Hidden Costs of Congestion Pricier than Proposed Vancouver Transit Tax: New Study

Congestion and gridlock are bad for business and bad for communities, finds a new study by the C.D. Howe Institute.

When people are stuck in traffic — or even faced with the prospect of being stuck — they are prevented from engaging with their community and this means less face-to-face interaction and less resulting economic benefits, the study finds.

“When congestion causes people to not travel it stifles the key benefits of living in a city: learning face-to-face, finding better jobs and sharing services of infrastructure,” report author Benjamin Dachis writes.

“On top of congestion due to slower travel, these wider, hidden costs of congestion are between $500 million and $1.2 billion per year for the Metro Vancouver area.”

The study, written in collaboration with Clean Energy Canada and the B.C. Real Estate Foundation, finds the economic benefits of a ‘yes’ vote in the upcoming transit referendum outweigh the cost of the new tax associated with the Mayors’ Council plan.

The plan includes a new 0.5-per-cent sales tax called the Metro Vancouver Congestion Tax. Funds from the tax would enable a 10-year transit overhaul which includes major service increases and extended routes to all transit systems, extending the Skytrain line to Langley, rebuilding the Pattullo bridge and rapid transit for the Broadway corridor.

A province-wide mail-in vote will take place over a ten-week period from March 16 to May 29.

The Better Transit and Transportation argues the plan will cut congestion by 20 per cent, shorten commute times by up to 30 minutes each day and provide 70 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents with more frequent transit service.

The coalition represents more than 90 organizations, including the Vancouver Board of Trade, Unifor and the David Suzuki Foundation, and calls itself the largest and most diverse coalition in B.C.’s history.

“People from all walks of life know that we cannot afford to stand by as congestion worsens throughout the region,” Vancouver Board of Trade president and CEO Iain Black recently said. “Gridlock is costing our economy dearly and we must dramatically improve the movement of goods, services and people if we want to remain competitive.”

Although nearly all local municipal leaders support the Mayors’ Council Plan, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has been a vocal critic of the plan. Jordan Bateman, spokesman for the federation, was recently called TransLink’s “biggest hater” in The Tyee for his leadership role in the ‘no’ campaign.

Gordon Price, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, told The Tyee Bateman’s strategy is a “great dupe” designed to leverage public acrimony towards TransLink in his effort to secure a ‘no’ vote.

“It’s the brilliance of Bateman’s meme,” Price told The Tyee. “How do you get people, even a bus rider, to vote against their best interests?”

Bateman has been highly successful in stirring up the TransLink controversy by calling attention to the transportation provider’s internal scandals.

Supporters of the ‘yes’ campaign have argued that a vote for better transit should not be mistaken as a vote for TransLink.

“A small group of people want you to believe the referendum is your opportunity to voice concerns over how TransLink is governed,” writes Steve Kux, communications and research specialist with the David Suzuki Foundation. “That is not accurate.”

Instead, Kux argues, the vote is for “specific transportation improvements.” He adds that financing for those improvements will be reviewed by independent, third-party auditors to “ensure that the money goes to these improvements, not into TransLink in general.”

The new study from the C.D. Howe Institute cuts through the anti-tax criticism of the plan by highlighting the cost neutrality of the tax, given the relationship between mobility and wealth generation.   

“Cities generate connections, connections generate ideas, and ideas generate business — and smooth-flowing transportation makes it all happen,” said Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada.

“Metro Vancouver is a thriving multicultural metropolis, and needs a transit system to match,” Smith added. “This research shows that the Mayors’ Council proposal creates financial and personal benefits that enrich everyone. Investing in transportation is good for drivers, cyclists and transit users alike.”

Image Credit: Valentina via Flickr