bcbusiness.ca JANUARY 2016 BCBusiness 11
Talk to
Us Now
E M A I L bcb@canadawide.com
W E B S I T E BCBusiness.ca
T W I T T E R @BCBusiness
F A C E B O O K BCBusiness
w h at you sa id
feedback
Transit Trash Talk
Nothing like a transit story to get those thumbs a-tapping.
"How TransLink might fix its broken business model"
(November 2015) by Frances Bula drew some skepticism.
Jude Fawley wrote, "Just because it worked in Atlanta
doesn't mean it would work in Vancouver. Vancouver is one of
a kind." Jordan Bateman chimed in: "At some point,
TransLink (and its apologists like Ms. Boldt) need to admit
they even have a problem," and added "it's a TransLink-oper-
ates-poorly-and-the-public-knows-it problem." Fraser Harris
replied to Bateman, "Whatever you think the public 'knows'
is because of your campaign of lies. Your highly publicized
examples of waste amounted to a tiny rounding error on
TransLink's budget."
Ligh t en Up
CORReCTiOn: The Bill
Reid Gallery of Northwest
Coast Art was the location
for the photograph of Keith
Bergner in the November
issue ("The Calling," p.58).
Regarding "Surrey to pick light
rail station stops by early 2016"
(BCBusiness.ca/manufacturing &
transport), Malcolm Johnston
wrote that "the big problem I find
with Surrey's
LRT is that TransLink,
with absolutely no background in
LRT planning, has designed it as a
poor man's SkyTrain, acting as a
somewhat cheaper feeder line to
the now at-capacity Expo Line and
not a stand-alone light rail system
in its own right." He says the result
will be an expensive failure and
makes the case for cheaper options
like the Leewood/Rail for the Valley
Chilliwack-to-Vancouver TramTrain.
Other commenters pointed out that
the 96 B-Line in Surrey is not as busy
as the 99 B-Line in Vancouver, and
many wondered why Surrey insists
on light rail instead of SkyTrain.
Other Voices
Our online story "Lax Kw'alaams and
environmental groups ask Trudeau
to axe
LNG proposal" (BCBusiness.ca/
natural resources) drew a response
from Tsimshian chiefs, including
Gitxaala, Metlakatla and
Kitsumkalum First Nations,
who note that in Prince Rupert,
five Tsimshian Nations assert their
aboriginal rights and title over the
area. Although concerned about the
potential effect of the Pacific North-
west
LNG project on the Skeena River
fishery and Flora Bank, the chiefs are
perplexed that those opposing the
project are coming to conclusions
before key evidence is heard and final-
ized. They are also disappointed that
"outside interests that have signed a
joint letter opposing the project have
not consulted with our Nations nor
waited for all the evidence."
n
