George Puil: Vehicle levy would’ve solved TransLink problems

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Ten years ago, the provincial government tossed out a proposed vehicle levy to help fund transit.

George Puil was chair of the then-GVRD and TransLink at the time. Both boards had approved the $60 levy before it was scrapped by the NDP government of the day. He figures cash-strapped TransLink would have collected more than $1 billion in funding since then.

“It was going to be collected by ICBC. There was no cost of collection, and it would have solved many of TransLink’s problems,” he argues.

“I think sometimes you have to do things that are unpopular,” Puil adds, “Toronto copied our idea, Montreal is doing it, and Vancouver is reluctant to do it. And yet, they’re begging for money. I mean, it’s a hell of a lot better idea than raising the fares.”

With projects like the Evergreen Line perpetually delayed by funding issues, Puil thinks the levy would have solved a lot of problems for TransLink.

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