Ballot Measure

I'm not sure how many folks out there are aware of it but at the September board meeting, they voted an intent to put a ballot measure on the November 8, 2011 ballot.

The proposed ballot measure will be a two-parter. One part will cover preservation and a certain level of expansion of fixed route and C-Van service, the other part is to cover C-Tran's portion of maintenance/operations cost for the proposed expansion of the Max yellow line into Vancouver as well as the Bus Rapid Transit transition of the 4-Fourth Plain route.

A yes vote on the preservation/expansion ballot question would mean a 0.2% sales tax increase (two pennies on a ten dollar purchase).

A yes vote on the light rail/BRT ballot question would mean a 0.1% sales tax increase (one penny on a ten dollar purchase).

The board did the responsible thing here. They wanted the light rail as a stand-alone measure. They wanted the voters of the Vancouver C-Tran boundary to be able to say yes or no to light rail.

The thing that I like about this approach is that even if voters don't like the idea of light rail in Vancouver, they can still support the preservation of C-Tran as we know it today. If the light rail portion of the measure gets a no vote but the preservation part of the measure a yes vote, service will stay the same and in some instances increase.

The part that should scare those folks in Vancouver and Clark County who are dependent upon C-Tran and C-Van is that if the preservation/expansion part of the ballot measure fails, we are looking at a minimum of 40% cuts in the service levels we have TODAY!!!

If you think C-Tran is bad now, wait until you see what happens if that measure goes down to defeat!

I think it's great for users of C-Tran/C-Van that their service wont be dependent upon the light rail ballot measure passing. I know C-Tran had an extensive survey done this past spring and the results overwhelmingly said that Clark County residents support C-Tran and light rail expansion. But I've gotta be honest, when it comes time to mark their ballots, I'm not 100% convinced voters will support light rail into Vancouver any better in 2011 then they did back in 1995. 1995 was the last time Clark County voters had light rail on the ballot and it was overwhelmingly defeated.

True or not, there is thanks to the local media and their sensationalism a very very negative image of Max in the metro area. I ride the red line most days back and forth to work, the vast majority of the riders are other commuters, kids heading to school, elderly folks on their way to appointments. The train is not full of muggers and rapists. I've been riding Max for over 15 years and have seen very little crime on the actual train. Yes, things happen BUT those same things happen (in MUCH greater numbers) each and every single day in your local Winco or Fred Meyer parking lot.