EDITOR,
Whistler and Squamish have done little to encourage use of public transit. Those who call Whistler home don't use transit. The people on transit are the seasonal workers, who generally don't have cars.
Mostly, transit in Whistler is a public subsidy to the businesses that employ the seasonal workers. The options, however, are no seasonal workers or a few thousand more cars in town.
Whistler's Five-Year Transit Business Plan (2007) outlines several goals and approaches to the future. One goal is to emulate other popular ski resort towns which provide free transit and pay parking.
The largest obstacle to this goal is that other areas have spent decades creating transportation systems that don't rely on cars. These options didn't happen overnight and they required the co-operation of municipal, regional, state/provincial and federal governments.
Within Whistler and Squamish, people without cars have made do with the existing transit systems. Most of those who call Whistler and Squamish home don't see transit working for them.
In Whistler the north/south disconnect is a big issue. There are essentially only two stops in the Village, Village Gate and the Bus Loop. Those aren't the places locals with families want to go. Waiting at the Bus Loop to get kids from Creekside to Meadow Park isn't going to happen.
In the past few years Whistler spent a fortune on its transit system. There has been no significant change in service levels and fares have gone up 25 per cent. The bottlenecks and obstacles remain.
Pay parking is a long overdue way to fund transit service and make individual cars less attractive. There are several problems, though. It's too late, the fees are too high and transit isn't yet an option.
Pay parking should have been introduced at least a decade ago. At first it should have been at a revenue-neutral level, bringing the message that parking spots don't grow on trees. The fortune spent on transit should have been used to make transit more attractive to the people paying for it before parking fees went up.
The three municipalities in the corridor should urge the Regional District and the Province to encourage transit for commuting, shopping, medical and government services within the corridor.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 commuters work in Whistler. People from Whistler and Pemberton shop in Squamish and use government and medical services in Squamish. Many of the dead trees along the Sea to Sky Highway are caused by local people meeting local needs.
Groups like AWARE in Whistler and Squamish CAN are limited in the change that they can bring about without the co-operation of all levels of government. People should join and encourage these groups. They provide a collective voice for the community.
A growing number of private bus companies are providing transportation from various locations in Metro Vancouver to Whistler. Most don't provide stops in other communities or between other communities. If private carriers can make a profit carrying people on the highway, they should be encouraged.
In light of the continuing problems trying to implement transit within the corridor, one has to wonder if it might not be in better hands in the private sector. A subsidy might be necessary as an incentive, but private carriers would look to find where people want to go and when. They see the benefits in advertising. Maybe the best solution to public transit is to take it out of public hands.
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