system.
besides, a few years ago there were plans to implement a vehicle levy, increased gas taxes and tolls to pay for translink but the NDP government killed it.

[-ff-]

I wrote a long reply you you and TheCooker but the computer ate it =(

Now I have to go to class.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by TheCooker

<--this is all BULLSHIT...like these frickin people can't afford it....damn I pay taxes for people on welfare...they're already getting a free ride!


Ok first off, everyone whois is bitching about the fare increase...was probably PRO Winter games in 2010 and cheered when it was announced!
So we need a new rapid transit for it, you wanted the games, your going to have to pay a little for it....25cents...that's nothing...who they hell cares about a quarter?
You already have super cheap, and extensive transit...if you want to pay for the real price for a ride to work...take a taxi...or give the bus operator a $10 bill! Thats real...$2.25 what the hell is that, not even enough for a coffee at Starbucks, and you all probably go out for coffee.


Transit is not being cut by the way...with the introduction of Community Shuttle, and the arrival of 200+ new trolleys in 2006....I think it's fair to say Transit is expanding, not cutting back!

As for the people without jobs and can't afford the quarter, get a peice of paper, make a resume, and GET A JOB YOU BUM!!!

the argument that transit is being cut back can be made, but its flawed because the cut backs in bus routes are the same routes which the Rav is supposed to be replacing.

RAV isnt the only mass transit system upgrade translink is going to be funding before 2010 either, at the same time they will be building a transit extension from lougheed mall to coquiltam centre via port moody. Thats a pretty good bang for buck considering a .25 increase to riders, relative to the increase in property taxes and parking stall taxes which will be paid by people who typically do not use transit.

[wum]

the main problem is the invention of the automobile itself. i like the European cities that were built before the Industrial Revolution where they actually have character and you can get to anywhere you want on foot and without hopping into your car.

city planners imagined that cars would divorce the suburbs from the cities (they thought people wanted this) and that's why everything sucks. it's better when everything is integrated (without the highways) like Brussels or Venice.

[smithnwest88]

Originally Posted by BongMan

Thats not really gonna help much untill they extend the system to reach the other lower mainland communities like Delta Richmond Langley POCO POMO and so on. Otherwise people are still going to drive to places cause it is way more convient out this way.

the rav line is going to richmond and light rail transit is going through port moody to coquitlam center in the next few years...

[tahiti__treat]

i think the fare hikes are bs! i live in vancouver and it costs me like 8.50 to go to work and come back.. so i basically work an hour for free everytime i have a shift!

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by wum

the main problem is the invention of the automobile itself. i like the European cities that were built before the Industrial Revolution where they actually have character and you can get to anywhere you want on foot and without hopping into your car.

city planners imagined that cars would divorce the suburbs from the cities (they thought people wanted this) and that's why everything sucks. it's better when everything is integrated (without the highways) like Brussels or Venice.

yeah also europeans pay 4 times mroe then us for gas and everyhting else..they really dont have a choice.

venice is a disaster.

[thebobman]

cooker has a point,

However:

1. Vancouver has created a city with no major traffic arteries in and out of the city. There's no High way that goes through down town, there's no rapid way by car to get into the city.

2. Look at Toronto. It's VASTLY larger than vancouver in terms of size and population. THEIR tansit system costs $2 to go ANYWHERE. And there's far more service, far more frequently.

3. Vancouverites within the GVRD need to realize that their road system won't be improved because the land surround it is already developped and beging to put more money into their transit system. A fare hike, is NOT the best way to do this.

Translink is STUPID for imposing a fare hike.

Here's Why:

FARE HIKES DECREASE RIDERSHIP: Translink knows this, after the last hike they figured ridership would drop 1.2%. However, when the ridership finally began to rebound, it was 5% higher in Fall of 2002 than it was in Fall of 2000. That 5% increase happened when what opened? The Millenium line. So a Huge new Skytrain line opened and the increase over 2 years was 5%. How much did ridership drop when the last fare hike increased? Translink is quoted as saying "That it is difficult to determine the effect of the fare hike". WHAT THE FUCK?! ARE YOU INSANE?! I dunno, maybe if I was running a huge Transit Authority I'd like to KEEP TRACK of what happens when I increase fares!
Translink loves to get out and talk about how their ridership has floursihed in 2003-2004, but really, c'mon, if you give a bus pass to every SFU & UBC student what do you THINK is gonna happen? They're gonna use it. What really needs to happen here is that their needs to be a greater tax on car owners in this city. Yeah, that's right, CAR OWNERS. This city isn't DESIGNED for an automobile based traffice system, it's not, take a look at the highways and the streets everyday at 6am-9am and then again at 3pm-6pm, You think that's an automobile designed system? NO!

The GVRD can't make Vancouver an automobile-centric traffic system now, it's too bloody late; the land surround the major streets is already purchased and developed.
People with cars are already screwed. The only hope we have to eliviating the traffic problem is to decrease the number of cars in the city core and increase the number of buses. You don't do that with a Fare Increase, you do that by raising the taxes on CARS.

[wum]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

yeah also europeans pay 4 times mroe then us for gas and everyhting else..they really dont have a choice.

venice is a disaster.

how is venice a disaster. there can never be a traffic jam. and their cities are very walkable, like Paris, and were designed before the automobile.

[dapimpstress]

Originally Posted by tahiti__treat

i think the fare hikes are bs! i live in vancouver and it costs me like 8.50 to go to work and come back.. so i basically work an hour for free everytime i have a shift!

8.50?!?!

i pay 50 cents (pretending im 17) one way, and 50 cents back...

[mapleleaf4ever]

The German Transit System is simply amazing... everything is on time. Efficient, and cheap. I paid 8 Deutsch Mark in 1998 for I believe it was a Weeks Pass. (They had a Tourist Rate) There weren't many Cars on the streets at all. If we had a system like that maybe I'd enjoy it more.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by wum

how is venice a disaster. there can never be a traffic jam. and their cities are very walkable, like Paris, and were designed before the automobile.

its sinking into the ocean..all those little boats pullote the shit out of the water which rots the foundations of the buildings.

plus venice has a permanant population of around 70,000 and is isolated and occupies a very small space geographically, a comparision to vancouver cannot be made.

[crookedking]

there shouldn't be any zones, that's my complaint.

[dapimpstress]

why'du ya'll haveta pay so much!?