Dear Editor: I am a senior living on the North Shore, and for anyone using public transit as I do, it is obvious that it is the elderly, nannies, office workers, the disabled, women and students, in other words the underprivileged, who will have to pay for this latest, blatant cash grab by TransLink.
TransLink has studied the issue of fare boxes on the rapid transit lines for years and were supposedly basing their decision on models used in Europe that integrate the two systems of buses and rapid transit, so why did they choose now to deviate from this model, if not in the expectation of making more money at the expense and inconvenience of its users?
Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that only 6,000 users a day will be forced to pay twice to travel to or from a rapid transit line. I travel regularly to Victoria to visit family, using a three-zone transfer to the Canada Line and the 601 bus to the ferry, and I see the long line of tourists getting two and three zone transfers at the ferry. This is especially true at YVR and will certainly impact tourists and increase traffic congestion as more and more families choose to once again use their cars to pick up and drop off passengers.
The proposed Compass card is ill-conceived and TransLink must go back to the drawing board and provide fare boxes based on successfully working models that will serve its customers fairly and conveniently for the long-term good of public transit.
Ann Gilbert
West Vancouver
