Transit Referendum: Do you support 0.5% PST increase in Metro Vancouver?

Metro Vancouver mayors have proposed a 0.5% PST (Provincial Sales Tax) increase in order to fund the 10-year, $7.5-billion transit plan, a question that will be posed to residents in the transit referendum next year.

The Mayors’ Transportation and Transit Plan will:

• Add more bus service to crowded routes and add new routes in growing areas
• Increase service on SkyTrain, Canada Line, SeaBus and West Coast Express
• Add 11 new B-Line rapid bus routes, with fast and frequent service connecting town centres
• Maintain and upgrade the region’s major roads
• Build a new, earthquake-ready Pattullo Bridge
• Build light rail transit connecting Surrey Centre with Guildford, Newton and Langley
• Extend the Millennium Line tunneled along Broadway in Vancouver
• Improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists

If passed, the PST hike would only be in effect within the Metro Vancouver region and could come into effect in early 2016. The tax increase is expected to cost each household about $125 per year.

• READ MORE: TransLink Mayors’ Council proposes $7.5-billion, 10-year transportation expansion plan

Feature image: SkyTrain via Shutterstock