Editor:

Re: City gives TransLink raucous welcome, June 19.

Never have I been invited to an event where there was such blatant manipulation and disrespect for the citizens who pay the bills. 

We were kept in a holding area where the obvious expectation was that we must first read the info boards which set out our options.

When the doors were opened, employees sought to collect names of attendees before handing out glossy brochures. My guess was there were 12-20 TransLink officials on hand. I asked several if they had travelled to White Rock on the ill-fated 351 or used public transit.  None admitted to having done so.

TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast allowed that inasmuch as people still wanted to discuss the cancellation of the 351, he would take questions for 10 minutes. At the conclusion of the allotted time, during which a few people posed well-prepared questions, he stated he had previously heard those concerns regarding safety, multiple transfers and inconvenience.

Why, then, the charade of allowing questions?

It was only when Prendergast stated the magic solution was to have two RCMP members at the Richmond Casino transfer point that the citizens became a little less than polite. Does TransLink believe there is no taxpayer cost for police attendance? Does that ‘solution’ meet the concerns of transit users? 

Many left, rather than participate in the board game to learn how we might keep the money flowing.

Smartcards and turnstile gates are decades overdue. Reduction of staffing and overhead are essential. But without municipal representation at TransLink, and no civic leadership on the issues, in what must surely be one of the safest ridings federally and provincially in the country, the plan will continue to be additional taxes and the service they want to give us.

It is unfortunate that we who left, did so rather churlishly, but it may have been we felt duped about the nature of this consultation. Still, the glossy brochures and advertising of the plan continue to flow.

Carolyn Swayze, White Rock

• • •

An open letter to TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast.

The bus service in question – namely Nos. 351, 352 and 354 – is very much part of our social structure, and therefore many of us feel outraged that the proposed changes are even an option.

While we respect fiscal restraints may be necessary within transit, depriving communities, such as Crescent Beach, Ocean Park, White Rock and neighbouring villages, of an uninterrupted transportation service to our only major city displays a total lack of consideration for the people of this community.

Detouring through Richmond is such an insult to our intelligence, as we have a right to certain amenities and must not be taken for granted.

Leaving us stranded – with no option other than transferring to a Richmond train service – may be a quick fix to cut costs and help TransLink’s financial shortfall, yet it demonstrates a robot mentality.

Our community is not only made up of retirees, but also younger families, who work in downtown Vancouver. Also, we have a large student population, many attending university and Vancouver colleges.

Not all in this retirement neighbourthood are parochial minded, with many holding seasons tickets to the arts and entertainment in Vancouver. Also, we have healthcare needs, requiring specialist treatment and hospitalization in Vancouver.

These are just some of the services essential for our well-being and survival, and must not be overlooked by financial personnel, interested only in balancing books.

Our attention has been drawn to individuals who took time to have some sign a petition to offer a compromise of two buses, changing midway. Three or four hundred signatures are not an accurate consensus of residents as a whole.

Compromise may have some merit, but, on this subject, is not even worthy of recognition by regular users of the bus service in question and who travel all seasons.

We must consider all ramifications of removing a bus service, which is part of our well-being and lifestyle, an essential service by any standard. One could call our transportation service to downtown Vancouver a social service; it most definitely is an essential service.

Our community is taxed substantially, including a TransLink levy, yet none of our elected officials considered the meeting important enough to attend. Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and White Rock Mayor Catherine Ferguson were, to our knowledge, conspicuous by their absence. Perhaps we are perceived as second-class citizens, who matter not, at least not until the eve of the next election.

On a personal note, we thank you for taking time to explain TransLink’s position and affording us an opportunity to air concerns. We appreciated the courtesy offered by you and your team.

Our apologies for those ill-mannered few who spoke out of turn and are, hopefully, not true representatives of this neighbourhood.

Angela Noone-Clarke, Surrey

• • •

Re: Better transit needed, June 26.

SkyTrain is the most efficient, as well as convenient, transit systems a community can hope to acquire.

Indeed, besides being 100 per cent green, you can count on the exact minute, if not second, a SkyTrain car will arrive and leave.

Furthermore, SkyTrain – unlike non-automated Light Rail Transit, which would utilize already-existing street-crossing tracks – does not hinder regular, fossil-fueled vehicular movement, reducing stop-and-go traffic and its negative polluting effects.

There are plenty of naysayers who complain about the expense of SkyTrain; however, its diverse benefits outweigh its cost by far.

Frank G. Sterle, Jr., White Rock

• • •

Re: Richmond-bound buses every 10-15 min., June 19.

Say it ain’t so.

TransLink’s plans to run buses through the beach area every 10 minutes during rush hour and every 15 minutes until 9 p.m. is absurd.

Roads in Crescent Beach area are narrow, certainly not built for highway buses.

The current number of 50-plus buses each day is already too many. The buses are 99 per cent empty through the beach area.

Even on May 30, the date of Alexandra Festival, the busiest day of the year, the buses were hardly subscribed to.

TransLink really needs to rethink this decision to persist with a service that is not being used to anywhere near potential in this pedestrian community – especially when they are so short of money!

Jane Wright, Surrey