EDITORIAL: Not idiots

Idiots.

You know who they are.

They’re the folks ruining things for the rest of us. The ones clogging the air with their exhaust fumes as they drive big, dirty SUVs. The mini-vans, the big tractor-trailer trucks.

They jam the roads so that we can’t get anywhere without sitting and fuming in our own cars. They don’t take the bus, walk or bike to work, nor do they live just a short drive away.

Most live over the bridge, somewhere in South Fraser Suburban Hell.

They’re just dumb. And irresponsible.

And they should be punished for it.

Sound harsh? Some days that’s arguably the ideological thrust of TransLink’s transportation planning.

Why else would you consider spending billions on an extension to SkyTrain along Broadway to UBC—an area where buses today run every four minutes or so, bike routes abound and traffic is, well, not really a problem?

TransLink is committing $10 million to study two future extensions to the system. The first in Surrey running from Whalley to Guildford. The second is the UBC link.

Though the debate today is whether cash-poor TransLink should spend anything for projects it won’t be able to afford for several years, it’s also important to keep an eye on the fact that, even when times are good, it’s lunacy to spend billions to serve those already well served. The UBC link fits that category.

The cities south of the Fraser have experienced phenomenal growth in the last 10 years, and more is coming. True, some of it is inefficient sprawl.

But while it may be nice for transportation planners to envision everyone living in dense towers in crowded city centres, working on the main floor and shopping in the grocery store in the basement, until that shiny day, it’s better to acknowledge that people are living where they are for good reasons—be it economic, cultural or otherwise. And if they’re driving, often they’re doing it for good reason, too.

People aren’t idiots. It’s time to toss that assumption on the next SkyTrain out of town.

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