Langley City Council Calls for Improvements to HandyDART Service

A few weeks ago, I posted that Langley City Council received a presentation from the Save Our HandyDART Coalition. HandyDART service is for folks who cannot use conventional public transit service without assistance. The Coalition outlined some challenges HandyDART users face, such as scheduling challenges and the growing reliance on taxis replacing HandyDART vehicles and specially trained drivers.

They called on Langley City Council to co-sign an open letter to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, and TransLink, to review and improve HandyDART service.

Council Albrecht presented the following motion at last night’s Council meeting.

THAT Council authorizes the Save Our HandyDART Coalition to add Langley City Council as a signatory to the Coalition’s open letter to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Rob Fleming, which directs the TransLink Board to:

1. Fulfill TransLink’s original pledge to limit the percentage of taxi trips to 7% or lower of total HandyDART trips.

2. Provide accessible, affordable and increased HandyDART transportation as part of the government’s commitment to implement the Accessible BC Act.

3. Develop and conduct an unbiased Public Sector Comparator (PSC), with the full participation of HandyDART riders and workers, to compare the costs and benefits of insourcing to continued outsourcing as TransLink promised in 2016.

4. Develop and implement a plan to bring HandyDART in-house as a subsidiary of TransLink, including providing provincial and federal funds for permanent facilities for an expanded and electric HandyDART fleet.

Councillor Solyom noted some of the challenges his mother is facing getting signed up for HandyDART service. All members of Council wholeheartedly supported this motion.

November 11th Remembrance Day Ceremony in Langley City

Langley City invites people to attend Douglas Park on November 11th to remember those who died in service to our country.

Gathering around the cenotaph symbolizes the traditional military night vigil, an act of honouring those who have died in service.

Mark your calendar for this year's ceremony as follows.

Date: November 11th, 2023
Time: Starts at 10:50 am sharp, so please arrive early
Location: Douglas Park Cenotaph - 20550 Douglas Crescent

Douglas Crescent and Park Avenue will be closed to motor vehicle traffic around Douglas Park from 6:30 am until 1:00 pm.

For those who cannot attend in person, the City produced an online ceremony, which you can watch at any time.

Many people and organizations lay wreaths as part of the act of honouring and remembrance. You can purchase these wreaths from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #6 in Cloverdale. Further information about purchasing and informing the City that you will be laying a wreath is available on the City's Remembrance Day webpage.

Lest We Forget.

If the Federal Government Wants Lower Development Charges, It Must Consider Increasing Infrastructure Funding

In June, I posted that the Metro Vancouver Regional District was considering increasing Development Cost Charges. The Regional District uses these charges to pay for water, sewer, and park infrastructure related to new housing (population) and commercial building growth.

One of the tenets of local government-funded infrastructure in BC is that "growth should pay for growth." Put another way, property tax and utility fees shouldn't be used to build new infrastructure to accommodate population growth.

Development Cost Charges are a per unit or square footage charges developers pay when constructing new buildings. The provincial government regulates and approves all Development Cost Charges.

Langley City is currently in the process of increasing our Development Cost Charges, as is the Metro Vancouver Regional District. Now, these charges are not a free lunch. If they are set too high, it can drive the cost of housing or commercial buildings up.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District Board is voting on proposed increases to its Development Cost Charges tomorrow, but there is a wrinkle. The Federal Government has decided to pause the Housing Accelerator Fund for all municipalities in Metro Vancouver. Langley City recently applied for $9.67 million from the program to help speed up and increase the number of housing units being built in our community.

The Federal Government wants the region to delay the implementation of the proposed regional Development Cost Charge increases. For specific projects, such as below marking housing built by non-profits, the Regional District will already reduce or eliminate Development Cost Charges. Still, the Feds want the region to consider expanding the reduction or elimination of Development Cost Charges to for-profit, market-priced rental construction (among other things.)

Unlike the federal or provincial governments, local governments in BC, such as the Metro Vancouver Regional District or Langley City, must have balanced budgets. For each exemption or reduction in Development Cost Charges, local governments must raise that "lost" revenue with property tax or utility fees that all property owners and renters pay for.

So if we exempted for-profit, market-priced rentals from Development Cost Charges, the City and region would have to transfer the cost of building new infrastructure to accommodate growth from developers to everyone.

There is another path forward. The federal government could come forward with additional, significant funding to pay for water, sewer, parks, and transportation infrastructure required due to population growth. They could even link it to reductions in Development Cost Charges.

I know that local governments, the province, and the federal government want to support building more housing faster, but we also need to pay for the infrastructure required to service these new housing units. While Development Cost Charges are far from perfect, they are essential for local governments, including Langley City, to pay for building basic infrastructure.

Filling the $600 Million Per Year TransLink Funding Gap

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TransLink's fare revenue crashed, but thanks to the financial support of both the federal and provincial governments, the agency could maintain transit service. While ridership is growing rapidly now, there are still some significant budget challenges.

TransLink's revenue is lower today than what we predicted it would be before the pandemic. It didn't account for the rising cost of almost everything due to inflation and geopolitical instability. The adoption of electric vehicles is also growing faster than expected. All this has led to a structural funding challenge for TransLink.

TransLink fare revenue is lower because people take transit differently. There are fewer 9-5 commuters and more weekend riders, which negatively impact revenue. Also, the Mayors' Council and the province froze fares and capped fare increases since the pandemic to maintain affordability. These actions and the change in ridership mix have led to a significant loss in revenue.

Fuel tax is also declining faster than expected as more people are buying more EVs faster than was predicted.

On the positive side, property tax revenue has been stable.

As revenue has declined, the cost to provide the same level of service has increased, which is a double whammy. We've all suffered from inflation, and TransLink is no different. Besides inflation, traffic congestion also impacts expenses. To maintain the same level of bus service, TransLink must operate more buses due to congestion. Congestion costs more than the planned expansion of bus service!

The following scary graph from today's Mayors' Council meeting agenda shows the funding challenges that TransLink faces today.

Graph of 2026-2033 increase in structural funding gap by drivers. Select the graph to enlarge.

On the positive front, the province has provided funding to fill the gap up to 2026, and they should be commended for this. This funding will give us time to get TransLink's financial house in order.

The Mayors' Council (on which I serve) and TransLink Board are working hard to solve the funding challenges with TransLink to ensure that we can continue to grow our transit system and maintain our regional road network.

Even today, TransLink continues to work with municipalities to speed up bus service to save money. These cost savings are why we have bus lanes in Langley City.

Together with the feds and the province, we will be able to balance TransLink's budget and provide a stable path forward. The alternative is massive cuts to transit service, which will increase congestion and increase the cost of living for people in Metro Vancouver.