9623 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

my problem with this free system is that we are going to be paying $135 for a whole bunch of passes that are NEVER used.  that's why i'd prefer them to at least cost $25 or $50.  if anyone can not afford that then we can have a program like LIFE to cover their fee.

 

i also suspect victoria taxpayers will end up paying for passes for kids that actually live in other municipalities.  because officials will make it some type of "low barrier" verification system that's easily gamed.  kids and parents will also trade and sell them.  some of that already happens with the bc bus pass program.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 June 2019 - 06:52 AM.

[spanky123]

^ That is exactly why the bus passes are $135 per person. BC Transit knows that many people will never use them so they lowered the price to compensate. Council's plan to simply go back and ask for fewer passes at the same low price is silly. If you read Ben's comments it seems pretty clear to me that once we "decouple" bus passes from parking revenue then we will be adding the homeless and other "marginalized" folks to the freebie program.

 

What bothers, but doesn't surprise me, is that staff knew that what the revenue for the parking fees would be as we saw in this forum. The Mayor knew what the cost off the bus passes would be as she sits on the transit board. Nevertheless the Mayor led us to believe as recently as two weeks ago that one would pay for the other. It wasn't until that was challenged and staff put on the spot that it was finally revealed as a fabrication.

[Mike K.]

Is this what the in-camera meeting was about on Thursday?

Suddenly Victoria taxpayers have been saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional taxation, at a time when the police budget is underfunded and councillors are “standing up for the taxpayer.”

[spanky123]

Is this what the in-camera meeting was about on Thursday?

Suddenly Victoria taxpayers have been saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional taxation, at a time when the police budget is underfunded and councillors are “standing up for the taxpayer.”

 

There was an item on the COTW agenda to look at expanding the free bus pass program to everyone under 19. I commented on at late last week. That is likely where it came up. At least some staff members look like they are not willing to take a bullet for the Mayor. Note that Helps was not at the meeting as she was travelling again. She seems to make sure that when these mea cupla's come up she is not around.

[Victoria Watcher]

^ That is exactly why the bus passes are $135 per person. BC Transit knows that many people will never use them so they lowered the price to compensate. Council's plan to simply go back and ask for fewer passes at the same low price is silly. If you read Ben's comments it seems pretty clear to me that once we "decouple" bus passes from parking revenue then we will be adding the homeless and other "marginalized" folks to the freebie program.

 

we already have a program.  and it's gone from 5,000 tickets in 1997 to 135,000 tickets and 15,000 monthly passes today.   a crazy escalation.

 

http://www.community..._January_16.pdf

 

service agencies to find a solution a

round addressing the transportation needs of the low income people they served. The bus ticket allocation from BC Transit in the first year was 5,000 tickets to distribute to 10 community agencies. In 1998, the allocation was doubled to 10,000 tickets and the number of participating agencies increased to 27. Between 1999 and 2000, 11,700 free tickets and 12, 620 purchased tickets were distributed to 37 agencies along with 287 day passes (142 free and 145 paid).Between 2003and 2004, 32 agencies participated in the program. In 2006, 50, 000 transit ticketsand 120 monthly passes were distributed to 39 agencies. In 2010, 90,000 transit tickets and 800 monthly passes were distributed and in 2012 due to high demand from the participating agenciesand a change in the transfer timepolicy, the allocation was increased to 135,000 transit tickets and 15,000 monthly passes to about 50 agencies.

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 June 2019 - 08:56 AM.

[Nparker]

...Suddenly Victoria taxpayers have been saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional taxation, at a time when the police budget is underfunded and councillors are “standing up for the taxpayer.”

And my property taxes went up more than 20% in one year.

[Mike K.]

Just wait for your sewage bill.

That alone will push up your taxes by 20%.

Do supporters of these programs not realize that with every financial commitment this council makes, rents rise accordingly? You can’t have taxation increasing by 15-20% and not expect rents to climb.

[Mike K.]

All of this could have been avoided had the City not promised “free” passes for youth by promising parking revenues would cover their cost.

This was handled extremely poorly. Promises first, massive funding gaps only months later.

[Nparker]

...Do supporters of these programs not realize that with every financial commitment this council makes, rents rise accordingly? You can’t have taxation increasing by 15-20% and not expect rents to climb.

If the supporters of these programs were capable of that sort of critical thinking, then the people proposing the programs would never get elected.

[spanky123]

All of this could have been avoided had the City not promised “free” passes for youth by promising parking revenues would cover their cost.

This was handled extremely poorly. Promises first, massive funding gaps only months later.

 

The reason why they were not up front is because the "surplus" and " assessment increase" have already been spent. The City can't run a deficit so in my opinion they come up with schemes like this to make it look like the budget is balanced.

[Mike K.]

It’ll be interesting to see how downtown fares on Sundays now that parking comes with a cost.

Of course, the simplest solution here would be to role out the same parking cost structure as exists for Saturdays. That would yield significantly higher revenues than the $550k or so that Sundays will generate ($10,500 per Sunday).

[Victoria Watcher]

i think they might be a bit reluctant to do that for sunday mornings when churches are in sunday afternoons maybe though.

[spanky123]

It’ll be interesting to see how downtown fares on Sundays now that parking comes with a cost.

Of course, the simplest solution here would be to role out the same parking cost structure as exists for Saturdays. That would yield significantly higher revenues than the $550k or so that Sundays will generate ($10,500 per Sunday).

 

I think that they would be reluctant to increase Sunday parking fees a month after they started being charged.

[Mike K.]

Won’t somebody think of the children, though?

[Jackerbie]

i think they might be a bit reluctant to do that for sunday mornings when churches are in sunday afternoons maybe though.

 

I cannot remember where these things are written (probably a legal agreement in a cabinet somewhere) but the City does not charge for parking on Saturday mornings on certain streets near the synagogue and SDA church. I would imagine they would do (or have done) the same thing for the Sunday crowd.

[sebberry]

i think they might be a bit reluctant to do that for sunday mornings when churches are in sunday afternoons maybe though.

 

Why should we subsidize church parking?  That's a touchy one...

 

Mike, I figure downtown will be just fine on Sundays.  Pay parking promotes more turnover, and the parkades are free still so people will be tempted to spend more time walking around town paying and exorbitant prices for their maple syrup fix.  

[Cats4Hire]

I don't know how many people here are at Royal Oak Exchange regularly but has anyone noticed Bay B seems to be overcrowded? Pretty regularly no matter what time I'm there there always seems to be 4 buses trying to squeeze in when only 3 are meant to fit. I don't even get why since only the 6 (not even A or B), 30 and 31 should be there and none of those got a service boost at the start of April which is when I started noticing this.

[Mike K.]

Which one is Bay B?

[Cats4Hire]

Which one is Bay B?

right across from the fire hall on Elk Lake Drive. It technically has 3 "bays" but that section is all Bay B 

[Mike K.]

Ah, gotcha. Must be that it's a pick-up spot for ferry-destined traffic.