TransLink CEO talks solutions in the face of deficits

TransLink’s CEO underlined the importance of keeping up with booming ridership in an address to business representatives in Vancouver on Friday — despite the transit operator being short billions of dollars.

“TransLink is standing at the edge of about a $4.7-billion fiscal cliff,” said CEO Kevin Quinn.

“We can’t just say, hey, keep everything going as it is a year from now … you’re seeing it on our roads, you’re seeing it everywhere — our region is growing at an astronomical rate, and we can’t keep up. We have to meet that growth. We have to meet that demand.”

Quinn highlighted a number of challenges keeping TransLink from getting up to speed.

“Among the reasons, one of the biggest is the regional shift towards electric vehicles, and even more energy-efficient vehicles,” he said. “I think every single person in this room recognizes that is great for the environment, but on the flip side, it is depleting gas tax revenue that we use to fund our transit system.”

Denis Agar, executive director of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, said TransLink has proposed great expansions to the transit system, “but at the end of the day, we need to see how TransLink’s funding deficit is going to be addressed. We need to see that in the next few months.”

In July, TransLink partnered with PCI Developments on a new mixed-use development at a future Vancouver Skytrain station at Arbutus and Broadway — what Quinn says sets a precedent for how the company will get the money it needs.

“This is really big, because it marks the beginning of a brand-new revenue stream for us, one that we have been searching for and advocating for for some time — leveraging TransLink-owned land to generate income that we can invest right back into our system,” said Quinn.

Agar says TransLink still needs to land to work with.

“Using land development to fund transit is time tested, all around the world. Hong Kong’s service is funded 100 per cent with land development,” he said.

“But someone needs to give TransLink the land to develop, right? They just don’t have a lot at their disposal … I think what’s more realistic is someone giving TransLink money in the short-term.”