TransLink eyes vehicle tax to meet funding shortfall

A vehicle tax up to $100 is one of several options TransLink is considering to raise more money to pay for Metro Vancouver's roads, bridges and public transit system.

Spokesman Ken Hardie said the regional transit authority needs an extra $150 million a year by 2011 to maintain current service levels, and another $300 million to meet its expansion goals.

"There is no simple way to put this, other than the fact that deep cuts are inevitable if additional funding doesn't come through," Hardie said.

A vehicle levy could generate up to $140 million a year, TransLink reports have estimated.

Other possible revenue sources TransLink is considering include:

• Instituting road and bridge tolls.
• Increasing property taxes near rapid transit stations.
• Asking the province for a larger share of the property transfer tax.
• Taxing container truck traffic through Vancouver area ports.
• Raising public transit fares, fuel taxes, parking taxes or the BC Hydro levy on homeowners.

No decisions have been made yet and TransLink plans to host public meetings to discuss the funding options over the next few months, but new sources of funding must be found or services and infrastructure will suffer, said Hardie.

"We either have measures that will maintain our world standing as one of the world's most livable places, or if TransLink has to fundamentally get by based on its current level of revenues, then we are going to be going in the opposite direction," he said.

The idea of putting a levy on vehicles is certain to be unpopular. It was first floated more than a decade ago by TransLink but scrapped by the NDP government of the day because of a public outcry.

"As one of the mechanisms that is there and available, it clearly needs to be on the table as one of the things we talk about," Hardie said.

TransLink, which is also known as the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, manages regional roads and public transit across the Lower Mainland.

Under a new governance model introduced in 2007, TransLink will be able to eventually expand beyond Metro Vancouver, potentially reaching as far north as Pemberton and as far east as Hope, based on municipal agreements.