Graph of revenue collected by TransLink: 2007 to 2012

With the recent release of TransLink’s 2012 Year-End Financial and Performance Report, I thought I’d create a graph that looks at the total revenue TransLink collects from residents in Metro Vancouver to pay for roads and transit services.

Graph of TransLink Revenue from 2007 to 2012

The graph shows the relative percentage that each revenue source contributes to the overall revenue TransLink collects from Metro Vancouverites. It also shows the absolute dollar amount collected (in millions) to pay for transportation services. I’ll let the graph speak for itself, but I did want to point out a few things.

In both relative and absolute terms, the revenue collected from transit fares and tolls are going up. The other thing that I’ve noticed is that taxation from fuel and parking are on the decline. The major increase in parking tax in 2010 was the result of TransLink raising the tax to the maximum legal level. Since then, the revenue collected has been declining. TransLink increased fuel tax to 15 cent per litre in 2010 and to the maximum legal level of 17 cents per litre in 2012. In relative term, fuel tax revenue is slowly becoming a smaller part of TransLink's revenue pie. It will also become smaller in absolute terms as well. People are driving less in Metro Vancouver and this is a trend that is seen in other parts of North America as well. The irony is that under the current funding model as people drive less and uses transit more, TransLink will have less revenue while needing to provide more service. Linking transit funding to vehicle usage is not a very smart idea.