Editor:
“Soaring ridership is putting TransLink under pressure”, according to reports in The Times and Aldergrove Star.
We in the Township of Langley were lured into what was then called the GVRD (now Metro Vancouver) in the late 1980s by then-mayor John Beales.
This was wise, or otherwise. We are now committed.
The thought of joining the GVRD, with all of it aspirations, was fine in theory. But the Township did not have a long-range balanced agenda in terms of joining the regional district. Enthusiasm, plus self-serving aspirations, often supercedes common sense.
Out Township is a victim of these consequences. The Township is now part of a huge, uncontrollable octopus. So how do we manage the many octopod characteristics?
When it comes to TransLink, an allied regional agency, it’s like sandpaper against the bare skin. There have been no communications with constituents in Langley who pay for TransLink. Most decisions are arbitrary ones, from the top down.
TransLink is constantly draining away our personal resources, to serve whom? It is certainly not serving most residents of the Township.
TransLink has taken its case for more funds as far away as Ottawa, but it continues to flounder. It’s time to settle down.
As the current situation in the U.S. shows, public agencies can’t endlessly keep going to the well for more money.
People need to open their eyes and become informed about how TransLink and Metro Vancouver are wanting more and more of their money each year. Local politicians need to do the same.
There has been too much government on “autopilot” in the past. Now is the time for citizens and politicians to start speaking up.
Harvey Schultz, Aldergrove