Metro Vancouver mayors are calling for immediate governance changes at TransLink after the public shot down a tax increase intended to fund $7.5-billion in transportation upgrades.

Elections BC released results of the B.C. government's transit plebiscite Thursday morning, with 61 per cent of voters rejecting the proposed 0.5 per cent sales tax hike, compared to 38 per cent in favour.

The funding would have been used to pay for projects in 21 municipalities over the next 10 years, including more roads and buses, a Broadway subway line, light rail in Surrey and a new Pattullo Bridge.

The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, which spent $5.8-million campaigning in the province's plebiscite, called the results “disappointing.”

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the proposed transportation improvements are still crucial, given that an estimated one million people are expected to move into the region in the next 25 years.

But Robertson said how they’ll be paid for, and how the public’s concerns about TransLink’s governance are addressed, will be up to the B.C. government.

“TransLink is their creation, and the questions around accountability need to be addressed by the province,” Robertson said.

The mayors are unanimously opposed to raising property taxes to fund transportation, Robertson added, and the other feasible funding solutions – such as a carbon tax hike or road tolling – would have to come from the province.

“Mayors have been frustrated for many years at the needs for investment not being met,” he said. “The money has to come from somewhere and the province controls the tools.”

Fare increases wouldn’t provide the kind of money needed to complete the massive projects, according to the mayors’ council.

Robertson said mayors have done everything they can to support transit growth, but the group feels frustrated that it doesn’t have more say in TransLink’s decisions.

“We hope there is a different role in the mayors’ council going forward with the tools to actually do the job,” Robertson told reporters.

'We've sent a strong message'

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Jordan Bateman, who spearheaded the No campaign, said the plebiscite proves the public’s unhappy with how TransLink is being run, but he doesn’t believe more funding is the answer.

“We’ve sent a strong message: don’t tax us more for this thing, fix TransLink,” Bateman told CTV News. “There is money in the system to be had, it’s just a matter of mayors prioritizing.”

TransLink’s interim CEO Doug Allen disagreed with that assessment, insisting that surveys have shown riders appreciate how transit operates in the region.

“Some of you will say this [vote] is really about TransLink. It is not. TransLink was not on the ballot,” Allen said at a press conference shortly after the results were released.

“It’s my view that the public across the Lower Mainland said no to a tax increase… customers like our service.”

Without a funding solution, the transit provider will have an uphill battle accommodating all the new residents expected in the region in the coming decades, Allen added.

“We’re well aware that we’re going to have pressure on the system,” he said. “It will be up to us to deliver the system as smartly and wisely as we can given the restraints we’re going to be under.”

Robertson said Vancouver will continue to explore options to get the Broadway subway line build, and Surrey Mayor Linda Helper said her city will keep pushing for its planned light rail project.

There are several third-parties that are interested in funding the operation, she added.

“I need that light rail project to go forward,” she said.

Elections BC said 48.4 per cent of registered voters sent in a ballot in the plebiscite. About 38,393 ballots returned didn’t meet the requirements of the plebiscite regulation.

A total of 210,249 ballots were returned by Vancouver voters, with a nearly 50/50 split for Yes and No.

The results were different in Surrey, where 66 per cent of the 123,370 voters said No.

Have your say: Are you concerned TransLink will now have to cut service?

Municipality

Yes votes

Yes %

No votes

No %

Total valid votes

Bowen Island Municipality

847

61.92%

521

38.08%

1,368

City of Burnaby

24,355

35.06%

45,113

64.94%

69,468

City of Coquitlam

14,200

32.78%

29,120

67.22%

43,320

City of Langley

2,226

27.71%

5,807

72.29%

8,033

City of Maple Ridge

6,404

22.97%

21,470

77.03%

27,874

City of New Westminster

10,623

45.45%

12,748

54.55%

23,371

City of North Vancouver

7,931

44.92%

9,725

55.08%

17,656

City of Pitt Meadows

1,762

27.84%

4,568

72.16%

6,330

City of Port Coquitlam

6,346

32.15%

13,394

67.85%

19,740

City of Port Moody

4,852

42.61%

6,534

57.39%

11,386

City of Richmond

16,257

27.61%

42,615

72.39%

58,872

City of Surrey

42,519

34.46%

80,851

65.54%

123,370

City of Vancouver

103,431

49.19%

106,818

50.81%

210,249

City of White Rock

3,139

40.74%

4,566

59.26%

7,705

Corporation of Delta

11,589

32.16%

24,448

67.84%

36,037

District of North Vancouver

14,569

44.61%

18,093

55.39%

32,662

District of West Vancouver

6,876

44.11%

8,711

55.89%

15,587

Metro Vancouver Electoral Area “A”

1,586

58.57%

1,122

41.43%

2,708

Township of Langley

9,890

25.03%

29,619

74.97%

39,509

Tsawwassen First Nation

86

33.99%

167

66.01%

253

Village of Anmore

303

37.88%

497

62.13%

800

Village of Belcarra

158

52.15%

145

47.85%

303

Village of Lions Bay

202

34.71%

380

65.29%

582

Totals

290,151

38.32%

467,032

61.68%

757,183

   

Rejected ballots

2,513

Total ballots considered

759,696