Gates and smart cards on the way at Skytrain
You may already have seen this on BEST’s trans-action listserve, where it was posted by Richard Campbell. I was strongly tempted to ignore this, since it has no news value at all. It is merely yet another announcement of something already announced. But it also repeats a number of falsehoods, which cannot be left unchallenged.
Skytrain stations in B.C.’s Lower Mainland will soon be outfitted with turnstiles, and users will have to adopt a Smart Card system, says the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (Translink).
The decision to end the infamous honour system was confirmed by B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon at a press conference in Vancouver, Wednesday.
This story is creditted to Darcy-Anne Wintonyk. I would like to ask her “Are you a reporter or an editorial writer?” The insertion of the word “infamous” is an unacceptable journalistic practice that inserts an opinion instead of a fact. If Falcon used that word then a quotation of him saying it is quite different. Proof of Payment systems are used all over the world and on most US rapid transit systems as a way to speed boarding.
Falcon says the turnstiles and Smart Cards will begin to be implemented by 2010, a move that he hopes will boost ridership on the system by making people feel more secure about taking the Skytrain.
“The only way you’re going to make it successful is if people feel like they’re safe. That’s certainly the lesson in London and Amsterdam,” Falcon said.
“They’ve seen an immediate reduction in criminal activities in their systems with the implementation of turnstiles and Smart Cards.”
The SkyTrain system is not actually especially dangerous. It has far more surveillance than other systems – although Translink’s cctv system has been in need of an upgrade for a long time, simply to ensure that images are still available after incidents. The real problem is that there are not enough eyes on the monitor screens and far too often incidents are missed, and therefore the tapes not marked for retention – so they get recorded over. Other systems do not usually have secret alarm strips in every coach, or two way communications for passengers with the control room (SkyTrain has both – look for that in vain everywhere else). Have “secure waiting areas” done anything to increase a sense of safety – or raised awareness that there is something to fear?
Skytrain staff like to hang around in bunches – which reduces the effectiveness of human presence on the system. The emphasis on ticket checking means that both police and attendants are not viewed by the public as a friendly presence – unlike the “Train Captains” on London’s Docklands Light Railway.
The Smart Card will work like a regular debit card, requiring passengers to prepa, load the card and then swipe it before and after they get off the train.
To obtain a card, Skytrain passengers will have to provide personal information.
This is a gross intrusion on the privacy of law abiding citizens. The state in all its forms has far too much information already, and tracking people simply because they want to ride the train is unconscionable. There would appear to be no cash alternative – which makes casual users much more reluctant to ride. In New York you can still pay cash – but many entrances and exits require the card to operate gates. So you have to go find a booth with a person to buy a card. And then predict how many trips you might have to make. I suspect that tourists over pay and the system happily keeps their money. There is certainly no widely advertised system of getting refunds on unused MetroCards that I could see.
Falcon says the cards, in conjunction with the turnstiles, should cut down on fare evaders, and is expected to increase Translink revenues by more than 20 per cent.
This is what they call a “hostage to fortune”. Not SkyTrain revenues you notice – but system wide. As though there is a lot of fare evasion on buses too. So I will keep an eye on that figure. And also note that Flacon forgot to give any kind of timeline. That gives him (or his successor) a way to dodge the inevitable shortfall – “it has not had enough time”.
The cards will also give transit officials a better picture of who’s causing trouble on platforms. This is because officials will have a detailed list of who is riding that particular line at the time.
I trust that the Civil Liberties campaigners will jump hard on this one.
Wednesday’s announcement comes at a time when Skytrain is under heavy pressure to ramp up security measures.
Last month, B.C. New Democratic Party MLA Adrian Dix said TransLink wasn’t doing enough to make the system safe for its users. He was referring to a string of attacks on women at Skytrain stations.
Dix collected 3,500 signatures on a petition demanding better security. The petition also made several proposals designed to increase safety, including better lighting, turnstiles and full-time security at all stations.
At the same time, Sheshleen Datt – an 18-year-old victim of a vicious Skytrain station attack in April – called on TransLink to make public transportation safer and more secure for all passengers.
But that ignores the fact that the assault in this case did not occur on SkyTrain. The technique is the same as was used by the Scarborough Rapist (Paul Bernardo) – who, by the way, was using the TTC so he had a ticket to get through their barriers. The attacker followed the victim from the station – or bus stop. It will be very easy for a would be attacker to conceal himself near a station and follow a victim without actually riding the system. And identity theft being such a huge industry so ill policed it virtually unpunished, it will be very easy for determined bad guys to give the system false information. Expect to have the police knocking at your door, when someone who has acquired your identity is shown to be using the SkyTrain, and you have to prove it wasn’t you. I have already had a somewhat similar experience, only with the police in Montreal – a city I have only ever visited once many years ago, but where someone has been successfully impersonating me – and repeated affidavits and complaints have failed to have him apprehended.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Kevin Falcon said the new measures will do a lot to make the transit system more secure and safe for people like Sheshleen.
“I think it encourages women to use the system late at night, especially at times when people feel a little less secure,” says Falcon.
It will not make the system any safer. It will make using the system more cumbersome and intrusive for law abiding passengers, but its security measures are so easily evaded it will be laughable for real villains – who simply regard such systems as a minor challenge. Anyone who feels more secure is deluding themselves.
And as for increasing ridership, how is that supposed to happen Kevin? The system is over capacity now – with passups commonplace, and overcrowding forcing people to let full trains go by as they are unable to board. (And when Canada Line gets like that, with no ability to lengthen trains or increase service frequency.) The only way ridership can grow is if you, as Minister of Transportation, stop indulging your fantasies, and your real estate buddies passion for sprawl, and start spending money on more trains and buses. Instead of gates for rapid transit and more freeway capacity.
The person who made all this happen was no other than Ken Dobell, Mr Campbell’s infamous top adviser and now top lobbyist. Mr. Dobell was the lobbyist for Cubic. What Mr.Dobell, wants he gets.
The amount of money to be saved is so grossly exaggerated, this $100 million plus window dressing is foolish.
This brings me to another point, more delays, this ninety minutes of travel time is already designed to have you traveling on on expired ticket,so what happens when you try to get through a gate when you paid for your ticket and your ninety minutes have expired? I would guess that your card will be charged another fare.
Having ridden the train hundreds of time, there is often a mini stampede to get to a bus or train when arriving to a station.
Translink will now be so busy with twinning the Port Mann and Fort Knoxing existing skytrain stations I don`t see much in the way of improving the service.
More wag the dog—More skytrain construction hassles,more road construction delays,no more service—Have fun commuters
[Moderator's note - this post has been editted for the purpose of clarity]
grant g
June 14, 2008 at 10:22 am
the argument that implementing fare gates is not without merit, although stating it in the context of safety is deceptive. Fare evasion, will significantly drop, thereby lowering the total number of crimes in the system. However, as you note, this does not mean that violent or crimes against one’s property will be diminished.
brian goldner
June 14, 2008 at 10:22 am
The following is an email I sent to the variuos media & reporters, in a repose to a story on the CBC about the multi billion dollar fare gate system. The aportioning of fares comments are from Modern Railways, a very well respected railway journal in the UK.
————————————————————
The question should be asked: “What is the actual revenue lost to fare evasion and is the cost of the instalation of fare gates and the cost of operating fare gates more expensive or less expensive than the present barrier free system. Nowhere does Kevin Falcon mention this and with 80% of SkyTrain’s ridership coming from buses, I think the fare evasion issue is vstly overblown.
The story contains much error of fact, which is part of the ‘turnstile myth’ created by Kevin Falcon, Ken Dobel and a very compliant media.
Error #1 – “We will see ridership increase, particularly among women who, I think, are the first ones to drop out of the system if they believe — rightly or wrongly — the system is unsafe,” he (Falcon) said.”
Can Falcon give any accurate study for this? I doubt it. Ridership increases on London’s public transport system has more to do with ‘congestion charging’ than ’smart’ cards”.
Error #2 – “Andy Barr, a manager with London Underground, said within six months of having a gated system in their metro system revenues jumped 20 per cent.”
This is a very strange statement to make because the London metro (underground & tube) has always had ticket operated fare-gates or previously to automation, a human operated gate system. London’s metro has never had a honour and open station transit system like SkyTrain.
The revenue increase reported, is I think, do to proper apportioning of the transit fare. In London, there are many private and pseudo private transit companies and to use a zonal ticket system took an army of accountants to ‘apportion’ the fare to what company and the distance used in ones trip, to give the various transit concerns their proper revenue.
With ’smart’ card this is done automatically and cheapely, with each transit company receiving their proper portion of the fare for the customer’s portion of the trip.
Example: In Vancouver, TransLink is the sole transit operator and all fares go into one ‘pot’. In London a 5 zone fare may include a bus trip, train trip, tube trip, and a light railway trip; four different transit companies and four different journey distances. In the old days accountants guesstimated journey distances, while today, with smart-card, each journey trip is calculated instantly and accurately, with the various transit companies getting exactly the revenue they earned.
The fare-gate system has more to do with Ken Dobel (you know, the premiers crony) lobbying for the company (Cubit) selling the gate/card system, rather than the need for the system
The following two emails are from transit specialists in London and the USA, commenting on Vancouver’s fare-gates.
This sounds to me like a huge fiddle. Since London has always had a
barrier-type fare system, I don’t know where this could have taken
place. Substituting automatic turnstiles for manned gates (which is
the only thing that I reckon could happen) would surely lead to more
crime, not less.
Furthermore, the minister (and the media) seem to be fiddling the
public with implications that London’s Underground somehow had a
proof-of-purchase-style barrier-free system and converted to a
turnstile system. That is clearly not the case.
This also sounds to me like a leading public official with a bee in
his bonnet is trying to push the transit agency into making a
phenomenally bad decision. And fabricating and misrepresenting
information to that end.
Vancouver seems poised to invest vast sums into converting to an
automatic turnstile, restricted-access station system, and will
probably come out of it worse than before.
LH
One of the problems with systems such as Amsterdam is that they have turnstiles at some stations and not at others. This makes it very easy for people to get into the system without a ticket. There is, for example, through running between the metro and tram systems and on the outer sections these stop at trams stops which through the nature of their design, cannot be totally fenced off and hence turnstiles just don’t make sense there.
However, having said that, I’m not aware of there genuinely being a correlation between fare evasion and turnstiles. I think the attitude of the public towards paying their fares has a bigger impact. For example, in places such as Amsterdam, many people still cheat the system on turnstile equipped stops by buying reduced fare ticket without being entitled to them.
No matter how sophisticated, machines cannot yet fully replace humans in fully enforcing fares.
Andrew
Malcolm J.
June 14, 2008 at 10:24 am
Good post Malcom—Were you talking to bill good yesterday?–I was on earlier yacking to Vaugn and Keith.——–This brings up another point, do you think Campbell and Falcon will remove/eliminate the skytrain unuion ? No more need for those public servants anymore.
grant g
June 14, 2008 at 10:44 am
Man we are bush league in this city.
Corey
June 14, 2008 at 10:49 am
Stephen, I must say I’m still a fan of SmartCards. I understand your argument and the possible downfalls. I also agree that for a system our size, the turnstiles may be too expensive to implement. I think the devil will be in the details of implementation.
I’ll draw upon my experience with Hong Kong’s Octopus card. I still have my card with me here in Vancouver because I do have a balance on my card that I do not wish to forgo. My Octopus card is essentially cash in a plastic format. It has no identifiable information about me except for an assigned number and that I like my card to use English. It does track my movements, but it does not know who I am. I’ve never given my information to anybody related to the Octopus card.
One thing I don’t like about some of the SmartCard systems I’ve read about in North America is that they collect personal info or need you to link the card to a credit card. I think that’s a disaster waiting to happen. I’ve seen that on the website for Chicago’s transit authority.
I love the convenience of the card because then I don’t have to carry so much cash. This is a godsend for Hong Kong’s system because a fare could be anywhere from HK$2.00 to HK$15.60 and any HK$0.10 denomination in-between. I can use the card at KFC, McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, and other establishments. They even had parking meters that could use the Octopus card. It saves my pockets from bulging with tonnes of HK$10 coins. I can also refill my card at not only train stations, but also at the 7-Eleven and certain bank machines.
Also, the cards could be programmed to be monthly passes. That way, TransLink wouldn’t have to waste so much paper by printing out thousands of passes every month. Hong Kong does not offer monthly passes because there are almost a dozen transit companies in the territory. However, they do offer tourist passes that give unlimited travel through parts of the system for a limited time, like a 3-day pass.
On the con side of things, all the Expo Line stations need a major retrofit to accommodate turnstiles. Also, we just invested in new Ticket Vending Machines and those silly coin counters on the buses. At the time of installing those coin counters, SmartCard technology was already commonplace, but TransLink decided to go with a system that is out-of-date in other parts of the world.
I’m all for SmartCards, but I just don’t know if Vancouver is really ready for it. Our system is likely too small to warrant such a huge cost. Hong Kong has 7 million people and we only have 2 million in Vancouver. If the system will require personal info and/or a credit card, then I’m not for that.
metrobabel
June 14, 2008 at 11:40 am
The only thing I like about the SmartCard idea is that I could reload a card instead of buying a new pass every month — but then that requires the smart card reader, etc. so I’m happy to keep on with the existing system. I never have to scan a card when I get on the bus which saves time, and most rush hour riders (my time slot) have cards so boarding is quick.
Think of the plastic that would need to be produced for tourists, who would probably be turned off by the system? What happens when they’re done with the card? At least the current tickets are easily recyclable.
As for feeling more secure, I’m a 23-year-old woman and I don’t feel appeased by this gated system. It will be too much of an obstacle to the regular user, and not enough of one to criminals who, like you said, can just stalk around outside the station. THAT’s where I am most likely to feel insecure, not on the platform, not on the train. I only feel unsafe on the train when I’m the only female in an otherwise empty car with some males I don’t trust, but nothing has ever happened. On the platform, it depends on the station — how open it is (e.g. the MKII line is great, but stations like New Westminster are closed-in and not very nice) and how busy it is. Just investing in more transit police/officials would do it for me, as long as they patrol instead of standing in roughly one spot. Last night at Surrey Central’s bus loop I had no idea someone was there until I searched in the darkness and saw one or two hanging out in the dark halfway across the loop. If he had walked up and down he’d have made his presence known and that, I think, is all you need.
A turnstile system with swipe-in and swipe-out would literally make me not want to use the SkyTrain anymore… but what choice do I have?
Erika Rathje
June 14, 2008 at 12:23 pm
The Cubic fareboxes on the buses and the Cubic TVMs on SkyTrain and SeaBus are smart card capable. All that is required is the attachment of a reader and some re-programming.
I agree that smart cards per se are not a big issue. In fact, they can offer tremendous advantages to the system and go a long way to making the fare structure more equitable. The saying that the “devil is in the details” really holds true for smart cards. If done properly, it can be an effective, non intrusive and anonymous way of speedily and more equitably collecting fare revenues. Done poorly, it can be an expensive, cumbersome boondoggle that robs you of your civil liberties.
TransLink was working on smart cards before Kevin Falcon dipped his finger in. Before Kevin Falcon was involved, the program seemed to be headed in the “proper” direction. Since his involvement, it has taken a turn in the “boondoggle” direction. How ironic for a government that chided the NDP for turning sane projects into disasters when a heavy dose of political interference was added in. The BC Liberals are no different.
John
June 14, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Back when I rode BC Transit in Victoria as a UVic student my UPass could swipe through a reader on the bus coin collector. This was back in 2000! Why has Translink stuck with paper passes for so long when the technology has been around for ages? If they have these card readers at each Skytrain entrance, then all they would have to do is add turnstiles. If there was something like that, but anonymous? I’d be all for that.
Anything else isn’t just bush league, it’s Orwellian.
Corey
June 14, 2008 at 12:42 pm
A much better reporter Jeff Nagel, that I would trust over Darcy-Anne Wintonyk, has a much more objective piece on line (the paper version is just a teaser) headed “Transit smart cards will take time”
There is also this bit that CTV also decided to ignore
Grant – at this time the supplier has NOT been selected – only expressions of interest have been requested. Tenders for bids will not go out until next year.
Brian – the cost of the gates and the necessary rebuilding of the Expo Line stations to provide a full emergency exit far exceeds any reasonable estimate of revenue loss due to fare evasion. And that is before you add the necessary station staff who will have to available to monitor the use of the gates and help those with strollers, wheelchairs, scooters and heavy baggage. Normally this needs a manually operated extra large gate.
Stephen Rees
June 14, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Hello Stephen.
I see you have a new career.
For Malcolm J. and others who might be interested, you will find a very revealing report in the Translink Board Archives. It is Item 4.6 Canada Line – Controllled Access on the Board Agenda for December 7, 2005. It was prepared by Sheri Plewes and Ian Jarvis and contains a lot of good, factual information. I have always been opposed to gates or barriers because they reduce significantly the accessibility for people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments.
For me as a taxpayer, however, the strongest argument against gates or barriers is shown in Table 8 on page 26 of the report, and you won’t believe it. TransLink estimates the annual loss (in 2005 dollars) was and would continue to be $4.2 million. The installation and operation of gates or barriers would cost $32.2 million annually – that’s every year! Not much of a benefit/cost ratio.
Bruce Chown
June 14, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I haven’t had a chance to review all the comments, but I just want to make it clear that smart cards do not need turnstiles or other barriers. The Docklands Light Railway is part of the Oyster smart card system but is barrier free.
Sungsu
June 14, 2008 at 8:50 pm
What has been popular and successful in Europe is the environmental or ‘Green’ pass. First started in Switzerland and now used on many urban transit systems in Europe, the environmental pass is a fully transferable transit pass given to each household in the taxable area. It has been a great success and gives the ratepayer a feeling that he does indeed get something for his taxes.
Sungsu, docklands has to be on the ‘Oyster” because of apportioning of fares with Transport for London. Please see my earlier post. And yes, docklands is fully automated but each train has a ‘train captain’ to check fares or drive the train in an emergency.
Malcolm J.
June 14, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Somehow I feel this security is linked to the olympics,This is just another tactic to attempt to deflect olympic expenses.
Personally speaking don`t you think they should implement this on the evergreen line first, if in fact they are ever going to build that line.
I hear all this talk about London and Hong kong,its apparent to me that this security/gate/turnstile stuff does nothing to keep bombs or guns or biological poisons off the trains.
I have said this before and I will probably catch some flak over it but I think its better to allow non-payers and other low lifes to ride the train(the way it is now) —95% of people pay——-The reason I say that is because these poor,desperate,temporarily broke travellers will have to find another way—-BEGGING—THEFT—MUGGINGS—MORE CAR THEFTS—- I believe for the non proven benefit of these gates that you will actually create more crime.
Was there not a report a couple of months ago about the cost of the homeless and it turned out in the long run to be cheaper to house and support the homeless,I might be wrong but this has that feel about it.
Last point,as mentioned by MR.REES —-It appears most of the crime is outside of the stations,gangs hanging around,drug dealers and the odd deranged person,so none of this stuff will help and if they reduce or eliminate “real” people, those events will increase.
grant g
June 14, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I’m of two minds on this… I (generally) buy a montly FareCard every month; though 3 times in the last 3 years I’ve F****d up and either forgotton to buy a Farecard until the 2nd, or left my wallet at home; luckily no ticket check those days.
Recently Burrard Station has had “human turnstiles” at the top of the escalators, instead of at the bottom… gving people a chance to go buy a ticket… I heard one suit say to another “oh, too bad, you have to buy a ticket today”… and then of course there’s the politically incorrect positon that turnstiles will keep “bums” off the trains.
Whatevever they do i hope it wont be too iinconvienent to *leave* Burrard station; it’s busy enough as it is when a 4 car Mk-1 or Mk-2 train spews out hundreds of passengers every 2 minutes; I actually prefer days when there’s an escalator problem and they leave the staircase open
David Banks
June 15, 2008 at 1:19 am
Sungsu,
Does DLR have pricing based on the # of stations travelled? If so, how does it work? Do people have to line up at ticket machines at the beginning and end of trips? If so, would it actually be more user friendly and efficient to route people through turnstiles?
Bert
June 15, 2008 at 12:03 pm
London has a zone system – much more complex than ours and in use all day every day.
You can download a map using this link http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/lon_con.pdf
Stephen Rees
June 15, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Bert,
“When using pay as you go, you must touch your Oyster card on a reader as you enter the station at the start of the journey and again when you exit the station at the end of the journey. Remember to listen for the single beep and look for the green light.
If you don’t touch in and out correctly you may be charged a maximum cash fare and you may be liable for a Penalty Fare. You must show your Oyster card to a member of staff when asked.”
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/4700.aspx
As long as there are enough readers at each station, it is no worse than turnstiles for efficiency.
Sungsu
June 15, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I have just heard that the cost to install fare gates and the ’smart card’ ticket system may cost well over $100 million! This is because every one of the Expo Line stations must be rebuilt to suit the needs of the fare gates. The annual operating costs of the system maybe more than $20 million annually!
Question #1: What is the annual lost revenue due to fare evasion? How much of evaded fares attributed to ’soft’ ridership (people who would only ride public transit if they can so for free)?
Question #2: Is the annual cost of fare evasion greater or lower than the annual cost of the smartcard/fare gate system?
Question #3: if the revenue last due to fare evasion is lower than the annual cost of the smartcard/fare gate system, why install the smartcard/fare-gate system?
Question #4: how much is Ken Dobel being paid to be a lobbyist for Cubit Inc. a supplier of smartcard/fare gate systems?
Malcolm J.
June 15, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Malcom j ——Common sense or logic has little to do with it, what Campbell and Falcon and Dobell want they get, 100 to 200 million could sure help the evergreen line,it sure could buy a bunch of busses, enjoy the skytrain retro-fits , the decider and the deciples will do what ,when,where they want——–Democracy lost! —Carole James and the NDP would never pull those shinnanigens,oh but I forgot,Carole James is not smooth and cunning enough for you.
Well I am ready for a PLAIN JANE provincial leader, I have had enough of MR>SLICK and his slimers
grant g
June 15, 2008 at 11:24 pm
It’s good to read so many comments from people interested in the smart cards debate. However, contrary to what Grant G posted on June 14, 10:22 am – TransLink is NOT working on twinning the Port Mann Bridge. That’s an initiative from the provincial government.
- Peter, from TransLink
peter louwe
June 16, 2008 at 9:18 am
The KCR LRT line in Hong Kong (suburbs) used their Octopus card with the touch readers without barriers. As a tourist, it is much easier to forget to touch your card upon entering or exiting than systems with barriers.
Ron C.
June 16, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Peter Louwe —–I believe all the initiatives are the provincial goverment,translink is responsible for puttella bridge and highways and overpasses,I know there`s a new crown corporation for twinning the bridge but whos running what?
Falcon makes all the annoucements,every idea that Falcon brought up is echoed by translink,its obviously being run by falcon and so is the twinning,these hand picked boards that the mayors picked (out of a list supplied by Falcon)
Isn`t “Gateway” part of the 14 billion dollar package? Also I would bet my last dollar that the port mann twinning starts before the evergreen line, my guess that the evergreen line will be delayed until after the election only then to die a slow death under Campbell
No offense Peter but translink is merely a deflection away from the BC Liberals,as is BC ferries as is ICBC
One more thing Peter,why the hell do you only get ninety minutes of travel whether its a one,two,or three zone ticket? It works if you get on skytrain then a bus but if you have to get a bus first,say from maple ridge or horseshoe bay by the time you get to skytrain your ticket is dead, its only common sense that if one zone merits ninety minutes then a three zone must need more time.
As for gates its a waste of time and money and I don`t suppose (Falcon) would spend one dime for bathrooms? An aging population,gridlock and you have no where for seniors to go to the bathroom but skytrain staff have facilities.
One more point, like a total of 6 to 8 seats on platforms. one more point,translink has the authority to toll all crossings in the lower mainland and beyond.
Also I guess the 67 million spent on fare boxes on the busses will have to be srapped.
grant g
June 16, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Peter L., unfortunately, with the TransLink Board made up of Campbell cronies, TransLink is working in conjunction with the provincial government with Gateway, including the twinning of the port Mann.
TransLink is now a direct arm of the Premier’s office.
Malcolm J.
June 16, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Translink has been working for Gateway for a long time. Two of our modellers from Strategic Planning were seconded to help with the demand forecast and, of course, the first ever truck survey and model was a direct response to pressure from the Gateway Council of which Pat Jacobsen was a member.
There were many senior staff who were eager to work on the Major Road Network, and indeed the Province gave Translink little choice. All three bridges downloaded were in a sorry state and have had to have very expensive upgrades to keep them in service. While the Province made much of the increase in the gas tax given to the GVTA much of that revenue had to go to roads and bridges not transit. And much of the strong arming of the municipalities to sign on to the new region authority in 1999 was based on promises of funding for their favourite road projects. In fcat for a long time MRTAC only talked about the MRN and nothing else.
Stephen Rees
June 16, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Smart Cards may be a very good idea, but the privacy implications of this particular proposal really concern me. London’s Oyster Card system was just cracked. Researchers were able to ride for free. Worse, they could simply come near other passengers in order to wirelessly scan their card data and impersonate them.
Geof
June 24, 2008 at 2:09 pm