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40 BCBusiness August 2014 How a Broadway subway Connects to Kitimat and Chilliwack There's another argument for how efficient transit in the Lower Mainland benefits people in B.C.—and while it's not as tangible as trucks, it's even more important, argues one advocate. "The premier keeps talking about the wonders of LNG but if you don't have the lawyers and the accountants and the engineers and the architects in Vancouver to make that work, you won't get anywhere," says Michael Goldberg, professor emeritus with UBC's Sauder School of Business. He almost explodes with impatience at the argument that most of the tonnage of B.C.'s exports comes from outside the Lower Main- land. "The tonnes of stuff shipped is only one part of the value. The notion that tonnage is equivalent to our wealth is a very simplistic one." For him, an equal part of the wealth is the province's human capital, much of it concentrated in its largest metropo- lis. And if the people in that city can't get together easily, can't schedule mul- tiple meetings within a few hours, can't teleport themselves out to the airport on rapid transit and fly into Terrace or Cranbrook for a day of consultations— then the economy slows down as inevi- tably as if someone poured molasses into the engine. That's why the rural- urban politicking over transit funding enrages him. "If we want to be con- gested and expensive to do business in, keep on doing what we're doing." Out in Chilliwack, amid the farms and mountains that close in at the east- ern end of the Fraser Valley, Mayor Sharon Gaetz is just as concerned about having a strong provincial and local economy as anyone else. But she's got an additional reason for loving good tran- sit in the Lower Mainland, even though Chilliwack is outside the TransLink bor- ders and has no aspiration to ever be within them. "We're thrilled when peo- ple in Vancouver get on alternate trans- portation," says Gaetz. "Fifty per cent of the pollutants in our air come from Metro Vancouver. And those same air pollutants come and land on our agri- culture." Like Mayor Gray in Kelowna, she's got her own transit demands. In once-rural Chilliwack, almost half a million trips now get made by bus and there's demand for more. But she's all for spending more on transit in the Lower Mainland. "There's no quibble from me. Metro needs to lead the way. It's a good investment of money." Alas, although Gaetz and Goldberg (along with all the mayors in the Lower Mainland and more than a few transit fanatics) are of that opinion, it's still a challenge to make the case to the rest of the province that it's a good investment. That's partly because of the very nature of the way different groups of people think about transit. "People who live at different densi- ties just have fundamentally different attitudes," says Jarrett Walker, a trans- portation consultant currently based in Portland, Oregon. "In a downtown, transit is essential infrastructure with- out which the economy doesn't func- tion. It's like water or sewers. The higher the density, the more transit you need and the less asphalt." In rural areas, transit is not an essential service. It's more like a social service, a benefit to people who can't get around by car for some reason: too poor, too disabled, runaway train thE LIfE AnD tIMEs Of A tROuBLED tRAnsIt AuthORItY April 1999 transLink is officially, legally born. jAN-DEC 2000 the region spends the whole year with people arguing about a transLink plan to impose a vehicle tax of $40 to $120, depending on vehicle weight. T transLink is praised around the world as an agency that allows local politicians to have control over transit in their own region. By critics, it's painted as an entity that is living off the fat of local taxpayers, running a system that's actually awash in money if only it were run efficiently. But if in doubt about which reality is true, just look at whether anyone else wants to join in or adopt it. no thanks, says Chilliwack Mayor sharon gaetz. same, says saanich Mayor frank Leonard. there's nothing about the funding situation that makes it appealing. And it's a governance mess. "It's not clear who's in control," says Leonard. "there are four masters: the provincial ministry, the transLink board, Metro Vancouver and the mayors' council. no normal business would have four bodies at the top." nor would it fight for 15 years about where to get money for it. —F.B.