Many people, especially transit riders, are questioning whether their fares, which was recently raised to $5 for a one way trip from Vancouver to Surrey, are being well spent by TransLink's newly appointed board of directors who have accepted a rather hefty salary hike and made that decision behind closed doors.
TransLink recently hiked its fares with the justification the money would be used to improve service around the region.
Last year the average TransLink board member received around $7200 in exchange for their time, the new amounts are much higher.
- $25,000 base stipend
- $4,800 for quarterly board meetings
- $7,200 for bi-monthly committee meetings
- $6,000 for being on two of those committees
- $2,000 for chairing one of those committees.
The grand total: $45,000
Some transit riders told CTV's Stephen Smart they were surprised by the pay hike adding that they already raised fares, and that the money should go into providing better service to the system.
Vancouver city councillor Raymond Louie says he is outraged this happened following the recent fare hike and urges people to send letters and phone calls to the Kevin Falcon, the Minister of Transportation.
However Falcon is defending the boards decision saying you pay for what you get, adding that it's not easy to find good people who are in charge of spending billions of dollars in the regions transportation system.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Stephen
