Kudos to @metrovancouverorg.bsky.social for producing this excellent report. The affordability crisis is complex and we need solid data and analysis to understand it and beat it. See the full report here (starting on pg 13): t.co/oJttY6Annk

The current Chair of the Mayors’ Council, Brad West, was interviewed for this story, as was the previous Chair, Jonathan Cote (who oversaw the development of this report at
@metrovancouverorg.bsky.social). Hopefully @gregorrobertson.bsky.social as another former Chair will give it a read.

The fed govt’s new transit fund was announced and funded in 2020 and 2021. While it will deliver much needed new funding to @translink.ca to support new transit here, it will account for about 5% of the capital costs of our expansion plans. It is outdated and too small for the job.

Senior governments are injecting billions into building new housing, which is important and needed. But what this report demonstrates is that expanding transit can often have larger and more immediate impacts on improving affordability. We need to do both. But we aren’t.

@vancouversun.bsky.social nails the key story: “While politicians & planners have struggled for years to make housing more affordable for people, they now see an opportunity to address another major — and often overlooked — piece of the cost-of-living equation: transportation costs.”

The first key finding from the study is that spending on “good public transit is not only a transportation issue, but it actually helps deliver affordability to the region,”

“It’s not an ideological, preachy thing,” said
Mayors' Council Chair Brad West. “It’s practical common sense.”

The new federal government must be ready to make major investments into the critical local infrastructure - from transit to parks and water and roads - required to support the new affordable housing that our big cities need.

We also joined forces w/ TTC Chair Coun. Jamaal Myers and STM Chair Coun. Éric Alan Caldwell to meet with MPs from all parties to ensure the new Parliament is ready to work together to invest in the new transit needed to support affordable housing development.

As Mayor of Vancouver and Chair of the Mayors’ Council, Minister @gregorrobertson.bsky.social played a leadership role in transforming @translink.ca and transit in Metro Vancouver.

We look forward to working with you to keep transit (and cycling and walking!) moving here and across Canada.

Minister @gregorrobertson.bsky.social has a deep expertise - and passion - for the critical role that transit plays in making cities more affordable, sustainable and competitive. Given the challenges facing cities and the nation, his appointment is welcome and important.

Mayors’ Council chair Brad West says that “noted left-wing premier Doug Ford” funds infrastructure for Toronto transit at twice the per capita rate as the B.C. government does for TransLink.

the line gets laughs but the canada proud comment section might agree

*We still have work to do*. The Access for Everyone Plan is NOT fully funded & this IP only puts off our structural deficit for 2 more years. We need a new funding model, and a new funding tool, & that will be the centre of the work of the Mayors Council in the year ahead. 4/4 accessforeveryone.ca

Getting the job done in a drama-free manner is our motto, Justin.

This third element of our success - keep expanding to meet growing demand - has faltered in the last 5 years, since the pandemic broke our funding model. But with record pop. growth, now is the time for a new transit funding model to enable transit expansion and improvement.

How did we do this?
- Tightly integrated land-use and transportation planning (put housing and jobs close to transit, and vice versa).
- Provide high quality transit service, and not just rail-based transit but regular old bus too.
- Keep expanding to meet growing demand.

These results underline how important transit is to our region. We are 3rd overall in Canada & US in per-capita ridership, behind only NYC-NJ and Montreal, and ahead of Toronto...and all three of these metro areas are a century older, with a 50+ year head start in public transit.